Digital Home Thoughts: Wal-Mart DVD Rental Service

If you haven't yet tried online DVD movie rentals, you don't know what you're missing. Why, you ask? Simple. Your local brick and mortar movie outlet only offers about 4-6k titles in-store. Not to mention the fact that entire categories or genres often aren't even offered. For example, I am a big fan of old 50's Sci-Fi classics like Forbidden Planet and The Deadly Mantis. But such titles are not to be found even at established chains like Blockbuster. That's where online movie rental comes in. Sites like Netflix and Wal-Mart offer nearly 20,000 titles, covering every genre.


So why did I choose Wal-Mart? Two reasons. First, the service is brain dead simple to use. Just login to your Wal-Mart account. Visit the DVD library. Make your selection(s). And that's it. Wal-Mart mails you two titles from your DVD list at one time, depending on whether you have more than two in your request list. Each movie comes in a simple blue returnable pouch. After you're done, just slip the movie back into its jacket. Place it back it back in the pouch, stick it back in your mailbox, and off it goes to the Wal-Mart distribution center from where it originated.

The second reason I selected Wal-Mart over Netflix is simply for peace of mind. Wal-Mart is the largest consumer retailer in North America. Needless to say, the company isn't going to die or go belly up any time soon. But I do not trust internet pure plays like Netflix. They are small, operating on venture capital, with a clouded future. I know Wal-Mart will be here tomorrow.

There are however one or two caveats to both services. If you live a considerable distance from one of the distribution centers, it will take a few days to send and receive movies by mail. The Indianapolis center where my DVDs come from take about 3 days to get to my mailbox. So I have to time my selections just right in order to receive them for weekend viewing. I know that if I mail out my viewed copies on Wednesday or Thursday, I won't be getting my next titles until early the following week. So it's important to send back your movies by Monday or Tuesday in order to receive your next selections by Friday.

Another downside is that you only receive two movie titles (under the $15 double plan) at one time. If you're planning a long weekend of movie viewing, two titles won't go very far.

The cost of Wal-Mart's DVD rental service is $15.54 per month, which competes very well with Netflix's higher $22 premium. Additionally, you can sign up for three different plans including the default Double plan (two movies) at the basic $15.54 price. A Standard plan (three movies) for $18.76. And a Premium plan (four movies) for 21.94 a month. Still not sure? Sign up for the 30 day free trial service, which you can cancel at no charge. If you are a serious movie fan, this service can be quite addictive, and well worth the money.