OTHER TECH

S&V's Guide to Movie Downloads Page 2

MovieLink

Owned by Paramount, Sony Pictures, Universal, Warner Bros., and MGM, Movielink is about as mainstream a site as you can find for buying and renting movie downloads. Of the three sites here, it offered the greatest selection for purchase. I chose Syriana, priced at $19.99. (I could also rent it for $3.95.)

If you have a Windows XP Media Center Edition PC, you can access Movielink from the Online Spotlight using the computer's remote. Otherwise, you can use Internet Explorer and your mouse. (None of the sites here supports Macs or any version of Windows before Windows 2000.) But you first have to download the Movielink Manager, which tracks your purchases and lets you view your movies. The 128-minute Syriana took 55 minutes to download (all three sites require a broadband connection), but I could start playing it less than 10 minutes after the download began. The movie was in stereo, and the resolution of the widescreen image reminded me of VHS playback.

Although you can't create a disc you can use in a DVD player, you can back up a purchase as a Windows Media Video (WMV) file. It took 6 minutes to burn Syriana (a 1.2-GB file) to a blank DVD, which I then was able to play on another PC. But to do that, you have to be logged onto Movielink to reacquire the license. Also, you can play the download on no more than three computers. Movielink.com

CinemaNow

Owned in part by Lionsgate Entertainment, Microsoft, Cisco Systems, and Blockbuster, CinemaNow added a download-to-own service through deals this year with Warner Bros., Buena Vista, Sony, and MGM. Like Movielink, CinemaNow is featured on the Online Spotlight menu of Windows XP Media Center Edition PCs. But, unlike Movielink, CinemaNow didn't work when I accessed it that way.

I downloaded the 2005 Fun with Dick and Jane ($3.99 for 24 hours or $19.95 to own), but when I tried to play it, I was put off by a cryptic "server problem" message. CinemaNow's tech support explained in an e-mail that "our Media Center interface is currently being worked on and therefore you will need to go directly to our Web site using the Internet Explorer browser." So I clicked on Dick and Jane again, and the 90-minute movie took 13 minutes to download. (Fun!)

X