There’s nothing like watching videos on your Zune. It’s even better if the videos are free. You can get all the videos you want from the Microsoft Zune marketplace, but as the name suggests, you’ll need to pay a subscription fee to enjoy the privilege. That’s great if you can afford it, but those subscription fees can really add up. You already have cable, telephone, Internet access, etc. You may not want to add another $15.00 per month to your video content bill.
That’s where the free services come in. You can bypass all subscription fees completely. Are the sites legal? By now they are, but who knows how long it will be before the laws are changed to reflect the whim of some legislator. After all, they are under constant pressure from record and movie industry lobbyists to close such loopholes. Anytime one of the parties feels like they’re not getting their fair share of content revenue, it seems like there’s a lawsuit.
First of all, they are not entirely free. Actually, these are private membership sites and the downloads are for members only. The membership fee is typically less than what you’d pay for a month of basic cable TV, but the actual cost depends on the specific service you join. And unlike subscription download sites, you don’t get a bill on your credit card every month. Most of these sites have millions of songs, videos, movies, and TV shows to download. You just pay your one-time fee and go to town. Any type of content is yours. Whether you think it’s a better deal than the subscription models is purely a matter of personal taste.
Some of these member download sites are heavily supported by ad revenue, so you may find yourself inundated with pop-up ads and banners scattered all over the site, but that’s the price to pay for free Zune video. Actually, the popularity of one-time membership sites is increasing as a large number of consumers discover these types of sites. It’s obvious if you download a lot of content, and if you actually use your Zune as intended, it will.
Another revenue model used by Zune download sites is a pay-as-you-use subscription fee. The fees are lower than the paid sites and you own it, but as soon as you stop paying the monthly fee, the music on your hard drive is gone. The new Napster is an example of this type of download site, as is Rhapsody. How long you like that service is up to you, but many prefer to just pay once and finish it.
The best membership sites not only have a wide variety of content, but they are pretty fast. No more waiting for what seems like forever while your picks download, it’s more like right now! To top it off, they will also offer 24/7 technical support. I would advise against getting a membership to a site that does not include 24/7 tech support. You don’t want to wait for it to download and you also don’t want to wait for a problem to be resolved.
Usually, you’ll need to convert the video format of your movies to make it compatible with the Zune. This helps balance the demands of storage and video quality. You can pay for one of the many apps available that will do this, but the best download sites will give you one as a bonus when you join. This should help you know what to look for on your journey into the world of free Zune video. Happy downloading.