Best DVD Rentals in Singapore

Best Bluray DVD Rentals in Singapore

The Bluray DVD rental business in Singapore is a very competitive one. So it is no surprise that many Bluray DVD rental companies have come and gone. High shop rentals and high manpower costs plus competing digital video delivery systems (not to mention illegal movie downloads) are the key factors which can make or break a company in this business. Companies must either have very deep pockets or operate at very low costs. Mom and Pop stores or large chain stores benefit most from this business model.

Although the liberalized movie censorship laws (since 2006) have resulted in more DVD titles being available in the market, Singapore entrepreneurs need to be very nimble footed to capitalize and profit from this saturated and often rather low margin business.

It is sad that one of the most famous video rental companies in Singapore have closed down last year. The late Albert O'Dell - the father of the video rentals in Singapore - started D&O Film & Video in Orchard in the late '70s (I think). He offered lots of obscure titles on video tapes (many edited titles, as Singapore's movie censorship laws were stricter back then) back in the '80s. His rentals were not cheap then at S$7 a pop but he was such a friendly and knowledgeable guy, that you didn't mind coughing up the cash. Unfortunately, when he died in 2006 (of a heart attack), his son had taken over an already dying business as video tapes were rapidly becoming obsolete and they did not want aggressively to switch over to the newer and more higher demand (and competitive) digital formats.

Other notable video libraries which have exited the business include Kwang Sia, the D'Laser Group, Now Discs, Video Village, HongKong Video etc. A few are still around but well past their prime like Rida Video and a relatively newcomer - 7 Frames Video (provides home deliveries but not online service).

This is the danger of the video rental business. Video formats become obsolete within 10 years or less. Video technology has changed tremendously since the '60s starting with 8mm / Super8 films, to Betamax / VHS, Laser Discs, and now HD DVD (already in its death bed) /Blu Ray. In 2010, 3D Bluray was unleashed into the market, adding another format into the market. It remains to be seen how long Blu Ray will last as a new Hi Def format is already in development. It is likely that future formats will be in soft formats like USB card formats or even download formats much like what we see from iTunes or Amazon.

Knowing Sony, the king of dead formats - this is going to be another one that bites the dust in a few short years - so don't invest too heavily in Blu Ray disks. For the next round of format wars, it is likely that companies from India and China will be heavily involved and it will be harder for Sony to dominate the market with its more higher priced and limited products.

Investments in stocks (videos) are very expensive and can easily eat up limited capital and affect companies' cash flow if they are not trimmed regularly when demand falls off.

In spite of this, video rentals will still be with us for a long time as online downloaded movies are transitory formats and generally of lower quality than disks - not mentioning restrictions on their use over different devices like smart phones, tablet devices and God knows that else manufacturers want to unload onto us gullible consumers. Moreover, people love physical products especially products which has attached memories of the good times experienced by the consumers.

Below are some of my favorite video rental companies that rent DVDs in Singapore. I have not included video libraries offering mainly VCDs or Asian TV series.
Gramophone

Have branches throughout Singapore and unique titles vary from store to the store. The best stores with unique titles* are at Holland Village and Takashimaya. Gramophone's DVD rental rates are the lowest in the island - currently at S$30 per month unlimited rentals 3 DVDs at any one time which can work out as low as 40 cents per disc assuming you have the time and assuming they have 90 titles for you to watch in 30 days and assuming you can return all your rented discs everyday.

After you rent DVDs from Gramaphone for one month, you will be left with little choices by way of unique titles as they seem to reserve the new batch of unique titles to their newly launched stores. So the smart renter have to check out Gramophone's newer stores for the harder to find titles.

*NOTE: Unique titles refers to movie titles that are generally available from other video rental companies here.
It is harder to check out their catalog as Gramophone's DVDs are stripped from their boxes and stored in plastic folders which in turn are put into standard plastic files. You can get a backache bending down to retrieve the files at the lower shelves which are virtually at floor level. Not very user friendly but it makes business sense to compact their collections into files to save space and therefore reduce their storage space and ultimately shop rental costs.

They buy used DVDs from customers at around $10 per DVD - most of which are added to their rental collection.

Video EZY

Australian video chain, Video EZY, also have branches throughout Singapore. The rentals are about S$3 per title and new titles are easily available throughout their branches. DVDs are stored in their original boxes and are easy to browse. They unfortunately, don't have much unique titles which makes them no different from many other DVD rental companies and this could possibly affect their long term viability.

They rent Blu-ray discs at $9.

Digisoft.tv recently announced that they plan to set up in-store kiosks at Video EZY to offer quality movie downloads for mobile devices. Don't see how this is going to succeed as there are many software that can make downloads from DVDs for mobile devices.

Canton Video

Another old timer which has upgraded their services recently. Canton Video now have Blu-Ray discs for rental. They also have quite a good range of unique titles which you should check out. They offer a coupon (they call it "Credits") system ranging from $3 to $4. One credit = 1 DVD rental. Canton Video's flagship store is in Valley Point at River Valley Road.

Digit Media

An undeservedly lesser known mom-and-pop DVD library along Tanjong Katong Road with a good collection of unique recently released titles. Digit Media rentals are affordable at about S$3 plus per disk and there are no shortage of new titles to borrow with each visit. Titles are easy to browse and the owners are friendly and knowledgeable of the DVDs they stock.

They starting blu-ray rentals in May 2010.

Disadvantage: they don't rent the titles with the original DVD boxes. This makes sense as they do sell some of their older titles to get newer ones. This may sometimes result in you borrowing a previously borrowed disc as you can't remember the box cover. But that is not a problem, because Digit Media will let you substitute the title with another if their records show that you have rented the title from them before. Of course, you will have to return the disc by the next day to get a substitute rental.If you like TV series, you should check out their catalog.

PowerVideo

One of the survivors from the VHS era, they specialize in Hong Kong and Korean TV series. Power Video's rental charges are similar to that of Gramophone. Though not a large DVD collection, they do have some good unique titles. They also rent a very small collection of Blu Ray at $10 per disc. They also buy pre-owned discs from customers at around $10 per DVD. Power Video have been promising customers with an online store but months have passed and it is still "under construction".

LaserFlair

They rent DVDs are at the Bishan Junction 8 and Tampines Mall branch. Laser Flair's titles are limited. Laser Flair have a couple of unique titles but these are mostly from independent studios and most of these titles look like straight to video B titles. Their rental charges are pretty steep $5 for new titles and $4 for catalog DVDs.

Video King

A breakaway group of investors from Video EZY set up Video King in 2009. So you can expect more or less the same store concept as their former company in terms of catalog, store layout, design, location and pricing. Therefore my review of Video EZY sort of applies to Video King as well. Their blu-ray collection does not seem to be on par with the Video EZY but this will probably be rectified with time. Most of their stores are located in the north and west of Singapore. Check out their "video king singapore" facebook site.

Hollywood Clicks

An online DVD company that delivers rented DVDs directly to your home. DVD rentals are at S$41.73 for a 3-Disk Plan (postage is pre-paid by the company). This works out to an average rental of S$2 per disk as it takes 3-5 days to turnaround a new batch of DVDs to your home. This assumes you return (post) the DVDs back to them by the next day. They don't allow you to deliver their disks directly to their office. They don't ship discs on Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays which means that you will have less opportunity to maximize your rental turnaround.

Hollywood Click's sign up and booking of DVDs are easy to use but it is not easy to get hold of the more popular titles. Only active accounts can view their full online catalog. This makes it difficult for you to decide if they have sufficient unique DVDs of interest to you to make it worthwhile for you to reactivate your account. Hollywood Click's monthly subscription is automatically renewed via credit card at the end of the 30 day cycle. To cancel the subscription, you need to return all the borrowed discs and cancel your subscription at least 3 days before your next account billing date. The discs come without the original cover inserts. Those interested in trying out their service, to take up their free introductory offer to see if it meets with your satisfaction.

Home Pal

Also an online DVD rental system similar to Hollywood Clicks. Home Pal has greater flexibility in their rental plan options and may be cheaper than Hollywood Clicks for some plans though I've not tested it out. However, you will need to pay a security deposit depending on the DVD rental plan if you don't sign up with your credit card. Unlike Hollywood Clicks, non-active members can peruse a greater number of titles from their online catalog unlike Hollywood Clicks. Also they ship titles on Saturdays.They also have some Blu Ray discs for rental. The discs come without the original cover inserts. Take full advantage of the Home Pal introductory offer.

VideoHub

Also an online DVD rental similar to HomePal and Hollywood Clicks. VideoHub claims to have 10,000 titles but most of them are VCDs, Asian or B movies and they have some lesser known unique titles. The good thing about VideoHub is you can see their whole catalog online before activating your account. However, my complaint about their site is it takes some time for each page to load and there is no synopsis of the titles offered for rental. They offer Blu-Ray rentals - though titles are very limited. Take up their offer for a free one time introductory offer before paying for the full rental service. They accept Pay Pal in addition to credit cards and cheques.

They have a separate brick and mortar store at Ang Mo Kio Ave 10 ( Starlight Vision ) for those who like to browse but don't expect online service there. Their VCD, DVD, Blu-Ray collection is identical to that of their online store, so I suspect that they share their titles for both companies. Many of their titles are Asian TV series and VCD titles.

A lot of their unique titles are from Malaysia (really crappy, like those one-DVD-for-$5 titles) and Hongkong - so don't expect good picture quality DVDs of the movies. Most of the titles are photostat copies of the discs covers which are placed in files. The store looks run down typical of a HDB located shop. Unfortunately, these covers are not filed in alphabetical order like Gramophone nor are the movie descriptions adequate to make facilitate a renting decision.

Video Kiosks:

There are some automated kiosk machines dispensing DVD like PLAY and CineNow. You''ll have to visit their websites to locate the locations of their kiosks. Most of them are in heartlands town centres. Have not tried their services, but the limited range and the difficulty to see what titles are available at the kiosks make it a disadvantage for them. However, in terms of prices, their rental can be quite attractive for people only interested in mainstream movies.

Others Video Rental Companies in Singapore:

I don't think there are any other significant video rental companies. If you have recommendations on other DVD rental libraries, please let me know so I can review them as well.

Can big overseas video rental companies have a viable business in Singapore? Like Netflix or Blockbuster? I don't think so, unless they are prepared to invest big time and are prepared for the long haul like 5-10 years as the BFC licensing costs and discs censorship fees are prohibitive.

However, things are a damn sight better now with the new BFC under MDA management than when stone-age Rama was running the place! Certainly, DVD movie piracy is not so rampant as before because of the film censorship liberalization.

The Singapore censorship laws need to be liberalized further to create a bigger market for video rentals by allowing R21 classification for video products. The R21 classification for DVD video products will certainly bring a lot of economic benefits to the country and is unlikely to cause significant social problems here. If gays can have leeway, why can't adults be allowed to view movies suitable to their age group instead of being forced to watch movies more suitable for kids? After all, there are a lot of more harmful, unregulated stuff easily available on the Internet which every Singaporean have easy, unrestricted access to if they really want it.

What I like / don't like about the DVD / Blu-ray rental system in Singapore:

Likes (Wish List):

• Incentives to return discs within 1 day - usually cash-back or redemption. This incentive helps the store to make new titles easily available) (Rida)
• One month (time based) rentals at low cost for brick stores (Gramaphone)
• Big collection of unique titles and reasonable access (one month timeframe) to these titles
• Online stores allowing customers to return discs directly to their office for faster turn around (none so far)
• Better display for quick and effortless retrieval of titles.
• Transparency. Stores should a list of new titles in a file or clearly put up the DVD boxes so customers know they have. Alternatively, the store could provide a PC to enable customers to quickly see all the titles that are available for rent and which titles are currently available in the store. Nothing fancy, just movie titles, year and genres. These are more to assist regular customers who are familiar with the titles.
• Premium and standard services ie pay more for unique titles not available elsewhere - while the title is not widely available elsewhere.
• Provide incentives to renew subscriptions
• Allow customers to recommend titles (wish list), encourage feedback
• Availability of free or cheap car parking or easy access by public transport

Dislikes (The Deal Breakers):

• Penalty for nominal late return of discs ie give folks a one-day grace if they are not serial late-returners (Video EZY and 7 Frames are notorious for such rigid and customer unfriendly practices)
• Poor display of hot titles or non-availability of full catalog titles prior to sign-up (Gramophone, online rentals)
• Posting a list of titles which are not actually available for rental (Rida)
• Unavailability of hot titles over a one month period (online renters)
• Few new titles added each month (Gramaphone, Laser Flair)
• Lack of quality unique titles (Video EZY, Video King)
• Long queues and slow check out (Gramaphone)
• expensive car parking or out of the way locations (Gramophone)

Until that day, good luck on that perfect video rental!

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