Jan 09 2008
Do you Vudu?
It’s no secret, I love gadgets. Especially those that promise to make my life more convenient and entertaining — both of which the Vudu promises to deliver. The Vudu is an internet-based movies-on-demand system, currently offered by Hawaiian Telcom.
I’ve done the Netflix thing and I’m a card-carrying member of Blockbuster, but there’s nothing like being able to turn on your TV and have 5000 movies available for instant viewing at the scroll and click of a remote. Besides that, there’s the added benefit of not having to return the videos on time and avoiding those late fees.
The factor that differentiates the Vudu from other video-on-demand services is that you can own your favorite videos. No need to buy another rack to store your DVDs, it’s all stored electronically on your Vudu box. Buying a video will cost you between $4.99 to $19.99. A 24-hour rental will cost between $0.99 and $3.99, and you can replay the movie as many times as you wish during that period. No subscription or monthly fees apply, it’s pay as you go. The box normally costs $399, but Hawaiian Telcom is running a special: get 50% off and a $50 movie credit.
So, let’s talk about the equipment. The beauty is in its simplicity.
The “getting started” sheet is nicely illustrated and the instructions are concise and simple that anyone, no matter how low-tech, can follow. Even if you can’t set the time on your VCR, you can hook up the Vudu. Promise!
Inside the box, you get a power cord, ethernet cable, composite video cables, and an HDMI cable. If you’re like the droves of crazies who went out an bought a big-screen LCD HDTV to watch the Sugar Bowl (like me), you would use the HDMI cable. Non-HD folks, the composite cables work just as well. Other connection options also include component video and S-video.
Pukas galore!
Basic hook-up: 1) power, 2) video connection (HDMI, composite, component, or S-video), and 3) ethernet cable. How easy is that? As easy as 1, 2, 3. Literally. The hardest part was getting an ethernet connection to the television, and even that wasn’t too difficult. You just need to find a long enough cable — and borrow a staple gun, if you’re particular about that sort of thing.
The ergonomically-designed remote control is compact and only has 5 buttons and a scroll wheel. Again, sleek and simple. So zen, I love it.
The clickable scroll wheel is like the one on your computer mouse, except you use your thumb to fly through Vudu’s menus and movie listings. While you’re watching a movie, the scroll wheel is a variable-speed rewind/fast-forward shuttle control. It’s so intuitive and handy. Why every remote doesn’t utilize a scroll wheel is beyond me.
Within minutes, the Vudu was up and running. Take the short tutorial and follow the on-screen instructions as it takes you through the process of checking your network connections and downloading updates for the box.
With our high-speed connection (clocked at 4.5 Mbps), the videos are available for viewing immediately. If you’re running a slower connection (less than 2 Mbps), video delivery will be slightly delayed. Picture quality is good — and for HD folks, don’t worry, you’re covered!
My take on the Vudu? Convenient, simple to use, awesome movie selection (it’s Blockbuster in a box!), and cost-per-movie is reasonable. My nephew who works at Blockbuster may not be seeing us around the store much anymore. Now all the entertainment we crave can be found in that little black box.
[tags]Vudu, video-on-demand, gadgets, television, Hawaiian Telcom, Hawaii[/tags]
A 30-something Christian girl, blissfully wedded to her perfect match (the yang to her yin) of 14 years. A new mom to her miracle baby, born on October 4, 2008. Living life in Hawaii, less than 5 miles from her hometown, a slave to her mortgage payment, but seeking balance in her pursuit of family, faith, recreation, and rest.
What’s the USB port for?
Hey, stop beating me to the question, Scrivener!
I asked the other Ryan the same question on his Flickr and he never answered it, so I’ve had it waiting in the wings.
As I understand it, the USB port will be used to allow for expanded storage (i.e., thumb drive, external HD, etc.). However, this feature is not yet available.
Sounds like it’s waiting to be hacked to me! Darnit, so many things to hack…
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Ryan
http://uncommon-cents.net/
Great review. I kind of knew what they were but hadn’t taken the time to read up on them fully. I’m a hardcore Tivo and Netflix fan. We can do pretty much the same thing with Tivo and Amazon Unbox. Go to Amazon.com order a movie, send it to your Tivo. And because our Tivos are on our wireless network, we can move stuff around, stream stuff from our computers (videos and photos) and do all sorts of Yahoo stuff. And with Tivo Desktop I can encode and transfer any video to the Tivo for yummy big screen goodness.
And there’s always the AppleTv. But man, the movies are limited…
But for pure movie watching, the Vudo sounds awesome!
In (possible) answer to the USB question above, when I saw the pic I assumed it was for a wireless connection like we have on all our Tivos:
http://www.barefeetshop.com/shop.php?k=B000ER5G6C&c=elec
But a quick Google search turned up the following article that says no wireless options, yet:
http://www.infosyncworld.com/news/n/8295.html
Curious to hear about the movie selection/availability? Is there new stuff and decent selections across the categories?
Sounds like a great little toy. I want one for work for help escaping the day. But I don’t think my employer would appriciate that.
According to the Vudu FAQ, the box itself is not wireless but you can “plug the box into any number of Ethernet or game adapters to connect it to your wireless network.” Wireless capability built-in would’ve been nice, so I wouldn’t have to run a long-arse ethernet cable from my router to the Vudu.
The selection is ever-expanding and according to their site, the movies are available at nearly the same time as the DVD releases (usually the same day or within a couple of days).
when someone sends me one for the explicit purpose of hacking, I’m quite sure the USB functionality can be determined and/or utilized for whatever desired purpose.
Is that a subscriber module on the front? (something that looks like a smart card)
I suspect its just a matter of time before there will be USB wireless capability.
Its interesting and/or neat that the remote control isnt IR, but uses RF. That means you can hide it someplace out of the way as the requirement for line of sight is eliminated.
We don’t have anything like this available locally so we do settle for Netflix…HOWEVER…supposedly, Netflix is in the process of finalizing their own set-top box to deliver movies on demand (hopefully with a much better selection of their “View Now” option online.
Once again, your technogadgetizmo leaves me slobbering on my poor keyboard!