For years my friends and I have been bemoaning how NetFlix does not have any competition. Each time the rates were changed, or when they decided to only stock one copy of each movie (allowing them to ignore any future special editions of titles), or when they decided to require multi-disc sets to be separate rentals, or when their service became so slow we could only get movies every three weeks, we kept wishing NetFlix had some competition.At last it appears there’s a new challenger in town. I tried out DVD Avenue recently for about a month. Their website is arranged much like NetFlix’s, with the opportunity to browse through titles and to add them to a queue. NetFlix’s design has more polish, but the DVD Avenue site is serviceable. You are able to rearrange the order of titles in your queue and can also see the availability of your selections.
The company is based in Maryland, which is good news for East Coast customers, especially considering how NetFlix was based out of San Diego. I got my first two selections within the week, just like the early glory days of NetFlix (back when I could watch a movie on a weekend, send it back, and get the next in time for the following weekend. This was back before NetFlix deluged the DVD buying population with coupons and deals and became so popular they were evidently overwhelmed and their shipping speed dwindled so badly it took over one week to send back a movie and more than another week for the next one to arrive).
The disc arrived in a heavy yellow envelope. It was contained in a foam sleeve, which was a nice touch. The return envelope comes pre-canceled and is heavy paper, roughly the size of a disc, unlike NetFlix’s oversized, floppy envelopes. The foam sleeve however does not fit into the return envelope, so the disc is secure when it arrives but could be possibly damaged on the way back. The foam sleeves appear so wasteful that I assume this nice touch will disappear soon. (Though they might prove useful at home I guess.) Although DVD Avenue has not been around that long, the discs were quite scratched and worn, although I did not have problems playing them. It took about three or four days for me to receive confirmation that my disc had been returned; and this was about as expected. Their reply e-mail was quite bare-bones: no salutation, just two terse sentences. “DVD Avenue has received [your movie]. Remember to always keep plenty of selections in your queue to ensure you always have movies on hand.”
Interestingly, of the half dozen discs I rented, none of them was my first choice, even though according to my queue the first choice was available the whole time.)
One noteworthy aspect of DVD Avenue is that they rent out Playstation and other disc-based games, which NetFlix does not. At least this might win them the gaming audience. One drawback however is that they too insist on renting multi-disc sets as separate discs. This would make sense for a boxed set, or the complete season of a television show, but can get irritating when just renting a regular two-disc set.
Once my tests were done, canceling my membership was quite easy. When I first joined I was told I would have to e-mail them to cancel; but when the time came for my cancellation (that is, before I’d need to pay again), I was able to do it all online. I had no particular problems with DVD Avenue, and I feel they’re off to a good start; but as luck would have it, NetFlix has opened up a branch in Lansing, in my state, so now my movies are only taking two days to arrive.’
