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By Anna König
Staff Writer
Tuesday, 13 July 2010
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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.
LoveFilm are certainly one of the best online dvd rental providers around and really only see competition from the likes of Blockbuster and Cinema Paradiso.
So is Lovefilm any good?
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 unique titles to its name - that's practically every single DVD currently available for rental in the UK.
Blockbuster DVD Rental comes in second place (just) with around 60,000 titles, and Cinema Paradiso is 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 wouldn't get through Lovefilm's catalogue until the year 2186 - and that's assuming Hollywood goes out of business!
Alternative DVD rental service Cinema Paradiso 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 around £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.
Cheaper than unlimited if you don't plan on watching many films a month is Lovefilm's Light Use Plans which start from £3.99 a month for 2 DVDs per month, up to £7.99 for 4 DVDs per month. Blockbuster do the similar Blockbuster 1 DVD Lite deal for £4.88 a month.
Also 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 in front running for the UK's cheapest DVD rental service.
So is Lovefilm any good when it comes to value for money? Yes, on par with the cheapest especially 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.
Exclusively for Choose readers, Lovefilm are offering a fantastic 30 days of completely free rentals. You can get the LoveFilm 1 month free trial here.
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 £12.71 package. 2 weeks of unlimited rentals but it costs £1 so it's not technically a 'free' trial anymore - probably to keep away the trial tarts.
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.
So is Lovefilm any good when it comes to the much loved freebies? Definately yes - especially with the Choose exclusive 1 month free trial (available here).
Is LoveFilm any good for game rental?
LoveFilm now offer an array of rental games to match any dedicated game rental site.
Covering the major consoles Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PSP and Nintendo DS - as well as the slightly older Playstation 2, Xbox and Nintendo GameCube.
LoveFilm offering a staggering 6402 game for rent.
The only point worth mentioning with LoveFilm game rental is it's only available as a combination package with movies too. However, this doesn't mean you have to rent movies - just that the only packages available will also allow you to rent movies.
Is LoveFilm any good for game rental? Yes, with almost the same number of titles as leading dedicated games rental site SwapGame and the ability to rent movies too - LoveFilm is becoming hard to beat for games rental.
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 while we can't say that their aesthetic is quite as sharp as Lovefilm's their 'Mad About Movies' section is great for reading about all the latest film gossip and also includes celebrity blogs, interviews and competitions.
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.
So is Lovefilm any good when it comes to the easy of using their website? Yes, but only by a hairs breadth.
The Cards are on the Table
So, is Lovefilm any good? Do they deserve their £1 million 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 DVD titles should keep you busy, at least until 2186!
Lovefilm's free trial is also very generous; 1 month if you sign up here via Choose.
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.
While we hate to see monopolies develop in this sector, we can't help admitting we still Love Film.
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