There are various options in downloading and/or watching movies online. First off, like music downloading, downloading movies online usually meant doing something illegal. These days, there are several places to download or watch movies online. The illegal choices are still available, simply, but the legal movie sites are picking up steam. This information will concentrate on the legal online websites to watch and/or download movies.

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

You can find 2 main pricing models that the online 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.

The other major pricing model, per download pricing, is precisely what it sounds like. There will be a cool way to improve 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. Additionally, there are some movies which are 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 prior to being accessible for download. CinemaNow appears to get the movies 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 will be the obvious exception, which offers files as MPEG-4s.

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