Nearly a year after purchasing the video-download firm Movielink, Dallas-based Blockbuster Inc. has integrated the service into its Web site and invited 500 customers to test it.

Blockbuster selected these beta testers from the ranks of its Total Access members, both to thank them for their business and to mine their suggestions for improvements.

The test will expand next week and keep expanding until the formal launch of blockbuster.com Movielink, sometime in August.

Blockbuster will charge $2 and up for each movie rental and $8 and up for each movie purchase.

Titles will be available to buy when they come out on DVD and available to rent when they hit video-on-demand services.

Though it's technically possible to watch downloaded films on a TV, it's tricky. Most people will prefer to watch on their PCs (Movielink won't work on Macs) until Blockbuster creates a shortcut to the TV