Vudu Movie Download Set Top Box ($399)
We are big proponents of movie downloads and we always have our eyes peeled for a good solution. To date, all the solutions out there have something that the HT Guys don't like. The biggest issue we have is video quality but other issues include the payment system or requiring a computer to download and store the movie. Enter Vudu. It is a $400 set top box not much bigger than a Mac Mini that promises to deliver movies on demand that passes the HT Guys video quality requirements. The Video is DVD quality with HDTV promised for the future. You don't need a computer like Amazon's Unbox or Netflix streaming videos. And unlike the Xbox 360 Marketplace you know exactly what the movie is going to cost.
Features:
- True Video on demand
- No Monthly fees - pay as you go with a recharging account tied to your credit card. Cost of the Vudu box must be paid upfront.
- DVD Quality
- Upgradable Storage - this feature will be available within six months
- Software upgradable - being connected to the Internet allows for automatic feature enhancements
The Vudu service does not require a monthly fee to use. You either buy a movie for permanent storage on the STB's hard drive or you rent it for a 24 hour period. You have 30 days to start watching the rental but once you start it it must be completed within 24 hours. Even if the 24 hours expires midway through the movie. There is room for about a hundred hours of owned movie storage. The hundred hours does not use the entire drive so that you can still rent movies even if you reach the maximum. There is a USB port on back that will allow the expansion of storage capability but its tagged for the future.
To use the system in an on demand fashion you'll need a high speed Internet connection. You can see if your connection is fast enough by following this
link. If your system is not fast enough for on demand you can still use the service. The movies will have to download first. Just a bit of warning about the system. We started downloading two movies simultaneously while my wife was on our Vonage (VOIP) telephone. The call cut out and was dropped. She was pretty upset and said the machine was not worth it. You can limit the bandwidth in the system settings. Once that was done joy had returned to the household and the Vudu system was back in her good graces.
The selection of movies is very good. Vudu has movies from every studio. At this point they have about 5000 movies with more coming everyday. Vudu makes it easy to find something you'll like with a easy search or you can browse by category. Movie rentals range from $0.99 to $3.99, and purchased movies range from $4.99 to $19.99. There is no way to burn purchased movies to a DVD. At this time if you have multiple boxes on a network the movies can't be streamed from one to the other. However, we asked about that possibility in the future and while it wasn't ruled out there isn't a definitive date for its introduction. As stated before the video is DVD quality and HD is on the way. The box supports Dolby digital 5.1 but all the movies we rented were Dolby 2.0.
The installation process took all of five minutes. We connected the Ethernet cable to the network, the HDMI cable to the Yamaha receiver and then applied power and we were done. The box supports component, S-Video and Composite, so you don't need an HDTV to enjoy this product. Once you turn on the Vudu it walks you through the setup screens and you can immediately start watching movies. They include a UHF remote so you can't use your universal IR remote. But that's OK! The remote that comes with Vudu is quite unique and very good. Being UHF and the box being small works to its advantage, you can hide the box behind all your equipment. The remote feels very good in your hand and makes navigating the menus very easy with five buttons and a clickwheel.
What we liked:
- High quality movies on demand
- Large selection with more coming every week
- Easy to use remote and easy menu navigation
- Up and running in five minutes
What we disliked:
- No lease option to defray $400 entry price
- Not a large selection of Dolby 5.1
- Downloads interfered with VOIP telephone service
Bottom Line:
This is the best home video on demand system the HT Guys have seen. The video quality is first rate! The user interface is clean and simple. You will have the system up and running in no time. All of this is with the initial release of the system software. With more movie releases coming, HD, external storage, and new software updates this product will only get better. At $400 for the Vudu box its not for everyone, but you will get a very good video on demand system for the investment.
