I, too, have not bought any DVDs really. The last one I got was Rear Window for a film class I was taking (The Library’s Copy was “lost”). Generally I think that rewatching movies is rarely something I just want to do so having the movie always at hand is not very appealing. On the other hand, I think that having a few DVDs have saved be from going crazy when the weather knocks out my TV and Internet. (Ice storms suck.)

But one important demographic we are missing here are the non-computer-people. We all can get on here and say, “No, we do not buy DVDs.” but what about people who need help to turn on or unmute their computer. (Ever try holding in laughter when you are walking someone through unpluging and repluging the powercable on a router?) I know some people who still do buy DVDs, although they rarely buy the absolutely latest release. In some ways though it is good to know some people like this since they can also let you borrow movies to watch.

But ultimately, nothing can help the lack of great movies to watch anymore. I have seen some made-for-TV movies that seem better that some of the crap Hollywood has been making.

I’ve been slightly different here. I haven’t bought a new movie for myself in years. However, I get movies for the price of a block buster rental on half.com and amazon.com. I usually buy something there that has been on my mind for a bit. Other than that, I refuse to get DVDs new.

I still buy kids movies as my daughter loves having the DVD box with the picture she can recognise (she’s 2 1/2). However the first thing I do is rip a copy and take the original disc out of the box and put it away never to be seen again. Kids hate sitting through trailers, menus and piracy notices.

For me its a combination of “rent, rip, watch” or “download, watch”. Due to lovely international copyright laws download movie services aren’t available in South Africa so for me download means pirate. Great movies I still buy because ripped files don’t have DTS etc. but those are the ones I’ll likely watch again. The rest get deleted. Why waste disc space with junk you won’t ever watch again?

I remember buying “The Matrix” on DVD back in the 2000s to try out my PS2 video player feature, and that’s about it. I don’t recall buying or renting a DVD after that. I have a couple stacked up from gifts, but most of them are still opened. If the movie sounds interesting I’d rather go see it directly as it’s released. Otherwise, I’ll wait for it to come out on TV eventually.

I download a few movies occasionally, but my video watching time is mostly spent on TV series (that I almost exclusively download, damn dubbers for being so slow).

it’s been more than three years now, for sure… good god!

I use mplayer, cue it up to the main title and play, been forever since I’ve seen an FBI warning or trailers. The other day I had one that wouldn’t play in my computer, popped it in to the playstation to watch and realized that you’re not supposed to be able to skip all that crap at the beginning of the DVD. My main reason for buying far fewer DVDs is there are no where near the number of recent movies I consider to be worth a rewatch. I bought Watchmen, Equilibrium, Dark City & Boondock Saints. All my other movies are older or obscure DVDs, though Equilibrium could be considered obscure (especially when I bought it), many of them that only play on my region-free player.

I haven’t bought a DVD in forever, but the last time I went to the movies was a double-header drive-in last summer (Dark Knight & Hancock). We have some sort of blockbuster membership that, for $10/year, gives us a free rental each month and “rent one get one free” Monday – Thursday for all non-new releases. We find it is a good deal.

I also see my family renting more too. First, I think for them it comes down to cost against value. Even though DVDs are relatively cheap – typically $15 for non-new stuff – a rental is far cheaper, closer to $3. And the utility from having the disc on the shelf isn’t 5X greater. Second, they’ve replaced all the good old VHS stuff they had, so they aren’t re-buying movies anymore. And I’m certain they won’t be replacing their DVD set with bluray anytime soon.

I used to buy like crazy and amassed a very large collection. From about 2000 to 2006 or 2007 I purchased DVDs like it was going out of style (which I guess it kind of has). Then I started to slow down mostly because money has gotten tighter and I purchased a PS3. Now if I buy something it’s got to be something I REALLY like and it is on Bluray only. I very rarely buy an actual DVD anymore. In fact, I don’t remember the last time I purchased an actual DVD (might have been that Chuck Norris triple pack from the Walmart bargain bin solely to annoy my wife).

So yeah, I still buy, but at a much slower pace. We rent a lot of movies, but most of them I don’t end up owning later on anymore like I used to. Basically if it’s a movie I really wanted to see in the theater I’ll probably end up buying the Bluray (like Star Trek). If I waited until the rental, most likely I’ll never own it.

I bought my last DVD back in 2005*. Since then it’s only been bittorrent or $1/night rentals.

*One exception: I later bought a Red vs. Blue DVD because it isn’t DRM-encumbered and the movie was made by some guys in their free time.

I usually buy good concert DVDs because those are worth watching/listening over and over, in many different circumstances. So in the long run it becomes cheaper than renting.

But with respect to movies, I agree with you, there is no point in buying DVDs.