VUDU (old review)

This article has been abridged and updated from an original review on HDD's sister-site www.AVRev.com

The system consists of a small black box that is a bit larger than a wireless router and weighs a little over four pounds. The shipment also contained a small odd-shaped remote, a power supply, batteries and several cables, including an HDMI interconnect, which I was very happy to see. The front of the box has two LEDs, which indicate power and Internet connectivity, as well as a card slot location for your Vudu membership card, which contains your account information.

The rear of the unit has one Ethernet and one USB port for connectivity. It should be noted that wireless Internet connectivity is an option if you use a power line adaptor or an Ethernet wireless bridge and 802.11G as a minimum. The back panel provides all the standard audio outputs, which include coax and optical digital, as well as RCA analog. A single HDMI v1.1 port, a single component video, S-video and composite video round out the video outputs.

In theory, the Vudu system replaces your video disc player and frees up all the space that you dedicate to disc storage. It also eliminates the chances of damaging any disks you own. Now consider that, with the Vudu server, you will never need to step foot in another video store again. No need to wait for the mailman to bring you a movie, either. You sit in the comfort of your own living room and browse the movie selections. When you see one you like, press a button and it instantly starts playing. Is that enough convenience for you? To me, it sounds just about perfect.

You are probably wondering what all this convenience is going to cost you. The unit sells for $295 and the service is completely voluntary, meaning it has zero activation or subscription fees. You simply pay for the movies that you want to rent or own. Rented movies are viewable for as many times as you would like for a 24-hour period and range in cost from $0.99 to $3.99 for standard definition and $3.99 to $5.99 for high definition. There are some independent films that allow for a 48-hour viewing window. Movie purchases range from $4.99 to $19.99 and rentals from $3.99 for HD classics to $5.99 for HD new releases. These remain on the unit’s hard drive permanently. There are also several TV shows that are available for $1.99 per episode. Payment is done through an online account, which is accessible through the Vudu website. Vudu accepts all major credit cards and allows you to preload the account with $20, $50 or $100. As movies are rented or purchased, the balance is debited until your account reaches $5. Then the preload amount is replenished from your card.

Setting up the Vudu system couldn’t get much easier. You simply plug in your Internet connection to the back of the box, connect the box to your TV and power it on. I used the HDMI interface with the Vudu-supplied cable to connect it to my Sony 1080p SXRD rear-projection set.

The Vudu system walks you step by step through the set-up process, which is not much more than waiting for the system to update. It then gives you a quick walk-through of how to use the remote control, which is by far the coolest remote I’ve ever seen, as well as a great method of browsing for movies. The remote fits perfectly in your hand and is the shape you would get if you held a piece of soft clay and squeezed it. Your thumb lands on top of the roller wheel, which moves the pointer around on the screen. When you found what you’re after, you press down on the wheel to select.

The “my Vudu” menu holds programs that you have purchased or rented and allows you to delete or archive them. Parental controls allow you to filter what types of movies can be rented and places a password on the account so your kids can’t go crazy and rent 20 movies in a day.

My first selection was No Country for Old Men (Buena Vista Home Entertainment), which tells the story of a sadistic killer who relentlessly hunts down the main character after he accidentally gets involved in a drug deal gone bad. This was a standard-resolution movie. It started the instant I pressed play. I was expecting some delay while the movie buffered, but there was absolutely none. The picture was as clear as any DVD that has ever been displayed on my screen with the various players I’ve used, which range from Oppo to Esoteric brands. Sound quality was superb as well. I was able to pause, fast forward and rewind to my heart’s content, with no glitches at all.

I decided to try one of the HD offerings. What better to illustrate the beauty that HD offers than Saw IV (Lionsgate)? This time, I was sure that there would be a delay, as the additional data needed for HD content was loaded. I was wrong. Again, the film started instantly. The picture was every bit as good as what I get from my Playstation3 Blu-ray player. Incisions oozed blood with clarity normally found only in an operating room. The sound of saws cutting bone and limbs snapping was realistic enough to make my wife leave the room. I did notice that I couldn’t fast forward very far past where I was in the film. As the film continued to play, the movie must have buffered more and allowed me more flexibility in how far forward I could go. This wasn’t really an issue to me, as I always watch movies straight through.

While a library of 6,000 movies may seem like a lot, there were a few films I looked for which currently aren’t on the Vudu system. For example, the ‘70s horror movie The Car, which I remember watching late at night with my dad when I was a kid, was not listed in the Vudu catalog. I have little doubt that eventually the library will be as vast as any video outlet, but right now, there may be some movies that you can’t find.

Fifty movies may seem like a lot, but if you are like me, then you already own many more than this amount. Vudu says that a larger drive is in the works and possible even an external drive may be on the way, so this may be much ado about nothing, but I feel I should mention it.

Vudu rocks. It truly brings the movie store to your living room. It’s easy to use. It has no lines to wait in, no screaming kids to have to listen to and avoid stepping on, no fighting traffic and burning $4-a-gallon gasoline. The Vudu box is about the same cost as any other disc player you might consider purchasing. It provides access to tons of content with absolutely no hassle and no subscription fee. I sincerely recommend that you take some time and consider Vudu if you are thinking of getting a new player. It just might end your relationship with movie discs of all varieties.