There are numerous 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 lots of places to download or watch movies online. The illegal options will be still available, of course, however the legal movie sites are picking up steam. This information will focus on the legal online websites to watch and/or download movies.

There are a variety of options around. Each site offers their very own pricing model, selection, movie formats, and user experience.

There are actually 2 main pricing models that the internet movie download sites use – monthly subscriptions and per download pricing.

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

Another 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 aren’t planning on watching very many movies in a month, the flat monthly fee will be the way to go. There are also some movies that will be accessible for free new movie from each of the services and various free trials are available to try them out.

The selection varies from service to service. New releases are hit or miss. Movies seem to be available on DVD and for rental just before being accessible for download. CinemaNow appears to get the movies more quickly than the others. iTunes selection is the most limited of the main 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 different, but its really a matter of personal preference. Vongo and CinemaNow each have good interfaces.