Amazon Unbox – Ruler of the Digital Media Empire

14
Mar4

I have found myself frequenting the “Browse Instant” feature on Netflix and purchasing a lot of movie downloads the Amazon Unbox. (sidenote: if you don’t use Amazon mp3, to get DRM free music downloads, you should.)

Both services have a large and constantly growing catalog of titles that include both Movies and TV shows. Both work about the same, but vary in rules and restrictions.

To use Amazon Unbox – you first have to install the “Amazon Unbox Video” player. This application managers your downloads and allows you to view your purchases full screen on you computer.

In addition, you can setup up multiple download ’sites’ and link them to your Amazon account. This lets you download a movie to your computer at home, while sitting at your desk at work. Pretty cool.

Unbox definitely wins the crown for movie/Tv show choices.

It has a lot more New Releases being added on a regular basis, but they aren’t free or free with a membership like Netflix’s Browse Instant. Even though they aren’t free, you can rent movies from Unbox for rates competitive with video stores or choose to purchase them outright for a cost usually much lower than a DVD.

The biggest quirk with Unbox is the restriction that once you start watching a rental it has to be watched within 24 hours. Why? What if I get interrupted? You can keep them for 30 days as long as you don’t start watching them, but after you start the movie, say good bye to it. This is a strange restriction that I expect will change since it is just confusing and complicated.

By far the biggest advantage that Unbox has over any other service, including Netflix is the intergration with Windows Media Center and Windows Media Center Extenders. If I download a Movie to my PC from Unbox, I can watch my movies through my Xbox 360 Media Center, which is where I watch TV and DVDs, so it makes sense. I am not restricted to just the proprietary player provided by Amazon. While I don’t own a TIVO – Unbox is available as an add on that works with your set top TIVO as well.

Lastly, you can choose to download a Handheld (iPod or Zune) friendly format in addition to the original download so you can take your Unbox purchases with you on the go!

Even though Unbox is very heavy in features and friendliness, I do like Netflix “Browse Instant” for a few reason too. Netflix “Browse Instant” integrates with your Netflix Queue so you can quickly see what is available in your queue to watch instantly and Netflix also makes suggestions for you based on your ratings. The Netflix Instant catalog seems a lot slimmer and slower growing then Unbox, but still has a lot of decent movies to watch.

The “Browse Instant” feature is based on an hourly quota per month, depending on your membership plan – but is good for at least a few movies a month and is available at no extra cost if you have a membership.

Besides the slight complication in how many movies you can watch per month, the only real drawback is portability. You have to use the Netflix player right now. You don’t have the option to use your TIVO or Windows Media Center, which is where most people would like to watch them.

On a positive note, I received a survey from Netflix about this very topic which makes me hopeful that someday in the near-distant future I will be able to browse my Netflix Queue from Windows Media Center and just click “Watch Now”. No more mailers no more browsers, just my movies where I want them when I want them.

Until then – I will continue using both services, but as of today I would vote for Unbox every time to be the best more online rentals.