(MONEY Magazine) – Long, long ago in a world far, far away--or so it seems--I used to go to the movies. Hollywood blockbusters, obscure foreign flicks, whatever. But nowadays, I rarely have the time, or the babysitting budget, to make it to the nearby megaplex. So like many lapsed movie buffs, I've turned to videos. Or at least I've tried to. Most local video outlets rarely have much in stock beyond the latest box office hits. And with tapes selling for $15 to $25 each and DVDs (the latest technology) running as much as $50 a pop, forget building a video library.

Enter the Web, where over the past year or so nearly a dozen retailers have launched sites aimed at the homebound movie lover. Unlike the corner video store, many cybershops carry inventories in the tens of thousands, which is truly enticing if your taste runs to hard-to-find classics. As for prices, most sites discount VHS tapes by 10% to 25% off list and DVDs by 30% or more. Yet for new releases, especially VHS tapes, you may find similar discounts at a nonvirtual store--without the extra shipping charges that most online retailers tack on. The best buys I found online were for older films that you can own for barely more than the tab for two rentals and one late fee.

That said, there are a few drawbacks to online video shopping. If you want to browse, you'll need lots of bandwidth, and patience, to cope with the downloads. Some sites are easy to navigate, but others force you to scroll through long lists of titles. I also discovered that small, less established retailers seem to update their stock infrequently. Before you order a long-sought-after video, I'd call or e-mail first to see if the title's available.

To test the prices and services at online video retailers, I explored more than a dozen and ordered from the four most appealing ones. All charge shipping ($3 to $4 for one tape plus 50[cents] to $1 for each additional one), and all delivered as promised. Here's more on those four, in order of the number of titles in stock.

www.reel.com. Owned by Hollywood Entertainment, the nation's second largest video chain, this site has information on more than 100,000 titles and sells all that have been issued on tape. Reel.com promises discounts of at least 15% on VHS tapes and 30% on DVDs. Those markdowns are often no better than real-world discounts, however. Antz (VHS), at $16.99, was selling for the same price at a nearby Toys R Us. Still, I found many bargains. Past Oscar winners for best picture--among them The English Patient and The Silence of the Lambs--were just $10 each on VHS (and DVD if the film is available in that format). Even better, if you spot a lower price online (not a special discount) within a week of your purchase, Reel.com will match it. For the diehard penny pincher, used videos sell for $4.99 to $8.99.

The highly navigable site also offers a wealth of movie-related articles and gift ideas (from categories like "picks for a TV-addicted friend"), plus suggestions for "movie matches." (If you like Casablanca, how about Brief Encounter?)

I ordered a used copy of To Die For, starring Nicole Kidman, for $8.99, and The Uninvited, a 1944 Ray Milland thriller, for $12.99. Two days later, I spotted The Uninvited selling for just $9.05 at BuyVideos.com (more on that site below) and e-mailed Reel.com, which quickly refunded me $3.04. By the way, the To Die For video was in excellent condition.

www.buyvideos.com. If you want attractive graphics or film reviews, you won't find them here. This bare-bones site is about bargains, period. Boasting 85,000 titles, BuyVideos.com claims to have the lowest tape prices online, guaranteed. Don't bet on it. I found an Armageddon DVD on sale for $15.35, higher than Reel.com's $14.99 price (but well below the $25.95 at one of my local video stores). When I called customer service, I was told they wouldn't match the price--but when I checked back several days later, the new price was $14.99. More often than not, BuyVideos.com's prices do seem as low as or lower than prices elsewhere, online or on land. I ordered The Full Monty for $9.42 ($9.99 at Reel.com). Bargain hunters could also grab Antz on VHS for $15.99, $1 or so less than at other online retailers, and The Truman Show DVD for $14.99, vs. $20.99 elsewhere online and $25.95 in the store.

www.moviesunlimited.com. The Website run by this 21-year-old mail-order video company sells some 70,000 videos, both online and by mail ($9.95 for the 816-page catalogue; 800-466-8437). The brand-new site is still a work in progress, but its quirky format does allow for easy browsing. Idle clicking through the mystery section led me to The Detective, an old Alec Guinness flick ($17.99). The prices can be a bit higher than its rivals'--Gone With the Wind in DVD, for example, was $22.49, nearly $10 more than BuyVideos.com's giveaway price. But Mulan in VHS was on sale for $13.99, $3 less than at Reel.com. The special attraction of Movies Unlimited, however, is its stock of cult films, silent movies and out-of-print titles--recently, Bus Stop and Walt Disney's Fantasia were available for $69.99 each.

www.amazon.com. The online bookselling pioneer added videos to its lineup last November and already lists more than 60,000 titles. On average, VHS tapes sell for 10% to 30% below list, and DVDs are discounted as much as 30%. But I often turned up better deals at other sites. Mulan, for instance, was $16.73 ($13.99 at Movies Unlimited), an Armageddon DVD, $20.99 ($14.99 at Reel.com). Movie buffs, however, may like Amazon's plot synopses, reviews and cast credits. I chose a kid's tape, Madeline in New York, for $8.99, half of what I'd have paid at Blockbuster, and Mask of Zorro for $14.94, about $2 less. Both arrived in three days--ahead of the pack. Popcorn, anyone?