UPD UK Comparison of Broadband Movie Download and Web Streaming Services

We have also excluded iTunes from our comparison because it’s not really a web based solution (needs dedicated iTunes software), can be quite expensive and prefers specific Apple devices (e.g. Macs, iPads and iPhones). Likewise we excluded Cackle, a free service, because its content selection was tiny and most of the flicks seemed to be.. rubbish. On the other hand we did find cult classic “Street Fighter” ™, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, on Cackle (only cult because it was so.. terrible).

The following comparison is in an unordered list.

LOVEFiLM Instant

Type: Unlimited Streaming, Streaming Rental (PPV / Pay Per View)
Video Streaming Quality: Standard Definition (SD)
Stable Broadband Speed Required: 2Mbps+
Platform Support: PC, Mac, iPad, XBox 360, PS3, Internet TV’s (Sony, Samsung etc.) and more..
Price: £4.99 Monthly (Streaming – excludes PPV “Box Office” titles @ £0.99 to £3.49 per film)
Streaming Technology: Microsoft Silverlight

LOVEFiLM is one of the country’s most well established movie rental services and recently moved into the realm of video streaming. It offers an unlimited service (14 day free trial) from just £4.99 per month (apparently this is an “introductory” price) that delivers an extremely strong selection of movies (about 6,500), including top titles like ‘Source Code’. It also covers TV shows but most appear to be from the UK (see the free alternatives mentioned earlier).

The website is strong and feels like a community with useful customer reviews and comments. But it might surprise some people to learn that LOVEFiLM separates a large chunk (around 1,000+ movies) of its catalogue into a Pay Per View (PPV) model of rental “Box Office” releases.

As a result customers can expect to pay up to £3.49 to stream recent “Box Office” releases like Real Steel or Fright Night (£3.49 each), but bizarrely this even includes old flicks like ‘300’ for £2.49. This seems almost pointless and confusing when you can buy the feature rich DVD for a similar cost. The lack of HD quality streaming is also a frustration.

Knowhow Movies (Dixons Retail)

Type: Streaming Rental, Streaming Buy
Video Streaming Quality: Standard Definition (SD), High Definition (HD)
Stable Broadband Speed Required: 1.5-3Mbps+
Platform Support: PC, Mac [TBA – Smartphones, Tablets, Internet TVs, PS3, XBox 360]
Price: £2.99 – £3.99 (Per Film) Pay Per View
Streaming Technology: RoxioNow (Rovi)

Knowhow Movies is the new kid in town and bases its model around a mix of streaming rentals (PPV) and streaming buys (you keep the film). Its catalogue feels smaller and the hugely simplified website lacks features (e.g. a community and better navigation choices), although a lot of the releases were pleasingly quite new. Oddly some films, such as the Kings Speech and Fright Night, were only available to buy outright (£12.99) and not rent.

We did some digging and discovered both ‘300’ and ‘Real Steel’ for £2.99 (rental), which in the latter case is cheaper than LOVEFiLM. Knowhow Movies also claims to support HD video quality, which gives them a slight advantage over some of their rivals.

Netflix

Type: Unlimited Streaming
Video Streaming Quality: Standard Definition (SD), High Definition (HD)
Stable Broadband Speed Required: 0.5Mbps (512Kbps) – 5Mbps
Platform Support: PC, Mac, Wii, PS3, XBox 360, Smartphones, Tablets, Internet TVs
Price: £5.99 Monthly
Streaming Technology: Microsoft Silverlight

Netflix is another new arrival in the UK and also offers an unlimited streaming subscription model for £5.99 a month. Unfortunately its catalogue of movies (1,000+) is smaller than LOVEFiLM and most of the “Recently Added” flicks tended to be a few years old, with the occasional exception (e.g. Blitz, The Expendables etc.). Happily some of the movies support HD video quality.