Bobbi R.

So in my never ending quest for the best movie site, I bring you vudu.com. I love the HD quality that they offer. This works with the pc, PS3, and any TV, Blu-ray, or media devices, like Boxee, that have it installed.

I tried this on my pc and on my PS3 and it worked great. The really nice thing was I got a free credit to try any movie rental on my pc and a separate one to try out on the PS3. I was able to see it works, and I got to see a movie I really wanted to see. They work with the credit system, no subscription.

You associate your debit or credit card with your account and that's where you are charged for purchases/rentals.

I actually tried this site out a few months ago. What brought me back is the fact that Walmart is partnering up with them to offer streaming movie rentals from the Walmart site. Yes, Walmart's streaming video rentals. Once I saw that Walmart was starting to offer online rentals, I had to check it out.

Vudu rental/purchase policy:

"If you purchase a movie, it is stored permanently on your box. If you rent a movie, it remains on the box unwatched for 30 days. Once you press play, a 24 hour viewing period is initiated, after which your rental will expire. Within that 24 hour period, you can watch the movie as often as you wish. You may also find movies from independent studios that allow you a 48 hour period to watch the movie. After a rented movie expires, you may extend the rental for a discounted price on most of our titles. This option is available for 7 days following the expiration of the original rental."

Prices are pretty reasonable, and if you are able to stream it, with the bandwith you have, and the movie deserves it (because not all movies do), the HDX movies look and sound awesome!

For a typical new release-

To rent:
$ 5.99 for HDX
$ 4.99 for HD
$ 3.99 for SD

To purchase:
$ 19.99 for HDx
$ 19.99 for HD
$ 14.99 for SD

They also have rental and purchase deals on older movies, but I really didn't see anything jump out at me. Walmart is offering 2 days for $2 for some "older" movies. Some of them date back to the early 1900's, and I'm not joking.

There's nothing to buy and they're not selling you anything. It reminds me of the old days on the internet, when it was mostly information. So this is simply for entertainment and and reference.

This site has old advertisements for the 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, & 90's. You can search by product and specify the year or just browse an era. I like looking at the ads from the 70's and letting it take me back to childhood. They also have the ads grouped in categories, so if you just want to browse through a variety, you can.

This site is basically to pass the time. But it's neat to see the old stuff and remember the days.

Four stars because it's "Cool", not five, because I don't really "use" it for anything other than passing time.

Best Buy CinemaNow is another movie site. "Roxio" CinemaNow is partnered with DivX.

You can rent or purchase movies and TV shows from the site. No subscription, the site works with credits that you can purchase online from the site or by purchasing credits (on cards like Napster) from Best Buy.

Movies watched on your PC use the DivX player, which you have to download and set up an account with. The Xbox uses the RoxioNow powered store on the Xbox. The PS3 can be registered to use the DivX, or the movies have to be burned to a CD or DVD to play them on the PS3.

From what I read on the site, the only mobile devices that are capable of playing the movies are the Samsung P2 media player, and just about every Archos tablet/camcorder/media player. Too many Archos devices to list. You can "Browse" the site from your phone, but cannot play the movies.

Movie rentals can be downloaded to your compatible device (PC, Xbox, PS3, HDTV, Blu-ray player). Rentals must be viewed within 24 hours of pressing the play button. Rentals can be kept for up to 30 days if you don't press play to start watching it.

Movies that are purchased don't expire and can be used on up to 5 different devices.

I haven't purchased any movies yet, but there is an extra $1.99 charge (in addition to the credits you use) on your credit card for the download. The site's explanation is "Per the instructions on the Digital Copy insert included with your DVD, there is a $1.99 charge for downloading a digital copy of the DVD you purchased. The download is of the movie only and does not include special features or extra language options and cannot be downloaded without paying the $1.99." I'll keep an eye out for that one when I pick a movie to purchase.

The audio and video quality of the rentals is really good, and there is a pretty decent selection of movies to rent and purchase. This will be another site I use if there's a brand new, just came out movie that I can't wait for on Netflix.

Obviously, as a reviewer on here, I really like browsing the internet. Bookmarks are great, but too often they start accumulating and I don't remember why I bookmarked them in the first place.

This site is kind of like keeping bookmarks, but better. You register for free and you can access it from any browser. I used the Chrome web app store and installed the extension for my Chrome browser. When I go to a site that I like, but don't have time to explore at the moment, I add it to my Thinkery using the button. You can also add directly once you are logged in to your Thinkery site.

If you are familiar with Gmail and how the labels works, this allows you to do the same thing. When you save the page, Thinkery saves portions of the page (images, text) when you add the url. You can add tags (labels) to better identify your new addition (i. E. food, coupons, shopping). You can also add notes about why you added it to your Thinkery. And, it's not limited to bookmarking.

You can also add your random/daily thoughts or notes, and add tags and notes about your thought, as well. You can keep each item in your Thinkery private or you can share with the community.

I tried many different note sites/apps and I like that I have access to this one on any computer. It's very easy to use. Using the extension with Google Chrome, makes it even better because I have the shiny penny syndrome. I browse to a page and want to read it, but "Ooooh, a shiny penny!" and I see something even more interesting. All I have to do is hit my Thinkery button, change my tags, and save. All without leaving the website I'm on, then click the "shiny penny."

Great idea!

Have you ever wondered how long you should keep food (i. E. in the pantry, refrigerated)? Have you ever been confused by the "Best by:" vs. the expiration date? This site has an extensive database of different types of foods, whether they are opened, unopened, canned, or fresh. It's a great site to visit when it's time to clean out the refrigerator. They have recently also added an iPhone app, that I can't speak of because I use Android apps. This is a great site for proper food handling and it's not presented in technical terms. Now whenever my husband asks me if the unopened salami is still good, I can check.

Okay, for those of you who like to rent movies (brand spanking new, just came out this Tuesday, not on Netflix yet movies) this may be the place for you. This is a streaming site, so no downloading necessary (nor is it an option).

So depending on how you like to watch your movies, this may or may not work for you. You have the option of watching on your pc, which, if it's attached to a 32" inch TV like mine, is not a bad option. The video and sound quality are pretty good through the browser and you have 24 hours to finish the movies once you've started watching it. The timer doesn't start on that until you hit play. They gave about ten days to start watching movie before the rental would expire.

You also have the option of taking your movie mobile on your phone BUT only via streaming video using your phone's network. I have a Samsung Galaxy Tablet (Android) that is wi-fi only. It would not let me access the mobile site to finish watching a movie that I started on my PC unless I turned off the wi-fi and used the phone's internet service. Apparently, the iPhone is able to use the wi-fi setting, but any other type of phone is not due to licensing issues. I was able to access the movie on my Android phone via my phone's internet connection and again the quality of sound and video was still pretty good, albeit the screen was tiny.

What I really liked about this site is they don't ask you for a credit card to register and browse the movie selection. I registered because I wanted to test it out and they do have a free rental, which is the one I used to test it out. They are using a credit system. You buy your credits and use them towards your rentals. They also offer a "club" option that is basically a monthly subscription and they give you so many credits to use.

So I gave them the three stars because I really like their site, but I couldn't use my tablet (which is what I really wanted to do) via my wi-fi connection. I may still use them to watch movies on my computer if I am dying to see it, because the prices are typical of a new release rental ($3.99 for most).

I navigated to Grooveshark and took a few minutes to figure out the controls. Three hours later, I'm still listening. I love lots of different types of music from alternative to top 40 to country to classical and I have been pretty content with their choices for me. It's really easy to mark favorites, things you don't like and replay anything you wanna here a hundred times. Skipping to the next song is awesome. Because even though I love the Plain White T's I might not be in the mood for Hey There Delilah for the millionth time. At this time, I don't need any of their subscription options (for mobile), listening on my computer is all I need. Good music site.

I added this site by browsing the Chrome Web Store. I added quite a few, but have been returning to this one over and over. It's basically a site that lets you upload photos or use photos from the web and it transforms the photo. After changing the photo, if you have the settings just right, it looks like a tiny model. I've used life size car photos and scenic photos that I've taken. It's amazing how just a few tweaks and the photo doesn't look life sized any more. It's a little difficult to describe without seeing. The site has some really cool photos in their gallery. They allow you to download your "results" to your computer for free, but if you want really high quality results (i. E. larger resolution), then you would purchase "credits." Because the free sizes are really pretty big already, I didn't need to purchase anything. There's no limit as far as I can tell. I've transformed many of my pics (doesn't alter the original). Fun site!

I was looking for online libraries and saw a link to thereadingsite. I didn't like the way the audio came blasting from my speakers as soon as it loaded. I read what they were "selling" and decided to see if anyone else had anything to say about it. The first few reviews in the yahoo search were obviously from the site, self-promos with the same loud audio. I found my way to this site and was pleased that there was info to stay away. When I tried to close the tabs with that site on it, it had pop-ups asking if I was sure. I used Alt-F4 to close the browser. Stay away from it and it's sister site thereadingsite.net!