Vudu vs Itunes US

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geekiegeek

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# 99781 27-Mar-2012 10:33

Currently running a ATV2 and using Netflix + iTunes US for movies but have found that iTunes rentals take ages to download before you can watch them.

Have heard that Vudu has a similar selection of new films and just wanted to know if anyone is using it and if you can signup with an NZ credit card like Netflix.

If its good I might invest in a Boxee and give it a go.

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# 600594 27-Mar-2012 10:35

yeah i use vudu at times, i find it really good, instant streaming of hd (i dont go for 1080p, just 720p, cant see any difference and its slightly cheaper).

has a great selection, watched walking dead season 2 on it, episodes came out quick (i believe the next day).

if you sign up you get around $5 free credit so you can rent a hd movie for yourself and see what its like.

works great on a PS3.

i believe on a PC however you can only do SD (but i believe thats the same with itunes, well last time i used it which was over a year ago)

freitasm

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# 600595 27-Mar-2012 10:39

Can you download a movie on Vudu to watch later, or is it streaming only? We registered on Vudu last month, and seeing the iTunes US and Vudu selection are very similar we never used it - until last week when wife found out I've never watched The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert.

The movie was available on Vudu only, so we tried it. The longest stretch without "buffering" was 30 minutes long, and in some cases we had some buffering every couple of minutes for ten minutes.

It could be the VPN service, but speed tests showed good speeds from LAX - and we are on a 100 Mbps connection here (without VPN).

WAF very low to Vudu at the moment, unless we can download to watch, which doesn't seem to be available - both Amazon Video and iTunes offer this option.

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reven

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# 600598 27-Mar-2012 10:44

freitasm: Can you download a movie on Vudu to watch later, or is it streaming only? We registered on Vudu last month, and seeing the iTunes US and Vudu selection are very similar we never used it - until last week when wife found out I've never watched The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert.

The movie was available on Vudu only, so we tried it. The longest stretch without "buffering" was 30 minutes long, and in some cases we had some buffering every couple of minutes for ten minutes.

It could be the VPN service, but speed tests showed good speeds from LAX - and we are on a 100 Mbps connection here (without VPN).

WAF very low to Vudu at the moment, unless we can download to watch, which doesn't seem to be available - both Amazon Video and iTunes offer this option.

i run vudu via unblock-us and havent run into buffering issues. but you cannot download a movie, you can only stream.

if you buy a movie, it just lets your stream the movie whenever you want (i.e. free streaming).

agreed this is one downside with vudu.

geekiegeek

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# 600599 27-Mar-2012 10:45

What sort of download times are you getting with iTunes Mauricio? I get a good 5-8Mbps to the US via VPN but it takes 45-60mins to be able to watch a rented movie.

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# 600602 27-Mar-2012 10:49

You get interesting things on iTunes download. If it's a movie that has just "hit the shelves" then it may take about 30 minutes to download. I guess it's not available in the NZ Akamai cache yet.

However if we rent a popular movie that has been on the shelf for about three days or more, then it's probably cached locally, because we download the movie in about six to eight minutes - this is on TelstraClear cable, 100 Mbps connection, using the correct TelstraClear DNS.

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geekiegeek

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# 600606 27-Mar-2012 10:52

Sorry I meant via US. The local store is so far behind with its selection.

When I have used the local store it has been fine for me as well.

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geekiegeek

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# 600608 27-Mar-2012 10:53

reven:
freitasm: Can you download a movie on Vudu to watch later, or is it streaming only? We registered on Vudu last month, and seeing the iTunes US and Vudu selection are very similar we never used it - until last week when wife found out I've never watched The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert.

The movie was available on Vudu only, so we tried it. The longest stretch without "buffering" was 30 minutes long, and in some cases we had some buffering every couple of minutes for ten minutes.

It could be the VPN service, but speed tests showed good speeds from LAX - and we are on a 100 Mbps connection here (without VPN).

WAF very low to Vudu at the moment, unless we can download to watch, which doesn't seem to be available - both Amazon Video and iTunes offer this option.

i run vudu via unblock-us and havent run into buffering issues. but you cannot download a movie, you can only stream.

if you buy a movie, it just lets your stream the movie whenever you want (i.e. free streaming).

agreed this is one downside with vudu.

Do you know if it uses adaptive stream like Netflix? If not that may explain why it needs to buffer.

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# 600609 27-Mar-2012 10:53

I have an iTunes US account. There's no need to use a VPN.

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Klipspringer

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# 600613 27-Mar-2012 10:57

I'm using Vudo on my PS3 via Astrill vpn

Have watched a couple of movies now. Really good selection. Have not experienced any buffering issues to date. But never buy the HD versions, have always settled for SD.

reven

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# 600615 27-Mar-2012 11:00

geekiegeek: Do you know if it uses adaptive stream like Netflix? If not that may explain why it needs to buffer.

sorry not sure, but havent noticed any quality change when watching a movie, sometimes this happens to me watching netflix.

jake18

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# 600632 27-Mar-2012 11:35

have watched a few movies from vudu at the HD - renting( not buying) via the unblock-us service
HDX option when i tried was buffering all the time and was annoying when i was with orcon - i have recently switched over to Maxnet and i haven't tried the HDX option yet
Hulu HD option streams without any buffering issues

freitasm

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# 600634 27-Mar-2012 11:36

Never had a problem with Hulu.

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jake18

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# 600641 27-Mar-2012 11:50

Looks like my maxnet connection can do HDX now - will need to test it out soon

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/853/vudutest.jpg/

http://speedtest.vudu.com

geekiegeek

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# 600644 27-Mar-2012 11:56

freitasm: I have an iTunes US account. There's no need to use a VPN.

I have my ATV2 set to go via a VPN so that I can use netflix. from memory the ATV2 wont let you use the US store from NZ without a US IP. I know a PC works fine but not sure about ATV2.

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BuzzLightyear

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# 600661 27-Mar-2012 12:23

ATV2 with US content is fine in NZ without VPN.

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