Should You Watch Movies Online?

People often ask me what the best way to watch films online is. Until a couple years ago, it was not a good option because of the high bandwidth requirements, but today, with so many internet users on highspeed connections, watching movies online has become quite feasible. Indeed, today there are many ways to view your favorite films over the internet.

High bandwidth is crucial for watching movies online, so if you are still on a slow connection, the first thing to do is upgrade your connection speed.

If you are looking for a place to watch movies online for free, Hulu is one site that offers both tv programs and movies for free. However, since the site is supported by sponsors, your viewing will include commercial breaks. This however is a small price to pay for free entertainment.

If budget is not a concern, you can “rent” movies online at places like Blockbuster or iTunes. Typically, renting a film costs about $4, and you have 24 hours to view the film after you download and start watching it. This, however, can get costly if you rent more than a few movies a month.

Perhaps the most economical option for avid movie fans is to join a site like Netflix or Blockbuster. The benefit here is that for a monthly fee, you can have unlimited DVDs delivered to you each month. Although you do have to wait for the DVDs to arrive, this typically only takes a day or two, and shipping is free.

One of the great things about Netflix and Blockbuster is that they offer the widest selection imaginable, and you will have no trouble renting just about any movie you want. Although downloadable movies are not part of the service at this time, I would not be surprised if this feature is added in the near future.

In the case of Netflix, you can already view some 17,000 films online with your membership, although the films you can watch free online are usually older, not so popular titles. Blockbuster, on the other hand, allows you to exchange your DVDs at stores if you don’t want to wait for your next titles to be delivered to you.

Although watching movies online has become increasingly convenient, for the time being I think Netflix and Blockbuster offers the best deals for movie fans.