Let's give VUDU a chance!

[mostextreme]

I have been reading the various threads and am troubled by how much so many people are wining. The service has only just started and so many people are complaining. The VUDU people have stated that new features are easily downloaded so lets ask for them and see what happens. Let;s not complain like children.

They said HD was coming, so lets give them a chance to deliver. It will probably take 6 months, but so what. The set up was a snap. The design is great the menu's are easy to navigate and the remote is a work of art.

I think there could have been a few more blockbusters to launch the service but so what! We all know what goniff's the Hollywood studio's are, and VUDU is at their mercy also. Also we have no Netflix envelopes to deal with and don't have to go to Blockbuster or Hollywood Video.

We are all probably early adapters or technology advanced family's. Remember when other lead edge devices or disruptive technologies came out how they were criticized. I expect VUDU to get better and better.

To the individual who stated they recognized only about 100 titles...that what VUDU is all about. If you saw all the films would that be better. Let's discover together.

[redwein]

Re: Let's give VUDU a chance!

I agree completely. I just installed mine today and I'm blown away with what I see are its long term capabilities. Even right now, it is very useful and will begin to change the way we buy/rent movies. Up to now, I have invested almost $10,000 in hardware (4 2.0 Terastation servers, 6 LinkTheater Media Players, etc.) to hold my current collection of over 700 movies. I went that route because I didn't have room for all of the disks and I didn't have a good way to organize them anyway. I'm starting to run out of space on my servers and I don't want to add any more hardware there.

The only reason I own all of those movies is because I want to have an on-demand video capability throughout my home. If I could do that without ever owning another movie I would love it. I see Vudu as something that will eventually enable me to do it. If I just pay the rental fee every time we watch any movie, even if it is multiple times, I will come out way ahead financially, greatly expand the list of titles for us to choose from, and save myself a lot of work copying disks we buy to my servers.

Overall, I'm ecstatic. This is exactly the type of product I have been waiting for and I know it will improve its rough edges over time. I fully believe it is the future. I was going to consider using Amazon Unbox on my Tivos to accomplish some of this but after seeing the Vudu today I'm not even going to bother with that.

[rlauwereins]

Re: Let's give VUDU a chance!

Welcome aboard and look forward to hearing/reading many more posts about your experiences. We are all on a journey together!

[mbustin]

Re: Let's give VUDU a chance!

"I have been reading the various threads and am troubled by how much so many people are wining."

ME,

When a company hypes that it has deals with all the major studios and that it will add 5-20 movies a week to the inventory -I expect better than what's available ... I've have the box for a week and I've seen very few updates so far -so I feel somewhat duped ...

Like everyone else, I like the product and thinks it's the way of the future. I just hope the studios lighten up. I'm going to be really dissapointed if the selection doesn't improve drastically ...

[redwein]

Re: Let's give VUDU a chance!

When a company hypes that it has deals with all the major studios and that it will add 5-20 movies a week to the inventory -I expect better than what's available ... I've have the box for a week and I've seen very few updates so far -so I feel somewhat duped ...

Like everyone else, I like the product and thinks it's the way of the future. I just hope the studios lighten up. I'm going to be really dissapointed if the selection doesn't improve drastically ...

I see it differently. The boxes started shipping less than 2 weeks ago. I am amazed that the system works as well as it does and looks as polished as it does. The fact that they have 5,000 movies is a good starting point and I am willing to give them the chance to get this thing up and flying.

I'm surprised that someone who would put themselves in the position of being an "early adopter" to technology like this would have the expectation that you do. Complex things take time. I agree that if they can't work out things with the studios in a reasonable time, this may never quite make it. For me a reasonable time is 6 months to a year (or when someone comes out with something better).

Also, about the movie selection, the fact that there are a bunch of movies that I haven't heard of is actually a plus for me and my family as we now have an easy way to find some more obscure titles to give them a chance. You can sometimes find the most interesting things by delving into obscurity. Watching those movies will take time and give Vudu a chance to get things rolling.

I guess the bottom line is that patience is required here and I think that most people who would buy the box at this stage would realize that. Keep in mind that you can still do whatever you were doing before and just use Vudu when it works for you. Then, as things improve, you should use Vudu more and do what you used to do less.

Of course you have the right to feel however you want so don't take this as any sort of attack.

[NA9D]

Re: Let's give VUDU a chance!

Redwein and Mostextreme,

It's gratifying to read your posts and makes me feel really good that all our efforts over the last six months of testing didn't go to waste and that we were able to help get the box to the point where you guys can enjoy it.

Knowing where this thing was just 2 months ago and where it is today is amazing. The Vudu team have done a ton here to get this thing ready. And there is more to come...

I am glad you are enjoying your new toys!

[mbustin]

Re: Let's give VUDU a chance!

I see it differently. The boxes started shipping less than 2 weeks ago. I am amazed that the system works as well as it does and looks as polished as it does. The fact that they have 5,000 movies is a good starting point and I am willing to give them the chance to get this thing up and flying.

No offense take. You have a healthier attitude then me

Vudu apparently has been around 2 years, plenty of time to work studio deals. I hope that now that it's out - the studios see what it can do, they'll release more titles - PLEASE....

I'm not as enthusiastic about bad horror flicks the content issue is one of the biggest knocks against vudu that I have read in the reviews (along with price).

I'm keeping it and I have my fingers crossed ....

[rlauwereins]

Re: Let's give VUDU a chance!

I'm keeping it and I have my fingers crossed ....

I don't think you'll be disappointed. I agree with the following statement, since I've been through this, too.

Knowing where this thing was just 2 months ago and where it is today is amazing. The Vudu team have done a ton here to get this thing ready. And there is more to come...

[cmunguia]

Re: Let's give VUDU a chance!

WHAT ARE YOU ALL TALKING ABOUT??? Vudu has plenty of content and plenty of mainstream movies from big studios. (300, Black Snake Moan, Blades of Glory, 28 Weeks Later, ect. I am really impressed with the selection and it is improving as we go, the only thing I am really waiting for is the HD content, and I know that it is coming soon. 5,000 titles of wich probably at least 2,500 are well known movies. give it a chance to develop and gain popularity!!!

[mbustin]

Re: Let's give VUDU a chance!

WHAT ARE YOU ALL TALKING ABOUT??? Vudu has plenty of content and plenty of mainstream movies from big studios. (300, Black Snake Moan, Blades of Glory, 28 Weeks Later, ect. I am really impressed with the selection and it is improving as we go, the only thing I am really waiting for is the HD content, and I know that it is coming soon. 5,000 titles of wich probably at least 2,500 are well known movies. give it a chance to develop and gain popularity!!!

You must like straight-to-video horror flicks .... most of the 3256 rentable movies are crap .... there are probably 20 lousy movies for each half-decent movie ...

[NA9D]

Re: Let's give VUDU a chance!

You must like straight-to-video horror flicks .... most of the 3256 rentable movies are crap .... there are probably 20 lousy movies for each half-decent movie ...

I really take issue with this as well. There's about 500 or so very lousy indie B movies. I know this because that was ALL we had when we started testing the box back in February. There's a large amount of "B" movies released by the major studios, but there are significant numbers of regular run theater releases. There's not that many straight to video horror flicks.

Let's see some decent movies off the top of my head:

Liar, Liar
Family Man
Backdraft
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
The Jerk
Van Helsing
Chronicles of Riddick
Star Trek movies (OK, they may all be purchase only - I forget)
The Nativity Story
The Hills Have Eyes
Intolerable Cruelty
Music and Lyrics
The Unforgiven
2 Fast 2 Furious

That's just a few off the top of my head. Not all are "new" but half to two thirds the selection at a Blockbuster is similar to what Vudu has. And I'd bet Vudu has more releases that are a few years old than Blockbuster. Of the 50,000 or so movies that Netflix claims to have, I bet most of them are also pretty lousy and direct to video horror movies...

[mbustin]

Re: Let's give VUDU a chance!

Of the 3253 rentables, 2412 are rated 0-2 stars, 4+ movies number 278 (and that's suspect). Yeah, many ofthe 2412 we're probabably never rated(and I can see why).

Look - most movies are bad in general so I realize that that collections are going to have alot more bad than good --but most of these movies - the vast majority are really obscure ... for the 10-15 or so movies you named, I could name 100 that are rotten, but we've been through this already...

I'm not worried about the quality of the selection. I just hope Vudu can work their deals so they become more than just being on par with Comcast PPV .... I hope they can match Blockbuster and Netflix someday.

[RonV]

Re: Let's give VUDU a chance!

I also search with the 2 to 4 star options. Sometimes I will just look at 1 star movies and there is a Gem from the old horror movie days listed there. I do disagree with some of the 4 star movies ratings.

I do wish that VUDU will allow a "user rating" system so we can compare community to the "Experts".

Of the 3253 rentables, 2412 are rated 0-2 stars, 4+ movies number 278 (and that's suspect). Yeah, many ofthe 2412 we're probabably never rated(and I can see why).

Look - most movies are bad in general so I realize that that collections are going to have alot more bad than good --but most of these movies - the vast majority are really obscure ... for the 10-15 or so movies you named, I could name 100 that are rotten, but we've been through this already...

I'm not worried about the quality of the selection. I just hope Vudu can work their deals so they become more than just being on par with Comcast PPV .... I hope they can match Blockbuster and Netflix someday.

[cmunguia]

Re: Let's give VUDU a chance!

who cares about the star ratings, I rate the movies I watch and don't follow anything that the critics say because I know what kind of movies I like and some of the movies that only have one star on Vudu I would personally give 5 stars. Having all these movies at my disposal is what Vudu is all about, so many people all with their own opinions, you have to offer even what you may think is the worst movie of all time, it may be the favorite movie of a 1000 people. Like my sister she loves a movie called "The Dentist" some low budget horror flick that I could not even watch more than 10mins of, but she loves it.


"Be your own Critic"

[RonV]

Re: Let's give VUDU a chance!

The mindless drones out there that really don't understand what a good movie is. I know my neighbor wouldn't see a movie unless Joel Siegel gives the movie a good review...may he rest in peace (Joel that is). If the critics usually hate it or give it a low rating I will definitely consider it...

who cares about the star ratings