If you’re having technical, service or supply problems, or just have a question you want answering, why not write to OurExpert@BroadbandChoices.co.uk
Michael Phillips is product director at BroadbandChoices.co.uk and can help with anything from contractual problems, to giving technical advice or telling you how to speed up those slow movie downloads.
On the subject of legal movie downloads, our expert says…
Hi Abayomi,
Thanks for your question. Downloading movies legally from the internet is a great way to get quick access to a huge number of films, both new and old, but there aren’t actually that many sites in the UK from which you can legally download movies onto your computer.
Indeed, many of the sites you may come across are illegal and it’s important to remember that just because a website asks you to pay to download a movie, it doesn’t necessarily mean the download is legal.
The potential consequences of downloading files illegally can be pretty serious. Not only are you breaking the law, but you are also risking opening up your computer to unwanted viruses and hackers. If you are caught, you could be banned by your ISP and face prosecution.
In the guide below, I will take you through the advantages and disadvantages of the main sites from which you can download movies legally, as well as looking at cost, safety and other alternatives.
Which sites offer legal movie downloads?
In the US, Amazon, Blockbuster, Netflix and iTunes are the top legal movie downloading sites but unfortunately their services (apart from iTunes) are not yet available in the UK.
In the UK, the main sites you can use to download films legally are as follows:
Offers standard definition and HD movies including 720p/1080i resolutions.
Disadvantages
There is a limited choice of films.
It requires an Xbox360 console plus Xbox Gold membership which costs £39.99 a year.
Whichever of the sites above that you use to download a movie, you will not be able to burn this movie to DVD. This is due to Digital Rights Management (DRM). If you like to feel you “physically” own the film, then LoveFilm’s offer of sending you the DVD once you have paid to download it is attractive, however this is not available for all titles.
How much does it cost to download movies legally?
It depends whether you choose to “buy” or “rent” the film.
When you “buy” a film, you can keep it on your hard drive forever and watch it as many times as you like, whenever you like. Prices for a full length feature film start at £5.99 from LoveFilm and £6.99 from iTunes.
You can however “rent” a film from iTunes for as little as £2.49 for library titles and £3.49 for new releases. When you rent a movie from iTunes you have 30 days to start watching it and then, once you have started watching it, 48 hours to finish it or watch it as many times as you want. Rentals from LoveFilm start at 79p for short films and £1.99 for full length features - you usually have 7 days to start watching these and then 24 - 48 hours to watch them however many times you like.
Films from the Xbox LIVE Marketplace Video Store are priced in “Microsoft Points”.
As well as the cost, it is also important to consider the amount of storage it takes to download a movie. A DVD quality movie can take up 1-4 GB and you are looking at around 8GB for a HD movie.
Ensure you don’t exceed the download limits set by your ISP using the BroadbandChoices.co.uk Broadband Download Monitor.
How safe is it to purchase movies online?
Downloading movies legally online will require the use of your credit or debit card. As with making any kind of purchases online, it is important you make sure your internet connection is secure (if you are using a wireless connection you should be using WEP or WPA encryption), and follow our tips for protecting yourself from card fraud. If you are downloading from the reputable websites above, your transactions should be secure.
However, an added problem with movie downloads is the fact that you will not normally be able to create a “physical” copy of the film once you have downloaded it, i.e. a DVD. Hence, there have been cases of people downloading movies legally on to their computer, and when their computer has crashed they have lost what they legally paid for.
This is a problem and as a solution, some download sites will allow you to create a “data back-up” DVD which will store the information but will not play on a DVD player.
What are the best packages for downloading?
If you want to download a lot of movies, you’ll need a provider that’s fast, reliable and won’t penalise you for heavy downloading.
Be broadband offers the UK’s fastest headline rate and both its Be Unlimited and Be Pro packages (which offer speeds of up to 24Mbps) come with fair usage unlimited downloads.
O2 Broadband offers three speeds, at 8Mb, 16Mb and 20Mb - all with fair usage unlimited downloads. And like Be, it provides a fast, reliable service that copes well with high levels of downloading.
There are alternative ways to get access to great movies, either by downloading through your television or streaming online.
Virgin Media recently launched the On Demand service for its TV customers, giving them access to over 500 films which can be rented for 24 hours from £2.00 each. The On Demand service also provides access to BBC’s iPlayer.
BT Vision (www.bt.com) offers a similar service, with pay per view films starting from £1.99. BT also offers access to the PictureBox films section for £5 a month. Here there are 28 films to choose from each month (with seven new films added every Friday) which are available to watch whenever you want.
There has been a recent surge in the number of TV download programmes available online from major television companies. You can now watch TV shows and movies, often for free, using applications such as the BBC’s iPlayer, 4oD and FiveFWD.
And, if all else fails, you can always stream clips from Youtube…
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