There are various options in downloading and/or watching movies online. First of all, like music downloading, downloading movies online usually meant doing something illegal. Right now, there are lots of places to download or watch movies online. The illegal options are still available, bear in mind, but the legal movie sites are picking up steam. This article will concentrate on the legal online sites to watch and/or download movies.

There are a variety of options out there. Each site offers their own pricing model, selection, movie formats, and user experience.

You will find 2 main pricing models that the on-line movie download sites use - monthly subscriptions and per download pricing.

Sites that offer monthly subscriptions give unlimited downloads, for a flat monthly cost. CinemaNow, Netflix, and Vongo operate under this model.

Another major pricing model, per download pricing, is precisely what it sounds like. There will be a fee for each movie download. Amazon Unbox and iTunes operate this way.

Unless you aren't planning on watching very many movies in a month, the flat monthly fee will be the way to go. There's also some movies that are readily available for free from each of the services and various free trials are available to try them out.

The selection varies from service to service. New releases are hit or miss. Movies appear to be available on DVD and then for rental prior to being readily available for download. CinemaNow seems to get the films more quickly than the others. iTunes selection is the most limited of the main services.

The predominant file format for the download services is Windows Media Video files (.WMV). iTunes will be the obvious exception, which offers files as MPEG-4s.

Each service requires you to download their software in order to download and watch movies. Each interface is different, but its really a matter of personal preference. Vongo and CinemaNow each have good interfaces.