Redbox - Convenient, but not really.

My wife and I signed up for redbox the other day so we can watch the last two Marvel movies before we go see The Avengers. The nearest redbox is 15 min away from my house, that means about a 30 min round trip.

Now I remember why video stores went out of style.

We normally only grab a movie at Redbox if we are already at the store for some reason. Even then it is only about 4 miles or so from the house so no big deal.

Speaking of video stores I was out wandering around the other day and I was on the back side of the buildings that line the main street here. What do I find be a video rental place. The scary thing was they still had VHS

I actually miss movie stores..never know what you could find in the foriegn section

I like Redbox. I preview what I want online at home and then make my choice. Then I go get it. Easy, cheap, and painless. We have 4 boxes less than a mile from here.

The 9 year old Korean daughter and I do a daddy/daughter movie night and get takeout Chinese food and the Redbox is 50' from the restaurant.

Pete240Z wrote: I like Redbox. I preview what I want online at home and then make my choice. Then I go get it. Easy, cheap, and painless. We have 4 boxes less than a mile from here. The 9 year old Korean daughter and I do a daddy/daughter movie night and get takeout Chinese food and the Redbox is 50' from the restaurant.

See that's nice. I would love to have a Redbox near my house, but unfortunately we live in the middle of nowhere and if they put one in my town, it could possibly put the independent video store here out of business.

There is one right in the grocery store we go to so sometimes I grab a stack and return them the next week but more often than not - I just do PPV or netflix because it is just easier than remembering to return anything.

The key is using their website to see what exactly is in the machine. If you see something you like, you can reserve it for 24 hours and go pick it up.

But you usually have to wait in line behind 5 idiots that don't know how to do that. So yes, just get netflix.

mad_machine wrote: I actually miss movie stores..never know what you could find in the foriegn section

We had a tiny, independent store near us that was like 10 feet wide. In high school, stopping there was usually step 1 to a fun Saturday night with friends.

I've never used them, but it seems like Redboxes are everywhere around here. There's one in every McDonald's, plus most grocery stores, drug stores and some convenience stores. I can think of three or four within a six block radius.

I rarely rent/watch movies so I like the box as I rent 1 movie every 12 weeks. I just don have patience.

David S. Wallens wrote:

mad_machine wrote: I actually miss movie stores..never know what you could find in the foriegn section

We had a tiny, independent store near us that was like 10 feet wide. In high school, stopping there was usually step 1 to a fun Saturday night with friends.

^^^^This^^^^

That was my life in high school. Our little independent was about 20x20 and we would go rent something, load up on candy, and spend the night getting a sugar high watching movies about bathroom humor.

Well, on the topic- I learned something last weekend.

We went to Best Buy and bought a DVD player. We bought an "expensive" one at less than $150. I haven't put a DVD in it yet and don't know if I ever will! It'll play the blu-ray disks, but it also has wi-fi. It will stream Netflix and Amazon movies. Thing is crazy! I didn't even know this existed. We have had an Apple TV box for a few years, but it can be a PITA sometimes and doesn't do the Amazon stuff.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: See that's nice. I would love to have a Redbox near my house, but unfortunately we live in the middle of nowhere and if they put one in my town, it could possibly put the independent video store here out of business.

If there's no redbox near you, you can buy one. Find a friendly gas station, pay them a monthly fee to park your redbox there.

Profit.

Seems like a lot of trouble to watch the crappy movies they're putting out today.

Redbox or Blockbuster Express is in almost every grocery store around here. I pass several on the way to work or on my way to my girlfriend's place. Its not at all inconvenient to stop and pick something up, but there is no way in hell I would drive to one with the intention of getting a movie then returning home. That what netflix, amazon prime, or any online-rental service is for.

Of course, if I buy ice-cream while I am at the store, then the trip is justified :)

mad_machine wrote: I actually miss movie stores..never know what you could find in the foriegn section

If you don't have Netflix it's time now. So many good foreign movies, unknowns and so on. There are only a few times they haven't had what I was looking for just because the movie never made it to DVD here.

Pete240Z wrote: I rarely rent/watch movies so I like the box as I rent 1 movie every 12 weeks. I just don have patience.

You can put Netflix on hold for like 3 (or less) months at a time, and just pay the couple bucks for a month and put it on hold again.

Not to mention Netflix has tons of TV series, anime and other short-running-time productions. I just dumped my TV programming since I get ~30 HDTV channels off-air and have Netflix and Youtube for the rest.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: There is one right in the grocery store we go to so sometimes I grab a stack and return them the next week but more often than not - I just do PPV or netflix because it is just easier than remembering to return anything.

That's me. Not too long ago paid $38 in rental fees for a movie I never watched. Even when I did watch them I could never remember to take them back on time. Before Netflix I had memberships at three different movie stores and would rotate as my late fees got out of control. Each one usually had a "late fee forgiveness day (or week)" once a year, so I'd go in that day, rent a movie, and clear my late fees. Luckily thanks to Netflix, I haven't had to play that game in years.

I used to rent from Redbox because it was great for traveling. You could rent in one airport, and return in another. But battery life with a DVD playing sucked, and the iPad and iTunes movie rentals killed that enterprise.