Your door to the world of DVD ... where we don't talk over your head.
DIVX / Zoom TV
Most commonly refered to as DIVX (short for: Digital Video Exchange), but one in the same as Zoom TV, it may simply be a thorn in the side for the DVD world. (We try to keep this site informative without taking sides, but with DIVX we feel to be informative and fair to the unwary consumer we are nearly forced to take a stand against DIVX.)
On the other side is the regular DVD movies which are often now refered to as open-DVDs to keep them separate from the DIVX DVDs. These DVD titles play on all DVD players.
What DIVX is, is this, you go into your local video rental store and put down about $5. You then take home a DVD movie that is yours to keep, and you can watch it as much as you want for the next 48 hours. If you like the movie, you can either pay a fee the next time you watch it, or you can choose to purchase the movie and watch it anytime you want.
Sounds Simple Enough..... Unfortunately it's NOT!
1. DIVX DVDs will not play on non-DIVX DVD players. Chances are your DVD player (if you own one) is not a DIVX player, and if it isn't, there's no way of making it one.
2. DIVX players must hook upto a phone jack. This may require running some extra phone line from the nearest jack or installing a new jack. (Most people likely don't have a phone jack behind their entertainment unit.)
3. DIVX players cost about an extra $100 due to the cost of the modem that's inside. (If you are reading this, you likely know what a modem is.)
4. DIVX home base knows what you watch, when you watch it, how often you watch it, etc., etc., etc. (Nothing like that great feeling of privacy while sitting back to enjoy a movie.)
5. Each DIVX player has a digital mailbox inside, so they can pester you about buying the the latest DIVX movie you just rented everytime you turn on your player.
6. Want to quickly show a friend a cool scene out of the latest movie. That will cost you a full rental fee.
7. So you bought the DIVX movie out to own (so you can watch it as much as you want, anytime you want), and you want to bring it over to a friend's place. He better have a DIVX player, and be ready to pay a rental fee, that DIVX movie you just bought to own will only play for free on your own DIVX DVD player.
8. A local movie store is going to rent DVD's. Are they going to rent DIVX which only plays on, at the most, half the players out there, or will they rent open-DVD's which play on all DVD players? (There's a tough question!) Also for the store owners, the open DVDs will require the customer to return to the store, possibly to generate more income; on the other hand, you may never see the DIVX DVD owner again, for they have no reason to return.
9. Not all companies making DVD players are supporting DIVX, as well as the companies producing the discs.
10. Why waste your time on a commercial product that is getting this kind of response from consumers around the world...
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