Vudu price slashed to keep up with Apple TV

Competition is a good thing, and now that the Apple TV is actually turning into a solid offering in its space, Vudu is cutting the price on its box to stay relevant. Originally launched at $399, you can now snag a Vudu to rent your movies and TV shows straight into your living room for $295. The best news is that if paid the full price for one of these things in the past 30 days, you can call up Vudu and get a $100 movie credit. Who knows if it'll be enough to mitigate the aggressively-priced and now competitively-featured $229 Apple TV, but it looks like consumers are winning already.

[paul.hanley @ Jan 24th 2008 9:10AM]

Vudu has 250Gb HDD rather than a 40Gb HDD in the Apple TV box @ $229 (or $329 for the 160Gb version)plus the potential of 1080P rather then just medium def. 720P :)

[Oinquer @ Jan 24th 2008 9:23AM]

that means ...the so powerfull revamped apple TV sucks bollocks? ehehehe....

[timatl @ Jan 24th 2008 10:03AM]

i agree with almost everything you had to say except the 1080p and 720p comment. I personally think 1080p is way overated. Most people have a 42" or smaller TV. Unless you are sitting 4 feet from the TV you will not see the difference.

[bob @ Jan 24th 2008 10:24AM]

or it means they are different devices and apple tv mainly uses your itunes library and computers HD, but you could just to other conclusions, duh

[Ty @ Jan 24th 2008 10:33AM]

Call me when they both do more than the DVI and optical audio cables running from my computer to my TV / Surround Sound.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/01/18

[doctorSpoc @ Jan 24th 2008 1:40PM]

but AppleTV can stream content from HDDs attached to your computer so has no limit whatsoever on storage capcity and the Vudu has a hard limit on storage capacity.. i'd rather get my cheap drives elsewhere and pick and choose and expand as i need to than to have a hard limit and pay for HDDs on the unit itself

[doctorSpoc @ Jan 24th 2008 1:49PM]

can you even expand the storage of the vudu box via the USB port because if you can't 250GB == about 100 movies is not going to get you very far.. i have aproaching 200 movies on my AppleTV so i would have filled up my Vudu box a long time ago..

also doesn't look like you can put your ripped DVD content on the box so to me this thing is pretty much useless.

[ClaMs @ Jan 24th 2008 9:31AM]

Vudu vs. Apple TV,

Which would you get and why?

[Alric @ Jan 24th 2008 9:46AM]

AppleTV because of portability to iPods and full media expander capabilities.

[Alric @ Jan 24th 2008 9:53AM]

And Apple will probably have better hidef content selection as well.

[Paulrus @ Jan 24th 2008 10:33AM]

Actually Apple and Vudu will have nearly identical content. Of course people forget that Vudu is using a P2P network, so HD content is instantly available versus Apple's minimum of 30 seconds waiting (or much more on slower networks).

[taveanator @ Jan 24th 2008 10:45AM]

I have a VuDu already and it's an awesome little device. HD streams right away if you have > 2MBps connection, navigation is very easy, the remote even my mother-in-law can master and the selection is growing be leaps and bounds every month. Should be 70 more HD titles in about a week also. 1080P/24 as well. Remote is radio-based not IR so you can hide the VuDu where ever you want out of sight.

I am interested in how Apple will push its content out, only server -> client? VuDu uses P2P so their service only gets better as they add customers, Apple servers will bog down under load (?).

Give VuDu some consideration if you are looking at the Apple box.

-T

[RonV @ Jan 24th 2008 10:45AM]

As posted competition is good. Now what does this really mean. Well if you want a box that does something really well and at 1080p24 vs 720p, provides instant viewing of high quality SD movies and will offer instant viewing of HD movies this is the box. If you like a "Deep" catelog of movies vs. just today's hottest movies, the VUDU is the box.

Apple is getting the same terms that all VOD providers are getting. The content owners are in charge here and all the VOD providers have to play by their rules. Its been said many times by the content owners that they don't want to make Steve Jobs richer without themselves sharing in the rewards. So instead of giving Apple a monopoly on the content they are keeping the terms even and watching how the market shacks out.


I have no need for viewing my photos on the TV but I do like the idea of getting my home movies via a media interface from my NAS device. Portable video is fine but I don't want to try to watch a great movie or TV show on a 2 inch screen. Trying to be a "jack of all trades" usually causes a company to make sacrifices. I see this in the current Apple TV offering.

[bob @ Jan 24th 2008 11:04AM]

er, appletv has hdmi/component and toslink.

[Lars @ Jan 24th 2008 1:19PM]

Tech-wise the Vudu seems like a better choice. Especially if you can not only rent but purchase movies. I've heard a lot of poor reviews of AppleTV, but I think it's getting better. Still, I'm not a fan of their Nazi-esque ways.

It really boils down to what kind of content I can get. I don't care about sitcoms and "blockbuster" movies but if there were tons of science and nature shows I'd buy one right now. Also if miniseries and shows that are exclusive to HBO, Discovery, Comedy Central, etc. were on it then that would be a big plus.

[doctorSpoc @ Jan 24th 2008 1:56PM]

- can't put my ripped DVDs on the Vudu == non-starter!!!
- limited to 250 GB while AppleTV has no storage capacity limit since you can stream content over 802.11n or wired from hard drives attached to PC... again AppleTV wins.. 100 movie limit on the vudu... what the hell is that going to do?? i'm already over that with my AppleTV... i have 1.5TB of storage devoted to my AppleTV right now.

the vudu box is too limiting... you are totally locked into what they are selling... it BS.

[Galley @ Jan 25th 2008 9:06AM]

Does the Vudu support hundreds of FREE HD podcasts? Yeah, I didn't think so.

[drummerjoe @ Jan 24th 2008 9:45AM]

I have been using my Apple TV for 6 months now. The main wins for Apple TV for me is the ability to stream all my media from my computer, easy implementation within the Apple ecosystem, and the portability of movies on my ipod.

[jivetrky @ Jan 24th 2008 9:48AM]

Will the Vudu play divx movies or anything from your PC or will it only play the titles available from Vudu? If that's the case, I don't see the point. ...For my needs/wants anyway.

[Matt @ Jan 24th 2008 9:52AM]

Since when is 720p medium definition? I would suspect that in both cases of the Vudu and the Apple TV where you are dealing with compressed video you will notice zero difference between the two.

And while the Vudu does have a 250GB harddrive what advantage does that give it in the rental market? As a media center or as a video purchasing solution, sure, but in the rental market? Are you going to have 15+ rentals qued up on your Vudu system waiting to play?

[Paulrus @ Jan 24th 2008 10:33AM]

The difference in HD size is simple. The VUDU is not "just" a rental box. Unlike the AppleTV, you can purchase HD movies on the VUDU to keep forever.

Rentals, OTOH are identical.

VUDU will have media extender capabilities in the near future from what I've heard - as well as having it's USB port activated for external storage. VUDU FTW.

[blinkcowz182 @ Jan 24th 2008 11:00AM]

Actually you can buy stuff on the AppleTV too (or will be able to once the software update comes out in a week or so). It will sync back to your computer and you copy it to your iPod/iPhone. There's less selection for purchases but that's the movie company's fault, not Apple's.

On an unrelated rant, I don't understand why the major content providers (music and video) don't just unify their online offerings. Even if you make a few pennies less than you would have liked one a certain provider, you still get purchases that you may not have gotten from another store. For instance, I don't buy video from other online stores besides iTunes because I want to be able to watch my videos on the go on my iPhone and all the videos are WMV DRM'd to hell. Content providers need to remove DRM from all music and videos on all marketplaces!

[doctorSpoc @ Jan 24th 2008 2:07PM]

but Paulrus..

1st you can purchase HD content on the AppleTV box

2nd you are actually making the case for appleTV since AppleTV has no limit on storage capacity since you can stream content off of as many drives as you'd like that hang off you you PC... with vudu you are limited to the 250Gigs and when that is done that it where as with the AppleTV you can have as much storage as you need, when you need it... no limit at all... with HD content how many movie do you think you can really store on that thing? no that much... it's useless 250G is nothing!! over a few years you're going to need a few TB at least.

[Kelmon @ Jan 24th 2008 10:25AM]

For the time being both products are fairly useless unless you live in the US. Apple is known to be planning an international launch of the Movie Rental service but has Vudu made any statements on the subject? While I'm a Mac-owner I'm honestly platform-agnostic on this issue since both products look pretty good on paper. Ultimately, however, it will be a question of which provides the best content and at the right price. The Apple TV does add a few more features, particularly for the Mac-owner, but they are of limited appeal to me and therefore unlikely to influence the decision much.

[Otis Whitaker @ Jan 24th 2008 10:30AM]

I still see little reason to own either device over something like.. say, an XBOX 360, unless you absolutely are against networking.

[blinkcowz182 @ Jan 24th 2008 10:55AM]

This may seem petty, but I hate that Microsoft sells its stuff in points. I have an AppleTV and a 360 and I've rented/bought probably 3x the stuff on the AppleTV simply because its linked to my iTunes account which is linked to my credit card and makes purchasing simple. I pick the movie I want and push one button. With the 360, I have to get on my laptop, purchase Live Points, then go back to my Xbox and then click on the item I want. That work really cuts down on the "impulse" purchase on my xbox360 and increases my iTunes purchases.

[Andrew @ Jan 24th 2008 11:37AM]

Weird, I can add points right from my Xbox. Am I special like Mommy said after all?

[Pete @ Jan 24th 2008 11:45AM]

You can buy MS points right on the Xbox Live Marketplace blade on your 360. I hate that they use the points system as well, but purchasing more points is pretty simple.

[Mike @ Jan 24th 2008 11:46AM]

or blink....you could have your live account directly connected to your credit card so that it automatically purchases points whenever you go to buy something, but that's just too easy methinks...

[David @ Jan 24th 2008 10:37AM]

I'd be more interested in Voodoo if it had built-in WiFi. Not sure how many TV shows they have, if any.

[David @ Jan 24th 2008 10:40AM]

er... Vudu - sorry

[taveanator @ Jan 24th 2008 10:45AM]

I have a VuDu already and it's an awesome little device. HD streams right away if you have > 2MBps connection, navigation is very easy, the remote even my mother-in-law can master and the selection is growing be leaps and bounds every month. Should be 70 more HD titles in about a week also. 1080P/24 as well. Remote is radio-based not IR so you can hide the VuDu where ever you want out of sight.

I am interested in how Apple will push its content out, only server -> client? VuDu uses P2P so their service only gets better as they add customers, Apple servers will bog down under load (?).

Give VuDu some consideration if you are looking at the Apple box.

-T

[taveanator @ Jan 24th 2008 11:08AM]

Sry. for the dbl. post.

[David @ Jan 24th 2008 11:21AM]

@taveanator

I did some more research on it based on your posting and then I got to this FAQ posting: "Currently, VUDU does not allow you to delete movies that have been purchased."

Well, that's a deal breaker. Not that I'd plan on buying many movies, but I'm not going to have a file I cannot delete in the HD. Ideally you should be able to buy it and delete it and download it as needed.

[Steve CC @ Jan 24th 2008 11:17AM]

I actually have both Vudu and AppleTV, and while the AppleTV improved greatly with the update, the Vudu's movie selection (around 6,000 movies) and navigation really are superior to the AppleTV.

The whole box "just works" (and as an apple fanboy, that's a phrase I'm more used to using to describe apple) since it is peer to peer, you never experience any sort of delay, videos just play. With my appleTV, even with the SD video, occasionally the video has to buffer.

For someone looking for an "at-home video store" you really can't get better than the Vudu. I really can't say enough about it.

[malone @ Jan 24th 2008 11:22AM]

Is closed captioning available in VuDu movies and TV shows?

[malone @ Jan 24th 2008 11:22AM]

Can you simply select 720p or 1080p for each video? Say, if I only have a 720p TV I'd like to download a smaller 720p file rather than 1080p.

[george @ Jan 24th 2008 11:33AM]

After looking at vudu's website it says new releases come out 1-5 days after they are released on dvd.... if this is always true why did apple say it will be 30 days before itunes gets them? I just got an apple tv the other day and i am not sorry i did because apple is more likely to suceed with this then vudu so the apple tv will eventually be the best option. But i dont understand why vudu would get them first.

[jwehman @ Jan 24th 2008 11:34AM]

From the VuDo FAQ: "Once you press play, a 24-hour viewing period is initiated". Bleah...I know all online rentals require this, but I hate 24-hour rules. Make it 27 hours, fer cryin' out loud. I start a movie at 9:00pm, when the kids are finally asleep, stop it 1.5 hours later (cause we're tired) and next night, kids asleep at 9:00pm...no rest-of-the-movie! Sux!

[george @ Jan 24th 2008 11:34AM]

also did anyone else think the vudu looks like the one version of the 3DO ? and the remote looks too fat also

[Pete @ Jan 24th 2008 11:45AM]

1) Vudu has less studio support. Apple has 11 studios (which is all of them) and Vudu has 8...that is one big reason right there to go with Apple.

2) Vudu may support 1080p, but currently they have very little HD content, much less 1080p content.

3) AppleTV is 802.11N right out of the box. Vudu not only costs more but you have to buy a wireless adapter on top of that if you are like most people and don't have a house wired with ethernet ports.

Apple has too much drive and the money for Vudu to compete. I have yet to see 1 commercial for Vudu. I just don't see how they will survive.

[Olu O @ Jan 24th 2008 12:22PM]

I have also yet to see one commercial for Apple TV. Until the most recent update, Apple TV was a joke. Yes Apple has more money, but more money doesn't necessarily mean a better product.

[mdd @ Jan 24th 2008 9:08PM]

Actually Apple listed Miramax and TouchTones outside of Disney, when Vudu listed only Disney. Disney distribution includes those movies from Miramax and TouchTones.

mdd

[Taylor O'Neal @ Jan 24th 2008 12:35PM]

I love my Vudu. The Vudu box is cleanly designed and well executed all around. The remote is a work of art, the interface super responsive and the huge amount of movies available including older titles is right there. The experience is really so smooth, quick and painless that it just seems natural. It's just renting movies and I don't have to think twice about it. This is contrary to my Tivo which has been great but was kind of annoying to set up with my Amazon account and sent me all sorts of e-mails each time I ordered a movie. I don't need an invoice each time! Netflix should just buy Vudu instead of having LG make the box.

[sparta.rising @ Jan 24th 2008 1:38PM]

So does this run a modified version of Linux or is the OS entirely proprietary? And is that remote motion sensitive? It looks pretty sweet. I'd love to just use it as a media center... if only it had a dvd drive...

[doctorSpoc @ Jan 24th 2008 2:16PM]

i can't understand why people want to add a DVD drive to these set top boxes...

how the hell do you play your DVDs now? don't you already have a DVD player like the 99.9% of the people out there?

well if you already have one why the hell do you want to pay for another one inside this set top box?? i don't want to!!

if you don't have a DVD player just buy one, you can get a 1080p upscaling DVD player for $50 on sale.. me, i already have one so please don't charge me for some thing i and everyone else doesn't need.

[sparta.rising @ Jan 24th 2008 2:27PM]

Yes indeed I do have a good upscaling dvd player... but why do I want a clutter of boxes next to my display? I'd rather have one, nice, sleek, and small media center. Yes I watch my dvds, why should I rebuy all the movies I've already bought? Why should I fill up my hard drive with DIVX movies? My 480p dvd upscaled to 720p looks a lot better than a DIVX rip. They don't have to force you to have another DVD player, its called multiple models. And what's it going to add to the manufactoring cost? Less than $10?

[doctorSpoc @ Jan 24th 2008 2:47PM]

i don't want to watch dvd's optical media is so dead... as i rip mine i put them into an album hopefully never to be seen again.

don't know how many dvds you have but i have hundreds and storing them and sorting through 100s of DVDs to find something to watch is a huge pain in the ass.

plus i'm lazy and being able to get access to any movie i own with the click of a button is awesome.. no more storing 100s of DVD in my living room, no more getting off my ass to look through 100s of DVDs to find something to watch (which never happens because it's such a pain)... most people have forgotten even what they have because it such a pain... no more loading, unloading of DVD and puting back into cases.. no more looking at previews, FBI warning etc and all the other crap that comes at the begining of a movie... no more kids scratching my DVDs... optical media is bullshit.. good ridence.

you can tell those that have not used a movie streaming box because they have not idea just how shitty a format optical media is in terms of it usability, they are just complete and utter crap...

accessing your content from a hard drive that you select from a list by pushing button from your sofa is so superior that when you make the switch you look at people using optical media as living the days of cavemen... just brutal... it's 2008 man.. get with it!!!

[aaronwt @ Jan 24th 2008 4:35PM]

VUDU is supposed to offer the capability to add external USB storage later this year

[Sahmed @ Feb 1st 2008 3:14PM]

Hi
am from india, i just dont see any vudu or apple tv here, hope it launches soon so that we have entertainment at the best.