Gizmodo
Rather than just tell you what's great (and terrible) about the hot new Vudu video-on-demand box, I thought I'd show you, so come on...
The setup experience is so amazingly simple, it makes TiVo look complex. (Of course, compared to what this simple, broadband-connected video server does, TiVo is complex.
Speaking of TiVo, Vudu's remote is incredible, with five buttons and a clickable jog dial that you can intuit in record time. It's weird how quickly you can use it without looking. By the way, the remote is RF, not IR, so you don't have to point it at the box for it to work.
One of Vudu's setbacks is that it is, alas, a set-top box. In a world where game consoles and cable boxes are inevitable, this box, though small, still presents a stacking challenge.
But there is a cool solution: since Vudu's remote is RF, and talks to that little metal antenna you see at the back of the box, you can stash the box anywhere that you'd stash any device with a video processor and a spinning 250GB hard drive. Like a cabinet drawer...
Hiding it away (with or without my cat Wade) means one less thing you have to look at. While we can thank the RF remote for this, an RF remote does mean one more thing (*cough*PS3 Blu-ray remote*cough*) that you can't replace with a standard universal.
The home screen, which pops on 20 seconds after you first power up, and is instantly on in most occasions, is a nice example of how organized the Vudu interface is.
Though it's the home screen that you see when you first get started, there are some tweaking options, should you dig into them. I loved the overscan adjustment—you'd be shocked how helpful it is.
When you scroll through the constantly changing promoted movies on the home screen, you can see which ones are for rent...
...and which ones you can buy.
I found that most studio films at this time are rentals, mostly at $3.99. There are plenty of foreign and/or "special interest" movies you can buy, and some of those that you can rent for less, say $1.99. Frankly, the rental aspect of this proprietary box appeals much more than the ownership one.
There are many easy ways to hunt for a movie in Vudu. The genre search is fun, because you can select more than one genre to find interesting combinations like Sci-Fi Documentary...
...and yes, Gay & Lesbian Horror. (You know you were curious.)
You can search for a director or actor by name. In this search of Spielberg, you can get a sense that the Vudu catalog is not totally up to snuff. Yes, that is the entire Vudu Spielberg collection.
Some actors and directors are missing entirely. Being a Back To The Future fan, I had to search for Robert Zemeckis, but typing in his name, or even just ZEME, yielded zilch.
My main criticism with the Vudu is that while there are plenty of extra-sweet options like these...
...there just aren't enough good hits when you go searching. Here's a clue: in a search for "Coppola," Sofia had two movies, and Francis Ford had 3, none of which were the Godfather.
The good news is, Vudu has designed an excellent interface and a very satisfying alternative platform for delivering movies. I love browsing and watching movies on this thing—the instant gratification is awesome!
As we told you before, the system operates with both a central server and a P2P network, balancing each other to ensure an instant on-demand experience. During my week-long testing over both DSL and cable connections, I never once had more than a tiny video hiccup, and though you can't fast-forward straight away, the video can get to be 20 or 30 minutes ahead of you as you continue watching, so eventually fast-forwarding is an option.
And the picture looks stupendous. Even though the source material is (currently) 480p, that little box upscales that stuff to your desired resolution. In both 720p and 1080p tests, it looked great, perhaps better than a DVD. Here's a look, though even Ben Stiller getting slapped by a monkey doesn't truly do this thing justice:
Beyond my loudly voiced complaints about content, all I can say is, I wish it were a lot cheaper. Yeah, that's right, Vudu is selling these things for $400. So you can pay more money to buy or rent movies from them.
You could save the money by connecting your PC to your TV and renting from CinemaNow or Movielink. At the moment, both have slightly better catalogs, though that will change. Normally I don't whine about high prices, but I think $400 is a little too much for a box that doesn't come with any free content. There's never been a better case for the razor-and-blades model. With a pricetag like that, Vudu is certainly not going to scare the bejeezus out of Blockbuster Video—not nearly as much as it rightly should.
Comments
Ok, that's cool, but can someone explain to me why the cable providers can't instantly render Vudu obsolete with a simple expansion of their On-Demand movie lineup? Why does Vudu get this selection but TimeWarner is so poor? I don't care about the slight pause when starting up On-Demand, or the slick interface.
I beg to differ - it's ALL about the interface. On Comcast you can't search across multiple content providers for on demand, you have to drill down each one separately, search, go back up, drill down to the next one, wash rinse repeat....
WHY don't they "get it" (not a rhetorical question... I'm dead serious how someone at a multibillion $ corp thinks this is an ok interface in light of TiVo, MediaCenter, and now this Vudu thing....)
Selection isprobably due to the licensing of the studios. Those movies are probably cheaper, and they won't get to the good stuff until they have more budget, or enough of a client-base where the studios will drop the price.
Comcast can afford a better selection, so they can say screw it to interface.
Ok Mickeymoo, I do agree the interface could be much better, but that's just a software upgrade to an existing infrastructure. If the selection were the same, I wouldn't pay $400 just for the better interface. Any cable subscriber already is renting a STB and doesn't need to shell out another $400 just to rent movies on demand. I don't understand why the On-Demand movie collection is so miserably small (I'm familiar with TimeWarner and Comcast). Here Vudu is offering a better service over the cable provider's own wires by cable modem! The licensing issues and pricing therefore ought to be the same. It's really nuts. Doesn't the Vudu's business model get wiped out as soon as the cable networks wake up and increase their selection and upgrade the interface??
What is the smartcard for?
The UI looks nice but the price and feature set do not correspond (you can get TiVo HD for less and rent from Amazon using that box). I am not sure about everyone else, but I'd only pay this kind of money if:
a) this box served as an extender/network player (so I could watch my own video, play music, listen to online radio, etc.)
AND/OR
b) they had a "package" rental fee (5/10/15/unlimited movie per month). Perhaps I am not the target audience since I don't ever buy PPV movies, but I think this would make it more competitive.
Also, they seriously need to get more content. Why not offer TV shows like other stores?
Looks like a great technology with a wee bit of growing up to do. All-in-all, I am pretty darn impressed.
@Rusdude: +1 If it were a subscription service like Netflix I'd be all over it. Buy it to PPV is stupid.
If it's RF can you hide it somewhere?
In a cupboard?
Stacking solved?
obviously need the cable to be long enough
@bandit: "Ok Mickeymoo, I do agree the interface could be much better, but that's just a software upgrade to an existing infrastructure."
Yeah, because the cable companies are all about improving the user experience.
In the close-to two years I've had my Comcast Motorola Shitbox, the only UI "improvements" have been to bury the DVR recordings a button-press deeper and to stick banner ads at the bottom of the program guide.
Making you buy the box to then purchase the movies is a bad business model and needs to be corrected.
Also, storing electronic devices like this in cupboards is a bad idea. The cupboards trap heat and shorten the life of the electronics in a big way, plus too much heat tends to shorten the life of your house or even your life.
I am a firefighter. I have seen block adapters fail and flair up. Usually this results in a quick little fire that leaves a charred spot on the wall. If its against a couch, you loose the room and contents or the house. In a cupboard you won't notice a problem until its too big for you to stop.
Building code in most locations requires that any electrical connections made inside walls or cabinets are done inside a fireproof (usually metal, but plastic ones are now common as well) junction box.
This is very slick and very well done, but ultimately people will opt for the craptastic alternatives like OnDemand because it's already on their box. Then Vudu will be out of business in 2 years. And then what?
And Wade rocks.
We’ve talked about Vudu before - the upstart, P2P video rental (or purchase) box that’s been getting decent press. My main concern has always been: How are they going to price it? Originally, I heard we’d see Apple TV prices.
This looks very promising. Hopefully,MS (XBox), DirecTV, Dish and Apple TV will be offering a similar service.
The days of physical rental stores are coming to an end... I for one will not miss them.
RUSDUDE and TARGATOP are right about the whole subscription idea, but please don't compare this thing with the Amazon Unbox service... as wonderful as it is, having to wait for your movie to download before you watch it sucks (unless that's changed since the last time I used it!) giving VUDU a large advantage for the inpatient individuals...
But personally I think VUDU won't last long because it's another expensive set-top box, but I can see a company snatching them up for the technology that they've put together. Microsoft? Pair this kind of P2P distrubition with the Xbox Marketplace, could be nice. And afterall Microsoft is on a bend to invade the rest of our home!
who would pay $400 for a new interface? I'll stick to my free crappy cable interface and do all the research myself...
They should have charged $500, and given you free access to all the movies want for a year...
400$ and no built in WiFi option? HAR HAR!
nice review
Why can't they put both RF *AND* IR receivers in these devices? They supply the RF remote so it works everywhere, but for those of us with Harmony and other universal remotes, the IR would work perfectly well for us.
Consumer IR receivers aren't pricey these days (a few cents now)...
What about bandwidth limits?
[www.msnbc.msn.com]
Given it's current pricing model Vudu is better off giving away the boxes to increase market share and take a cut - which is what they are already doing - of the price of the rentals and purchases.
This is one of the few things that the Apple TV should have included to begin with. (Rental, that is, specifically w/o iTunes piping everything)
They have Gay & Lesbian horror WITHOUT High Tension? That was the best lesbian horror flick EVAH!
Save $100 by entering the coupon code "VUDUROCKS" when you check out. $299 sure seems a lot cheaper than $400, but in my book it is still too much money to pay for a VOD system. I'm sure the price will drop in a month or two.
If they offered a free movie a week for the first year, then I would buy one today!
...I just got into the evangelist program, and I can get one of these boxes for $99 (instead of $399), and then I'd also get $99 in movie dollars...so I'd essentially get the box for free.
Now my question is "is it worth the hassle/time?"
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