Blockbuster Online Review

In October 2006 I took the plunge!  I canceled our subscription to HBO and Starz from our cable company and signed up for Blockbuster's online rental program.  I compared Netflix and Blockbuster and picked Blockbuster because in addition to the rentals in the mail, Blockbuster also gave you a weekly coupon for a free in-store rental.  So, for the same price we were really getting 3 movies at a time instead of 2!  The process is that you add as movies as you want to an online queue.  I currently have about 300 movies in my queue (yeah - I have a lot of movies I want to watch).  There have only been a few movies that I have wanted to add to my queue that weren't available (mostly independent films or movies that aren't on DVD yet).

Then, in November 2006, the program changed - for the better!  Now, we get the 2 rentals at a time mailed to us from our queue, an monthly coupon a free in-store rental, AND we can exchange the movies mailed to us right in the store for a new rental!  So basically - we don't have to wait for movies to be mailed to us anymore!  If we want to grab a movie tonight - we can - and it's included in monthly bill. 

I figure if we at least average 4-5 movies that we watch each month, then it pays for itself.  I like this over movie channels because I can get the movies I want when I want them.

Here are some more details:

- Shipping: We have been receiving movies the day after they are shipped from Blockbuster.  There happens to be a distribution center nearby - but they say their average is within 2 days.  The down side is that they do not ship on weekends.

- Selection: Like I said before, there has only been one movie I have wanted but could not find on their site.  They have a large selection of old and new movies.

- Queue: It appears as though you can add as many movies as you want to your queue.  You can even add movies that are still in theatres and they will ship when they are released and come up next in your queue.  You can also re-rank and/or delete movies in your queue very easily.  The downside, if you rent a movie in the store, it doesn't automatically come off your queue so you need to remember to delete it yourself.

- Recommendations: This isn't my favorite feature.  You have the ability to rank movies and it will recommend movies based on how you ranked other movies.  Of the movies it has recommended for me - there are very few that I actually want to watch.

- Movie Searching: You can search by movie title, actors, and even directors which make it really easy for you to find movies you want.  In addition, they have several lists to help you find popular movies.  A few of these lists are New Releases, Top Online Rentals, Award Winners, and the AFI Top 100.  These lists make it fun to discover new movies or find movies that you always wanted to see (or see again).

Overall, I have been extremely pleased with the program so far.  I would suggest verifying the details of the plan before you sign up because the new plans may have changed when the other changes occurred since I signed up.