I rent from the store for now, but am looking into investing into apple tv or something similar. Which brings me to my next point, blue-ray dvd’s. Blue-ray beat HD-DVD, but was it worth it? Increasingly media is delivered in file form as opposed to a tangible media like a DVD. I think I’ll just skip the whole Blue-ray phenomonon and go straight to file download for playback. In the long run it will save me equipment to buy and disks to own. The downside is that I have to store files, or simply not own tangible media, but I think that is how the RIAA likes it.

I use Blockbuster On-line. I get 3 movies at a time, for as long as I want them. I can exchange them in the store a mile from my house, and they also give me in-store coupons for two free games each month. They charge 4 or 5 bucks to rent one movie now and charge 8 dollars to rent the games. It doesn’t make sense to me to rent in the store, as we watch at least one movie a week, Also, I prefer to rent games, as I get bored with them easily and rarely will spend the $60 it costs to buy one.

And Larry, if/when you do go that way, MAKE BACKUPS!!!! If your computer crashes, your files will be gone.

I haven’t watched more than three movie videos at home in at least three years. I have both a VCR and a DVD player, but I just don’t get around to using them. I avoid Netflix because I still have memories of failing to read the fine print and getting into trouble with a Columbia VCR purchase program when I was a teenager. The local video stores are inconvenient, and I sometimes forget to return the merchandise until it’s long overdue. (Haven’t been to a local video store in over 5 years!) So I grab a good book instead.

I used to subscribe to Wal-mart’s DVD mail order service, until it was purchased by Netflix. I now use Netflix, but to be honest, I rarely see a movie due to time constraints in my daily schedule, and lack of decent movies to be seen.

I prefer to watch the Military Channel, Discovery, A&E, or HGTV. I tend to get my Video fix in 30 - 60 minute bursts, rather than the 2-3 hour timeframe that most new movies tend to run. And to be honest, there aren’t many movies being made that attract my attention. Watching the Tuttles build choppers on “American Chopper”, or the guys in Alaska fishing for king crab on “The Deadliest Catch” is far more entertaining to a guy like me.

Video’s don’t use closed caption so they are of no use to me. I’ll stick with my 400 channels that I can find almost anything to watch at anytime.

Occassionally we’ll rent a video from Blockbuster, but considering the ridiculous fees, even for many older videos, it’s a pain.

With our budget and discerning tastes we rarely go to the movies, much less rent them. We don’t even have cable or satellite. We tend to use Redbox, but even then, maybe only once or twice a month. If our budget improves substantially next year, we may go ahead with a Netflix membership.

On the whole we’d much rather spend time with each other, our child or reading and probably spend on average less than four hours a week watching tv, barring children’s shows (and even he only watches a couple of hours a day).

1# - You’re not alone in your opinion of Blu-ray. It and HD are still a niche market within DVD sales and rentals. Personally I’m not going to shell out big bucks for something I don’t care about, much less may or may not become obsolete within a few years, especially considering how long most people keep videos (whether in vhs or dvd format). I’m perfectly happy with the quality of my regular dvd player and regular dvd movies. I’m not wowed by supposedly better pixelation when I can’t even see the difference in a store. I’d buy a good sound system before I put money down on HD or Blu-Ray.

Redbox rentals for $1 beats Blockbuster’s $4-$5 fee any day. I’ve got a PlayStation 3 connected to the home network, so it’s just a matter of time before downloadable movies become commonplace in my home.

Yes, Redbox Rental is the way I go. In Dierberg’s or McDonald’s $1 for like 2 days. Every new release is in the Redbox, just stick your debit or credit card in and sh-bang, no dealing with lines, just point and choose.

I can only watch movies on my large-screen TV- 57 inch; I’m spoiled with it. It’s like you’re at the movie theatre.

We use Family Video. It’s right down the street from us, has rock bottom prices and good terms. I’m with some of the others about Blu-ray though. Upscaled DVDs look great on my HD TV. Yes, true HD looks better - but that doesn’t make the movie any better. Therefore, I don’t see the burning need to go out, buy a new player and replace my DVD collection when the technology we have now is good.

I think by the time the masses decide that they want to upgrade to HD movies, downloads will the chosen method of delivery. It’s how I get my HD movies now (downloaded to my Xbox 360).