External hard drive

[slash00]

Re: External hard drive

Would not need the external drive if we could archieve all movies that we buy.But ,whats the point in the archieve, when u can only do it to certain movies.Its nice to see that more Vudu customers have the same problem that i have.

[rstone]

Re: External hard drive

Once a few more movies are watched I have a strong feeling that you can predict they are not interested in renewing a previously viewed movie. I believe the whole reason for the extended view originally was to allow people to continue viewing a movie that passed it's 24 hour limit (but a small additional fee).

Another option is you could make that a selectable switch in your setting, to either save previously rented movies, for those that want it, and turned off for those who don't.

[redwein]

Re: External hard drive

I think external drive support is a good thing, but it shouldn't be an essential requirement for proper operation of the box.

I don't think it would be an attraction solution to force all VUDU owners to purchase an external drive to keep their service working properly.

That's why I'm pushing more for the generic solution to provide a better way to delete content off the box and a better way to recover purchased content when it's intentionally or accidentally deleted.

Well said. I really think the disk drive should just be a buffering mechanism to make the whole process go smoothly. I see no reason to make such a weak link be the only location for purchased content.

That being said, I would never purchase a movie if 100% rentability was available. If I purchase anything now, it's because I really want to see it and I can't rent it. Then, I throw it away if need be, essentially making it just an expensive rental. I probably won't ever use Vudu (or any other such device) to store a collection of purchased content. However, I do know that there are others who will so improvements in this area will be very important.

[HeadHodge]

Re: External hard drive

If it wasn't for the rental being an HDX, there really would be no reason for Vudu to need to keep it on the box even with the 5 day extended viewing offer. It could just keep track of the offer, bump the movie off the box if necessary, and re-download it if you decide to re-rent it. That makes the most sense since I would imagine re-renting the same movie in that period is probably a realatively rare occurrence. They could even do it for HDX but you would have to wait the 4 hours again if you chose to re-rent it. I would imagine fewer people would get as upset at that as you are, justifiably, at the current situation.

I've already recommended several times that VUDU should offer a manual way to delete movies off the box "and" also a forced auto FIFO delete for people who don't want to or care to take the time to manage their own content.

Once a few more movies are watched I have a strong feeling that you can predict they are not interested in renewing a previously viewed movie. I believe the whole reason for the extended view originally was to allow people to continue viewing a movie that passed it's 24 hour limit (but a small additional fee).

[HeadHodge]

Re: External hard drive

I emailed VUDU support and the response said that they have no way to delete the rental from the box. So I have no choice but to wait until the rental that I've already watched falls off after the 5 day offer for extended viewing. I already watched it and don't want to extend it but there is no way to get it off the box.

Welcome to my world.

I think external drive support is a good thing, but it shouldn't be an essential requirement for proper operation of the box.

I don't think it would be an attraction solution to force all VUDU owners to purchase an external drive to keep their service working properly.

That's why I'm pushing more for the generic solution to provide a better way to delete content off the box and a better way to recover purchased content when it's intentionally or accidentally deleted.

[redwein]

Re: External hard drive

I emailed VUDU support and the response said that they have no way to delete the rental from the box. So I have no choice but to wait until the rental that I've already watched falls off after the 5 day offer for extended viewing. I already watched it and don't want to extend it but there is no way to get it off the box.
Of course as I said previously I could delete purchased content and lose it forever but that makes no sense. Why would I purchase a title just to delete it? If I wanted to do that I would have only rented those titles.

Anyway hopefully all this will be resolved with either an external storage option, or future options to remove rental titles from the box after viewing.
But the current system is not allowing me to spend money on more content from that box.
So hopefully lost revenue is incentive enough for a solution to be offered soon.

If it wasn't for the rental being an HDX, there really would be no reason for Vudu to need to keep it on the box even with the 5 day extended viewing offer. It could just keep track of the offer, bump the movie off the box if necessary, and re-download it if you decide to re-rent it. That makes the most sense since I would imagine re-renting the same movie in that period is probably a realatively rare occurrence. They could even do it for HDX but you would have to wait the 4 hours again if you chose to re-rent it. I would imagine fewer people would get as upset at that as you are, justifiably, at the current situation.

[aaronwt]

Re: External hard drive

The rented content is still there. One HDX title was on an extension so when the 24 hours were up that title disappeared and gave me room to download Unleashed.
The other HDX rental was only in the first rental period and says I have 5 days to extend it. So it looks like it will be on the box for 5 more days until it will be deleted and allow me to rent more titles.

I'll probably try calling VUDU tomorrow to see if they can remove that rental title for me to free up space for another title I want to rent and have it waiting and ready so I can watch it sometime in December.

I emailed VUDU support and the response said that they have no way to delete the rental from the box. So I have no choice but to wait until the rental that I've already watched falls off after the 5 day offer for extended viewing. I already watched it and don't want to extend it but there is no way to get it off the box.
Of course as I said previously I could delete purchased content and lose it forever but that makes no sense. Why would I purchase a title just to delete it? If I wanted to do that I would have only rented those titles.

Anyway hopefully all this will be resolved with either an external storage option, or future options to remove rental titles from the box after viewing.
But the current system is not allowing me to spend money on more content from that box.
So hopefully lost revenue is incentive enough for a solution to be offered soon.

[brwatters]

Re: External hard drive

VUDU, Come on with some info please .. its clear that the USB connection can be used to drive an external storage space, its further clear you can lock it down and or lock down the movies on said external space via the auth card in the unit, So give us users some detail as we I am sure would all like to know that we have made wise purchases ..

BRW

[Greg]

Re: External hard drive

The rented content is still there. One HDX title was on an extension so when the 24 hours were up that title disappeared and gave me room to download Unleashed.
The other HDX rental was only in the first rental period and says I have 5 days to extend it. So it looks like it will be on the box for 5 more days until it will be deleted and allow me to rent more titles.

I'll probably try calling VUDU tomorrow to see if they can remove that rental title for me to free up space for another title I want to rent and have it waiting and ready so I can watch it sometime in December.

Thanks for the report. Check your PMs...

-- Greg

[aaronwt]

Re: External hard drive

I believe so. Let us know how it goes!

Cheers,

-- Greg

The rented content is still there. One HDX title was on an extension so when the 24 hours were up that title disappeared and gave me room to download Unleashed.
The other HDX rental was only in the first rental period and says I have 5 days to extend it. So it looks like it will be on the box for 5 more days until it will be deleted and allow me to rent more titles.

I'll probably try calling VUDU tomorrow to see if they can remove that rental title for me to free up space for another title I want to rent and have it waiting and ready so I can watch it sometime in December.

[MaxH]

Re: External hard drive

At the very least they need an option to delete rented content after viewing it to free up space. I would think this would be a quick and easy solution to implement and would help until an external storage solution is available.

Yeah, you would think. I recommended this feature because I love horror movies, but I don't want the posters for any recent horror rentals showing up when my daughter goes to extend the rental of "The Secret of NIMH".

[aaronwt]

Re: External hard drive

I'll check after I get back from shopping. The local mall( Potamac Mills) is opening at midnight for shopping so I plan on going there at midnight tonight for an hour to get some shopping done.

[Greg]

Re: External hard drive

When the 24 hour period from my two HDX rentals is up, will they be deleted automatically so I can add more content?

I believe so. Let us know how it goes!

Cheers,

-- Greg

[aaronwt]

Re: External hard drive

No... That's the problem I'm having. Because of the extended rental feature (which is good), they hang out for a much longer time.

So then I'm screwed on that box. I can't purchase or rent anything without deleting my purchased HD content I want to keep.

They really need to come up with a solution for this. I don't want to have to move my boxes around just so I can watch something on my main setup.

At the very least they need an option to delete rented content after viewing it to free up space. I would think this would be a quick and easy solution to implement and would help until an external storage solution is available.

Right now this just makes no sense. I cannot rent(or purchase) any more titles on that box until the existing titles fall off the list.
So basically my box has become a paperweight for new titles and I can't spend anymore money for rentals so VUDU loses out on this income as well.

And what makes even less sense, my only option is to delete titles i have purchased(I have already archived everything that can be archived)
And once I delete those HD and HDX titles I can never get them back. Well why would I purchase them only to delete them? That makes absolutely no sense.

While I am very grateful for them adding the HDX content, they should have realized that this problem would occur and have had a solution ready to implement.

[RonV]

Re: External hard drive

The main reason I'm concerned about the storage is for TV shows. Sure, HDX eats up a lot of space, but you at least have the option (and even once they add more titles for actual sale, still will) to rent those movies. All TV shows are 'purchase only.' I'm sure there's probably mention of it in a thread here somewhere, but I don't know how much space SD content eats up, so I've been hesitant to start picking up any TV episodes, even though I'd like to, as I'm afraid that the space will be an issue at some point if I bought a couple whole seasons.

So far all the TV shows I have purchased can be archived to the "Cloud". I haven't yet run into any space issues since I usually archive them after watching....