DVD Unlimited Reviews

Editor's Star Ratings:

A choice of 6 subscription plans:

• 2 DVDs at a time for $17.00, limit of 4 DVDs per month *
• 2 DVDs at a time for $28.00, no monthly limit
• 3 DVDs at a time for $38.00, no monthly limit
• 4 DVDs at a time for $48.00, no monthly limit
• 5 DVDs at a time for $58.00, no monthly limit
• 10 DVDs at a time for $90.00, no monthly limit

* You can add additional discs to this allowance for $3.50 per month

Features:

• Widest range of film and TV titles in New Zealand
• Free delivery both ways
• Keep DVDs as long as you like
• Huge selection of TV series and games
• No minimum contract
• No late fees
• Cancel anytime - no extra fee
• Free one month trial
• Rewards for recommending a friend
• Gift packages available
• Website is secure
• Website includes film reviews and recommendations to help you pick

Editor's Verdict:

DVD Unlimited is the site that first introduced online rental to New Zealand and, despite increased competition, it still leads the pack today. Their website is well laid out and very easy to use, there's even an animated video to tell you how the service works (not that it's complicated) and both an email address and phone line you can use if you have any questions the FAQ doesn't cover. Clearly a lot of thought has been put into making the website clear and accessible even if you're not used to doing stuff like this online. Browsing their large inventory of titles is easy as everything is categorised into a comprehensive range of genres and sub-genres. There is a lot of information for each movie too, including plot background, certificate and length as well as customer reviews and ratings. Additionally, there are lists, top 10's and recommendations to browse, making choosing movies even easier - and even more fun.

Their one month free trial is twice the length of that available on most DVD rental services in most countries. Likewise, not only does DVD Unlimited allow you to pause your account so you don't pay for DVDs you can't watch whilst you're on vacation, but it allows you to do so for 2 whole months - much longer than most companies. There is a wide selection of six main plans and the additional option of saving money on two of their more popular plans by subscribing for a full 6 or 12 months. Unusually, the same pricing structure applies to both DVDs and games; often you find that online rental companies charge more for games than they do for films, but not here.

The basic idea is much like any other queue-based online rental system. You compile a queue of which films you want to see in what order and they then send you however many DVDs your subscription entitles you to in the post. You can take as long as you like to watch them but the sooner you're done with them and send them back the sooner DVD Unlimited will send you the next batch of DVDs. Delivery should take no more than a day or two depending on where you live. Turnaround times are usually good, although there have been some rumours that deliveries can slow down once the free trial has expired. Note also that you won't necessarily always receive DVDs in the exact order they appear on your queue as sometimes all the copies of more popular titles may be already out, but this is an aspect of any queue-based rental system that is hard to avoid, although it should occur less with larger companies like DVD Unlimited who can afford to buy in more copies of popular titles.

In summary, DVD Unlimited has impressive customer service, good value for money, a wide range of movie titles and user-friendly system for selecting suitable movies.

PLEASE NOTE: DVDUnlimied.co.nz has been taken over by Fatso.co.nz.

Please note that DVD Unlimited has now been discontinued.