Outlaw Vudu Voodoo

[nightflier]

It seems Outlaw Audio is now the exclusive online reseller of Vudu and they are offering bundles of the video streamer with their gear:

"as part of our Tenth Anniversary celebration, Outlaw Audio has become the exclusive authorized Internet retailer for the Vudu XL, the latest and greatest product from this innovative company. Although it is the same physical size as the standard Vudu you may have seen at "big box" retail stores, it differs in a number of important areas. First, and most importantly, it has an incredible one-terabyte internal hard drive, four times the size of the drive in the standard Vudu box. This gives you the capacity to store up to 500 full-length SD movies and assures that your unit will have room to store content for additional services, should they become available in the future.

The Vudu XL also differs from the standard Vudu box by offering the capability to simultaneously output 1080i or 720p video over analog component outputs along with the standard HDMI output. This is normally a $100+ option, but all Vudu XL units purchased through Outlaw will be equipped with the XLS-1 software that makes this possible at no extra charge. In addition, the Vudu XL includes the capability to operate with IP-based control systems and many programmable IR remote controls, such as those from Pronto and Universal Remote.

The retail price of the Vudu XL is $999, but when you purchase it from Outlaw in combination with one of our processors or amplifiers, you get the package at considerable savings**.

But if this isn't enough, between now and June 30, 2009, a special Outlaw-only offer lets you double your money by buying a $1,000 account credit for purchases of Vudu content for only $500. This credit has no expiration date and provides you instant access to Vudu's growing library of more than 13,000 titles (over 1,300 of them in HD!) at what amounts to half-price purchases or rentals of the latest movies and TV shows. Just think what this type of instant*** access to pay-per-view content would cost you with any other service or device, and you will quickly see the tremendous value.

The Vudu XL set top is covered by our 30-day in-home audition policy, so you can try this incredible product in your own home theater. However, the half-price content credit package is non-refundable once you purchase it. Again, this special price is available only if you purchase a Vudu XL through Outlaw Audio. Due to our special arrangement with Vudu, existing Vudu owners are not eligible.

The combination pricing and promotional movie/content package with this unique product is only the start of great things to come from the Outlaws as part of our anniversary celebration. We have a number of new Outlaw-exclusive products in the pipeline for introduction throughout the year, and there will be more special partnership promotions."

Here is the web page (which really has no useful information):
http://www.outlawaudio.com/products/vuduoffers.html

Considering how little value I think the Vudu offers for the expense, I don't know if this is good news or not....

[Rich-n-Texas]

I think Outlaw's timing is way off right now. I would suspect that by the end of June there will be nearly 10 million unemployed. And I agree, not much value in a $1K box that only does 1080i and v1.1 HDMI.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

I think Outlaw's timing is way off right now. I would suspect that by the end of June there will be nearly 10 million unemployed. And I agree, not much value in a $1K box that only does 1080i and v1.1 HDMI.

Bam!!

[Woochifer]

$1,000 for a media streaming box?!

And lemme guess, the convergence-obsessed idiots in the tech press are going to spin this as further proof that Blu-ray is a doomed and failed format. Yuh, in their view, $200 for a Blu-ray player is money wasted, but $1,000 for a networked media player is an investment in the future!

Vudu shares the same problems that afflict all of the other media players -- limited selection of HD titles, all HD movies are limited to rental, lower bandwidth than Blu-ray, hard drive failure takes down your entire movie collection, other competing media players offer movies that Vudu does not, etc.

Aside from the well-received user interface and maybe a larger selection of movies, I don't know what Vudu offers that you wouldn't also find with Apple TV, Xbox360, PS3, or the PPV/on-demand options available from satellite and cable providers.

The Vudu XL's terrabyte hard drive is supposedly the killer feature, yet on my Directv HD DVR, I can also get that capacity by just plugging in a USB drive and that DVR already has 1080p PPV and on demand options available. The PS3 can also be upgraded by simply swapping out the hard drive, and it too has a growing library of PPV movies.

And I think the biggest achilles heel with all of these options is the DRM/time limitations tied to the HD movies. They allow you to download HD movies, but they also impose a viewing window that expires after a set time. This is nothing more than a replacement for movie rentals, and the initial cost is a lot more than Blu-ray for lower A/V quality.

[nightflier]

No argument from me - Vudu is wayyyyyy too expensive. I'm rather bummed that Outlaw would be in bed with these guys....