Find Out the Pros and Cons of Renting Movies Online with Amazon Video on Demand

Amazon.com has come up with a solution for people like me who love to rent movies but hate the hassle of driving to a video store. Now you can rent and instantly view a movie online with the new Amazon Video on Demand.

Last weekend my daughter and I were fighting a cold. The only thing I wanted to do was curl up with a blanket and watch a good movie. Since going to a video store in my pajamas was out of the question, I was thrilled when I stumbled upon Amazon's Video On Demand.

Amazon Video On Demand lets you watch movies without having to download them to your computer. Amazon's old method of movie rentals, called Unbox, required downloading the movie to your computer. I tried that once and had to wait forty-five minutes for the movie to download. But now with the new Video on Demand service you are given the option of watching streamed movies online, or downloading the movies onto your computer.

I was pleasantly surprised how smoothly the video ran. It never hesitated or even hiccuped. It looked incredibly clear even when using the full screen option. The sound was good even though I had to use my small computer speakers.

In order to enjoy Video On Demand you will need high speed internet, a good computer monitor, computer speakers and a credit card.

To make our rental experience more fun I turned my monitor around and set up bean bag chairs, blankets, snacks and enjoyed our impromptu movie theater.

If your computer and your television share common connectors you can connect your television to your computer and watch the movies on your television.

While Amazon's Video On Demand has over 7,947 movies available for rental, they often don't have the newest releases. I made a list of my favorite movies and only five out of the fourteen were available for rental. Some movies such as "Made of Honor" are available for purchase but not for rental. TV episodes are only available for purchase.

One movie, "27 Dresses" was available for rental last week, but this week it says, "Due to our licensing agreements this video is currently not available for purchase or rental." Hopefully more movies won't be pulled because of problems with licensing agreements.

The video catalog includes the following categories: Action, African American Cinema, Animation, Classics, Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Gay & Lesbian, Horror, Independent Film, International, Kids & Family, Military & War, Musicals, Performing Arts, Mystery & Thrillers, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Sports and Westerns.

The price to rent a movie ranges from free to $3.99. Some free selections include such titles as Michael Moore's "Slacker Uprising." This is a good way to try out Video On Demand to see if your internet is able to handle streamed videos.

Instead of the typical movie trailer, Amazon Video On Demand gives you more than two minutes of free viewing of the movie. While most of that time is taken up with the opening credits, it does give you a glimpse into the tone of the movie. If you would like to continue watching the movie you just click on Rent this Movie and the movie continues.

While it is convenient to just click and continue watching, I wish there was a step between ordering and watching. The ordering process went so quickly I wasn't even given a choice of which VISA I wanted to use. It had already stored my VISA card information from a previous Amazon purchase. I worry that it's a little too easy for someone, such as my kids, to order movies. I will have to make sure I sign out of Amazon.com each time to prevent that from happening.

When you rent a movie you are given twenty-four hours to watch it. In my case I was able to stop the movie until I had set up our impromptu theater. But it was kind of hard starting and stopping the movie since I had moved my monitor away from my computer, so I ended up missing the opening credits.

Overall I say Amazon Video On Demand is good if your goal is to avoid the video store. It definitely saves you gas and the time it takes to drive to and from the video store. The downside of Amazon On Demand is the limited selection of movies and having to watch the movie on a smaller computer screen.