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 Movielink is a solid video on demand service with a fairly wide inventory, but not among our top choices as it lacks the flexibility and range of the top companies. Also, we see a notice on their website that as of December 1th, Blockbuster will fuilly take over the the VOD service. The company was first owned by the major studios (and was even more restrictive given their obsession with piracy) and was acquired by Blockbuster in August 2007, as a means to combat Netflix's new VOD service.
Given its studio-run origins, Movielink does have an excellent selection of more recent Hollywood films, not the older fare that makes up the majority of most VOD services. Movielink draws its content offerings from the libraries of Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Universal Studios, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Buena Vista Pictures (including Miramax), Twentieth Century Fox, Koch Entertainment and others.
You can browse their 23 genres, or search on title, actor, or director, but surprisingly not keyword like other sites. The process works like any e-commerce site, you add films to your Shopping Cart (there's even a cart icon), then pay, and then the downloading begins.
 You first need to download Movielink Manager, a program which will control movie download and playback. The actual films are in both Real and Windows Media formats, and you can watch them using progressive streaming--let the film start downloading and buffer for 2-10 minutes (depending on your internet speed), then start watching as it continues to load. We've heard some complaints, especially on slower connections, that you get choppy video when you view while downloading. Even smooth playback we've found does not appear to match DVD quality.
Or you can download it all, then wait up to 30 days to view it. Though once you begin viewing, it generally expires within 24 hours--this is a standard feature across most VOD sites for "rental" options. The films generally run about 1 GB in size (average download times are 30-90 minutes, depending on your connection speed), and are simply DRM-protected Windows Media Video (WMV) files. Unfortunately, there are different terms for various studio's films, so with many, you can only watch the film on one computer, even if you purchased it! With some studios, you can share it to three devices, as with iTunes. This area needs improvement to allow more flexibility in viewing.
For customer service, we regret that they don't have a phone line listed (even their mailing address is only buried in their privacy policy), but they do offer live online chat support, which few sites do. There are some things to beware of; for instance, if your system crashes or you accidentally delete the film, you will need to re-purchase the film to replace it--there are no refunds. You can burn the DRM-protected movie file to CD or DVD, but it will not play in a DVD player.
Movielink does not offer an adult -mature X-rated category unlike the vast majority of VOD services, and it is child-friendly, complete with a well-stocked Family genre.
 Dissemination: Viewers can of course watch Movielink downloads on their computers, using either Internet Explorer, or the Firefox browser while using the separately installed Internet Explorer tab.
However, most customers are more likely to view content on a TV screen through an Xbox 360 or set-top boxes like AT&T's Homezone. Windows Vista or Windows Home Media Server computers have built-in capability to connect to a TV and be controlled by remote control, so that remains a good option to bridge the gap from the net to the living room.
Movelink lags far behind competitors in facilitating content streaming to portable media center (PMC) devices--if that is your goal, best look to rival CinemaNow which supports more of these options than any other service. In their FAQ, Movelink simply directs customers to Microsoft's website on PMC issues, providing no specific support or guidance for use, which is disappointing.
Prices: Movelink's prices for pay-per-rent range from $.99 to $4.99 (typical $3.95 for Hollywood films). For purchasing a film, downloads start at $1.99 (typical $19.95 for Hollywood fare). In addition to standard credit and debit cards, you can also use Paypal.
There are some neat options like the Full Season Pass, which allows you to purchase the entire season of a TV show before all the episodes are available. As they come out you receive an email notification. They also have sales, sometimes half-price, which can make films excellent value.
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VOD Basics