A Review of the Redbox DVD Rental Service

Chances are you've walked by a redbox. Maybe you were shopping at your local grocery store or mass retailer or even eating at certain fast food establishment and this color of red caught your eye. Since red is the first color our eyes see, it stands to reason that you'll notice it first before anything else. It's a great marketing strategy for those who understand how advertising works. redbox is a DVD rental kiosk, or cubicle, which is unmanned but fully operational by self service touch screen technology. redbox is a subsidiary of McDonalds and Coinstar.

Movie rentals became popular in the 1970's starting with the technology of the VCR. Betamax, or Beta for short was the first, after that we were introduced to the VHS format, which started a healthy competition between the two rivals, eventually JVC's VHS format beat out Sony's Beta because of the "long play" recording time feature. Whether you used it to record television shows or not, most movies for rent after that were produced with the VHS format for your VCR.

A lot of entertainment movies don't get seen in theaters, possibly because they are independent films or perhaps "made for video". This opportunity allows the movie studios to give rental businesses a chance to offer films that might find a viewing audience through customer rentals. I'm sure you've seen or visited Blockbuster Video, Hollywood Video or even Movie Gallery. There is also the popular home delivery rental service, Netflix. Blockbuster and Hollywood Video and Movie Gallery are all traditional types of movie rental stores. You go in, look at about 10,000 movie titles and finally pick one after browsing every genre available, and then you pay and keep your movie for a few days. Netflix has emerged as a new way to rent movies; you can receive movies through the mail.

The name redbox, which is not capitalized, for unknown reasons, has surpassed Blockbuster Video in the number of U.S. locations. You can find a redbox DVD rental kiosk in an Albertsons grocery store, McDonalds, and many Wal-Mart stores. Other retailers are quickly seeing how popular these kiosks are and have welcomed the addition to their store.

The benefits of redbox include: New release DVD movies, PlayStation games and the fact that its just $1.00 a day for both, shows why redbox is fast becoming an alternative choice to renting movies at a traditional store. There is no membership card to apply for and your first DVD rental is free. The first time you use the kiosk it will ask for an e-mail address after you select your movie to rent. You can type in the information or not, it's just a receipt that it sent to your e-mail inbox. If you like a certain movie you can purchase a used DVD's at the same redbox. It won't have the standard DVD shell case but for $7.00, you can save some money.

Since renting videos has become the last thing on someone's shopping list, redbox makes it easy by placing their kiosk at the exit's of most retail stores. Their display of available movies is well lit and you can choose a movie, pay for it, and be home before you know it. It's very convenient and has created some competition in the kiosk rental game. DVDPlay and moviecube have sprung up at local grocery stores as well. DVDPlay is colored red and a moviecube kiosk is an inviting blue. There is nothing wrong with a little competition in the free market. Each one of those rental kiosks companies has something different to offer and they all have promotions to keep you renting at their location. They all have 1-800 customer service numbers in case you need assistance.

redbox also allows you rent on-line; you can choose a movie of your choice, reserve it and then go pick it up at your local or closest kiosk. Another feature is that you can return your redbox movie to any redbox. So, if you're out and about and you have your movie with you, just vend it back into the kiosk closest to you. If you decided to keep the movie past 9:00pm, it will charge you for another day. Each movie is vended and comes in a clear thin jewel case. Please make sure to keep the jewel case, you cannot return your movie without it and you'll be charge the cost of the movie. If you lose the movie, the same rule applies.

A few hints on making redbox your movie rental preference. Movies are due by 9:00pm the next night after you have rented one. If its 8:55pm and you arrive at a redbox, wait a few minutes before you start browsing the selections just in case someone is running a little late to return their movie, its more of a courtesy than anything. Visit a redbox today and see what's showing tonight.