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*Official Kaleidescape Alto Owners Thread

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#1 · (Edited)
UOfficial Kaleidescape Alto Owners Thread
*note AVS plans to create a better category for devices like this, but for now it was directed as best fit for this category.

Now that the Alto is shipping and we have some owners, it was time for an owners thread. Below are some links to the product, and previous AVS threads.

Kaleidescape Alto - manufacturer's site http://www.kaleidescape.com/products/alto/

Initial AVSForum look – Kaleidescape Alto Movie Player Debuts for $2500 http://www.avsforum.com/forum/149-blu-ray-players/1791242-kaleidescape-alto-movie-player-debuts-2500-a.html

Kaleidescape Alto Official AVSForum Review - http://http://www.avsforum.com/forum/184-video-download-services-hardware/1878409-kaleidescape-alto-official-avsforum-review.html


Firmware:
6.2.0. August 13, 2015

Accessories:

Child’s Remote

Vault : DV 700, existing vault can be used through Alto with software version update to 6.2.0. 8/17/15
 
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#4 ·
Let me guess-expanding storage is ONLY possible with $$$ manufacturer storage racks, movies are just as expensive or more expensive than a bluray disc, movies can be blocked from viewing by content holders depending on what deals with others and this detail is no made avaliable to the purchaser of a title, and you cannot rip your own BD/DVD disc onto this devices hard drive, and purchased titles will ONLY work with the particular machine they are purchased on, and there is NO way to backup titles if the internal storage becomes full to an external HDD so that you dont have to delete it and download it again?

No thanks-way overpriced and few if any here will be owners unless the manufacturer donates these things for reviews/exposure.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Expansion does require additional Kaleidescape equipment. That's sort of a no-brainer. These are end-user pieces, not custom HTPCs.

The Kaleidescape marketplace has competitively priced material, and for those that buy titles (especially seasons of shows) early, the deals can actually be rather astounding. Also, they are the only provider which does full 1:1 BD replication (including all audio and extra materials) through the streaming market.

The titles are yours. You buy them and own them the same as you would a disc, but without it taking up physical space on the shelf, only space on your HDD. No, if Kaleidescape and a studio have a falling out, you do not lose the title.

Kaleidescape stopped DVD support late last year. BD on the other hand, they do support if you have one of their vaults. If you do have a BD vault, it will both rip and store the disc. That's the compromise they needed to reach in order to get full licensing and avoid further lawsuits. Ripping without being able to verify the existence of the physical disc violates the agreement. The exception to this is any title the user links to the online marketplace.

As far as "backing up" to an external HDD, it sounds more like you are describing just a simple need for more storage, which is not the same thing. Yes, you can purchase an expansion to increase your storage. However, this is not now and was never, intended to be a solution for those with "large collections". This is a device for users with moderately sized libraries that want an exceptional GUI experience and the very best quality of features on a plug-and-play device. For those few people out there that have large or even massive collections, there is the Premiere line at Kaleidescape which theoretically has no limit to the size of the library supported.

As for overpriced, that's entirely subjective. I only know a handful of people that could put together something equal or better in performance, style, size, and user-friendliness for much less. It becomes even more problematic if one wants to eliminate even the faintest hint of piracy by the end-user, especially if BDs are going to retain all features and full menu support.
 
#6 ·
A quick look at some movie prices.

Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part1 is $14.97 in the Kscape store, and $19.99 at Best Buy.

Lucy is $14.97 in Kscape store with UV digital copy, and $24.99 at Best Buy with DVD and UV copy.

These are a couple of examples. There are some that may be more expensive, I think I have run across a couple.

I have purchased some of the movies from the KScape store with UV copy and have watched on other devices, I.E. VUDU app on my IPad.
 
#7 ·
Some other information on downloads.

I have been downloading a bunch of movies since I got mine, a combination of some I already had in my UV library, some disc to digital conversions through the Kscape store, and straight purchases through the Kscape store.

I have 40Mbps DSL service. Downloads seem to hover around 20Mbps, caught some at 10 and have seen as high as 30. Most of the downloads seem to be around 3 hours 15 minutes, but varied between 2 to 4 hours.

Some of the movies will trigger multiple downloads for the various versions of the movie (Blade Runner) and others will contain the multiple versions in single download(Close Encounters of the Third Kind)
 
#16 ·
Subscribed. My experience has been stellar. I have Xfinity Extreme (150MBPS connection). Most of my downloads happen at around 85 to 90MBPS.

I am eagerly waiting for vault and I may end up buying a second unit for my bedroom.

Cheers

Raj
Now that I have the Alto almost full with downloads, I am too starting to think about the Vault. I don't necessarily need another player yet(waiting for 4k compatibility). But would be good to have for the titles that are not available on the KScape store yet. Seems like majority of mine are Disney and 20th Century Fox at the moment, and couple of foreign titles.

I am curious as to what the Vault disc capacity would be, and if there would be disc drive for additional storage. Would it be the 320 disc capacity similar to the premier line or smaller.

:)Also note that the KScape store has some sales under the "Collections" heading in the store. There are some titles that are available for $4.95 right now (like Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, Underworld, Resident Evil, and Harry Potter) and some have UV with that.
 
#9 ·
Some information on collections for grouping your movies.

There a couple of preset collection options for the movies.
-Child (for only displaying selected movies on the kids remote)
- Favorites
- Watch soon

I also created my own, easy to do. I created one called "No Disc Required" for the movies that are catalogued and don't require me to insert the disc for easy reference.
 
#11 ·
BTW there is an easy and legal way to get Kaleidescape digital downloads for about $5 - buy people's UV codes which they post online. Since UV and K-scape have a deal - you will get the Kaleidescape version at no additional charge.

Having said that - $2,500 is affordable compared to where it used to be. But every time I get close to pulling the trigger (and I do get close - I'm sick of storing blu-rays) - I ask myself if an Alto is HONESTLY the best use I have for that $2,500 - and the answer is always a resounding "no."

I think when K-scape hits $995 (and it surely will - just may be another year or so) - I will pull the trigger.
 
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#12 ·
I have a large library of UltraViolet movies. The appeal of this device to me is that I can keep a rotating selection of new releases handy in full Blu-Ray quality without sacrificing any of the convenience of UV. With a little planning, I can download whatever I want to watch that weekend in advance. I am waiting to see if the Kaleidescape library expands to encompass every UV title I own on Vudu. I am also hopeful that they will sign on with Disney Movies Anywhere. If the library is there and this drops to a $999, I am all over it.
 
#14 ·
One of the reasons why I have a huge UV library is that I can generally buy codes on the secondary market for less than half what I would pay on Vudu. There are quite a few online stores that sell UV and DMA codes. The deals for older releases tend to be less compelling, but you cannot beat scoring new release movies for $5-9 and new release series for $10-15 season. I also used the disc-to-digital program to upgrade hundreds of movies that I own on DVD. My Vudu library should hit a thousand titles this year, so the idea behind the Alto is very alluring.
 
#15 ·
Has Kaleidescape announced if there will be an upgrade path to 4K for the Cinema One and Alto? According to hometheaterreview's just-published review of the new laser Epson projectors, we are only 6 months out from 4K Blu Ray.
 
#21 ·
I am waiting for 4K, but even more than that, I am waiting for the content deals. If they get full UV and DMA support, I am SO in.
 
#25 ·
Not an owner but subscribed as I think this or another K device might be the solution I'm looking for. So I'll continue to read and learn and decide what is the best for me but blu Ray quality is what I'm looking for and the GUI seems top notch.
 
#32 ·
Does anyone have any idea what those storage solutions are likely to cost? You would think that with all this tech, they could support storage on a standard freaking NAS.
 
#36 ·
How long does it take to download a movie and how easy is it to swap movies in and out? The way I am thinking about using this is to basically keep a rotating selection of newer releases and movies I'm planning to watch the next weekend on the box and just leave the rest in the UV cloud. With that model, I can live with the 100 movie limit pretty easily. I also don't think watching a move on Vudu if I don't have it handy on the Alto is the end of the world. I mainly want the Alto so that I don't have to compromise on the movies where the difference between HDX and Blu-Ray make the biggest difference. The only real concern I have comes into play if internet service providers start charging per gigabyte. If that happens, downloading the same movies over and over again could get cost prohibitive and I am not particularly interested in any "vault" solution that costs $10,000.
 
#43 ·
I really want to purchase one of the units but am hesitant to do so until the remaining major movies houses are on board. It is concerning that this hasn't happened already, particularly in light of the fact that the lawsuit was settled back in June of last year, and the injunction against K took affect back in November. I would have thought all major houses would have been on board by now. Also, K has been slow in releasing updated information on the specs/pricing/release date for the vault and the hard drive. Hopefully, more information will be forthcoming soon. Then again, I guess I just have to be patient. Their press release did mention the vault would be released 1h2015, so technically the have two more months.
 
#46 ·
I'm going to jump on this bandwagon soon. I've redeemed all my UV codes that I never did and now have 55 movies ready. I'll fill up a Alto quickly...I'm just going to hang on the outside a little longer and see how it plays out.
 
#47 · (Edited)
If Kaleidescape wants this to be a more mainstream product with higher sales volumes, they are going to need to come up with storage expansion that reflects the costs of commodity NAS storage. The market for people willing to drop enormous piles of cash just to store a few hundred movies is incredibly small. I think the pricing of this line as it evolves over time will say a lot about where the company wants to go. This is going to become a crucial consideration if ISPs start moving toward bandwidth caps or charging based on the amount of bandwidth used on a monthly basis.

I may be coming off a bit fixated on this point, but I currently have 744 movies in my Vudu library and another 900 on disc. There are very few people who are going to be interested in this at all who only own a hundred movies.
 
#48 ·
If Kaleidescape wants this to be a more mainstream product with higher sales volumes, they are going to need to come up with storage expansion that reflects the costs of commodity NAS storage. The market for people willing to drop enormous piles of cash just to store a few hundred movies is incredibly small. I think the pricing of this line as it evolves over time will say a lot about where the company wants to go. This is going to become a crucial consideration if ISPs start moving toward bandwidth caps or charging based on the amount of bandwidth used on a monthly basis.

I may be coming off a bit fixated on this point, but I currently have 744 movies in my Vudu library and another 900 on disc. There are very few people who are going to be interested in this at all who only own a hundred movies.
I think your point is valid and why I'm waiting on the sidelines to see what K is going to do. They have to do better than a 2.5K device that can only store 100 blur ray movies, perhaps the upcoming vault for the Alto may help but at what price? I am hoping they want to become more mainstream and get their devices into the hands of more movie enthusiast because I really want to become a customer.
 
#50 ·
If you they can get the player down to $1000 and produce a $2500 vault that can store at least 500 movies, that would be pretty reflective of what I would expect to pay for the hardware and technology involved. I have to wonder if they would not be able to get the file sizes down a bit without loss of quality by switching to H265, which would make it possible to store quite a few more movies in the same space. It would also be nice if you had the option to just download the main feature without wasting bandwidth and space on useless **** like menus and extras.
 
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