Way back in the dark ages when we watched movies on a VCR we used to rent movies. If we liked it, we’d buy it.
We’ve had DVD players for over three years now and haven’t rented a movie since. If there’s a movie we want to see and we can’t wait for it to come on a cable movie network, we just buy it.
I’ve been trying to figure out why this is and I’ve narrowed it down to a couple reasons:
We’re trying to amass an impressive DVD collection and because they’re so small, space isn’t an issue. We had (and still have) a problem collecting and housing videotapes.
Erm… Well, I think it’s reason and number one and because of this I really haven’t thought of another reason.
If it’s a movie we’ve purchased and didn’t like, we just loan it to a family member (read: give it away). We’ve only done this a couple of times, though.
My BF’s father (can I call him my father-out-of-law?) buys every new DVD that comes out, so I just borrow them from him. It saves me money and time to borrow The Others or A Beautiful Mind rather than rent them. In addition, the big video chains only stock the most pedestrian Hollywood product–if you want to rent a Kurosawa or Almodovar flick on DVD, don’t even think about going to Blockbuster or Hollywood Video. In NoVa, the best rental place for off-beat DVDs is Video Vault on S. Washington Street in Alexandria.
Because it’s not a VCR.
I’ll add a second reason- if you rent at the big videostores (read: Blockbuster) you will notice that renters don’t take care of the discs. With videocassettes this doesn’t matter because the actual playing surface is protected, but I’ve rented DVDs that looked like someone had used the playing surface to wipe their ass.
Luckily the renters at the cool videostore where I live seem to have a clue, I’ve yet to rent a messed up DVD from them.
I still rent DVDs, but I also buy them a lot more frequently than I ever bought tapes. I think I have four actual tapes (The Evil Dead series and Young Frankenstein) that I paid for, and now a pretty sizeable library of DVDs I’ve bought.
I don’t rent as much anymore, though, mostly because Blockbuster started randomly charging me late fees even when I get the video back in time.
Also, dvds that have lots of extras that are nice to have for more than a couple of days, so you can look at all the cut scenes, listen to the commentary, etc.
So, no, I still rent DVDs, but my habits have changed a lot and I don’t rent nearly as much as I did in the days of video.
I’ve actually done the opposite. I used to buy quite a few VHS tapes - not a ton, but substantial for me (~20) - but I only have 4 DVDs. I think the reason is mostly financial, as tuition is my main income drain.
But my friends buy DVDs like they’re going out of style. They’ll buy things they’ve never seen, but have just heard about. They say that renting movies is a waste of money, as the ones they like they’ll end up buying. I don’t completely buy that argument. But I imagine I’ll follow suit once I have a respectable income.
The thing about dvds (not the film itself) is that they’re as good as the system you play them on, so buying and holding on to them makes more sense than with VHS, which degrades. You get a better system, you get better playback.
I typically buy concert DVDs but rent movies. I guess mainly because rental concert DVDs are hard to come by.
Way back in the dark ages, we used to rent a lot of VCR tapes too. But that was the only real option. It cost you five bucks to rent Star Wars, but over 100 to buy it. It made sense economically. Now, new movies cost 20 bucks on DVD and compared to the dark ages that’s a good buy. Particularly given it can easily cost forty bucks for four people to go see a movie in the theater. Recently I bought The Others for 20 bucks even though I hadn’t seen it, watched it at home with four other people, and didn’t have to watch commercials, endure crying children, etc. Currently, I wouldn’t mind seeing Austin Powers 3, but there is no real compeling reason to see it in the theater. I imagine if I wait, I may be able to buy it on DVD for 15.99 and watch it at home, where I can drink a beer while watch.
Well, I almost never rent movies at all. In the past two years, I don’t think I’ve rented more than 5 movies.
So, I won’t buy a DVD player as I don’t think I have a use for it. (Strangely, I’ve bought 3 or so DVDs that I was afraid were going to be limited editions, or something I’d really really want once I actually coughed up the money for a player.)
Oh yeah, and to prattle on even further. The other day I rented The Time Machine which I definitely do not want to own, and it still cost me five bucks, same as in the dark ages. So no you’re not the only Doper who doesn’t rent DVD, I doubt I’ll rent DVD’s much. It makes more sense to purchase a DVD and have unlimited viewings of what you know you want. My cd place already swaps DVD’s, if I hate it, I can trade it.
If it’s a DVD that I expect I’ll watch more than twice, I try to buy it.
The rental fee is ~$3 for 5 days. Considering I never manage to return a rental on time, I pay $6, or sometimes $9. If I rent it a second time, my total financial hit goes from anywhere from $12 to $18.
I think buying makes more sense, especially if you think you might view it more than once.
If you are presently in the habit of making special trips to Blockbuster to rent DVD’s and then another trip to return them, you can save a lot of time and hassle buying DVD’s on the internet.
I haven’t rented any DVD’s yet. I own over 200 discs, though. Most of them are titles or sets I wouldn’t find in a rental store: Monty Python, The Prisoner, X-Files series, etc. I buy movies that are my favorites thay may include extra stuff or have been remastered. I have a ton of videotapes I’ve made over the years and some are starting to show their age. Some are movies that I, but may not have wide appeal like Gregory’s Girl. I can’t recall ever seeing in a video store in any format.
I will buy used DVD’s. Usually paying no more than $8-10 each.
I rent as I almost never watch a film more than once.
The exceptions are music-oriented films that I can later play in the background and not necessarily have to sit down and watch; Moulin Rouge, Fantasia, Evita…and I only buy those if they are cheap, in the “pre-viewed” bins at the rental stores.
I will, however, break down and buy Lord Of The Rings special edition coming out in November…and most likely will do the same next November and the following November.
Other than that, rent only.
(How can you guys plunk down $20+ for some godawful Battlefield Earth or something without seeing it first?!?!?!)
There’s an ordinary version coming out in August, and then an expanded collector’s set coming out in November which will include approximately 30 minutes of footage cut from the movies.
Or so I was led to believe – I’ve been burned several times on buying a DVD only to see a Special Edition come out later, and then a Super Special Edition, and an Extra-Special Super Whizbang Edition …
Princess Bride, I’m looking at you here. Tombstone, you’re not much better.
