Vudu & Digital Downloadable Movies

[HD MM]

Vudu just announced the first on-demand service to "sell" HD and HDX movies.

VUDU first on-demand service to sell HD and HDX movies - Engadget HD

For full disclosure, I'm a huge Blu-Ray guy. I love the superb picture and the lossless sound. I realize on-demand movies aren't able to replicate the same quality as Blu-Ray, but I am still warming to the idea of having another movie viewing option for a few reasons....

At the new price of $150 for the Vudu set-top box and the ability to play HD movies at the touch of a button, the convenience would indeed be welcoming. I'm just debating how welcome the convenience factor would be to the amount of quality I'd be sacrificing from just waiting for Blu-Ray releases through my Blockbuster Online Account.

Are there any current Vudu users that would like to give us your thoughts/impressions? What about the rest of you? What are your thoughts? Clearly this is a big step for digital downloadable movies....

 

[gadgtfreek]

Big problem with buying them, is unless you have an XL, youll lose space fast. They must be coming out with an external hdd solution.

SatinKzo never could get an answer from Vudu on how your movies are replaced (or if they are) when your box dies. Kinda worrisome.

The HDX PQ is good, audio is good too. The 30 days wait and it not being up to par with BR Pic and Aud quality is what me sell mine.

It is handy, but I just dont like paying that much to rent movies, and NOONE can touch the availability of Netflix.

ONLY way I want to buy a digital movie, is if I can put the file on my pc and use it how I want.

 

[HD MM]

You make good points. Plus, what if Vudu the company goes under? What happens to all of your purchases, since Vudu purchases are protected by DRM? For this reason alone, I would never buy from Vudu.

As for renting, I just found out that most HDX rentals are in upwards of $5.99! For that price, I might as well go to Blockbuster and rent a BD for full price!

For $150, the machine is within impulse range. But until the price of rentals goes down, I will stick with my BBOnline subscription and the quality of Blu-Ray Disc.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I am a VUDU user and the PQ is really good, although the cost of renting movies is very high.

The thing I use VUDU for the most is watching HD podcasts such as Tekzilla which looks great on my 1080p set.

 

[gadgtfreek]

You make good points. Plus, what if Vudu the company goes under? What happens to all of your purchases, since Vudu purchases are protected by DRM? For this reason alone, I would never buy from Vudu.

As for renting, I just found out that most HDX rentals are in upwards of $5.99! For that price, I might as well go to Blockbuster and rent a BD for full price!

For $150, the machine is within impulse range. But until the price of rentals goes down, I will stick with my BBOnline subscription and the quality of Blu-Ray Disc.

If you are mainly a renter, and only buy the real good ones, BB/netflix are a better bet.

Like Scott said, the HDX PQ is very good, but BR kinda spoiled me. I tried it for month, but went back to Netflix and BR, glad I did.

 

[SatinKzo]

I finally got to see vudu in action. Pretty neat service, but PQ, while impressive, did leave some to be desired. audio was the biggest let down for me, I think that is where the compression they use really takes it's toll.

Like elway said earlier, I never could get an answer on how they actually handled failed hardware and how they would replace purchased movies. They keep talking of a vault and other methods and I realize the price has come down quite a bit that it's almost to the point of disposable when the drive fails, but that just doesn't sit well with me. I stopped following the company and their product when my 5 email requests for more info and my couple phone calls were never returned.

 

[Bigguy]

I have had Vudu for a few months now. I personally think the HDX movies are very dark and i agree the sound has a bit to be desired. I am basing this on regular HD movie on cable. I don't have a BR to compare. I think the movies to buy are a bit over priced for no physical media. Personally if they don't enable some type of external storage I wouldn't buy any movies. Letting you as they "cloud archive" a movie doesn't seem like buying it and if the company goes out of business then where is my movies.

 

[gadgtfreek]

They do have a bit of a black crush kinda issue.

 

[HD MM]

Well, I think the compromised sound quality and the expensive download price seals the "No Deal" for me.

I'll stick to my mail-order rental service (BBOnline) and physical Blu-Ray discs. Long live Blu-Ray!