Wal-Mart's downloads score points
We review the mass merchant's new online movie service
By Samantha Clark -- Video Business, 2/9/2007
FEB. 9 | Wal-Mart’s Video Downloads Beta site is perhaps the most user-friendly service yet.
The video quality isn't up to DVD, but good enough.
Like other sites, new releases and catalog suggestions are front and center on the home page and the entire library can be browsed by genre, studio or TV network. Click the shopping cart icon next to the movie you want, then go to your cart to check out.
Setup and the loading of software onto our computer was quick. Within minutes our download had begun.
For $14.88, we bought Buena Vista Worldwide Home Entertainment’s Cars, complete with a smaller version for portable players (but not compatible with video iPods or Zune). The download took about 30 minutes for the portable player version and 1½ hours for the fullscreen version. That’s less than most other services, but unlike others, with Wal-Mart’s site, you can’t start playing the movie until after downloading is complete.
Also like other services, the video quality isn’t equivalent to a DVD. We popped the Cars DVD into our laptop and compared them side by side and the image from the disc was definitely sharper and had better color saturation. But the download was perfectly serviceable, and the audio was good.
But Wal-Mart’s site also details how to backup the download to disc for safe keeping (you can only play the disc on computers registered with Wal-Mart’s service) and sells cables to connect the computer to a TV.
This is how Wal-Mart will gain the trust of the mass market, and the store already has the loyalty of families, the vast portion of the nation that hasn’t yet tried movie downloading.
Downloads might not quickly become the prime entertainment option for this consumer segment, but with the ease of use of Wal-Mart’s service, it’s easy to imagine a mom downloading copies of Monster House and Curious George to a laptop to keep kids entertained on vacation.
