VUDU Day 2: Much Like Apple TV Take 2

Following up on Tuesday afternoon’s coverage, I have a confession. I didn’t wait until the weekend to begin playing with the in-hand VUDU review unit. This will, I’m sure, be a shock (not!) to long-term Brian’s Brain readers. I decided to install the VUDU box upstairs, tethered (along with the Xbox 360 Elite) to the single HDMI input of the Hanns.G LCD via the slick Belkin self-powered 2-into-1 HDMI switch (which worked like a charm but, FYI, does not include a HDMI cable). And I connected the VUDU box to my router (and from there to the Internet) via a HomePlug AV adapter.

At first, I tried adding a new, incremental Actiontec adapter to the existing 100% Actiontec-based powerline network, but it refused to communicate with its peers (sigh) even though my network’s using the default out-of-box adapter settings. My initial thought was there might be something HomePlug-incompatible about the specific power outlet I’d chosen, but moving one of the existing adapters from the dining room (where it was connected to a currently unused webcam) to the bedroom resulted in a successful connection. I’ll debug that particular quirk later…

Here’s some eye candy for you:

VUDU had apparently pre-configured the box for cognizance of the review service account the company had set up for me, which is a bit of a bummer since as a result, my testing experience won’t exactly mimic that of a typical consumer. But enough nit-picking. As part of initial configuration, the box also interrogates my WAN connection parameters. As you see above, it correctly identified the bandwidth capabilities and limitations of my 2.5 Mbps downstream DSL link.

Another shot, this one wider-view in nature (and slightly blurry…sorry). The subwoofer/amplifier portion of my Pioneer sound system is on the left. On the right is Moo Shu’s crate Below the LCD are, left to right, the laptop, Pioneer center channel speaker, and Mr. (or Ms.) VUDU. Below them are the Pioneer system’s UI module and a Roku SoundBridge. And below them is my Xbox 360 and its companion HD DVD drive (sigh).

Note the Updating Content screen. Focus in particular on the words ‘Loading the latest content’ and the ominous ‘Do not unplug or turn off your box’ warning. You can’t clearly see the bar graph below ‘Loading the latest content’ but it’s at ~20% complete. And as I mentioned to a VUDU fan last night, although this particular step was only supposed to take 10 minutes, several hours later it was still stuck at ~20% complete. Disregarding the ‘do not’ warning in desperation, I eventually did a Wii-reminiscent unplug-and-pray, and the box came back up fine. I had to redo the initial setup sequence, but this time it completed without a hitch.

So far, I’ve perused the VUDU UI and reviewer’s guide, and kicked off (for overnight completion) the free ‘purchase’ downloads of the first two Bourne films that come with every account. I’ll watch ‘em tonight (putting aside as much as possible my existing skepticism given Gizmodo’s recent evaluation), along with testing VUDU’s instant-playback claims (versus my Apple TV sub-2 minute experiences) for standard-definition material. However, so far it’s not clear to me why the VUDU enthusiasts were so hot on having me test this box, versus the Apple TV alternative.

To be clear, my stance probably would have been completely different beginning last September when VUDU started shipping gear, until mid-February when Apple TV’s Take 2 firmware update went live. Prior to the Take 2 update, VUDU and the Xbox 360 were (as far as I know) the only options for dedicated hardware-based (i.e. not PC-centric) downloads of rented and purchased movies and television shows. Now, however, VUDU’s differentiation is much less pronounced (a reality that’s reflected in the recent $100 price drop).

As Gizmodo points out, VUDU currently has more movies (albeit far fewer TV shows) in its library, although obscure describes much of the flick increment, and Apple’s (slowly) catching up. For the content that both services (and others, like Amazon Unbox, CinemaNow and Movielink) have in common, the usage rules are exactly the same…because they’re ultimately defined by the movie studios. Take Ratatouille, for example. You used to be able to rent it from the iTunes Store, in both standard- and high-def versions, but now it’s only available for purchase. And no surprise, when I searched for that title on VUDU last night I also found it to be purchase-only.

With VUDU, you preload (and reload) your account in $20, $50 or $100 increments; frequent renters-and-buyers might find this scheme convenient, whereas I (and, I’d wager, other more occasional users) prefer Apple’s pay-as-you-go approach. And, unlike VUDU, Apple TV also lets you access (and archive) your music and photo collection, as well as act (with third-party assistance) as a more generalized media streamer for Mac- and PC-originated sounds.

A comparison of the two companies’ products’ hardware features is, I think, also enlightening. Apple TV comes in $229 (80 GByte) and $329 (160 GByte) versions, with the refurb’d equivalents selling for $199 and $279. VUDU’s box now sells for $295, complete with a 250 GByte HDD but (as I noted before) no integrated 802.11n wireless. If I bought a lot of movies, I’d be more likely to get swayed to VUDU’s side by the capacity gap. And on that note, I should also point out that a 1 TByte VUDU version is now shipping (albeit only to resellers, and targeted at the home installer market), and that future company plans also include both direct USB HDD tethers and Ethernet-linked NAS appendages to supplement the box’s native storage. But frankly, for a 100% renter like me, the low-end Apple TV’s capacity suits me just fine.

A few other VUDU hardware observations:

1. The RF remote control is a nice touch from a location-independence standpoint, although its advantages aren’t directly applicable to my particular situation, and the approach also precludes universal remote compatibility.
2. You may remember my recent diatribe against noisy fans in consumer electronics devices. Well, although Apple TV doesn’t have one, VUDU unfortunately does. Frankly, the power button on the remote control is pretty silly. While it does disable the box’s graphics output, in a very Viiv Quick Resume-reminiscent scheme, all the rest of the hardware remains in a full-on, environmentally-insensitive state. Including, yes, the noisy fan.

As I said before, I’ll peruse some content over the next few days; I’ll probably even do an eyeballs-to-eyeballs comparison of VUDU-sourced flicks versus the same material coming from Apple (iTunes Store) and Microsoft (Xbox LIVE Marketplace). For now, though, I just gotta ask; what am I overlooking, VUDU promoters?