A comparison of online movie rental services: Blockbuster vs. Netflix.

What is the best online movie rental service. It boils down to the big contenders: Blockbuster and Netflix. There is a service call Vongo where you can select movies online and download them directly to your computer to watch for a certain amount of time. But this service is largely unproven and not really a competitor to the strong brand names of Netflix and Blockbuster online movie rental services.

I've tried both services. I think they are pretty similar, except that Netflix tends to have harder to find, more obscure, and less popular movies than Blockbuster. Netflix has more independent style movies, while Blockbuster focuses on the mainstream fare that most people will be familiar with.

With Netflix, I had a problem getting newer releases because they were always out. Now, if I can't get a new movie because it's already all rented out, I know that there's a good chance it will be at a Blockbuster store location and I can go pick it up.

It's nothing to scoff at because Blockbuster has 75,000 movies available. The best part about the service is that you can take in the movies you receive in the mail and exchange them or five free in-store rentals.

BLOCKBUSTER is also offering the first month for half price. Of course, if you don't like the service you can quit at any time. I find that I save money each month by being a member of the Blockbuster plan--which I think is superior to Netflix online movie rentals because of the fact you can trade in movies and thus watch twice as many.

Movies rentals cost me an average of $2 as opposed to $5 if I wasn't a member of the service.

****Update.

Now Blockbuster is offering a free one month trial for their online movie rental service. Sign up today. Learn more below.