Today, more and more people understand that having a subscription at a
video store is simply does not meet their needs. Instead, they turn to
online movie downloads to provide them with films they wish to watch.
This happens for several reasons, where the top reasons are dramatically
reduced costs, larger title selection and time saving.
Now, there are basically two online downloading models for movies:
- One website supplies content to members. Typically, these websites charge a per-movie fee of several dollars (2$–4$ usually). However, some also charge a monthly fee of about 10$.
- A website provides membership to a network of users, where each member has several movies on his or hers computer. You can download movies from every person on the network. These sites typically charge a one-time fee of about 35-50$ for registration, and you are never billed again.
The model that gives the best value to the end-user is irrevocably the member-network
model. I will therefore elaborate on this model:
After registering, the website provides you with a software to access the network.
The network consists of millions of users just like yourself. Each member of the
network has at least several movie files on his computer. Every member can download
movies from any other member. This way you have up to millions of users sharing their
movies with you. Because of the vast number of members in a network, the quantity of
movies can be in the range of dozens of millions.
A good website will provide you with manuals on software installation and operation,
as well as high-availability technical support (some sites provide a 24/7 support
system).
Most of the movie networks are more than just movie networks – they contain files of
virtually any type – music, software, etc. Some sites will charge you extra for access
to music directories.
How long does it take to download an entire film?
Most of the time, download will be completed in a matter of hours. The time may
vary, as it depends on two factors:
- Your download speed. If you have a broadband connection, you’ll be able to download much faster than a member with a dial-up modem.
- The number of users that have the movie you’re downloading, and their upload speed. In order to bring the download time to a minimum, files are usually split into several relatively small parts, and you can download each part from a different member, so you are far less limited by a specific member’s upload speed. Each network has its own algorithms for managing this split-into-files, so the time of download might still be considerably different between every two networks.
So how do you choose the download network that’s right for you?
You need to compare:
- The cost of the program. make sure that the prices you compare are for the same time period! Often a website would offer a one-year membership as well as a lifetime membership.
- The number of users and movies on the network.
- Additional features supplied – music, software downloads, games, etc. Music playing software, movie playing software and CD & DVD burning software are also common features.