# Amazon movie rentals



## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

I very rarely go to theaters to see movies. I have a Netflix DVD account. That's the way I see new movies I'm interested in. I just wait for the DVD. Takes longer now for DVD rentals to be available. I own a lot of TV DVDs. I have plenty to watch. So I thought maybe I'd cancel Netflix and just rent and watch recently released movies from Amazon on my Fire.

But I don't understand something. On Amazon page --



> Learn more about renting and buying: You have 30 days to complete watching this 48 hour rental.


Thirty days? Forty-eight hours? I don't get it. There's nothing on the page that explains it to me. Has anyone rented movies from Amazon? How does it work?


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## Sherlock (Dec 17, 2008)

I've not rented one either, but it seems to me I read somewhere that once you rent it, you have 30 days to start watching it.  Once you start the movie, then you have the 48 hours (or whatever) to finish it.

Not completely sure about that however.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

Sherlock said:


> I've not rented one either, but it seems to me I read somewhere that once you rent it, you have 30 days to start watching it. Once you start the movie, then you have the 48 hours (or whatever) to finish it.
> 
> Not completely sure about that however.


yep, that's right. I've rented quite a few things from Amazon that way.


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## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

Thanks.  

Going to test it.  Then just might cancel Netflix.  I have soooo many TV DVDs to watch.  Keep me busy for a long time along with reading.


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## Shastastan (Oct 28, 2009)

BTackitt said:


> yep, that's right. I've rented quite a few things from Amazon that way.


That's correct and it will be via wifi. If you buy a movie, you can have it in the cloud and on your Fire. If you rent, I think that it has to be streamed via wifi at the time you watch it.


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## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

Shastastan said:


> That's correct and it will be via wifi. If you buy a movie, you can have it in the cloud and on your Fire. If you rent, I think that it has to be streamed via wifi at the time you watch it.


Not being techie, I don't understand. If I bought a movie, is it stored in an archive / cloud like books? So when I then wanted to watch it, does it have to download to my Fire or Mac? Is it stored on my device while I'm watching it and then I delete it from my device? Or though I own it, do I still stream it?


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## enodice (Jul 29, 2010)

If you buy it from Amazon, you can stream it OR download it to watch when wi-fi is not available.  The Prime free videos are streaming only and I think the rentals are streaming only too.  I've rented a few but haven't tried to download them so I don't know for sure.


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## Shastastan (Oct 28, 2009)

I've only downloaded one.  It's in the Cloud and on my Fire for our trip.  After we watch it on the trip, I'll delete from the device, but it will still be in the Cloud.  If we only watch part of it on the trip, we can watch the rest on our tv when we get back via streaming via our Roku.  I belived that it's sync'd too.


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## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

I don't have any device yet to watch Amazon movies on my TV.  Someday.  Are there blu-ray players now that make that possible?  I still have DVD player, but don't think it will be too long before I upgrade to blu-ray.


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## Shastastan (Oct 28, 2009)

Sandpiper said:


> I don't have any device yet to watch Amazon movies on my TV. Someday. Are there blu-ray players now that make that possible? I still have DVD player, but don't think it will be too long before I upgrade to blu-ray.


I bought one of the first blu ray players when we got our first flat screen tv. the player cost $600. Now you can get them for less than $100. We don't really watch blu ray movies though. Since we have streaming, we rarely watch dvds and never vhs tapes.

We use a Roku (around $60). It gets the streaming via wifi. I would guess that it's smaller than 3 stacked Kindles. We had to buy an electronic switch to go from satellite, dvd player, and Roku. The switch is around $10. We just have Amazon prime now, but we just canceled Netflix. We don't watch very many movies. We would rather read our Kindles most of the time. We used to buy a lot of ndvds, but now we just rent from amazon. As you know, the cost of going to a theater will be around $30, so renting seems reasonable to us. We do go to a theater a few times a year though. Note that your streaming quality will depend on how good your wifi speed and reception are.

In answer to your question (Sorry to be so wordy), yes, there are both blu ray dvd players, tv's, and even gaming consoles that have wifi. We used to use our WII, but the Roku works better.


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## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

I have AT&T DSL for internet connection.  I think AT&T will slow you down / cap connection if you use to much bandwidth.  (Am I using correct terminology?)  Haven't tested it.  I've streamed next to nothing so far.


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## Shastastan (Oct 28, 2009)

We have Att DSL.  We stopped our landline phone and went to Ooma because our internet service has been great plus the savings!  We've only had one 2 hour outage in 5 years.  We have to top level of internet service.  We are running:

2 laptops, Ooma phone system, internet radio, Roku, 3 printers, and of course the Fire.  The slowest item is the internet radio, but that's just the manufacturer.


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## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

I have to keep my land line.  I've never had cable or satellite -- only OTA TV.  I do have TiVo.  TiVo updates over phone line.  And I'm in a condo.  Our security system to the building front door runs over phone lines.  Although it's currently not working.  Hasn't been for a while.  

Think I'll just try streaming for a while.


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## enodice (Jul 29, 2010)

I think you'll be happy with streaming.  It's so convenient and it's nice to be able to rent a new movie and watch it right away without even leaving your home.  In addition to streaming to your TV via Roku or some other device like that, you can also watch them on your computer.  Of course the Fire works too.  The other night I started a video on the TV, then finished in bed with the Fire.  It picked up right where I had left off (Whispersync for video!).


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## Skydog (Mar 16, 2009)

I believe that the Amazon rentals are available for "pinning" or downloading to the Fir for offline viewing similar to those in the Android Market.  The time limitations are the same as streaming from the cloud - 30 days to view once downloaded to device and either 24 or 48 hours to view (as many times as desired) once the movie has been started.

Sorry I cannot find the source for this but I'll look.  Perhaps someone else can chime in.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Yes, rentals are available to download on the Fire, but when you tap on "Download," you get the message "You are about to start the 24-hour rental period for this device."  so, I haven't tested it as I don't want to lose the rental without watching it, but it sounds as if once it's downloaded, your 24 hours begins.

Betsy


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