With the convenience of the internet, vast DVD / Video title range and low prices, online DVD / Video rental is becoming a popular choice for renting DVD / Video's. With the ever increasing penetration of the internet and consumer spending over the internet following close behind, it doesn't take a lot to imagine that Online DVD / Video Rental may well overtake the traditional high street alternative.

The ‘UK DVD / Video Rental Guide' website was established earlier this year to provide consumers independent reviews, comparisons and rankings of the major UK providers of online DVD / Video rental services. Comparing the various online DVD / Video rental companies needs to take into account a number of factors, including:

(i)Number of DVD / Video titles offered by the rental company;
(ii)Availability and length of a Free Trial period;
(iii)Any penalties and/or restrictions of the service;
(iv)Website Design and ease of use;
(v)Film classification and ease of finding your favourite DVD / Video titles;
(vi)Range of packages available and pricing; and
(vii)Any hidden extra's

Price is just one of these important factors, and this article seeks to help people understand the various packages available and how to understand which offer best value for money. It is important to stress however, that the cheapest price is not necessarily indicative of the best online service provider.

The price of the rental package doesn't mean anything in terms of value, unless you consider the price it has cost you to watch each DVD / Video per month. This means you need to know how many DVD / Video's you can realistically watch in any given month.
So, how many DVD / Video's can you receive in a month? Well, it depends upon a number of things including (i) how quickly you watch the DVD / Video after receiving it, (ii) how quickly you get it back into the return post, (iii) how quickly the postal service gets it back to the online provider, (iv) how quickly the online provider registers its return and allocates your next selected DVD / Video, and (v) how quickly the postal service delivers it to you.

While you can't control all of these unknowns our experience has been that if you select the one DVD / Video at a time package, and you watch the DVD / Video and return it the same day, you can receive three DVD / Video's a week or twelve a month. This means, that if you pay £9.99 per month then the average price for each DVD / Video you watches is just 83 pence - now that's great value. Not everyone will be able to watch and return so quickly but its still a good price if you watch less DVD / Video's a month. For example, two DVD / Video's a week works out at £1.24 per DVD / Video and one DVD / Video a week works out at £2.49.