Me Lazy?Never! (screenselect.co.uk)

Member Name: Brown_eyes1984

Product:	screenselect.co.uk
Date:	07/03/05 (127 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Can get dvds from the comfort of your own home, fast delievery, great value for money

Disadvantages: don't always get the dvd you want next!

Dvd hire over the internet has become more and more popular over the last couple of years. Lets face it, sitting on a chair in the comfort of your own home is a lot more convenient than walking to your local video/Dvd rental shop, especially in the winter! But another reason a lot of people are turning to the internet for rentals is because of the good, money-saving deals available. And that's exactly why I chose screenselect.

*** A Little Info ***

Screenselect is an online dvd rental service that is powered by 'Video Island'. It has the largest selection of dvd's available with over 29,000 dvd's to choose from, and it provides great money saving deals in it's unlimited dvd rental packages. Based in London you can be sure your Dvd's are never that far away and will be delivered in the shortest time possible.

*** My Opinion On... ***

I was extremely skeptical about renting DVD's online and it took me quite a while for me to actually take the plunge and try it out. Here you will find out whether the packages are good value for money, how many dvd's you get a week and how fast the delivery is as well as other relevant information just to give you the best idea of whether screenselect is for you. So let's start with...

1) The Packages

Screenselect, like a lot of other online dvd rental sites, offers three different unlimited packages. In screenselects case these are:

* 1 DVD at a time: 9.99 per month
* 2 DVD's at a time: 12.49 per month
* 3 DVD's at a time: 14.99 per month

The one I opted for is the 1 DVD at a time package which is obviously the cheapest. However there are other packages available too which aren't advertised that well if you ask me! These are:

* 1 DVD at a time with a maximum of one a week = 7.99 per month
* 2 DVD's at a time with a maximum of 5 a month = 9.99 per month

Now depending on how often you are going to be watching the DVD's these aren't really that great of a deal and you will be better off opting for one of the unlimited packages for an extra couple of quid.

2) How It Works

When you have chosen your package you are told that you should add at least twenty dvd's to your list. This is so they can offer you a fast and better service and will always have at least one of your dvd's available when you are ready for your next rental.

Ten of these DVD's have to include either unique or available selections. A unique selection is for example a box set with more than one DVD with them. An available title is something that has already been released. Now that might seem obvious but some people must have tried just adding films that were due to be released in the near future. Now you shouldn't find it difficult to fulfill this rule as there are over 29,000 DVD's to choose from!

After you have made your selections ScreenSelect will send out one of the films on your list. You get an e-mail telling you when your film has been dispatched and then you just wait for it to arrive. After you have received and watched the film you then send it back in the prepaid envelope they have provided you with and wait for the next one to be sent to you.

3) Do I Get Any Benefits For Signing Up?

When you first sign up you receive the first four DVD's free (or the first 28 days whichever comes first). Offers may change depending on which package you choose but it will tell you before you sign up what you will get. After the four DVD's you are charged the monthly membership fee so make sure if you don't want to continue with the membership that you terminate it before you send back your fourth DVD.

4) How Easy Is It To Sign Up?

It's really easy to sign up but you do need a credit/debit card so that they can charge you for the monthly subscriptions. Also they use it to identify who you are. Don't worry though, even though you give them your details before the free trial has begun, they don't take any money out until after the fourth DVD.

If you don't have a credit/debit card they also allow you to sign up with a BT click and buy account and it works by adding the monthly fee to your BT bill or direct debit.

The actual signing up is easy and should only take around five minutes.

5) How Quick Is Delivery?

I was surprised at how quick delivery actually is. When you first sign up you get your first DVD within two working days and that is the same as all the other DVD's you get. Say me and my fiance watched a film that was delivered to us on a Monday and sent it back the same day, we would get the next one usually by Thursday at the latest. This means we could get three DVD's a week if we are lucky. Usually though we get two a week and sometimes only one depending on the post.

6) Do I Have To Sign For The DVD's?

No. It would be extremely aukward for people working to sign for their DVD's every time they were expecting one and I think the clever people at screenselect recognise this. So the DVD's arrive in a little red envelope that fits perfectly in your letterbox. The postmen/women and the people at screenselect do all the work for you.

7) Do All The DVD's Play?

Now a worry I had was with the DVD's being watched by millions of people, would the DVD's actually play or would there be problems? Luckily enough most people seem to look after the DVD's and although there are a few scratches on them, they play perfectly. Others that we have had however have skipped little sections which is really annoying! Another thing to consider is how old the DVD is. Screenselect offers some of the earliest DVD's brought out and it's common sense that these will have been watched more than the newer ones so are more likely to have problems.

In the event that DVD's don't work for you, you should first try and wipe it clean with a soft, non-abrasive cloth and failing that, go onto the screenselect website and use the problem solver tool to inform them of the problem.

8) The Return Envelope

Now the return envelope is not that easily spotted because it is in fact the same envelope that they sent the DVD in. Confused? Don't worry, you just have to be careful when opening the DVD. You will see some instructions to not tear off certain parts and to tear carefully across others. After you have followed the instructions you will notice that the return envelope is pretty cleverly tucked away and easy to use. There is even a diagram showing which way to put the DVD in. You also don't need to lick the envelope as it has a sticky bit that easily seals the envelope. It's that simple! If I can do it I'm sure you can too!

9) The Layout Of The Site

At first I thought the site looked quite confusing and I found it hard to find my way around. It will take you at least half an hour to find out where everything is and how to browse freely and confidently. Adding things to your selection is easy though because there are big clear red buttons saying 'Add This' which you simply just click on and it will add it for you.

The genres are listed on the left hand side so if you don't have a particular film in mind, you can choose what genre you are in the mood for and find a film based on that. However this is where I found it confusing. When you click on a genre you are faced with a screen that is entitled 'top recommendations for you'. This gives you around eleven movies to choose from and some of them you will never have heard of. I thought at first that this was the only DVD's in that genre that they offered and I was left puzzled as to where the other 29,000 were. However after browsing around I noticed on that same page there is a button at the top next to the word 'OverView' that says 'Entire List'. After selecting that you are then presented with the full list of films they have under that Genre. I do think they could have made this a little more obvious and I'm sure I'm not the only person who has been confused by it.

As well as the genre section they have also got a 'feature' section which includes all the new releases, top rated films and Good date movies as well as others. This is your best bet if you want something a little newer that has only recently been released. The layout is the same as with the genre section.

The last section is the 'collections' section. This includes the top 100 in various categories including recently released, All Time Classics and Hot Hits. This again is a good section because you will find out about loads of movies other people have rated that you may not have heard before.

The rest of the site consists of your account, your selections, help and recommendations. If you want to see what film you are expecting next you can go to 'your Selection' and it will be listed there. Bear in mind however that it doesn't tell you which film you will be getting until they receive the previous one that you already have at home.

Overall the site is a fairly basic one and I presume this is because it has so many film listings on there that they need to keep things simple because of space? I don't think it's particularly eye catching and actually it's a little dull. I don't spend too much time on the site and feel that is slightly to do with the disappointing layout.

10) My Selections

Now as I mentioned earlier you add films to your selection and then they get sent out to you. What I didn't say was that you don't get to choose which films you watch first. So you could end up with something on your selection that you don't actually feel like watching that day and that to me is very frustrating at times. Still you can't complain because the films are on your selection which proves that you do want to watch them at some point.

Another thing to bear in mind is that you don't get sent the newer films first. I have quite a few newer films on the list that I am desperate to see but they just haven't sent them to me yet. They tend to send the older films out first and I presume that is because so many people want to see the newer ones that they just don't have enough copies for everyone meaning you miss out quite a lot of the time. It is slightly exciting though not knowing which film you will get sent next and sometimes you are pleasantly surprised.

There is a section in your 'My Selection' part that allows you to choose priority of the films you want to see next. You select number 1 for wanting to see it as soon as it becomes available, 2 for as soon as possible and 3 for not bothered when you get this film. Now to be honest I've noticed sometimes they don't take any notice of this and they send you ones in option 3 before options 1 and 2. So although it is worth doing, sometimes it doesn't always work out that way. You can also delete films in your selection if you no longer wish to see them.

11) The Range of DVD's

There definitely is something for everyone on this site! I sometimes spend a while browsing through the different genres and I'm amazed at how many films there are to choose from. Granted most of them I have never heard of and a lot of them are foreign films but still the range of films is great. I have found some films that I have never heard of and liked the sound of and found them to be absolutely amazing when I've watched them. There is so much more choice than going to your local shop!

12) Value For Money

I really do recommend this package for value for money. As I said we usually receive around two DVD's a week which if we bought them from our local DVD rental shop would cost us five pounds a week. So with the 9.99 package we are saving ten pounds a month. Also you can keep the DVD's as long as you want, there are no late fees or anything because there is no time limit. This is great because you don't have to worry about post times etc. So definite value for money!

13) Help And Support

Luckily I've never had any problems with them and I've been with them for just over a month now. They have a useful help section on their site which answers any questions you may have and I've heard that their customer service is quite good if you do need to contact them. I can't vouch for that however so all I can say is I've never needed any help or support.

*** My Overall Opinion ***

I really do recommend this package and feel it definitely does save money and hassle. Me and my fiance are now going to upgrade to the two DVD's a month instead of one to save even more money. I've found delivery great and impressive and it is so easy to return the DVD's too. I give ScreenSelect four stars out of five altogether!

Aimee xxx

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