There are numerous options in downloading and/or watching movies online. At the start, like music downloading, downloading movies online usually meant doing something illegal. Right now, there are several places to download or watch movies online. The illegal choices are still available, keep in mind, however the legal movie sites are picking up steam. This information will concentrate on the legal 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 find 2 main pricing models that the internet movie download sites use – monthly subscriptions and per download pricing.

Sites that provide 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 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 will be readily available for free from each of the services and various free movie trials will be accessible to try them out.

The selection varies from service to service. New releases are hit or miss. Movies seem to be available on DVD as well as for rental prior to being readily available for download. CinemaNow appears to get the movies more quickly than the others. iTunes selection will be the most limited of the major 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 to be able to download and watch movies. Each interface differs, but its really a matter of personal preference. Vongo and CinemaNow each have good interfaces.