Video-on-demand services still have a few kinks to work out, but CinemaNow is the most compelling option for those looking to download flicks to go, thanks to its slightly superior video quality, large selection, and lower prices. Movielink is a very close second, though, because we prefer its superior software and the availability of widescreen movies.

CinemaNow was started in 1999, making it the oldest and one of the better-known video-on-demand sites. Its library includes more than 5,000 feature-length films from more than 150 licensors, which gives it the largest selection of any VOD service on the Net.

Prices range from $2.99 to $4.99 per film. Depending on the movie, it can be streamed or downloaded. Most recent Hollywood films, such as Master and Commander, The Matrix Revolutions, Kill Bill, Vol. 1, Cold Creek Manor, and Cheaper By The Dozen can be downloaded for a single price and watched as many times as you’d like for a 24-hour window.

Older and lesser-known movies, such as Lions Gate’s documentary Step Into Liquid, may be streamed, downloaded to your hard drive for 72 hours, or watched as part of CinemaNow’s subscription service, with fees ranging from $9.95 to $29.95 per month or $49.95 to $99.95 a year (the more expensive of which includes adult movies).

Lastly, some films—not the big Hollywood blockbusters, mind you—may be part of CinemaNow’s download-to-own option, which you may play as many times as you like, for as long as you like.

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CinemaNow is accessible from anywhere in the world, but each country will see a different list of films, depending on whether or not the company has the license rights for that territory.

Registration at CinemaNow was painless enough, and once we had our account we proceeded to conduct our download speed test. We chose Dirty Pretty Things, Stephen Frear’s thriller about immigrant hotel workers in Great Britain. The 96-minute film took approximately 25 minutes to download over our cable modem, and the final file size was just under 500MB. All three services had roughly the same download speeds.

For our video comparison test, we downloaded Kill Bill, Vol. 1. In a side-by-side comparison, the video quality was slightly superior with CinemaNow, as we observed better contrast and brighter colors. The film was also slightly cheaper at CinemaNow (as was Dirty Pretty Things). Our one major disappointment was that both films were only available in full-screen format, and apparently the letterboxed format was not available.

CinemaNow was the clear leader in terms of pricing and selection, and the video quality was slightly better as well.

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