Announcement

Collapse

Fandango at Home Forum Guidelines

Fandango at Home Forum Guidelines

The Fandango at Home Forums are designed to help viewers get the most out of their Fandango at Home experience. Here, Fandango at Home customers may post information, questions, ideas, etc. on the subject of Fandango at Home and Fandango at Home -related issues (home theater, entertainment, etc). Although the primary purpose of these forums is to help Fandango at Home customers with questions and/or problems with their Fandango at Home service, there are also off-topic areas available within the Fandango at Home Forums for users to chat with like-minded people, subject to the limitations below.

Please post all comments in English. When posting a comment in the Fandango at Home Forums, please conduct yourself in a respectful and civil manner. While we respect that you may feel strongly about an issue, please leave room for discussion.

Fandango at Home Forum Guidelines

The Fandango at Home Forums are designed to help viewers get the most out of their Fandango at Home experience. Here, Fandango at Home customers may post information, questions, ideas, etc. on the subject of Fandango at Home and Fandango at Home -related issues (home theater, entertainment, etc). Although the primary purpose of these forums is to help Fandango at Home customers with questions and/or problems with their Fandango at Home service, there are also off-topic areas available within the Fandango at Home Forums for users to chat with like-minded people, subject to the limitations below.

Please post all comments in English. When posting a comment in the Fandango at Home Forums, please conduct yourself in a respectful and civil manner. While we respect that you may feel strongly about an issue, please leave room for discussion.

Fandango at Home reserves the right to refrain from posting and/or to remove user comments, including comments that contain any of the following:

1. Obscenities, defamatory language, discriminatory language, or other language not suitable for a public forum
2. Email addresses, phone numbers, links to websites, physical addresses or other forms of contact information
3. "Spam" content, references to other products, advertisements, or other offers
4. Spiteful or inflammatory comments about other users or their comments
5. Comments that may potentially violate the DMCA or any other applicable laws
6. Comments that discuss ways to manipulate Fandango at Home products/services, including, but not limited to, reverse engineering, video extraction, and file conversion.

Additionally, please keep in mind that although Fandango at Home retains the right to monitor, edit, and/or remove posts within Fandango at Home Forums, it does not necessarily review every comment. Accordingly, specific questions about Fandango at Home products and services should be directed to Fandango at Home customer service representatives.

Terms of Use - User Comments, Feedback, Reviews, Submissions

For all reviews, comments, feedback, postcards, suggestions, ideas, and other submissions disclosed, submitted or offered to Fandango at Home, on or through this Site, by e-mail or telephone, or otherwise disclosed, submitted or offered in connection you use of this Site (collectively, the "Comments") you grant Fandango at Home a royalty-free, irrevocable, transferable right and license to use the Comments however Fandango at Home desires, including, without limitation, to copy, modify, delete in its entirety, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from and/or sell and /or distribute such Comments and/or incorporate such Comments into any form, medium or technology throughout the world.
Fandango at Home will be entitled to use, reproduce, disclose, modify, adapt, create derivative works from, publish, display and distribute any Comments you submit for any purpose whatsoever, without restriction and without compensating you in any way. Fandango at Home is and shall be under no obligation (1) to maintain any Comments in confidence; (2) to pay to users any compensation for any Comments; or (3) to respond to any user Comments. You agree that any Comments submitted by you to the Site will not violate the terms in this Terms of Use or any right of any third party, including without limitation, copyright, trademark, privacy or other personal or proprietary right(s), and will not cause injury to any person or entity. You further agree that no Comments submitted by you to this Site will be or contain libelous or otherwise unlawful, threatening, abusive or obscene material, or contain software viruses, political campaigning, commercial solicitation, chain letters, mass mailings or any form of "spam."

You grant Fandango at Home the right to use the name that you submit in connection with any Comments. You agree not to use a false email address, impersonate any person or entity, otherwise mislead as to the origin of any Comments you submit. You are, and shall remain, solely responsible for the content of any Comments you make and you agree to indemnify Fandango at Home for all claims resulting from any Comments you submit. Fandango at Home takes no responsibility and assumes no liability for any Comments submitted by you or any third-party reserves the right to refrain from posting and/or to remove user comments, including comments that contain any of the following:

1. Obscenities, defamatory language, discriminatory language, or other language not suitable for a public forum
2. Email addresses, phone numbers, links to websites, physical addresses or other forms of contact information
3. "Spam" content, references to other products, advertisements, or other offers
4. Spiteful or inflammatory comments about other users or their comments
5. Comments that may potentially violate the DMCA or any other applicable laws
6. Comments that discuss ways to manipulate Fandango at Home products/services, including, but not limited to, reverse engineering, video extraction, and file conversion.

Additionally, please keep in mind that although Fandango at Home retains the right to monitor, edit, and/or remove posts within Fandango at Home Forums, it does not necessarily review every comment. Accordingly, specific questions about Fandango at Home products and services should be directed to Fandango at Home customer service representatives.

Terms of Use - User Comments, Feedback, Reviews, Submissions

For all reviews, comments, feedback, postcards, suggestions, ideas, and other submissions disclosed, submitted or offered to Fandango at Home, on or through this Site, by e-mail or telephone, or otherwise disclosed, submitted or offered in connection you use of this Site (collectively, the "Comments") you grant Fandango at Home a royalty-free, irrevocable, transferable right and license to use the Comments however Fandango at Home desires, including, without limitation, to copy, modify, delete in its entirety, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from and/or sell and /or distribute such Comments and/or incorporate such Comments into any form, medium or technology throughout the world.
Fandango at Home will be entitled to use, reproduce, disclose, modify, adapt, create derivative works from, publish, display and distribute any Comments you submit for any purpose whatsoever, without restriction and without compensating you in any way. Fandango at Home is and shall be under no obligation (1) to maintain any Comments in confidence; (2) to pay to users any compensation for any Comments; or (3) to respond to any user Comments. You agree that any Comments submitted by you to the Site will not violate the terms in this Terms of Use or any right of any third party, including without limitation, copyright, trademark, privacy or other personal or proprietary right(s), and will not cause injury to any person or entity. You further agree that no Comments submitted by you to this Site will be or contain libelous or otherwise unlawful, threatening, abusive or obscene material, or contain software viruses, political campaigning, commercial solicitation, chain letters, mass mailings or any form of "spam."

You grant Fandango at Home the right to use the name that you submit in connection with any Comments. You agree not to use a false email address, impersonate any person or entity, otherwise mislead as to the origin of any Comments you submit. You are, and shall remain, solely responsible for the content of any Comments you make and you agree to indemnify Fandango at Home for all claims resulting from any Comments you submit. Fandango at Home takes no responsibility and assumes no liability for any Comments submitted by you or any third-party.
See more
See less

Vudu Secrets

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Vudu Secrets

    Comments on this anyone?
    From http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/15336-V...now-about.html

    Vudu has secret some users don't know about
    Posted on 20/12/08 23:59 by Michael Hatamoto

    Although some reviewers announced they like Netflix and Vudu HD more than the Blockbuster broadband video box, a writer from Forbes is concerned over a dirty little secret that Vudu hasn't disclosed.
    Vudu uses peer-to-peer technology to help distribute content to its users, the Forbes writer learned after chatting with a Vudu executive.
    Although it may sound like it's not a big deal, the problem here is that the technology could be a major bandwidth hog even though the consumers aren't aware of it happening. Lee Gomes admits he hasn't noticed a slowdown in bandwidth, but it's still not appreciated to use Vudu owners' bandwidth without their knowledge.
    On top of that, Vudu doesn't openly disclose the fact that they use P2P technology to distribute content to subscribers.
    "The big problem is that the company doesn't clearly tell customers that it's doing this," the article states. "I haven't found a word about this forced downloading on the box I bought or on the company's Web site. My bandwidth is my property, in much the same way my living room or front yard is mine, and I don't take to people using it without telling me."
    If asked about using P2P technology, Vudu said it won't deny using the architecture -- but why doesn't the company openly state the information on its web site?
    The ability to stream content directly into the living room is a growing market that a number of companies have entered over the past 12 months. Vudu, Roku, Netflix, Blockbuster and others offer viewers the ability to watch movies and TV episodes on-demand, with the Microsoft Xbox 360 and several Blu-ray players now supporting streaming Netflix.
    There are a pile of set-top boxes designed to allow consumers to stream content to their TV, but Vudu is one of a select few that handle HD content. As more people purchase HDTVs and have the ability to watch HD content, expect more set-top boxes to be able to handle HD.

    #2
    Re: Vudu Secrets

    I don't have a problem with it. I would think it saves us money in the long run since Vudu doesn't have to pay for all of the bandwidth to distribute the videos. I also didn't know it was a secret, I've known it was like that since day one of getting my Vudu. As far as network slowdown is concerned, it was a little rough in the beginning. However, I think that as more people get them the lighter the load will be overall.

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Vudu Secrets

      Originally posted by BrandonC View Post
      Comments on this anyone?
      .
      Streaming sucks. I have yet to use a streaming service that doesn't have buffering or other glitches because it can't do error recovery.

      Downloading is much more reliable no matter where the content comes from.

      To me it should be obvious to the most casual observer.

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Vudu Secrets

        Originally posted by BrandonC View Post
        Forbes is concerned over a dirty little secret that Vudu hasn't disclosed.
        Dirty little secret? Hardly, someone hasn't done their homework... it is clearly stated here...

        How does VUDU work?
        http://supports.vudu.com/questions/8...+VUDU+work%3F+

        And finding that hardly took me more than 10 seconds to find, I think Forbes needs to learn how to do research before they write articles.

        Regardless, I much prefer the Peer-to-peer technology for this type of application. Streaming can often be unreliable, slow, and prone to buffer issues. With P2P you don't have those issues, at least from my experience. Lastly, VUDU caps the amount of bandwidth it uses at any given moment, so as not to interfere with your bandwidth when you need it, and even if that cap is causing you problems, you can always turn it down, which Forbes also fails to mention. Either way, I have no problem with, it has not affected me or my bandwidth usage or ability to use the Internet in ANY significant way as to cause me problems or concerns. That article is nothing more than making a mountain out of a mole hill, as they say.

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Vudu Secrets

          Hey BC,

          The Vudu only uses a max of 300 kbps of upload speed when sharing any content. And if you have content on your box that is being sent to someone else, you'll probably only see the usage for maybe 20 minutes at a time. It's hardly noticeable. I've got 2 boxes on my network right now and never have a problem.

          On top of that, you can do things with the box to reduce the amount of upload bandwidth used (it will reduce your d/l bandwidth as well).

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Vudu Secrets

            ...."The big problem is that the company doesn't clearly tell customers that it's doing this,"....

            I purchased my first VUDU(now I have three) in January 2008. Before I purchased it I knew VUDU used P2P. It was certainly no secret. The info was right there on their website.

            Apparently, Michael Hatamoto needs to do a better job reading about products he reviews.

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Vudu Secrets

              I agree with the responses here that it was no secret. But using the P2P issue as a jumping off point, I have a couple of questions.

              First, if I download movies onto the Vudu, and then disconnect its internet connection when I am not downloading, am I somehow 'breaking the contract?' Because no one will be able to use my box P2P.

              Second, Vudu says its portable. So if I download a bunch of HDX movies and take the Vudu to a lake house with an HD set but no broadband, will the HDX movies still play well? Or does its stability and frame rate somehow depend on a live broadband connection?

              Thanks

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Vudu Secrets

                Answers to your questions:

                1.) No, you aren't breaking a contract by downloading and then disconnecting, but if everyone did it, then the service would suffer. But secondly, there are new database updates the come down frequently and so if you disconnect the box, you will not have the latest updates.

                2.) Once a movie is on your box, it is on your box and NO internet connection is required to view it.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Vudu Secrets

                  Originally posted by rstone View Post
                  Dirty little secret? Hardly, someone hasn't done their homework... it is clearly stated here...

                  How does VUDU work?
                  http://supports.vudu.com/questions/8...+VUDU+work%3F+

                  And finding that hardly took me more than 10 seconds to find, I think Forbes needs to learn how to do research before they write articles.
                  Is it on the box? First of all, I don't are either way. But say you are walking around Best Buy, spy the Vudu and look at the box and decide to buy. Then find this out later. Some folks may not like it, just saying....

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Vudu Secrets

                    That article was very lame. I've been on the forums for around a year and there have been less than a handful of people who weren't aware of P2P feature. I mean, P2P is VUDU's claim to fame and is the main distinguishing characteristic. How a tech journalist couldn't know that is beyond me.

                    With regards to bandwidth usage, it doesn't use too much and we've had people with multiple boxes use them without any issues. Once the initial refresh finishes (1-2 days), the load isn't very great.

                    Also, don't forget that P2P and resulting lower bandwidth costs is why VUDU can offer higher-quality HDX titles for the same price as HD movies even though they are approximately twice as large.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: Vudu Secrets

                      Originally posted by BrandonC View Post
                      Is it on the box? First of all, I don't are either way. But say you are walking around Best Buy, spy the Vudu and look at the box and decide to buy. Then find this out later. Some folks may not like it, just saying....
                      Are you saying that everytime you purchased a product at a store, ALL the technical specs were on the box?? I'd be amazed if that is the case. In fact I recently purchased a LCD TV, and I can tell you for a fact, that ALL of the technical specs were not actually on the box. Just some of the major features of it. Does that make it a bad product? or a misleading product? absolutely not. And if I purchased the TV and found out something I didn't like about it, I wouldn't blame the TV manufacture for it, but myself for not doing my homework.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: Vudu Secrets

                        Originally posted by NA9D View Post
                        2.) Once a movie is on your box, it is on your box and NO internet connection is required to view it.
                        Yep. My Vudu is on vacation with me right now. Besides the movies and TV shows that I had purchased a while ago, I recently bought three movies and rented one movie to play during vacation. Everything works just fine.

                        (No ethernet connection now).

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: Vudu Secrets

                          you don't have a problem with it, but its clear they do not pass on THEIR savings to their customer base.

                          Originally posted by cearum View Post
                          I don't have a problem with it. I would think it saves us money in the long run since Vudu doesn't have to pay for all of the bandwidth to distribute the videos. I also didn't know it was a secret, I've known it was like that since day one of getting my Vudu. As far as network slowdown is concerned, it was a little rough in the beginning. However, I think that as more people get them the lighter the load will be overall.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: Vudu Secrets

                            AT&T DSL is thinking of switching to a metered internet usage plan too. many people bailed on Comcast and went to AT&T and AT&T is currently in a testing phase for that plan, its unknown if they will adopt it, its scary though, because AT&T is a bit mafia like, introducting terms into their contracts without notifiying you, and expecting them to be legallly binding to you, if you want service with them. so, whatever. they're just nazi's. i hope they don't become another comcast (metered internet usage, or terminate your account) but a friendly alternative for folks like us, who need the internet to provide content, all these media providers, use the internet, yet the providers introduce these, limits, (which are actually threats [termination of service]) so hopefully there will be some that will recognize the legitimate need of fair use consumers for these content providers that must have the internet, vudu, netflix, all these people, are banking, on other people figuring out these everyday problems that people in north america face, if it doesn't work out, they screw themselves.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Re: Vudu Secrets

                              That reminds me. I keep forgetting to purchase the travel kit. I better go do it right now before I forget again.

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X