Poll: Which HD download service do you prefer?

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Oct 13th 2008 at 6:00PM

Now that Vudu has stepped up the bit-rates of its HD downloadable movies, have you been drawn away from Apple TV's gigantic selection of movies, or the Xbox 360's impressive array of Hi-Def TV shows? Although it seems like not one box offers everything anyone could want, we still want to know: which HD download service do you prefer?

Filed under: Polls, Internet

Tags: Apple TV, Hulu, Vudu, Xbox, Xbox live marketplace

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

aaron @ Oct 13th 2008 6:08PM

360 right now but that will change very quickly once netflix goes hd and adds most of the new releases.

once netflix does those 2 things im selling my hddvd and bluray players because to me thats game over for bluray.

Neutral

FreeRange @ Oct 13th 2008 6:34PM

What's "-delete-" mean and how does that impact a poll when 10% of people respond with it? And if I did want to choose HULU, which of those options applies?

Neutral

buzzbean @ Oct 13th 2008 7:41PM

Ditto, because even though it is not HD that would have been my answer. Using playon with the ps3, Hulu and Netflix is awesome.

Neutral

The Cosmic Avenger @ Oct 14th 2008 8:48AM

"What's "-delete-" mean and how does that impact a poll when 10% of people respond with it? And if I did want to choose HULU, which of those options applies?"

Did you forget, this is Engadget, where facts and details and minor stuff like that are ignored because they're uber-kewl !33+ h4x075. Seriously, if someone at my company messed up a public page like that, that somebody would be canned, but it seems every time someone sends me a link to Engadget, they've screwed up their facts or just ignored them.

Highly Ranked

burndive @ Oct 13th 2008 6:53PM

Why is Hulu in the image, but not an option?

Neutral

eric f. @ Oct 14th 2008 12:11PM

It looks nice in the pic, but shouldn't be there. I assume the poll should only include the services that are meant to be viewed on your TV. Hulu isn't (without a third party workaround).

Highest Ranked

kcmurphy88 @ Oct 13th 2008 7:04PM

I guess "Bittorrent" doesn't count as a download service, eh?

Neutral

DrXym @ Oct 14th 2008 5:29AM

Bittorrent is a protocol, not a service :) The Pirate Bay or similar would be an example of a site that uses it although many legit sites use it too for software distribution. e.g. Ubuntu has a tracker for all its distributions - http://torrent.ubuntu.com:6969/

Highly Ranked

FTWR @ Oct 13th 2008 7:23PM

I prefer private bittorrent sites, which are comparable to these service except... with more selection, faster download speeds, faster release dates, higher bit-rate, and less drm

Neutral

dj496 @ Oct 13th 2008 8:47PM

But on the downside is a bit of work, and even stress. Ratio stress. And pouncing on new releases stress.

Is it worth it? Yeah,probably. I just can't get a frikkin invite.

Neutral

cwnyc @ Oct 13th 2008 8:52PM

The new higher bitrate 1080p from Vudu sounds promising, but 3 hours of download time??? All the other downloadable services are just inadequate at this time as far as video quality. I have heard even some that advertizes 1080p resolution having less than 10mbps bitrate, worse than SD DVD!

I have a 32" LCD and also a 60" plasma. Anything but Bluray or HD DVD (I have both) are just not acceptable on the larger 1080p set, even cable HBO HD looks very compressed and horrible. I don't even watch any SD DVD or SD cable channels at all due to poor video quality. If it is not HD, I do not even turn it on. At least for the ones with larger HD display sets, downloadable HD content with on par video quality and reasonable download time is still way off in the future....

Neutral

M @ Oct 13th 2008 11:36PM

The 3 hour download time is a nuisance, but being able to remotely download hours ahead of time from a PC makes up for the minor inconvenience.

I started an HDX 1080p download from my cellphone on my way home from work and it was available by the time dinner was done.

Neutral

cwnyc @ Oct 14th 2008 4:21AM

How would that be more convenient than walking to my local BlockBuster, which is only 2 New York City blocks away (2 min by walking), opens until 1am, with 24 hour drop off slots, and take out a Bluray that only costs me $4.95 that I can keep for a whole week....?

Neutral

minimalist @ Oct 14th 2008 9:28AM

The download time is indeed a problem (even with HD content on the Apple TV and the Xbox 360). On the Vudu its just insane for the 1080p stuff. I Video quality aside, if you have to make plans hours ahead so the device can download your content by the time you'll actually want to watch it that pretty much kills the experience of choosing something on the fly (which is supposed to be the big appeal of downloads). I've used the 360 and the apple TV to catch up on a few TV shows but if I always knew what movies I wanted to watch in advance how is this that different from having a slightly faster Netflix account?

Until the downloads get a lot faster and the viewing window get a bit longer than 24 hours for rentals I see a lot of people trying out downloads once or twice and then giving up out of frustration.

Neutral

Alex @ Oct 13th 2008 7:38PM

everything will change when the Xbox update for Netflix comes out, I will be far happier at the convenience of that than paying for an additional service with an additional box from someone else.

Neutral

minimalist @ Oct 13th 2008 8:15PM

I have rented HD movies and downloaded HD TV episodes from both Xbox 360 Marketplace and Apple TV and while these services are nice for a rainy day the experience is still too wonky, too slow and (most importantly) too expensive for evertyday usage. I see these services as being for the spur of the moment rental or purchase... an event which which occurs once every month or two for me.

That's why 90% of what I watch still arrives in DVD or Blu-ray form from Netflix (no cable TV for me, thanks).

Neutral

h0mi @ Oct 13th 2008 8:31PM

The lack of drm on bittorrent is a nice feature but other than dropping $200+ on a popcorn hour, building an HTPC or transcoding the matroska file to a ps3/360/hddvd compatible format (nevermind the situations where the file is >4gb and won't fit on a fat32 formatted device) I don't find bittorrent or usenet to be a really good alternative.

Neutral

Ordeith @ Oct 14th 2008 1:30PM

why not just use Divx/Xvid/H264 so you don't have to transcode mkv?

Wny not just stream your video from your PC?

Neutral

FTWR @ Oct 15th 2008 7:23PM

Alright, let me spell it out for...

For all of your TV needs (like your Seinfeld, South Park, 24, etc. series dvds), you merely download the XViD dvdrips and stream them over your hard-wired network to your 360 or PS3. This is the first step to getting the most out of your media experience. Find some good private trackers with well-seeded season packs of these dvdrips. (same deal for XViD movies, but this is engadget HD after all, so read on...)

If you're a quality nut and you can't stand to watch down-scaled quality, then you need to get some HD and x264 dedicated torrent trackers. You can remux these and play on your PS3 (which is very very easy) and for large HD movies, you merely use the appropriate splitting mode in mkv2vob, and you have a very easy seamless solution to getting great HD over the internet.

There is one solution that trumps all though... getting an HDMI-equipped computer! If you have your computer hooked up via hdmi to your home theater, you will get the 1920x1080 video, dts audio, and its awesome.

I personally find x264 HD rips remuxed for my ps3 to be the easiest solution. Forget the popcorn hour, its slow and buggy...

Neutral

joe schneider @ Oct 13th 2008 10:23PM

Xbox 360 would be my choice .. if it wasn't so expensive. What is Microsoft thinking?
I will continue renting from Blockbuster Online until a reasonal VOD option is available

Neutral

minimalist @ Oct 14th 2008 9:42AM

The Xbox 360 is actually pretty good. But its not my go-to box because of the stupid monopoly money they make us buy to use it.

Neutral

Flicky @ Oct 13th 2008 10:55PM

Where's the option "None. Canadians not allowed" ?

Neutral

Joe T. @ Oct 14th 2008 2:55PM

And you won't be until you apologize for Celine Dion and David Frum.

Neutral

CDN Crockett @ Oct 13th 2008 11:04PM

I'm using 360, but I am looking for advice and where to go for free downloads...

Neutral

mikejonas @ Oct 14th 2008 1:36AM

I have a 360, PS3 and AppleTV, and quality seems to be on par with each other when it comes to HD downloads, and everything else is more or less equal, too, so the vote has to go to the larger selection--in this case, AppleTV.

But when it comes to which service I use most often for HD downloads...well, let's just say it's not on this survey.

Neutral

Squid7085 @ Oct 14th 2008 3:08AM

I am going to stick with the Apple bandwagon, I have already bought stuff through iTunes, and I like keeping all my content in the same spot. However, I am waiting for an Apple TV that is more, like a DVR or something, possibly even a game system, the Apple TV I have right now, I hate to say isn't really worth it. If you could merge the Playstation and the Apple TV, I would be very happy. However, I do have to say, even though I have embraced Digital Media, I very much prefer disks, the "On Demand" aspect of Digital stuff is nice though.

Neutral

Ordeith @ Oct 14th 2008 1:33PM

If you merge AppleTV with a PS3 you end up with a 360.

Neutral

jclem @ Oct 14th 2008 8:47AM

I'm liking my Vudu. The SD and HD downloads are instant, just the HDX is slower. The conveniance of VOD but with 7-8k titles(and growing weekly) from which to choose is pretty nice. I've dropped Netflix(after about 5yrs) and I haven't bought a disc in months(which for me is a LONG time). I'm about to buy another box because of their great promotion through BB where you buy the box for $299 and get $200 credit towards movies. Just my 2 cents.

Neutral

Ogden2k @ Oct 14th 2008 9:11AM

I prefer using discs, and will probably always will.

Neutral

Loban @ Oct 14th 2008 9:40AM

sceneHD for me

Highly Ranked

FTWR @ Oct 15th 2008 7:24PM

nice! follow this man!

Neutral

squiggleslash @ Oct 14th 2008 10:47AM

I'm still waiting for an all-you-can-eat buffered set-top-box-based service. That is, let me download the movie, watch it, and then download the next. If Hulu or Netflix adds that in HD, I'll be won over.

BTW Dish Network does an HD download service too (DISH Online.) Haven't tried it yet. Looks like it uses the AppleTV model.

Neutral

CDub @ Oct 14th 2008 11:16PM

Vudu WoW what can i Say this could possibly be the most user friendly and painless way to acess content yet. I love this thing. Hands down VUDU.

Neutral

frontierguy25 @ Oct 14th 2008 11:48AM

Vudu for the win!! They have over 1000 titles in 1080p and the regular 1080p honestly looks just as good as their new HDX stuff. Now all of their regular 1080p will start instantly and looks great on my 2 1080p Panasonic plasmas. They are the only site that you can download everything from movies to tv shows, and own them. I think the only down fall is the 250GB hard drive, because everyone that buys movies and wants to store them will need more storage.

AppleTV sux and so does the PS3, I have both and just bought the Vudu unit and it is leaps and bounds better. I can watch a 1080p movie instantly and on new release Tuesday, what's better than that??

Neutral

taveanator @ Oct 14th 2008 1:25PM

I'm a fan of the Vudu box as well. People complaining about the download times for the HDX movies should compare that to the time it takes to torrent and encode movies in 1080p formats. Besides, I may be spoiled with >10Mbps at my house, but HDX downloads have never taken more than a few hours for me; HD/SD movies are still instant.

I highly recommend taking advantage of the Best Buy offer. Pick up some powerline adapters while you are there as well, just to be sure you can get the 4Mbps throughput you need for instant HD.

I've never used AppleTV but Xbox and PS3 both pale in comparison to the seamless Vudu interface. The box is tiny and the remote is RF not IR so you can hide it virtually anywhere.

-T

Neutral

mOe @ Oct 15th 2008 3:38AM

I don't know how anyone who has watched a Blu-Ray or even HD DVD would prefer to download HD movies. There is a difference in quality. They should past laws on what you can call HD cause that stuff on 360, Apple Tv , Hulu, Ps3, or where ever else anit HD!!!!!!

Neutral

Phate @ Oct 18th 2008 6:22PM

They should "past" laws banning stupids from speaking.

At any rate, I mostly have been ok with SD, but when I want HD, I typically go blu-ray, though I'm pretty interested in Vudu, especially once Netflix inevitably starts throttling my DVD/BDs.

Plus the audio on Iron-Man has kind of convinced me that HD is worth it. I'm using a crappy logitech 5.1 setup intended for computers that I just chopped up and connected to my receiver, and it was still amazing.

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