- Gigantic list of movies to rent on DVD and Blu-ray
- Excellent turnaround of titles
- Get in-store rentals as part of your plan
- Genuinely useful user reviews of most titles
- Great introductory price offers
- Generous competitions & giveaways for Blockbuster subscribers
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Review of Blockbuster DVD Rental
Stop Press! You can now get Blockbuster's 2 DVD Unlimited Xtra 1 deal for just £12.99 a month when you sign up via Choosedvdrental.
BLOCKBUSTER are the old dogs of high street DVD rental but they certainly seem to have picked up a few new tricks when it comes to DVD rental by post.
There's a great selection of DVDs available to rent, speedy turnaround and a couple of solid special offers to entice you in.
Even better, Blockbuster have finally capitalised on their ubiquitous stores and introduced a number of rental deals that come with in-store rentals - essential for those nights when you have to watch a Colin Farrell movie right now.
While younger companies like OutNow and Cinema Paradiso may be snapping at their heels and it's fair to say that Lovefilm get more exposure, Blockbuster DVD rental remains a solid and well-priced option.
Great Turnaround Times
Turnaround of discs has been the achilles heel of many an online DVD rental service in the past so we're pleased to report that Blockbuster pretty much lead the pack when it comes to getting your next DVD through the door.
This is because they 'borrow' new releases from their high street stores after the first week they come out so they're able to keep the service speedy even if your list is chock-full of popular titles.
We also like that Blockbuster send a notification by email whenever they post out a title and include that info on a tab alongside the rental queue on the Blockbuster DVD rental website so that you can keep tabs on exactly how quick they are.
Best Choice for New Titles
In fact, if popular titles are your thing then Blockbuster is probably your perfect partner.
Blockbuster DVD rental's considerable sway in the movie industry has been able to guarantee them exclusive rental rights to a number of big budget titles of late and though the exclusive rental rights generally only last a short while they're sure to satisfy those who hate to wait.
Additionally, Blockbuster are one of the few sites not embroiled in the universal pictures dispute thats left Lovefilm and OutNow users without big name titles including 'A Serious Man' and 'Inglorious Basterds'.
Even if you'd rather watch 'Some Like it Hot' then get hot under the collar about the newest releases the Blockbuster DVD rental catalogue of 65,000+ titles should have something to your taste and there's a very respectable Blu-ray selection too.
We're also pleased to see that Blockbuster send out any bonus discs along with your DVD rental. Other DVD rental sites send them out separately, if at all.
In-store Rentals
Perhaps the biggest ace in Blockbuster's deck compared to other online DVD rental services, though, is that they have actual DVD rental stores.
All the Xtra DVD rental packages now offer subscribers in-store rentals every month while subscribers on other plans can get a free rental when they pay for one in-store.
This is something that no other online DVD rental service can offer and neatly solves the problem of waiting for rentals.
Plus, you can help keep sassy, future-Tarantinos in work.
Not-quite Free Trial
You'll notice that Blockbuster have ditched their free trials lately and replaced them with a choice between paying £1 or £2.50 for the first two weeks or getting the first month half-price.
That means that it's only really worth taking the trial if you really do want a commitment-free way to test out the service. If you know that you're going to sign up as a full customer anyway save yourself a quid and go for half price.
Remember that you can change your rental deal at any time too.
Only From Choose...
Remember that you can get save £2.49 a month for life when you sign up to Blockbuster's 2 DVD Unlimited Xtra 1 deal using one of our sign-up links: that's £29.88 a year.
On the Downside...
Unfortunately, there are a couple of niggling problems with Blockbuster DVD rental.
The Blockbuster DVD rental site isn't the slickest we've ever seen and, although it has improved a lot in recent months, we still find some sections hard to find and that we sometimes have to try a couple of searches to find a title.
On the plus side, we love that Blockbuster are adding in plenty of added extras for anyone looking for inspiration for their next rental - the site's news section, newsletter and blog are always entertaining - and seem to be offering more giveaways for subscribers too.
We're also big fans of the site's presence on Youtube and they're one of our top 10 DVD rental sites on Twitter too.
Again, these are all great as long as you can actually find them in the first place.
It's also disappointing that there's only one game rental package currently available from Blockbuster.
We understand that this will updated soon be but currently there aren't many price options if you fancy taking advantage of Blockbuster DVD rental's selection of games for Xbox 360, PC, PS3 and the Nintendo Wii and DS.
Blockbuster DVD Rental gets two-thumbs up for:
Staying chock-full with the latest releases both online and in-store - we hate waiting - and being one of the only DVD rental services that sends bonus discs with movies as one selection.
Free trial details
Actual User Ratings
Independent Comments
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WebUser magazine has awarded Blockbuster their 2006 Gold Award after pitting them head-to-head with the other big names in the industry. They said Blockbuster offer "...An outstanding online service. Reliable, fast and a clear winner".
Web User Magazine
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