[BobC]

Has anyone heard about or used this product / service?

http://www.vudu.com/

I've been sitting on the blu-ray / HD DVD fence and found a local Vudu dealer.  Sounds like a great product (format war killer?).  From what I'm told and can read, it has support from all the major studios, you can rent or buy the files and it'll output 1080p!  What more could I ask for for only...$399!   

What's the catch?   

Bob

[John Casler]

Hi Bob,

You beat me to the punch

I received a e-flyer from one of my distributors about this too, but have no idea of how good it is or isn't.

Initially it seems too good to be true, and looks like someone has put a lot of thought into it.

I wonder if it has a good buffer, or if you get drop outs?

Might be the beginning fo the end for BlockBuster and NetFlix.

Has anyone heard about or used this product / service?

http://www.vudu.com/

I've been sitting on the blu-ray / HD DVD fence and found a local Vudu dealer.  Sounds like a great product (format war killer?).  From what I'm told and can read, it has support from all the major studios, you can rent or buy the files and it'll output 1080p!  What more could I ask for for only...$399!   

What's the catch?   

Bob

[BobC]

Actually jqp beat us all back in April!

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=40510.0

[John Casler]

QUICK!!!!!
If you are thinking of getting one of these, they made a mistake (according to my distributor) and have the unit selling on their website for $249 instead of $399.

According to my distributor they will honor the price, today only!!

Time will only tell if it is a "PLOY", but at $249 and a 100hr Hard Drive, it looks like a no brainer.

While BR and HD DVD and even 5.1 in a few cases are not on all the films, there is little doubt they will be, in the next 30 days to 3 months.

[woodsyi]

Pretty interesting.  I wonder if Tivo or cable/Fios/dish with DVR features will will hook up with Netflix or somebody to offer the same service at a competitive price.  I mean you already have pay per view.  It's not that difficult to go from there to downloading it to a DVR to be viewed at your convenient time. 

[cytocycle]

Looks cool, but I really don't like the HDMI 1.1 spec as if the HDCP handshake problems aren't bad enough with 1.2 and 1.3... This is a fatal flaw in my opinion

[John Casler]

Pretty interesting.  I wonder if Tivo or cable/Fios/dish with DVR features will will hook up with Netflix or somebody to offer the same service at a competitive price.  I mean you already have pay per view.  It's not that difficult to go from there to downloading it to a DVR to be viewed at your convenient time. 

While some of it is "wait and see", I kinda like the idea of 99cents to $3.99 for a movie that allows me to watch it when I want.

If they were "REAL" smart, they would make the intial viewing at regular price and each subsequent view at 1/2 price or some such, and if you watched it enough to reach half its "purchase" value, then sell it to you for the remaining half.

I think they are really only a few weeks old as far as operation.

Plus I don't like subscription (monthly) fees.  I'd rather put $50 in the Movie Account, and then view'em when I decide to.

The rep said that they will be coming out with "large" HDrive units in the future.

Kinda shoots HTPC in the foot, if it has the same quality sound and picture.

Who's gonna spend $3-5K for the HTPC and then an equal amount on software  

[woodsyi]

I hear you but a lot of people already have DVR service.  Vudo doesn't do TV programs.  So the advantage goes to "cable" companies if they offer the same service at a competitive price since hardware is already in place for those with DVR service. 

[John Casler]

I hear you but a lot of people already have DVR service.  Vudo doesn't do TV programs.  So the advantage goes to "cable" companies if they offer the same service at a competitive price since hardware is already in place for those with DVR service. 

True, I see it hitting the HTPC market a bit harder, especially if they resolve the HDMI 1.3, BR/HD DVD, issues.

I'd much rather have my Movie Collection, Online, On Demand, than on a HD, as long as the same quality was there.

Technology is "leaping".

[BobC]

Service charges?  I's my understanding that there are no service or activation charges with Vudu...only pay for what rent or buy.  Did I miss something?

The way it was explained to me was that you could either rent or buy, and have access to a large, large large library of movies, many of which are recent releases.  Sounds better than PPV from Time Warner to me.  I just wish I could see a complete list of movies offered on their webpage.

Also was explained to me that the unit has a memory card that records a list of which movies you own....just in case the hardware fails.  Then they can restore your collection for you.

Only draw back I can find is the lack of lossless audio codecs.

Think I'll wait and see for a while until the reviews are in.  (I was kinda late to the whole TIVO thing too  )

[cytocycle]

They are back up to $399 now... so no worry about me buying one now especially now that HD-DVD players will be selling for $98 at the end of this week at walmart and other places.

http://www.dvdtown.com/news/wal-mart-hd-dvd-tv-ad-and-9887-player/4874

I still think this is the FUTURE, and I don't really like storing 450 DVD's that I own or driving to go get something to find out they don't have it.

[samplesj]

Carry over discussion from the industry ads post:

Thanks to John Casler for the answers, these do look interesting, but too many unknowns till the movies actually start releasing I guess.  Its more about what they get from the studio than the player capabilities.  They could get given higher bitrate video and audio than blu/hddvd or they might get given lower so even if they have the hardware it still may not match existing hd media.

I personally haven't seen or heard the difference between the normal DD 5.1 and the HDMI 1.3 audio.

DD+, TruHD, and DTS-MA could (dependant on hardware capabilities) be decoded inside their player and then passed as uncompressed PCM over HDMI 1.1 so they aren't 1.3 specific features.  1.3 adds the capability to move the decoding to the pre/pro or receiver, but when implemented properly there shouldn't be a difference in which side does the math.  Here is an analogy for the sound formats: TruHD/DTS-MA are like flac, uncompressed PCM is like wav, DD+ is like higher bitrate mp3, and then DD is like mp3.

As far as the 1080p 24, it does have that capability, and it also "upconverts" SD to 1080 also.

I did see that it can support them, but the real question is what will their movies offer.  Good upsampling is nice, but keeping the source at the higher res instead of down and back up is better.

It was quite simple and easy to use, and as a side benefit, it has RF remote, so you don't need to have it placed at a special point.

RF is an awesome feature, but it does not look like it supports IR control also so universal remotes can't drive it?  That was the problem with the dish receivers that offered a second decoder (I think it was the x22 series?), they were RF only for the second decoder so you couldn't use a universal on their second output.  The RF universals are really RF to a base station that then sends IR.  There aren't any true RF universals that I know of.  Although to be fair the PS3 and its bluetooth remote has some of the same issues (with a possible workaround though).  That doesn't seem like much, but it will eliminate it from some (many?) HT installs.

Basically, without specs for the movies (video res/refresh rate and audio codex supported) their claim to be equal to hddvd/blu is VERY suspect.  Based on what they've gotten from the studios in the past its likely it won't even be close.  Even if they got full up hd media resolution/audio realize that is a lot more bandwidth needed.  For that $399 price you can pick up either a blu or hddvd player.  If you hit the right sales you probably could do both for $399.  Netflix probably will run about the same price or lower with several rentals each month.  This is a really cool idea, but it doesn't seem to be fully there enough yet to be a challenger.