01.31.09
Are you ‘really’ ready to Vudu?
Netflix Player, AppleTV, and Vudu; the battle of the digital media wars. All three have their strong points, all have weaknesses. But do I care? In fact, I really don’t at all. I bought a Vudu box during their Christmas sale for $100, where the current price is and was $300. If I can give you one word of advice, it is this: Do not buy the Vudu for more than $100, lest you be dissapointed. For $100, I can argue its purchase. For $300, save your money and buy something else that is more fun. It gives me something to do during those “I want to watch a movie but don’t want to go out and buy/rent one” moments, but nothing more. It does indeed have the best HD offerings and quality over the latter Netflix and AppleTV players. With that said though, and I state again, the extra $200 for HD content is still quite ridiculous. Lets not waste time and get to the pros and cons that I’ve noticed after about a month of owning this device.
Pros:
- By far the best picture I’ve experienced on my 42″ 1080p TV. * But read con below.
- Vudu Labs “On Demand” allows users to watch pre-selected videocasts.
- Titles You Might Like – works pretty well I’d say.
- Users can rate movies.
- HD and HDX rental options cost exactly the same. HDX will take longer to buffer before you can watch though, which is understandable.
- The controller transmits via radio and not IR, so line of sight isn’t an issue. Not only so, but it’s simple and easy to use.
- USB connections for future expansion, such as an external hard drive for extra storage, and hopefully viewing video and listening to music already stored on the drive.
Cons:
- 99 cent rentals are for standard definition only.
- New movie offerings are usually available to buy only for at least a few weeks before you can rent.
- Buying movies is most often the same price, if not more expensive than buying the DVD.
- A lot of movies are only available to buy, especially older movies
- My Insignia NS-LCD42HD will only display up to 1080i when used with this box. I read through the Vudu forums and the whole “my TV will only display up to x” discussions pop up and are dismissed describing that the quality will not increase anyway because of the refresh rate used. Newer, more expensive TVs should go up to 1080p, but appearently my TV isn’t that great. With that said, the picture is still leaps and bounds over DVD.
- On Demand TV freezes and makes the device reset sometimes. This isn’t exactly a valid complaint though since it’s considered in beta testing.
- For those “adult” movie watchers, 95% of AVN titles start off at $7 to rent and $20 to own. Personally I think adult titles are ridiculous to throw money at in the first place, but this gives the word ridiculous new meaning.
- A lot of older, especially “cult flicks” are not available. You can request them or wait for them to be released at a later time, but there may be a lot of wishful thinking involved.
- Movie navigation has a lot to be desired. Fast forwarding and going back is an art that even after a month I have trouble with. You will most likely get frusterated and comprimise by skipping a part of the movie you missed or watching a whole scene over again.
More about the “On Demand TV” Vudu Labs offers; Think Miro, except you’re limited to very few feeds. You can watch episodes of Hak5 and Systm in HD. In addition, you can watch some TED videos, The Digg Reel, G4 videos, Diggnation, Tekzilla, Attack of The Show, and various other feeds from cooking to news to sports. Unfortunately you’re only limited to the last 15 entries from each feed, and there are no screenshots or previews. Honestly if it weren’t for the On Demand TV feature, I probably would have returned the box. I’d like to be able to add RSS feeds manually in the future, or at least have a larger selection selection though. In fact, if this is all the box did, I’d be happy. I like watching interesting stuff for free.
If you’re looking for something where you can save money, Vudu is not for you. As stated, movies aren’t any cheaper to rent or buy than anywhere else. In fact, now that Netflix has its own streaming media box, you should get one of those over a Vudu if you like watching movies more than a few times a month. New 99 cent rentals are thrown into the mix, but only 5 a week, purging the 5 oldest 99 cent rentals. The 99 movies for 99 cents thing is pretty cool, but just think about the amount of movies you can watch with little restriction for only $10 a month with Netflix. Since I’m at work 50 hours a week and on the road about 8 hours a week, I watch about 4 movies a month, which I can afford to do with the 99 cent movies (yes, I’m that cheap). Watching an HD movie will still be a special occasion (once a month deal) as I cannot yet justify in most cases $6 to rent an HD movie. I can buy the darn movie in a few months on DVD anyway for $4 more and watch it unlimited times on any DVD player anywhere without worrying about a company managing my license.
Bottom line? Buy it if you have hope for the Vudu to become cheaper and more innovative in the future. Buy it on sale if you’re smart, buy it at full price if Vudu becomes smart and lowers the price to $150 or $100. Leave comments and questions if you’d like. I know that a lot of people are curious about this box.
Edit #1 (February 26, 2009): I know a couple people with a Roku Netflix box. One doesn’t feel too strongly about it as not enough movies are offered and he has watched “all the movies that interest him” already, and the other claims it to be hands down the best purchase he has ever made (believe me, this guy has everything already). We watched a movie on the Roku box on his far superior 120Hz TV, and I can see a bit less quality in picture. The Vudu box will give you DVD-quality picture with even the SD content, which honestly looks even better than any DVDs I’ve played, while the Roku will give you video with somewhat noticeably blocky artifacts. I’d say the Roku is comparable to Hulu SD content. In all, the Roku currently does not offer as many movies as the Vudu box, but you’ll be paying the price of a movie ticket to watch movies all month. In addition, you’ll be able to watch a lot of the older movies you know and love.
Edit #2 (February 28, 2009): Users are now able to buy HD and HDX movies. Currently it doesn’t seem like you’re going to save a significant amount over Bluray, but it’s a start. Also, the Vudu box appears that it is now going to be set at a price of $150 ($100 for the box, $50 for credits?). People can also buy a refurbished Vudu XL box for $350 (1TB hard drive). The price drop seems to be the Californian thing to do, as I reminisce the infamous price drop with the iPhone. In all, I could be editing this post for a while as it appears that Vudu is now making some big changes and possibly starting to contend with its competitors finally. I think a good start to contend is possibly bringing the accessory prices back to earth. $30 for a controller, $70 for a carrying case, and $40 for a glorified IR sensor with a wire and a plug? When an aftermarket pops up, they will most definitely drop the prices sharply. The technical side of Vudu is pretty good, but the marketing side needs to realize that they’re not going to make millions from millionaires.
Edit #3 (March 5, 2009): As of the 2nd this month, 99 cent movies are no longer an option. This will probably bring my watch count down to 1 movie a month. The way I think of it, for the price I can watch an HD movie, I could spend a few dollars more and have unlimited content with Netflix. In addition, the bottom right corner sometimes shows the following – “Hollywood’s Best Instantly on Your TV”. This got me thinking a bit. Who decides if it’s “Hollywood’s Best”? You can request a movie that is not available in their forums, and it’s up to Vudu employees whether or not they like the idea enough to suggest it to get it added. Most movies are rejected. If your movie is surprisingly a good idea, you’ll never hear about it again anyway until you search for it months down the road. This whole Vudu idea is making me think it was just a bad idea. I may end up unplugging the power so it doesn’t end up costing me more any more than it has to. Good hardware, horribly bad prices.
12.28.06
$50 Wonders
It’s amazing what you can do for $50 nowadays. I remember a 5.1 speaker setup used to cost hundreds of dollars not too long ago. I bought these speakers about 5 months ago I’d say, and I’ve been amazed ever since. Sure, I could do better, but for $50, you can’t go wrong. Logitech makes pretty impressive speakers for the money, and I encourage you to pick up a set of these. Each speaker is hardwired with an RCA connector at the end. You connect all of the speakers into the subwoofer. The right speaker has a serial-port connector that screws into the subwoofer, and contains the volume control. The subwoofer itself has a dial for the bass, and I have to set it down most of the time to keep the neighbors nice. Also, I should state that these are computer speakers. If your soundcard doesn’t support 5.1, you can easily buy one for as low as $7, although you may want to splurge for an $7.50 or $10 card instead. And of course, like most things, the more you spend the better performance you’ll get. Heck, a pretty decent 7.1 card only costs $22 currently. 5.1 is (sigh) being phased out, which is part of the reason why this is so cheap, but hey – most DVDs are only encoded up to 5.1.
The satellite speakers aren’t all that heavy, so don’t expect them to jump through hoops. If you’re really ambitious, you can easily throw in female RCA jacks if you want to use your own wires (ah, that would require real work though). Bottom line – if you’re currently stuck with a 2.0 or a 2.1 setup, do yourself a favor, skip the strip club for a night, and throw some money into some real entertainment. Sure, it’s not THX certified, but who needs to go deaf anyway? With my current (and recent) setup, I don’t hear any noise, and sound is as crisp as I’d ever want it. DVDs sound awesome, 3D gaming has never been better, and my MP3s now surround me. Of all of the stupid stuff I’ve bought in the past, I am definitely glad I jumped on this one. This is money well spent, and I don’t regret a penny. Go on to Newegg.com and get you some fun!
Edit (Jan 12, 2007): Currently the price is now at $60. Is it still worth it? My answer is yes. In fact, I think I actually did pay $60 for these, but the price was at $50 when I wrote this article. I was recently at an upscale mall (Sommerset) and I noticed the Sony store used these speakers to demo one of their water-cooled blu-ray computers along with a widescreen 30-some inch high-resolution monitor. I’m probably looking into this too much, but I wondered why they didn’t use Sony brand computer speakers instead. Would I pay $70 for these speakers? Probably not, but I think you would still be hard pressed to find a better deal even at $70.
Edit #2 (January 21, 2009): These things crapped out on me about a year ago. Basically I was hooking up my computer at my new apartment and accidentally plugged in my 19″ LCD monitor into the subwoofer (subwoofer uses a VGA connector). Stupid mistake, didn’t think it would actually kill my subwoofer. Awesome how the fuse is soldered to the component board on the inside. I found the same fuse online (with pigtails), and now the speakers work, but only 3 of them. Well, I’ll keep the speakers around I guess, but the subwoofer with built-in amp are just about junk now. They were really freakin awesome when they lasted, but unfortunately they’re not really built to last.
Ah, and some specs for those of you who care (from Newegg):
| Brand | Logitech |
| Model | X-530 |
| General SPEC | |
| Configuration | 5.1 |
| Total Power | 70 Watts |
| Satellite RMS Power /ea | Left/Right: 7.4 watts RMS x 2 Center: 15.5 watts RMS Rear Left & Right: 7.4 watts RMS x 2 |
| Subwoofer RMS Power | 25 watts |
| Frequency Response | 40Hz – 20kHz |
| Signal to Noise Ratio(SNR) | >96d |
10.15.06
17″ LCDs at Fry’s
Looking for a cheap LCD? Well, if you’re reading this in time, you can get a ViewSonic 17″ for $99 after a $40 mail-in rebate. If you do your math right, you’re paying $140 up front (excluding shipping of course). The downside? Well, the deal ends this Tuesday (Oct 17, 2006). Also, it doesn’t say what kinds of connections you’re getting, so it’s probably analog. It’s got a 25ms video response, which is kind of high compared to most newer LCDs. Either way, you’re getting a freakin LCD for $100, and it’s a ViewSonic. For those of you who aren’t in the compu-know, ViewSonic makes some of the best monitors you can buy, and they’ve been in business for a long time. This may be an older generation LCD, but that doesn’t mean they skimped out on quality.
The offer I bit though is basically the same deal as above except it’s $20 more, with an 8ms video response and analog and digital inputs. Also, you’re getting a $50 rebate back, so it’s really only $10 more ($110 AR). For ten extra dollars, it’s definately worth it, even if you are just going to sell it again. Get it here.
While we’re at it, there is also a Samsung for $180 after rebate (8ms) that ends on the 19th (Thursday) and an HP for $190 AR that ends January 14th, which is also 8ms. So, there’s the lowdown on some good deals for now.
EDIT: My monitor came in, and I’ve been using it for a few days now. It’s got crappy speakers (they all do), but at least it gives me a way to listen to my other computer because they’re slightly amplified and my KVM switch doesn’t support sound. The digital input is about as bad as my other monitor, but with these monitors, analog usually works pretty well. There is 1 dead pixel that I can notice at the moment, but it’s off to the side and took me a day to actually notice it. I have a lot of excuses, but you can’t ask for much more for a $110 monitor. One thing that impressed me the minute I took it out of the box is how easy it is to get to the inputs on the back, with a removable panel. Can’t say much else about it other than it works, it’s not too dim, and it a freakin $110 LCD that I’m thinking about keeping rather than selling. Well, at least until I get an offer I guess. I decided to break it in a bit so I could tell someone exactly what I’m selling. Also, I’ll have to take the UPC off the box, they weren’t going to get that anyway.
07.11.06
Just Good Ol’ Screensavers
Tired of those dull screensavers that came with your computer? I was, so I set out and searched for some free, kickass screensavers, and found some. These eye-poppin delights may look familiar to those linux users, because they’ve been standard with xscreensaver for a while, but these beaut’s can also be enjoyed on a Windows box. Most of them work in Windows 98, and they should all work in XP and up. You’re outta luck if you’re not using an accelerated video card, but then again, you probably already hate your computer.
The fireworks screensaver is my personal favorite. It has sound, and amazingly resembles real fireworks. There 11 screensavers in all, each with enough options to keep ya busy tweaking for a bit. There’s even a screensaver that includes an option to turn it into a virtual floating doughnut world! YES TO VIRTUAL FLOATING DONUTS! Alright, all fun aside, the Winders screensavers come in a zip file. Unzip them (easy enough in XP), run OpenALwEAX.exe (installs some DLLs or something), and copy all of the screensavers to the Windows directory (C:\Windows). Go to your screensaver preferences, and thurr ya go! No ads, no spyware, not even documentation! This is grade A Kristoff recommended software that all can enjoy. So go on over to ReallySlick.com and download you some fun!
06.22.06
What did you govoreet?
What raz should we itty to the sinnies? There was me, that is Kristoff, and I’d rather itty watch telly.
WHAT?!
A Clockwork Orange has become a cult classic over the years. After the book, Stanley Kubrick’s interpretation of the novel created even more of a following. As you may know, he also directed Full Metal Jacket, The Shining, 2001: A Space Oddyssey, and Dr. Strangelove. A Clockwork Orange not only comes with a story, but its own language, called Nadsat, made up by the narrator we’ve all learned to love (or hate), Alex. With ties to the Russian language, Alex somewhat skews the words and puts an English twist on them. The book is a good read, and the movie portrays it very well. To sum them both up, I guess I’d call them a bit odd, a bit dark, a bit sadistic, and quite interesting at points. It’s one of those things you’ve gotta experience to know what I’m talking about. For those of you who are interested though, “A Clockwork Orange/Nadsat Translator” can be found here. It’ll translate English to Nadsat, and Nadsat back to English. Also, if you’re thinking of a word but can’t remember how to spell it, it’s got an auto-complete feature full with a description of the word and its origin. All I can say is that I wish I had this program when I was reading the book. All of you who’ve read it know exactly what I mean.
06.20.06
A Piece Of History
Are you looking for a gift for someone but don't know what to get them? Here's a start; think of a company they're particularly fond of. McDonalds? Coca-Cola? Maybe even Denny's, IBM, Harley-Davidson, Ducati Motor, Ford? Alright, now that you've got something in mind, buy them a part of the company!
Okay, to be honest with you, buying one share of stock by itself isn't going to make you a millionaire, probably not even a hundredaire. Let me explain the concept a bit more. You buy a share from OneShare.com, and it's personalized directly from them (ownership is stated on every stock certificate). The stock holds value in many different unique ways. It's a great piece of artwork, it holds monetary value, personal value, and also a historical value. Nowadays when people buy stock, they buy many shares, and most of the time, it's all electronic. That's all grand if you're looking to make a buck or two, but this is something more. Not only will the value of this piece of art vary from day-to-day, but even if the stock goes down under, the stock still retains a scripophily value. Scripophily is a term referring to the hobby of collecting old and cancelled stocks and bonds. As more and more companies stop issuing paper certificates, these things are becoming rare. Go to Scripophily.com for more info on this interesting hobby.
OneShare offers many different styles in frames, and has an option to further the personalization by adding a plaque with a custom engraving for $10. Not only are you buying a framed stock certificate that'll protect it from the elements, but it's also unfolded, which adds even more value to it. I have to say, this is definitely the best present I've ever gotten for anyone. It's unique, valuable, a piece of art, a piece of history, and it's personal. I didn't really "think it out" per say, because these stocks can get pretty pricey, but it was rather one of those moments where I couldn't think of anything more perfect, and I didn't think twice. Keep it in mind. It can be someone's treasure for now, and their fortune for later.
