VUDU vs Satellite

[RonV]

Re: VUDU vs Satellite

Sucessfull Directv D11 HD Mpeg4 satellite launch today. D12 is next later this year.

BEWARE VUDU....... beware....

Did you hear that the DishNetwork satellite had to be put into a safe orbit and that it is now being written off. Aparenty the launch control computer detected that final orbit would not be reached and depoyed the satellite in the safe orbit.

[NA9D]

Re: VUDU vs Satellite

I wouldn't go for the DirecTV box for a number of reasons:

- I must have their TV service
- Sat TV is blocked by things like rain
- I have to have a receiver on each TV
- My LG TV's built in HD-DVR won't work with it.
- DirecTV with all that will cost more than my cable bill
- I still question VOD over satellite and how good it will be.

[Nded]

Re: VUDU vs Satellite

Please keep the discussion on topic and drop the presidential candidate jousting. All future posts with references to such will be edited out, and may be deleted.

There's a right place for everything - this is the right place to discuss Vudu topics.

[HeadHodge]

Re: VUDU vs Satellite

And none of that would make me switch to DirecTV from Vudu and my Comcast cable with Tivo series 3. In fact, I recently got rid of DirecTV to switch to what I have now even though I had been a DirecTV customer for 10 years or so. I didn't appreciate my HD Tivo being obsoleted by them, nor needing to get a new dish every couple of years to pick up their new satellites, nor the fact that rainstorms make it go out, nor the fact that, due to some legal reason, they couldn't provide me with an HD Fox channel at my address, nor the fact that you need to have 2 satellite cables going to each location (I have 4 locations) to have a multi-tuner DVR, etc. Now I wouldn't mind if Vudu added some media extender functionality if they could do it and maintain the aspects of their interface that make it a much better VOD product (in my opinion of course) than Comcast, ATV, DirecTV, Tivo/Amazon Unbox, etc. However, getting VOD right is the absolute most important thing to me for Vudu.

Look, if you really want a product that does everything then go for it. In my experience, products that try to do it all never do anything particularly well. I will continue to have the handful of boxes (and yes it is only a handful) that are the best for the various things I want to do with my system and replace them individually as they come out with compelling new versions or new competitors prove themselves worthy.

I stand by my statement that the "doom and gloom" is a bit much. Vudu so far has proven themselves to be on top of what they are trying to accomplish and I see no reason to just assume that they will fail to compete with something like DirecTV. Heck, even the description of what the DirecTV VOD capabilities are supposed to ultimately be doesn't make it sound particularly good (see my earlier post in this thread).

About the Obama/Bin Laden/Hussein comment. No it really shouldn't be discussed anywhere. It isn't relevant to anything that is important. Unless of course you like to make decisions based on superficial nonsense.

Well, I agree with you 1,000% on everything you say (except the Obama thing).

I wasn't trying to play Directv salesperson, I love my VUDU and use it 80% plus for my movie viewing needs. I was just simply pointing out that they (Directv) do provide features that people on this forum wish for. So that makes them a competitor in this business space. Like I said don't shoot the messenger. I wasn't trying to portrait doom and gloom, just simply don't ignore them. A lot of posters here and other reviews compare ATV as the big guy competitor, and I'm really not so sure of that.

I'm with you all the way (except for the Obama thing, like blindly listening to "God Damn America" for 20 years by your spiritual guide isn't worth talking about as a decision point. I want to go on but I won't, wrong forum).

For me, all I want are more movies with DVD quality or better and DD5.1 or better on demand for a fair price.

p.s. Grumpy Old Members fart alot too.

[redwein]

Re: VUDU vs Satellite

And none of that would make me switch to DirecTV from Vudu and my Comcast cable with Tivo series 3. In fact, I recently got rid of DirecTV to switch to what I have now even though I had been a DirecTV customer for 10 years or so. I didn't appreciate my HD Tivo being obsoleted by them, nor needing to get a new dish every couple of years to pick up their new satellites, nor the fact that rainstorms make it go out, nor the fact that, due to some legal reason, they couldn't provide me with an HD Fox channel at my address, nor the fact that you need to have 2 satellite cables going to each location (I have 4 locations) to have a multi-tuner DVR, etc. Now I wouldn't mind if Vudu added some media extender functionality if they could do it and maintain the aspects of their interface that make it a much better VOD product (in my opinion of course) than Comcast, ATV, DirecTV, Tivo/Amazon Unbox, etc. However, getting VOD right is the absolute most important thing to me for Vudu.

Look, if you really want a product that does everything then go for it. In my experience, products that try to do it all never do anything particularly well. I will continue to have the handful of boxes (and yes it is only a handful) that are the best for the various things I want to do with my system and replace them individually as they come out with compelling new versions or new competitors prove themselves worthy.

I stand by my statement that the "doom and gloom" is a bit much. Vudu so far has proven themselves to be on top of what they are trying to accomplish and I see no reason to just assume that they will fail to compete with something like DirecTV. Heck, even the description of what the DirecTV VOD capabilities are supposed to ultimately be doesn't make it sound particularly good (see my earlier post in this thread).

About the Obama/Bin Laden/Hussein comment. No it really shouldn't be discussed anywhere. It isn't relevant to anything that is important. Unless of course you like to make decisions based on superficial nonsense.

[HeadHodge]

Re: VUDU vs Satellite

Close RedWein!!

It was an over-dramatic understatement.

I thought about it and decided I perhaps shouldn't be so glib, because I doubt it's getting my point across.

So let me try this.

I read all the VUDU posts as they're posted. As they pertain to the wish list of VUDU features, here is a list (from memory) of what Directv already offers in comparision:

* They have over 200 channels of cable tv programming

* They have Windows Media compliant media sharing over the intranet for sharing video, music, and photos.

* They have almost 100 channels offering HD content with DD5.1

* They have VOD capability (depending on your definition of it) for hundreds of tv content titles and movies.

* They have VOD and PPV capability for high quality HD movie content. Admittedly anemic at this point, but it's there, available by either satellite or broadband.

* You can order, pay, and watch content via broadband (with a valid customer account).

* They offer Tivo like DVR boxes in HD.

* They offer both subscription based as well as pay per view content.

* They even beat you in the hardware arena. They will give you a box for free and install it for free too.

* You can connect terabyte ESATA disk drives to their box via their USB port.

* You can record content on their DVR and take it on the road to watch without being connected.

* The only thing I can think of that they don't do is offer content for purchase. But I belive that's coming.

* Oh.. and another thing it can't do (yet), is throw Pina Colada's to you in the Beta Pool.

I'm sure I have'nt included all the pertinent bullet points, but hopefully you get the point. They are a player in this space. To ignore them and write them off, would in my opinion be a huge mistake.

To me, with over 15 million current subscribers, they ARE the sleeping giant. And they don't even make computers for living either, so providing content for profit IS there business.

Sure like RonV has said before, they are slow and cumbersome. But that's because they are so large which inherently makes them that way.

I'm definitely not a Directv fanboy, I love VUDU (and HypnoToad too ). But I'm just trying to point out what to me is the obvious that no one wants to recognize (so please don't shoot the messenger). People like pretending that Obama doesn't rhyme with Bin Laden and his middle name isn't Hussein, but it's something that still should be discussed (on a different forum of course).

So I stand by my previous post, BEWARE Vudu.....

They exist AND they have a plan!!

Regards from Grumpy Old Member

[HeadHodge]

Re: VUDU vs Satellite

Seems like a bit of a dramatic overstatement.

Close RedWein!!

It was an over-dramatic understatement.

[redwein]

Re: VUDU vs Satellite

Sucessfull Directv D11 HD Mpeg4 satellite launch today. D12 is next later this year.

BEWARE VUDU....... beware....

Seems like a bit of a dramatic overstatement.

[HeadHodge]

Re: VUDU vs Satellite

Sucessfull Directv D11 HD Mpeg4 satellite launch today. D12 is next later this year.

BEWARE VUDU....... beware....

[HeadHodge]

Re: VUDU vs Satellite

wow! 10 minutes went by in what seemed like a second!

Unless your on the West Coast of course. Then it would be 3 Hours and 10 Minutes!!

[aaronwt]

Re: VUDU vs Satellite

All Glory to Hypno Toad!!


(Are you sure you don't see the revelance of this post to this thread?)

p.s. If you don't agree, then this will help: http://hypnotoad2.ytmnd.com/

wow! 10 minutes went by in what seemed like a second!

[HeadHodge]

Re: VUDU vs Satellite

Here is an article describing DirecTV's new VOD offering:

http://blogs.moneycentral.msn.com/to...on-demand.aspx

It explains how it will use a combination of satellite and broadband. It is kind of lukewarm and uses phrases like "not exactly "true" on-demand".

I hate the word VOD, because it's such a mangled term with many different meanings. We could probably create a thread with long debates about what VOD really means.

But for me, VOD just means I'm able to pick and choose content that "I" want to watch without having to wait for it to be broadcast at a certain date and time (assuming that it would ever be braodcast at all).

Too me it doesn't mean that it's "instantly" available for viewing, just simply available for me to obtain and view.

But I must say if Directv's intent is simply to compete with cable offerings then I doubt I would be interested in it anyways. Cable may provide "Instant" viewing of content but they certaintly don't have a library of content that contains what I want to watch on demand.

For example I really like Ghost in the Shell. But there is no way with cable that I can get all the epsisodes, just simply whatever episodes they decide they want to make available. They do rotate episodes over time, but then we're right back to the situation of having to wait for it to become available.

If Directv's plan is just to provide re-runs of old tv shows with their VOD service, then I would not only be a little surprised but also a lot dissapointed in them.

Glad I have VUDU!!!

B.T.W. The launch for D11 is on schedule for this coming Tuesday, so BEWARE!!!

[redwein]

Re: VUDU vs Satellite

Here is an article describing DirecTV's new VOD offering:

http://blogs.moneycentral.msn.com/to...on-demand.aspx

It explains how it will use a combination of satellite and broadband. It is kind of lukewarm and uses phrases like "not exactly "true" on-demand".

[HeadHodge]

Re: VUDU vs Satellite

I don't doubt it was good service. It is certainly not on demand though!

I think the PQ of all the services is going to be just about equal. The thing I noticed when comparing the Vudu SD and HD versions of Transformers was constrast and color depth. So I think you are on to something. The color depth is also much better - colors seem to just have more of themselves. It's also why I liked Vudu's HD PQ better than ATV. ATV didn't have quite the color depth.

I have a feeling the winner of this whole game will be the one with the most content.

However, if everyone has the same content, then it would be who has the best content quality (i.e. who has the HD uncut version with DD as opposed to the SD/Stereo version)

If that is also equal, then price will probably be the deciding factor.

I could be wrong, but I'm still unconvinced that the ability to watch the movie instantly would be the deciding factor in someone's decision to choose one service over the other.

The Comebacks is a good example of what I mean. VUDU has it available for rent at $3.99 but only in Widescreen (not HD). VUDU has the movie available for instant viewing, while I had to wait until the next evening to watch it from Directv and it cost a dollar more at $4.99. But Directv provided the movie in HD with DD and an option for the regular or uncut versions.

So I ended up renting the title from Directv instead of VUDU. I might just be a consumer anamoly and these things might not be important to others, but that was my decision process. Food for thought anyways.

[NA9D]

Re: VUDU vs Satellite

I don't doubt it was good service. It is certainly not on demand though!

I think the PQ of all the services is going to be just about equal. The thing I noticed when comparing the Vudu SD and HD versions of Transformers was constrast and color depth. So I think you are on to something. The color depth is also much better - colors seem to just have more of themselves. It's also why I liked Vudu's HD PQ better than ATV. ATV didn't have quite the color depth.