Buy or Rent dvds? (1 Viewer)

[David Proud]

I always buy my dvds but what are the advantages of buying dvds? I find myself only watching them 1 time and I have about 60 so far. should I just stop buying dvds and rent movies instead?

 

[george kaplan]

If I've never seen a movie before, I rent it.

If I've seen it and know I'll want to watch it again and again, I buy it.

If I've seen it and have no desire to ever see it again, I neither rent nor buy it.

 

[Chris PC]

If you buy a DVD and you no-longer feel the need to keep it, you can sell it, or you can trade for something else you haven't seen and/or want to own.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Besides, DVD was not originally intended as a rental medium. And you can tell that by looking at the condition most rental DVDs are in. As was mentioned, you can always sell a DVD you no longer want.

 

[DaveF]

Rent: $4

Buy: $20

Sixty DVDs cost about $1200. For that you could have rented 300. But you would own none of them.

Do you like to have stuff? Then buying can satisfy that desire.

Do you want to take time to watch the movie and additional features at your leisure? Then buying can be better than renting.

Do want to say, with your money, "Make more of these sorts of movies"? Then buying is probably more effective.

But if you only watch a movie once, then you can watch five times as many movies if you rent instead of buying.

I don't have much money at the moment, and it's wasteful for me to buy stuff that won't get used. So I mostly rent, and buy only the very few movies that I know I will watch repeatedly.

 

[Chris Shelly]

I am not sure what it is but when I was renting DVD's for a while and at least 1/2 the time the DVD was messed up. I would spend $3.00 to rent the movie and then drive home and find out it would not work. Then I would have to drive back and exchange it for a different copy. Once I had to do this twice for the same movie. Then of coarse you had to drive and return it when you are done. Because of this I decided to buy most of my DVD's. I can go to Costco and get most new releases for under $20.00. Here is a really funny piece of humor. I worked with this guy who was really good with electronics. He claimed that playing rental DVD's were bad on a DVD player. Dirt and scratches can cause problems for the optics and alignment. Not sure how true that is but I have noticed some badly scratched DVD's cause my player to scan the surface of the disk rapidly...so go figure!!

Chris

 

[Dave H]

I'm like George, in this regard.

One thing I have been doing a bit more is buying used (fairly new release) DVDs - this really helps save the cost.

But, if you buy a 17.00-18.00 movie, you should be able to sell it for 12-14.00 which nearly balances costs to the same as rental - if you don't mind the minor hassle of selling or trading online.

 

[Jeremy Anderson]

380 DVD's in my collection, and I've never rented one. However, I'm a geek... so I've watched the majority of my collection multiple times. Hell, I just watched Shrek and Spy Kids again for no particular reason!

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I own over 500 DVD's, and have probably sold about 60 more. I like having different films available for whatever I feel like watching that evening. I do purchase some DVD's without having seen the movie first. The few that I do not care for get sold, and the small loss I may take is about what I would have paid to rent the disc. Many of the discs I have sold were due to a newer version being released, and not because I did not care for the film.

I have only rented a couple of discs through RentMyDVD.com. A co-worker who is also a film nut owns a DVD player, so we loan some discs to each other. I have been able to see some recent releases I did not think were worth the purchase this way, and I am expanding his appreciation of classic films

 

[Scott-C]

I am a movie nut and enjoy watching a movie multiple times. Because of that, I buy movies that I know I'll watch more than once. If I haven't seen the movie, 90% of the time I try to rent it first and if I really enjoy it, I'll add it to my collection (I also really like to have a library of movies from which to choose at my whim). The other 10% of the time I'll buy the movie if my instincts just tell me I'm going to enjoy it. If I buy it and don't really like it, I sell it and usually can recoup at least 75% of the cost of the DVD. The other 25% equates to the cost of renting it, so I don't feel like I've lost much.

There are of course exceptions to this rule...but for the most part that's my strategy.

 

[Jon_B]

I agree with George on this one. I have to see the movie to know if I'm going to like it or not. I don't want a movie on my shelf that I know that I don't like. I guess I could try and sell it if I didn't like it. Maybe I'm lazy in that regard.
Jon

 

[David Lambert]

I like to have the "library" available to me at my convenience. For that reason, I buy...it's been years since I rented anything. It's mine, it ain't going anywhere, and if in 20 years I get a notion to watch a particular item, I don't have to track it down or worry about whether it's in print, on moratorium, or altered in some fashion. I have it, the way I want it.

If it's not available that way, then I just don't buy it.

 

[Allen Hirsch]

I do both.

If I know I like a movie, I'll buy it. If I haven't seen it in the theater, and don't know if it's going to be a keeper - I rent first.

I've only had 1 or 2 bad discs from Netflix in over 2 years' rentals, and their mailing system and rental queue makes it almost hassle-free to have 4 movies on hand at any one time I haven't seen before. I've seen over 40 AFI 100 movies this way - classics that I definitely wanted to see, but probably wouldn't want to buy, at least not sight unseen.

When online DVD bargains were widespread, I could take a flyer to own a movie I hadn't seen, since it'd only cost ~$8; now that's more like $18 or $20, renting first is much more economic and practical. (I don't like the hassle of buying, then selling a DVD I don't want to keep.)

 

[Jim Tudor]

Like Allen just said, when DVD bargains were widespread on the web, I'd buy A LOT more titles that I wasn't sure about. I like to go through all the extras at my leisure, so owning is definitely preferable to me. But, since the bargains aren't nearly as rampant as they once were, I need to be more selective about what I buy.

Just lately, I've started renting. I got in on the Blockbuster $25.00 Shrek pre-order deal back when they had that, so I had ten free rentals to use up. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't have seen many recent popular films like TOMB RAIDER, RUSH HOUR 2, and LEGALLY BLONDE. I won't be buying any of these movies, but I'm glad to be caught up with the rest of the world as to having now seen them. (Of the ten free rentals I've used up, it looks like only two are titles I'm going to buy: HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH, and THE SCORE.)

It's annoying to not have enough time to get through all the extras, but that's the price for renting.

JiM T

 

[Steve_Ch]

I used to rent a lot, had a very active Netflix membership, but I just don't rent anymore. Most of the DVD I brought are on sale with coupons etc, so the average cost is less than $18. Sometime I buy DVDs from clearances that's on par with rent. The ONLY expensive DVDs that I buy are the ones that I watch over and over and have to have, such as Criterion's Brasil, Seven Sumarai, Third Man...

If I ever go back to renting again, I will renew my Netflix, as they've been pretty good. Never again Blockbuster, as with tax, it's about $4+ a movie here, and if you get one of the new releases, you have less than 24 hours to view it. BB also has a nasty habit of telling you that a movie you rented 2 months ago was return late and you have to pay extra (can ANYBODY remember the exact day they return a movie 2 months ago ??). I think BB is in the process of settling a class action suit on their late fee stuff, but never again (for me).

 

[Ryan Wright]

I buy them. All of them.

I figure it this way: I don't go to the theater anymore. I used to go at least once a week, but when I realized the joys of my own home theater, that was the end of my wasting money on commercial theaters.

It costs me $8 to get into a movie. If I bring my wife, it's $16. For one showing. To hear crying babies and cellphones and other people talking. A DVD is only $2 more. For unlimited viewings in the privacy of my own home. Bonus, popcorn is 2000% cheaper (25 cents for a huge bag of hot, buttered microwave popcorn vs. $5 for the same thing at the theater). TWO THOUSAND PERCENT. Ouch.

So, I figure the $18 price tag on a DVD is cheaper than entry into the theater. If I rent it first, then movies I like end up costing $21 ($18 to buy and $3 to rent), and I figure if I saw a movie in a theater that I didn't like I'd lose my $18+ anyway, so what the hell. If I see an advertisement for a new movie, I make a mental note and buy it on DVD. In fact, I'm going to see The Fast and The Furious for the first time as soon as it's released...

The only downside? When I get a new movie, friends aren't eager to come screen it with me. They've already seen them all in the theater. So, my HT gets used the most when I am the only one sitting there (unless the movie is a comedy, in which case my wife joins me, or if it's worth seeing twice by people who don't usually like to see movies twice, then a few buddies come over). I still don't get the "don't want to see a movie twice" thing. I watch mine over and over again.

 

[Steve_Ch]

>>It costs me $8 to get into a movie. If I bring my wife, it's $16.

 

[Tom-G]

I see most of my movies in commercial theaters. Movies are made for the big screen and home viewing usually doesn't equal it.

After I see a movie in the theater, I know if I want to buy the DVD. Some movies I hold off on seeing until they are released on DVD because I don't have a strong interest in seeing them, and it is much cheaper to rent.

I found lately that between work, Tang So Doo classes and weight training, that I just don't have the time to devote to DVD watching. Especially when you consider the fact that most DVDs have a considerable amount of supplements available.

What I'm getting at is that I don't buy as many DVDs as I once did. There are a plethora of DVDs that I have spent good money on, but have yet to watch. I'm guilt-ridden because of this!

 

[RobR]

I use Netflix for most movies and purchase only very few selected DVDs. I prefer to rent since if I buy the first pressing, I'd end up repurchasing the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and so on pressings, which sucks.

It's much more convenient to rent until the Special Edition versions become available, at which point I might consider purchasing them. I'm still waiting for the SE or anamorphic version of a lot of great movies (Goodfellas, Raging Bull, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Robocop, Batman, etc.). Otherwise, I'd be doing a lot of selling (although either method would cost roughly the same).

 

[Ryan Wright]

Movies are made for the big screen and home viewing usually doesn't equal it.

It does on a 65" widescreen set 10 feet from your face. You just have to make sure the kids are in bed or away, the wife is busy with a project and the dog has been played with, otherwise the distractions approach those available at a commercial theater.
Besides, I have yet to come across a theater that has a recliner as comfortable as my own and lets you eat pizza and buffalo wings while you drink from a LOTR light up goblet.