VUDU XL: $999 for a bit more space
By Darren Murph 
posted Jan 6th 2008 1:35AM
posted Jan 6th 2008 1:35AM
[Image courtesy of VUDU]
Read - VUDU XL has 1TB of storage
Read - 70 new HD films coming to VUDU
posted Jan 6th 2008 1:35AM
The percentage of sales people that recommend Samsung HDTVs.
Salespeople are also becoming less likely to recommend LCD sets over plasma sets, which goes against the industry trend.
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That thing looks sweeet!
At $999 for the setop box and $5.99 per movie rental, I expect this thing to be about as popular as Moviebeam. We all know what happened to them.
...what's moviebeam?
This is awesome, it costs about as much as a LG Multi-blue player but with this I don't have to drive down to the damn video store, instant gratification
They just never learn do they?
$999 plus rental and market rate purchase fees? They're all on crack. The biggest killer here is DRM. Why would I spend my hard earned money to saturate my internet connection (which that costs you more than $50 dollars a month) and not be assured I could watch my content forever?
That's what it basically comes down to. A set top box with a spinning hard drive storing the movie, or a piece of plastic storing the movie. Which one do I trust more to protect my investment?
I can realistically control the piece of plastic and take steps to protect it. The set top box contains a SPINNING HARD drive. The MTBF alone would lead me to believe that the set top box WILL fail in 5 years.
So in the end, which medium inspires more consumer confidence? DVD, HD-DVD, and Blu-Ray.
DRM can also be removed completely from DVD, and it will inevitably be true for the beavis & butthead HD formats as well.
All I care about when I spend the money to purchase a movie is that I can reasonably maintain my rights to view it forever, and transfer those rights to another person if I wished. Quite reasonable of a position IMO.
Now if VUDU would create a RENTAL only machine, lease you the equipment as part of a monthly contract and offer $5 dollar or less rental fees... you got a winner. I would buy that in a second and cancel HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, etc.
I seem to remember that ideas like this have already tried and failed. Other DRM crippled business models that relied on downloads.
I'll stick to Netflix and Redbox.
They could make it 100TB and it still wouldn't be a good idea. I'm with the other commenters, when will people learn?
WTF is up with that remote? As if this thing didn't have enough problems.
The remote is amazing.
If you have ever used it in person, im sure your opinion would change.
i would buy one, and use it often, but seriously dont want to fork over $400 just to rent- much less $1000
I would, considering it takes the place of both an hd-dvd player and a blu-ray player and the fact that i get the content instantly on demand from my living room
That piece of shit isn't worth anything and with you paying for every rental that doesn't pay for itself.
That remote whats up with that it looks like a skunk I don't care that someone above said its amazing.
You can't beat blockbuster or netflix in the mail.
Looks like they know they're screwed, so by making an expensive "high end" product they can possibly attract the elite[ist] crowd that spends $10k+ on a center channel speaker.
Netflix is where it's at. A complete library available by mail. And a growing list of titles available for instant streaming (for no additional charge).
why do i get the feeling that the remote would get some other uses?
I have the $400 version and the usability and performance is amazing. The remote is really remarkable, I wish my set top box from DirecTV incorporated the scroll wheel that Vudu uses... it really helps with navigating through the guide quickly. I do agree that they need to lower the price of the box to grab market share but that will come in time.
If you're at CES I recommend that you stop by and give the box a go.
-Chris