 |  | By Anna König Staff Writer Wednesday 20 February |
LOVEFILM is currently the biggest player in the world of online DVD rental. With a customer base close to one million strong, it is easy to understand why they are likely to be the first service you check out if you are thinking of committing to DVD rental.
But is Lovefilm any good? Are they worthy of their reputation, or has the Lovefilm empire been built on shaky ground?
Amazon DVD rental recently traded their 300,000 customers for a share of the Lovefilm pie; 30% of the pie to be precise. Now with 900,000 dedicated followers, Lovefilm is miles ahead of its main competitors; Blockbuster, MyMovieStream and CinemaParadiso.
But the time has come to put the top four head to head, in a bid to discover if Lovefilm is any good and deserve their crown.
‘The More the Merrier?
Lovefilm win outright when it comes to the number of film titles on its books. The imperial force of the online DVD rental world has 65,000 titles to its name – that’s practically every single DVD currently available for rental in the UK.
Blockbuster DVD Rental comes in second place with around 50,000 titles, and Cinema Paradiso and My Movie Stream are left bringing up the rear with less than shabby 40,000 titles to choose from.
But does size really matter?
Most of us are usually able to find something on a trip down to the local high street video store, which is likely to have around 2,500 titles.
Even if you watched a film every day, you would not get through Lovefilm’s catalogue until the year 2185 – and that’s assuming Hollywood goes out of business!
Alternative DVD rental service CinemaParadiso prides itself on the extensive collection of world cinema titles that are usually hard to get hold of. However we found that even the most obscure titles that Cinema Paradiso had in their catalogue were also available over on Lovefilm.
Jason Norris, Online Marketing Manager at Lovefilm explains: “If for some reason we didn't have a title, members can request we get hold of it and we will try. This is something we will always try. The usual reason we do not have a title is that it is not out in UK format region 2.”
So is Lovefilm any good when it comes to range of titles? Yes, if they don't have it, it is probably not available in the UK. And if it is, they'll get it for you and make sure you're the first to receive it.
The Price is Right?
When it comes down to the nitty gritty, the price of a DVD rental package is probably going to be the deciding factor in most consumers’ final choice.
It is worth remembering that price is always going to be determined by how many films you plan to watch at once.
For £9.99 a month, Lovefilm and Blockbuster will give you an unlimited amount of monthly rentals, but will only allow you to rent one film at a time.
For 50p less, CinemaParadiso offer the same package. By the time you’ve allowed for the vagaries of the postal system, and watching the film, you will probably realistically get through around 4 films a month.
However for a mere £7.99, My Movie Stream will let you rent 4 movies in a month, and let you borrow 2 at a time. Although you are limited to 4 films, if you are only a weekend watcher this should still see you through the month!
Worth remembering here is Lovefilm’s new Pay As You Go DVD rental service where you can rent DVD’s on an ad-hoc basis for as little as £1.99 each, putting Lovefilm on par with MyMovieStream for UK’s cheapest DVD rental service.
So is Lovefilm any good when it comes to value for money? Yes, on par with the cheapest if you include Lovefilm’s Pay As You Go packages.
All the Extra Bits and Bobs
We all like a good freebie, and that’s no secret to the online DVD rental giants.
To lure us in to their clutches they frequently offer free trials. These are great if you are uncertain about which service is best for you as you can safely test out their movie selection as well as the efficiency of their service.
Lovefilm offers a fantastic two weeks of completely free rentals, but with occasional special offers we have seen this rise to as much as 3 months free!
Since the Lovefilm free trial is available on any of the Lovefilm rental packages, you can take advantage of the offer by trialling Lovefilm’s premium, three discs at a time, unlimited package, which would usually cost £15.99 a month!
The best free trial Blockbuster offer is their £12.99 package. 2 weeks of unlimited rentals, but limited to 2 discs at a time.
Cinema Paradiso’s free trial limits you to 4 discs at a time, if you trial one of their premium packages. You are able to keep the discs for 2 weeks.
If you sign up directly from Choose DVD Rental (or click here), My Movie Stream will make sure you’re rewarded with a fantastic 4 week free trial (it’s two weeks if you go straight to the MyMovieStream site)!
So is Lovefilm any good when it comes to the much loved freebies? Yes. But only if you haven’t heard about Choose DVD Rental’s agreement with My Movie Stream!
Finding Your Way and Finding Fun!
Lovefilm has a fantastic website.
Not only is it easy to navigate, but it also includes a cornucopia of competitions, magazines, quizzes and reviews. Lovefilm is highly regarded as being the best online DVD rental company for film information content. Very classy in red and white!
Blockbuster DVD Rental’s website is also fairly easy to use.
Their ‘Mad About Movies’ section is great for reading about all the latest film gossip, and also includes celebrity blogs, interviews and competitions. While the website is easy to navigate, it is not as pleasing on the eye as Lovefilm’s offering. Lots of white with a dash of trademark Blockbuster blue and yellow!
Cinema Paradiso’s website is reasonably easy to navigate, although it did take us a while to work out how to actually search for a film title!
The page layout is simple, but there are no competitions or little extras. Think dark blue and yellow.
My Movie Stream’s website is great.
It is easy to navigate and has a really helpful FAQ section. Perhaps lacking a little in extras; a competition and news section would be the icing on the cake. However the lovely lilac and white colour scheme, along with the teaser film still shots makes up for this.
So is Lovefilm any good when it comes to the easy of using their website? Yes. It is by far the most well thought out, and obviously user-tested of all the DVD rental sites, and is filled to bursting with fun little extras!
The Cards are on the Table
So, is Lovefilm any good? Do they deserve their 900,000 strong army of customers?
We think so.
The Lovefilm website is fantastic, even if you are not a Lovefilm subscriber there is still plenty to keep you entertained. If surfing their webpage for a month gets boring, their humongous range of 65,000 DVD titles should keep you busy, at least until 2185!
Lovefilm’s free trial is also very generous; 2 weeks and three discs at a time.
However as far as value for money and customer service go, Lovefilm has some contenders. While their huge range of DVD titles (and large quantity of copies of the most popular films) may be worth paying the extra pounds for, nothing will make up for being put on hold for 20 minutes or having your emails unanswered.
So is Lovefilm any good? Yes, but they could be ultimately fantastic if they lowered their prices just a tad, upped their customer service and offered just a few more copies of popular titles!
While we hate to see monopolies develop in this sector, we can’t help admitting we still Love Film.
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