Vudu

[aaronwt]

Originally Posted by kenn464

hi does anyone have any experience of use of a vudu box outside of the usa,the box functions without a lan cable attached,i was wondering if you use a proxy server ,or some other internet source.im taking a box to the uk this weekend to show some friends,also going to remove the hd and see if it can be upgraded to a 750gb and fils copied over to new hd,i will update via the forum of my success or not thanks peter in florida

You can view movies you've purchased and are on the hard drive, but you can't do anything with the box outside of the U.S. They are currently prohibited from allowing you to download content outside of the US. Their agreements with the content providers don't extend outside of the U.S.
They might at some point market the VUDU box outside of the US but they are currently concentrating on the US only.

[Pete C]

I think a nice feature would be to allow you to re-rent movies you've previously rented for half the price or less. I think that would encourage more re-rentals and would be a selling point. The studios can't think people will rent the same movie twice at full price very often.

My issue with Vudu is that they now have to go toe-to-toe with Apple, which usually does not favor the competition. Apple will have more HD content out of the box. Where is Vudu with this? You can't advertise HD movies and expect people to be happy with 2 Bourne titles.

Also, will Vudu's HD content be of a higher quality than Apples? 1080p aside, what about the compression, bitrate, etc.

[Carbo]

All of Vudus content looks better than Apple Tvs. The box doesn't do as many things but what it does do it does great. Its only flaw(which extends to others as well) is the delay in rental availability.

[nded]

Originally Posted by Pete C

I think a nice feature would be to allow you to re-rent movies you've previously rented for half the price or less. I think that would encourage more re-rentals and would be a selling point. The studios can't think people will rent the same movie twice at full price very often.

My issue with Vudu is that they now have to go toe-to-toe with Apple, which usually does not favor the competition. Apple will have more HD content out of the box. Where is Vudu with this? You can't advertise HD movies and expect people to be happy with 2 Bourne titles.

Also, will Vudu's HD content be of a higher quality than Apples? 1080p aside, what about the compression, bitrate, etc.

I like your idea about the reduced rate re-rental. You should signup for the forum at www.vudu.com and post your suggestion there.

Next week Vudu will release 70+ HD titles (including Star Trek movies - not TOS). I've already watched several of them as a beta tester. Vudu owners with 4MB broadband will be able to watch these movies instantly when rented/purchased. By the time Apple get's their delayed viewing HD software rolled out, I'd think Vudu could pass them for HD content. Vudu already has about 5,000 SD titles available now for instant viewing - I belive the Vudu box is designed to do movies better than the Apple.

I'm confident Vudu's HD content will be of a higher quality. The Apple is only going to output 720p vs Vudu at 1080p. We've already had reports from folks with both systems that the SD content on Vudu looks much better than @TV (looks better than DVD quality also), and many of the SD titles on Vudu have 5.1 sound, while the Apple only puts out stereo sound for all SD titles.

[Pete C]

I have been reading that Vudu is more of a purchase service rather than rental, which they don't tell you. I have read that most movies are only available for purchase. If I wanted to buy movies I'd just buy the DVD. I think rental is more important on these boxes, which is what Apple is focusing on.

[nded]

Originally Posted by Pete C

I have been reading that Vudu is more of a purchase service rather than rental, which they don't tell you. I have read that most movies are only available for purchase. If I wanted to buy movies I'd just buy the DVD. I think rental is more important on these boxes, which is what Apple is focusing on.

Don't believe everything you read son. The last time I checked, out of the current 5,000 movie catalog on Vudu, only about 1,200 titles are purchase only, all the others - almost 4,000 titles - have rental options. There are many movies on the Vudu that are rental only, and there are those users who complain about them not having purchase options. Ideally, every movie should be available for rent and purchase, but the content owners don't see this yet. The rent/purchase options are not up to Vudu.

[aaronwt]

Originally Posted by Pete C

I think a nice feature would be to allow you to re-rent movies you've previously rented for half the price or less. I think that would encourage more re-rentals and would be a selling point. The studios can't think people will rent the same movie twice at full price very often.

My issue with Vudu is that they now have to go toe-to-toe with Apple, which usually does not favor the competition. Apple will have more HD content out of the box. Where is Vudu with this? You can't advertise HD movies and expect people to be happy with 2 Bourne titles.

Also, will Vudu's HD content be of a higher quality than Apples? 1080p aside, what about the compression, bitrate, etc.

The Bourne titles looked good. I looked at them tonight. I plan on comparing some scenes with the HD DVDs this weekend.
Plus the HD titles are encoded at 1080P24(480P24 for SD film content)The audio is encoded with DD+ and the box transcodes it to DD for output over optical or HDMI.
The Bourne movies sounded good. I'll compare some audio parts this weekend as well.
I've had my VUDU box for a couple of days now and it is much better than I could have imagined. The interface is slick and very fast. And once they roll out their HD content(only the Bourne movies are currently available in HD) the VUDU box will be my first choice for most of my HD rentals, followed by Xbox Live, and then Netflix.

[Rusdude]

Just wanted to add that Apple is in the similar position -- some movies on iTunes are also purchase-only or rental-only. In that sense Vudu is actually better than AppleTV as it allows you to purchase movies and store them on the box.

FWIW, I am a rental guy but I bought some purchase-only movies on Vudu. It's not the best value proposition compared to high-def media (especially with all the BOGO sales), but it's not outrageous either. Certainly, a trip to the movies for two comes out more expensive.

[jclem]

DVRupgrade has Vudu for $295. I may have to get another box. Way to go Vudu!!!!!

[HiDefLifestyle1]

Retail on the Vudu box is now $295.00. They're also working on a new higher end box for custom installers that will expand networking and storage capabilities. It wouldn't be surprising if the boxes support audio in the future as well .

[Rusdude]

Right, the new box is VuduXL and will come with 1 TB of storage and some other advanced functionality.

With regards to price drop, Vudu is offering $100 in movie credits to people who purchased the box within 30 days of the price drop (announched 1/24).

[AJF]

I'm really back and forth about whether to go for a Vudu box or not. I definitely would go for Vudu over AppleTV though. A few questions:

Generally, how soon after DVD release are movies available from Vudu?

Is there anywhere that one can view a list of what movies they currently have for rent and for sale?

Do they have the IR enabled yet?

Thanks

[mebby]

Originally Posted by AJF

I'm really back and forth about whether to go for a Vudu box or not. I definitely would go for Vudu over AppleTV though. A few questions:

Generally, how soon after DVD release are movies available from Vudu?

Is there anywhere that one can view a list of what movies they currently have for rent and for sale?

Do they have the IR enabled yet?

Thanks

DVDs are available for purchase when they are released to normal retail stores for purchase. Rental availability typically follows within a week - sometimes two and this is controlled 100% by the studios. Apple TV will face the same restrictions as best as we all know at this point.

They do not currently have a list of movies that you can review on their website. They ran a poll on their forums and it showed that most people are content with the current library. That was before they released 82 Hi Def movies to the library. Me personally - I'm pretty pleased. They have some gaps in the library but they are rapidly expanding it. Also - I think that of the ~5,000 movies available, approximately 4,000 to 4,500 are rentable if that helps.

IR - not yet but I'm fairly convinced that they intend on releasing this very soon. I think their next big release is going to give us expandable external storage. IR may or may not come with that release but they seem to indicate that it's in the hopper.

I really have enjoyed my Vudu. If you're on the fence then I recommend that you try it out. You've got 30 days to play with it - if you hate it then send it back.

[aaronwt]

Check out the VUDU website that has a link to their forums. You can probably get some answers there.
The IR USB dongle is not out yet but is supposed to be out soon.

For new releases I think it depends on the content provider. I see The Brave One is available to purchase and rent in SD on VUDU and that came out a couple of days ago on disc.

Currently 85 HD titles show up when Searching. 4996 titles show up when searching for everything right now.

[badrich94]

i have had Vudu since December as I got it as a Xmas gift. At first it was great. I started watching movies with the family that we normally would have gone to rent. I hooked it up to a wireless brudge so it working off of my wireless network without a hitch. My biggest complaint is that new content is not always available for rental only purchase. Case ion point...I AM LEGEND is available as a purchase only and not for rental. That has become very annoying. The SD content is EXCELLENT. In fact, for the most part I cannot always tell a huge a difference between the SD and HD movies. Downloads have been fine, however, you need ateleast 4mb to get HD immediately. I have a used atrick though for downloading, I usually give the Vudu about a 10 sec start to start downloading. For some reason, once in a while if IU start viewing right away, I sometimes would get a small choppy start.

I do not plan on using this to purchase movies except for one exception. Movies that I my kids want to see over and over will be on the Vudu box otherwise I will just buy the DVD/Blue Ray. The inital cost is not cheap, but I have already saved in gas going blockbuster and netflix just isn't fast enough if I want to find something and watch that evening.

[nded]

Originally Posted by AJF

I'm really back and forth about whether to go for a Vudu box or not. I definitely would go for Vudu over AppleTV though. A few questions:...snip.... Do they have the IR enabled yet?

Thanks

The IR Dongle is now out and the IR Codes are available for download into popular remotes with internet updates (i.e. Harmony, Pronto, etc...). Go to forum.vudu.com for details please.

[aaronwt]

The IR dongle works great. It was in the Harmony database when I set it up last week. And since the IR receiver has excellent reception I can point my Harmony remote in ANY direction and the VUDU receives the commands.

[aaronwt]

Originally Posted by badrich94

i have had Vudu since December as I got it as a Xmas gift. At first it was great. I started watching movies with the family that we normally would have gone to rent. I hooked it up to a wireless brudge so it working off of my wireless network without a hitch. My biggest complaint is that new content is not always available for rental only purchase. Case ion point...I AM LEGEND is available as a purchase only and not for rental. That has become very annoying. ...

This has nothing to do with VUDU, it is the content provider that does this. They are the ones that determine when a title can be for rent, for sale or both. And what time period it will be available. Just like the 24 hour rental period, the content providers dictate that.
At least the content providers are pretty much making the digital content a level playing field. If it's only available to buy On VUDU and not for rent, it also won't be available to rent yet on AppleTV.

[ihatesilence]

I'm a junior member on this forum, but I have had a chance to have both of these products at home and my XBox 360 - with recent Divx support - crushes both of these products.

Vudu doesn't have the content. PERIOD.

Apple TV will get the content, someday, but it isn't there yet.

A 360 with my cable DVRS in every room has yet to be replaced.

[Phantom Gremlin]

You forgot to mention: with an XBox 360 you get the Red Ring of Death as a free bonus!

[AJF]

Thanks for the replies mebby & nded. I think I'll go for it.

[Rusdude]

Originally Posted by ihatesilence

I'm a junior member on this forum, but I have had a chance to have both of these products at home and my XBox 360 - with recent Divx support - crushes both of these products.

Vudu doesn't have the content. PERIOD.

Apple TV will get the content, someday, but it isn't there yet.

A 360 with my cable DVRS in every room has yet to be replaced.

I'd like to know exactly how 360 has more content than Vudu? Vudu has over 5,000 movies most of which are rentable (4,000-something, I forget). 360 doesn't have nearly as much movies. The only advantage is 360's slight lead in HD movies (just 20-30 titles, I believe). AppleTV's HD rentals number about the same as Vudu, but they don't have nearly as much SD content. iTunes only wins when it comes to TV shows.

With regards to using 360 as a media player, I humbly disagree. Not only is it huge, loud and game-centric, unless a box can play MKVs, it's dead to me as a media extender. I built an HTPC about a year ago even though I've had 360 almost since the very beginning just because Vista Media Center is way better than the lame 360 media interface (and even with the latest update, you can't play AVIs from Media Extender on 360 or play MKVs period). Now, mind you, I don't own a single Sony console, and my 360 never RROD'ed on me, so I have no bias.

[aaronwt]

Originally Posted by ihatesilence

I'm a junior member on this forum, but I have had a chance to have both of these products at home and my XBox 360 - with recent Divx support - crushes both of these products.

Vudu doesn't have the content. PERIOD.

VUDU has over 5100 titles available. That's more content than anyone else.

[AJF]

Well I went for it and I'm sorry I did. MOST of the movies I'd like to just rent are for purchase only. And the "new" movies list seems to lag way behind what they have to offer at Blockbuster et al.

I don't care who's to blame, the Evil Empire or Vudu, for me at least, who likes to mostly RENT new releases, this is a a joke .

[nded]

At this point, if you can't stand to wait 30 days for the new titles to move from purchase only to rental, then Vudu is not right for you. It is much better for somebody that wants to have the luxury of being able to spontaneously pick something to watch that strikes your fancy at that moment in time.

Given that the release to video dates from the studios are arbitrary, I'm in the second category. I don't care when I watch a particular title, I just care that I can watch what I feel like watching. I dont' care if somebody else saw it 30 days, or 30 weeks before I felt like watching. I'm just not that absorbed with what the studios are putting out these days, and I don't have to see it on the randomly selected Tuesday that they choose to put out the DVD.

[aaronwt]

Originally Posted by AJF

Well I went for it and I'm sorry I did. MOST of the movies I'd like to just rent are for purchase only. And the "new" movies list seems to lag way behind what they have to offer at Blockbuster et al.

I don't care who's to blame, the Evil Empire or Vudu, for me at least, who likes to mostly RENT new releases, this is a a joke .

It' the same for all VOD sources, except places like the cable company where you don't a have a purchase option so the title just won't show up until you can rent it.

If you can't wait the 30 days then no VOD service is for you since it's pretty much a level playing field. They all have to play by the same rules. It's just that some VOD services like VUDU give you a purchase option for some titles. Maybe the content providers will change thing , like having more than a 24 hour viewing window and rentals from the very beginning. But I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for the providers to change their policy.

[AJF]

I guess it's not for me then. :-(

My wife also had a BIG problem with the 24 hour window; you get 5 days with Hollywood Video.

[AJF]

Now that I'm done complaining and have used the box for a few days, I think I've changed my mind and will keep my Vudu !

Really the only problem I still have with it is the 24 hr viewing window which I hope they change soon to at least 48 hrs. I don't understand why they would have a problem with this!?!? Unless they're trying to get a re-rental fee from those who start to watch a movie one day and then forget to finish watching it within the 24 hrs . Kind of how the video rental stores love late fees; 20% of their profits come from late fees.

[nded]

I'd like to encourage you to join forum.vudu.com and voice your opinion on the 24 hour window there. You'll be preaching to the choir, but the more folks that chime in on this topic, the better. It'll give Vudu some more amunition to convince the big studios to change the viewing window (some small studios already allow 48 hours on the Vudu).

[jleavens]

Originally Posted by AJF

I guess it's not for me then. :-(

My wife also had a BIG problem with the 24 hour window; you get 5 days with Hollywood Video.

Yep, unfortunately the studios control this window, and all VOD providers are stuck with this. Even DirecTV had to change their policies a couple of weeks ago to conform. I think even extending this to 30 hours would allow most people two nights to finish watching a movie.