Netflix basic 8.99 pm service allows you to download them. You can, at the same time, get two (not one) DVD’s mailed to you at a time, and rip them to anything you like. They also have a pay service that works with set tops, and can be converted other formats, like iTunes.
Personally, I very much enjoy Netflix, I think it’s a good value. I have downloaded movies, and converted them using the free video downloader FireFox plugin, and then burned them to DVD.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3006
Have fun.
If you don’t have one already, you can find free ripping programs on the internet via trusted sites like download.com. Most, though, only allow you a limited number of rips on their free version.
I love netflix, actually got rid of my cable for over a year (just reconnected to watch the olympics). Between the streaming video and the renting I found I didn’t need cable, as I don’t watch sports.
I use a site called instantwatcher.com to organize -it’s actually better than netflix. I used the cash I saved from cable to buy a monster computer video monitor and I watch on that.
If you like history, check out “The Age of Ballyhoo” which is a great documentary with Gloria Swanson. I watched with my parents and they remembered so much from it. I liked it because instead of going through the twenties by events, they tried to recreate the flavor of what it was like to live in the twenties; for instance how most people lived in rural areas and on farms up to that time.
It’s one of those documentaries you hear so little about nowadays yet it really teaches you something. And it’s not too partisan, which most docs are nowadays.