Introduction to DVD Rental

Welcome to the exciting new world of internet DVD rentals, DVD rentals by post, online DVD rental, or whatever else you want to call it.

What is internet DVD rental?

Internet DVD rental is extremely simple (in theory, at least).

You choose some DVDs you want to see. The DVD rental provider posts the DVDs to you. You watch the DVDs and post them back in the envelope provided.

When the provider receives your DVD back, they then immediately post you the next DVD on your wish list. And so on. At some point, you pay the DVD rental provider for this service.

And so it continues, round and round and round. You keep watching 'em and paying for 'em, they keep sending 'em.

UK DVD rentals

The history of internet DVD rentals is brief, as it has only really taken off in the past couple of years.

In the UK, there is a large (perhaps even bewildering) array of DVD rentals providers out there, many of whom offer very similar-sounding packages.

Part of the reason for that is that two of the biggest players - LOVEFiLM and Screenselect - actually power quite a few other providers. These 'other providers' tend to be companies with massive access to market, such as Tesco.

Other independent DVD rental providers include Blockbuster, Cinema Paradiso and MyMovieStream.

You can see the major players in our DVD online rental providers directory.

DVD Genie does not pretend to list every provider. We only list those providers who we are satisfied offer a good service, and we keep our directory to a level where we can be sure to record accurate and up-to-date information.

What do you need to know?

We have produced a separate DVD rental by post buyers' guide to help you with decision making.

The single most important thing is to try and work out how many films you are likely to want to watch in a month.

Then you need to think about monthly costs, monthly limits, pay-as-you-go, maximum number of DVDs at once, free trials, adult titles, and even games rental.