There are lots of options in downloading and/or watching movies online. To begin with, like music downloading, downloading movies online usually meant doing something illegal. Currently, there are plenty of places to download or watch movies online. The illegal options are still available, keep in mind, however the legal movie sites are picking up steam. This article will concentrate on the legal online websites to watch and/or download movies.

There are tons of options out there. Each site offers their very own pricing model, selection, movie formats, and user experience.

You will discover 2 main pricing models that the on-line movie download sites use – monthly subscriptions and per download pricing.

Sites that offer monthly subscriptions give unlimited downloads, for a flat monthly cost. CinemaNow, Netflix, and Vongo operate under this model.

The other major pricing model, per download pricing, is exactly what it sounds like. There will be a fee for each movie download. Amazon Unbox and iTunes operate this way.

Unless you are not planning on watching very many movies in a month, the flat monthly fee is the way to go. There’s also some movies that can be readily available for free from each of the services and various free trials will be accessible to try them out.

The selection varies from service to service. New releases are hit or miss. Movies appear to be available on DVD and then for rental ahead of being accessible for download. CinemaNow appears to get the films more quickly than the others. iTunes selection is the most limited of the key services.

The predominant file format for the download services is Windows Media Video files (.WMV). iTunes is the obvious exception, which offers files as MPEG-4s.

Each service requires you to download their software so that you can download and watch movies. Each interface is unique, but its really a matter of personal preference. Vongo and CinemaNow each have good interfaces.