The best solution is TIVO.

Everything I could possibly want to watch (and much more) shows up eventually on either Showtime or HBO and the old movies will show up on TMC or AMC.

I go to movies a lot -- if I haven't seen it in the movie theatres, I really don't care if I have to wait a few weeks until it finishes the home video/DVD window and moves on to the pay television window.

It's much easier from a time management to just turn on the TIVO and choose what I want to watch and it eliminates all clutter -- I don't have a single DVD. tape or CD -- all my stuff is digitized.

Our Dish Satellite allows us to record on the unit itself. Any movies, PPV or starz, etc. With a 4-yr old, it's the best for us. It may be a bit pricey, but we constantly record only what we want and there are never late fees, so it may not be that expensive.

Blockbuster has a club that I think allows you to keep movies longer or all at the same rate.

Netflix does away with the late fees, but you have a limit to the number you can have (varies with your monthly fee) on the way, in the house and on the way back. However, you can make a list and they fill it as fast as possible, so you don't have to order every time, just add to the list.

TIVO is OK, but it's limited to the movies that have reached your local TV ... so you need cable PLUS TIVO and don't get the newest DVDs for a while.

Locally, slome opf the video rental shops have a Netflix-like service: monthly fee for "x" DVDs checked out at a time, with no late fees. That might work, if they offer it cheaply enough.

Thanks for refreshing me on the various alternatives. After thinking it through yet again, I think I'm going to go ahead and try Netflix, and supplement it with taping more oldies from Turner Classic Movies. That way I'll have something on hand while between Netflix shipments.

Tivo sounds great for you Blazedog, but we don't get extra channels like HBO, so I probably wouldn't get that much use out of it--although the principle of recording things to watch later is a good idea. I've gotten out of the habit of programming the VCR; thanks for the reminder.

There is some stuff I'd love to see that's only available on Satellite (Eastenders!), but we are reluctant to switch from cable because of all the trees around our house. What if we go to all that trouble and then don't have good reception?

As far as the video store programs--we are in Hollywood Video's right now, and there are 2 problems. The absolute newest movies aren't available in the program; we'd have to pay extra to rent them out individually. And there *are* late fees. With Blockbuster's there's no late fee, but, it's more expensive than Netflix, I'd still have to drive back and forth, and it's not in a direction I usually go.

Thanks again,

Erica

Erica, I think this is really smart of you! Technology and marketing changes really can make our lives easier; we just have to figure out which problem they will solve, and whether it counts for us.

I'm betting you'll feel, in a year or two, the way online-banking folks do. That this automates your life in a way that makes it easy.

Keep us posted!

You can join Blockbuster online for like $18 a month. I think it's worth it IF you watch a lot of movies and/or pay a lot in late fees. Their online selection is INCREDIBLE, much greater than what we have here in town. You line movies up in your "queue" and you get three at a time. They mail them to you and you mail them back; when they get one back they mail you the next one in line.

I joined up for a two week free trial through the "free ipod" site. It was fun but I ended up not joining because we don't watch a lot of movies. But it could be a solution for you.

Sylvia - Thanks for the tip, although I'm signed up at Netflix now. I'll keep it in mind, along with Wal-Mart who I understand also does the DVD rentals by mail.

I checked the BB website and saw the offer you mentioned. I don't know what Blockbuster is thinking, though. In the store, they have signs up about a program that's $24.99 a month for videos from the store. They are charging MORE for a smaller selection of titles, and making you shlepp the movies back and forth than they are for a better selection and home delivery! Strange, huh?

Tally Sue, you are so right about online banking. It's hard for me to remember what life was like before home computers, Quicken, and online banking. How did we manage? ;)

Erica, I'll be curious to hear how Netflix works for you - DH and I have been considering it for quite some time now, and just haven't quite gotten around to signing up (we don't have cable/satellite or anything like that, so while I tape TV shows with the VCR, not many new movies play on the 5 channels we get through the antenna). At the moment we just run to the video store - drop them off the next day for $1 credit the next evening (normally we just rent on weekends, so no big time issue there). Being lazy though, we'd love to have them delivered to the house and then just mail them back.

So if you'd give us a report in a couple of months, I'd be really happy to hear how it's working for you! :-)

I have been a Netflix customer for the last two months. It is great fits my needs perfectly. I like to buy DVD's but there are also a lot of movies I want to see but dont want to purchase. I think I currently have close to 100 movies in my Queue so that should keep me busy for the next year or so! If you like movies and frequently rent this is a great deal. I also prefer it to the movie channels as they dont show all the movies I want to see and they show them in full screen. So I gave up HBO and buy less movies so I definately save more than $17.99 per month.

first off i must say, i LOVE my tivo, couldn't imagine living without it. for movie rentals though, i use my digital cable service with the "on demand" movies. it costs 3.99 for a movie and the movie can be watched any time in a 24 hour period. (this works out well if i order a movie at night when my husband is at work and he can watch it the next day while i'm at work). the digital cable service is a bit pricey at 75.00 a month, but that gives me digital cable in the bedroom with regular cable all over the house. i figure i'm probably making out on the plus side because i'm no longer paying continual late fees on the dvd's that never seem to make it back to the video store on time. my digital cable box has the built in dvr but it's garbage. i much prefer my good old tivo that we've had for 4 years now in our family room. the only problem with tivo and cable is that the tivo and the cable box have problems communicating for channel changes so i wouldn't recommend using the tivo with a cable box. it works great for cable running directly into the television though. i've thought about using netflix, but i was wondering how much control you have over the movies you get. from what i know about netflix, you have a "want to see" list and they choose for you what comes to you when you return a movie. i could see myself still using the "on demand" movies or the video rental store if i really had an urge to see a specific movie.

You have a Queue in Netflix that you prioritize so the movie in the number 1 spot will be the next movie you receive, Netflix does not choose the order.

Jig -- Not that this thread is about TIVO and cable boxes but there are easy cures to make channel changing with a cable box work 99% of the time. I have two TIVO's - one running through my digital cable box and one in the bedroom without digital.

There are a number of reasons why your TIVO isn't communicating well with the box -- it has to do with either the set up -- there are several options for each type of box and some work without problems. The other issue has to do with too much light bouncing off the diodes -- this can also be fixed.

There is a forum for TIVO users and if you post a question, you will get a lot of good results.

I can't imagine life without my TIVO attached to my digital cable box -- that's how I capture all my HBO/Showtime series and movies :)

Yeah -- you're right about the DVR technology offered by the cable companies -- really mediocre.

We had Netflix for a while (a few years back) it certainly nixed the late fees, but it didn't really allow for spontanaity(sp?) or for seeing new releases. Those were the only drawbacks we had with it. If I could find a setup like that with new releases avaiable right away I'd go for it!
(my music club was like that too - anytime I wanted a cd it wasn't available yet)