Site Details:

There is a lot to catch your eye here. The fact that the site has won 12 AVN awards says something about it, surely? As does the fact that it has been running since the early days, having started up in 1982. It's certainly popular and we can expect great things from it. The design is neat too, try running your mouse across the top tour menu and see what happens. This amateur movie swapping community site has received some positive attention by publications such as Hustler and Playboy and even from Newsweek. All this points us towards thinking that we are in for a real treat here; lets hope it lives up to expectations.

There are some big offers on the tour pages at Homegrown Video: over 1778 movies and over 764 photo sets plus 2,000 classic homegrown feeds. But there is more to this site than just its content count. This is a community site where amateur sex lovers can share their own movies and we're told this is the 'largest collection of exclusive amateur content' in the world. You can connect with other members, upload your own personal offerings or simply sit and enjoy real guys and galls doing what comes naturally. This isn't a tube site though, but it does offer daily updates.

The stylish design continues in the members' area though my bouncy top menu had changed, ah well. The home page needs a thorough examination and a scroll down to give you a flavour of the delights to come. You'll see the recent news and updates here plus some featured videos, what is being watched 'now', what's coming soon and the latest messages from the members' chat area.

The top menu is not extensive but it's just enough to ensure you can find everything you want. The Videos page takes you to an area where you can search for content by category, date or series and there 90 pages of content to browse though in this one area alone. There were 38 pages in the photos area where you have the same search and sort options; as a member you can also rate content and add it to your favourites area. After you've looked at the erotic stories you'll get to the community area and this is the place that really interested me.

The Community area is actually a forum, and it has a very simple design. You're taken away from the site into a new window here, which means you can leave messages and then go viewing porn while you wait for replies. There were four main areas that covered general chat, stories and support and there are over 7,000 posts already on the board. It's more a way of communicating with other members than anything else but it all works and runs smoothly and you're bound to make new friends in here - but it's not a dating or instant chat area.

Meanwhile back at Homegrown Video you have the live cams to explore, a place where you can log in for free for some chat and cam fun, and there are some links and a help centre should, you need it. Everything here is well designed and easy to find and use so the members' area presents no problems at all.

I was hoping to find some of those really horny, real amateur couples in action like you would see on a tube style site... and I did by using the category list back on the videos page. There were over 1,800 movies in total and 1,202 in this one category. Simply click one of the sample thumbnails to get to a video's solo page and there you have three qualities of WMV to stream or download, and a high quality Flash version too. The medium quality came out as 496kbps @ 320 x 240 and I was able to full-screen it with no trouble; the stream was also nice and fast.

These couples and solo girls get up to all kinds of things so you will find variety here. And you will also find some studio produced content so you have top quality scenes and genuine homemade porn too. Check the 'Classic' collection for 2,000 or so more scenes and make sure that you take advantage of the comments and rating systems so that you can get really involved. (To get really, really involved you can send in your own movies and there is a link to the info and guidelines on the videos' pages.)

As for other content I counted the promised 758 photo sets which were also sortable by category or date. I was expecting screen caps, or shots from cell phones and that kind of quality, and I wasn't disappointed. There is a genuine reality feel to many of these sites which is what we're hoping for from a true amateur site, but that doesn't necessarily mean dreadful quality. Some are better than others of course but each one comes with a slideshow option so you can sit and view hands free. And, if you don't like what you see, then simply send in your own pics and join the party.

As for other extras, you have a set of some 800 short, erotic stories to wade through, the chat area and the live cams - which may not be completely free to use. The main bonus though is the fact that you can get involved by sending in you own content, you can then discuss it in the forum and see how many people rate it and what comments are made about it. Don't expect bonus sites here, that's not what the site is about.

Pros:

• Masses of homemade content;
• Loads of neat features like ratings, comments and favourites area;
• Pages are well designed and quick to load;
• The forum is well established and well used;
• Genuine amateur movies and pics are included.

Cons:

• This is not 100% amateur produced content as some movies come from studios;
• The Live Cam area offers only some free fun, but then you must pay more;
• It is not obvious, at first, how and where you send in your own videos and photos;
• No instant chat/messaging/cam-2-cam with other members.

In a way I was expecting a much more interactive experience here but then the tour did say this wasn't a tube site. I had hoped the community area would be a live chat place where you could immediately start chatting to other members and maybe even swap photos and vids there. But I wasn't complaining about the content and the amount of it. Considering a fair amount of this content is genuine homemade porn it's actually very good quality and totally viewable. Homegrown Video has struck a nice balance between professional 'amateur' content and real amateur content and there's nothing to grumble about in that respect. There are masses of images and stories to add to you stock of videos and there is a forum where you can leave and reply to messages. Everything is well designed and runs smoothly, there is lots of information and some good interactive options. This site is a kind of flagship for amateur, online porn and it is not one to be overlooked in your search for genuine home movies.

I found that things started to get very 'samey' after a while. But then I started to explore later back in the dates and after a good hunt around I started to get hooked. You never know exactly what you are going to find here.

More facilities to chat to other members would be good. I've been on sites that are similar where you have the chance to go cam to cam with members so you can get it on while on line. That, I felt, was missing.

A perfect place for home made porn. It's a classic site and I won't have a word said against it!