Are you happy with Unbox on TiVo?

ChrisTV · 04-13-2007, 05:09 PM

Vote on the poll.

Just wondering who's been happy with the new Amazon Unbox service on TiVo or if you've been disapointed.

MikeMar · 04-13-2007, 05:15 PM

oooo public poll

MickeS · 04-13-2007, 05:25 PM

I haven't used it. I hate when polls don't include the "Haven't used it" option.

nirisahn · 04-13-2007, 06:15 PM

The movies downloaded fine and the picture quality is good, but the selection of available rentals leaves a lot to be desired. It seems every movie I want is available for purchase but not for rent. I guess they're still in their PPV blackout period or something.

I guess the other movie download services have the same problem because Movielink had the same movies available for sale but not for rent, so I guess this really isn't a complaint against Unbox, but against the movie companies.

rdrrepair · 04-13-2007, 06:27 PM

I voted that I was pleased - I have downloaded a couple of missed episodes and purchased a movie - All downloads went well, the $15.00 free trial impressed me, if you click on the link for customer service & request to speak to someone live, your phone rings when you hit the submit button.

Impressive - keep in mind that baby steps take place before you learn to run. I expect that our feedback will allow UnBox to fly in the years to come. We just need to give it a chance.

I would like additional titles, 5.1 surround, HD Downloads, additional time for viewing rentals.

The options should have been.

-- Very pleased.

-- Somewhat pleased.

-- Neither impressed or unimpressed.

-- Likely would not reuse.

-- Would not use again.

-- I have not tried the service yet.

Stu_Bee · 04-13-2007, 06:52 PM

Voted "Pleased", because "Disapointed" (sic) sounded to harsh for my experience.

- The encoding bitrate/framerate may need to be higher....noticed a bit of jumpiness in the XMenIII download (after the 1hr mark)
- Aspect ratio for 16:9 S2 Tivos would be nice.
- Need Tivo Releases available sametime as DVD Rentals. (+1)

Justin Thyme · 04-14-2007, 12:49 PM

Same as Stu. I like it, but there are the deficiencies he stated and so "pleased" isn't entirely accurate.

There has to be a higher resolution version than those offered where the BitRate is significantly improved. I won't be using it heavily until I can buy video at a quality comparable to DVD. Unlike others, I don't rent and see unbox as competing for money I pay at BestBuy or WalMart for DVD purchases.

I either wait and watch recent releases on television, or buy the ones that we will watch repeatedly (musicals, classic action adventures, children's shows, eye candy videos, foreign films that never show on tv or appear in rental stores).

What is very attractive to me is that I do not have to go to the bother of ripping the dvd to my video server. Use of large video servers is something that very few people are doing currently, but will become common as hard drive prices continue the inevitable downward spiral that earlier made MP3 players common. The advantage over dvd libraries is the same as MP3 players- I can find the show quickly rather wonder where someone has misfiled it/ left it in some other room/car/house.

After 10 or 15 minutes looking, I oftentimes give up- pissed off and in no mood to watch the video I had in mind anyway.

So I am pretty motivated to use an alternative to DVDs.

Bierboy · 04-14-2007, 06:08 PM

I've mentioned these drawbacks elsewhere but they bear repeating. My main beefs --
1) No subtitles
2) No widescreen
3) Lousy stereo audio...no DD 5.1

I won't even CONSIDER using unbox until all are addressed.

ZeoTiVo · 04-14-2007, 11:01 PM

UNBOX and TiVo have a great implementation - restrictions by the content owners SUCK.
So I need that choice to be able to vote.

for me especially the 24 hours to watch a rental which limits my desire to use it

tase2 · 04-16-2007, 08:21 AM

I watched my first Unbox movie last night. I was surprisingly pleased with the video quality.

I used TV speakers so I can't comment on the audio quality issues.

The 30 day/24 hour restrictions are weak!

Would love to see some HD content added.

Overall very happy, and with all the work Doug and others have put in, it made the experience very nice.

dswallow · 04-16-2007, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MickeS

I haven't used it. I hate when polls don't include the "Haven't used it" option.

Have you at least signed up to get your $15 credit?

NotVeryWitty · 04-16-2007, 10:33 AM

I'm not happy with the 24-hour rental limit, and the limited selections, and the number of items available for purchase but not renting. However, I don't hold that against Amazon, since I understand those restrictions are coming from the content owners.

What I *am* disappointed with Amazon is the number of items that are available in the Tivo format. I have found many things that I would be interested in downloading, but they're still only available for the PC, not Tivo. It is taking way too long for Amazon to do the conversions.

Solver · 04-16-2007, 11:26 AM

Using the beta(s), our family is three for three on successful movie ordering. One was even ordered off of our TiVo (Thanks Doug!) Now we can even preview most of the shows and select our favorite, for next time.

Given only 24 hours to watch it all is a little hard. Forces you to wait; collect your family time for one full sitting (and of course, ORDER LESS MOVIES!)

rdrrepair · 04-16-2007, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NotVeryWitty

What I *am* disappointed with Amazon is the number of items that are available in the Tivo format. I have found many things that I would be interested in downloading, but they're still only available for the PC, not Tivo. It is taking way too long for Amazon to do the conversions.

If you download Doug's App then you would not get all of those false positive results.

Try this app and search for TiVo content right from your TiVo without going to the computer. It's a great app and I am 4 for 4 on positive downloads. It has a search feature and a preview feature so you can view trailers etc...

That one app alone makes the UnBox experience so much better.

MickeS · 04-16-2007, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dswallow

Have you at least signed up to get your $15 credit?

Yeah, but I won't use it until they have 16:9 material.

EDIT: I know I did sign up - but I can't see anywhere that this is confirmed. Can I check some account balance somewhere?

cardeiro · 04-16-2007, 03:59 PM

not very pleased

ordered a movie to the living room dvr...cant transfer it to the bedroom (dumb, what am I gonna do steal it from the bedroom dvr????). have not been able to find a time when I am sure I will be able to watch it in a 24 hour period

rental selection is weak.

The prices are overinflated. I REFUSE to buy a movie download for nearly the same price as the physical dvd that I can play for the kids in the car or watch at a friends house. even the rental price of 3.99 seems high for a do-it-yourself download, no shipping cost, no envelope stuffing or store clerk labor to pay...the only overhead they have is server space, tech support, and encoding.

Mike

BarryD99 · 04-19-2007, 08:01 PM

poor rental selection, no 5.1, about the same price as a video store

i'm not that lazy that going to the store is a problem

bilbo · 04-21-2007, 03:18 PM

Sign in to Amazon and click on one of the rentals (i.e. Blood Diamond). It should say in very fine print right under the price for the movie ($3.99 for B.D.) that you have a $15.00 credit.

I blew 5 of my free bucks so far (2 for Dirt and 3 for the Descent). The quality for the Descent was not that great in dark sequences, but it was the movie I wanted to watch last night (so it was worth getting for free). The 2 bucks I wasted on Dirt I wish I hadn't because I haven't even watched it yet.

The promotional credit "must be used by 9/1/07" (under penalty of death?). So hopefully Amazon will have HD downloads by the end of August {since Microsoft is already doing HD (720p) downloads (i.e. The Departed) with XBox Live for a 50% premium to SD (480p), I would hope Amazon is planning to roll out HD downloads this Summer, if not by the end of Spring}.

Also, someone might have said this already (and/or answered it), but why can't I start playing the movie until the download is complete? I could have started watching the Descent after only a few minutes (and not caught up with the tail end of the download), but I instead had to wait for the whole download to complete before I started watching (which took over an hour). Is a download that much different than a transfer?

It's hard to vote Disappointed when you are getting everything for free, but that is what I voted. I am also Disappointed with ITunes Video (I rented two episodes of Battlestar Galactica and was disappointed in the quality -- again especially the blacks). I wouldn't call either DVD-quality (which is what Amazon claims -- I don't know what Apple calls their Video downloads).

Quote:

Originally Posted by MickeS

Yeah, but I won't use it until they have 16:9 material.

EDIT: I know I did sign up - but I can't see anywhere that this is confirmed. Can I check some account balance somewhere?

SystemJinx · 04-21-2007, 03:35 PM

I spent my $15 credit on Ice Age: The Meltdown.

One little question though. If I were to delete it off my Tivo in order to save space, is there a way to get it back in the future?

TiVo Troll · 04-21-2007, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MickeS

Yeah, but I won't use it until they have 16:9 material.

EDIT: I know I did sign up - but I can't see anywhere that this is confirmed. Can I check some account balance somewhere?

Am I misunderstanding your meaning or does this link lead to the info you need?

Darthnice · 04-21-2007, 04:50 PM

I used some of my credits to purchase a single episode of The Animatrix ($0.99) and rent XMen 3 ($3.99).

The audio was ok, Neo-6 Cinema mode made it almost like real surround sound. Nothing to write home about though.

I was disappointed in the picture quality of both. Apparently Amazon doesn't transcode the video properly, because it constantly had what amounted to a stuttering over large pans. Relatively still images look fine (not great, but not DVD quality either). I've gotten similar results when I chose the wrong de-interlacing scheme in ffmpeg.

Having seen it for myself, if it weren't free, I wouldn't pay for it. A trip to the rental place would be better than watching that annoying jerking for 2 hours. They need to fix the jerky playback before I actually spend real money on it.

dylanemcgregor · 04-22-2007, 01:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SystemJinx

I spent my $15 credit on Ice Age: The Meltdown.

One little question though. If I were to delete it off my Tivo in order to save space, is there a way to get it back in the future?

You're supposed to be able to redownload from Amazon at anytime for movies you have purchased. I believe there is a media locker section or something...? I have no interest in purchasing movies via Amazon so I haven't really looked into this.

I am generally pleased with the rentals though, picture quality seems fine for me and selection is good enough that I can find something that I want to watch if I'm in between Netflix movies. For it to take the place of Netflix though I would need a much better rental selection, subtitles on foreign films, and preferably a subscription model that was reasonably close to Netflix's current offerings...although I'd probably pay a few dollars more a month for the convenience of downloads.

Stu_Bee · 04-23-2007, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darthnice

I used some of my credits to purchase a single episode of The Animatrix ($0.99) and rent XMen 3 ($3.99).
I was disappointed in the picture quality of both. Apparently Amazon doesn't transcode the video properly, because it constantly had what amounted to a stuttering over large pans. Relatively still images look fine (not great, but not DVD quality either). I've gotten similar results when I chose the wrong de-interlacing scheme in ffmpeg.

As posted previously...I had the same issue with Xmen3 (noticed it after the 1hr mark). I wonder if it is all movies that have this issue, or just some which Amazon mis-encoded.
I've only watched 2 Unboxes so I can't comment on it's frequency.

debest · 04-24-2007, 11:50 AM

I used my $15 free credit to download Casino Royale. Shortly afterwards my TiVo died. I replaced my TiVo, but wasn't able to re-download the movie to my new TiVo box. Here is an email exchange with Amazon regarding this...

Email to Amazon:
I recently purchase and downloaded Casino Royale to my
TiVo. Shortly after that my TiVo died (old age). I've bought a new
TiVo to replaced the broken one, but I can't figure out how to
re-download the movie to it? I've updated my Unbox profile to include
my new TiVo box. Do I have to wait a certain amount of
time before I can re-download a movie? Or is the movie tied only to
one TiVo box? Thanks for your help!

Response:
I have looked at your account and found that the information you
provided is correct. Unfortunately Casino Royale is currently
unavailable for download. Occasionally, because of the agreements we
have made with the studios that own the rights to these videos, we are
required to remove the video from our website temporarily. Once these
black out periods are over the video will be available from our
website again. Please keep checking the website and Your Media
Library for the most up to date information. Again, I apologize for
any inconvenience this situation may cause.

Thank you for shopping for Amazon Unbox videos on Amazon.com.

I'm glad that I used free money for this "purchase".
In the future, I'll just buy the DVD.

ChrisTV · 04-27-2007, 08:07 AM

Thanks for all the feedback guys

I finally got around to posting it on WebTVHub here.

Looks like a lot of the concerns are actually more to do with content owners than Amazon themselves.

Cotton · 04-28-2007, 09:29 AM

I am very disappointed in this service.

I signed up and rented a movie that never downloaded. I got one message on my TiVo indicating that the TiVo hard drive was too full or I had too many recordings scheduled over the coming days that Unbox couldn't claim enough space to hold the download for 2 full days. I tried "clear the schedule" over the next couple of days, but the movie never downloaded. I never received another message.

You should be able to "force the download" if you want to. I would have modified my saved programs to keep the movie if necessary.

Frankly, I don't care enough to follow-up on it. I'm sure that I could "talk" to Amazon to find out what happened to my download, but it's not worth it to me. I'll stick to Netflix and the movie channels. I had viewed Unbox as a nice alternative to download a movie that I heard about at work from a colleague and have it available to watch that night.

Luckily it didn't cost me any money. I paid for the download with my $15 credit.

I don't expect to use this service again.

michael.neel · 04-28-2007, 08:33 PM

Overpriced - it costs less to rent the DVD.

The DVD has subtitles, better audio, better quality, commentary, and other bonus material.

I have the DVD for 5 days - not 24 hours after someone clicks "play" - this is a big deal. I have kids and sometime don't get to watch a movie all they way when I start. I'm also busy and don't need a death clock over my head.

If I rent a video for tivo, I should also be able to change my mind and watch it on the PC. TiVo = living room, PC = bed room. My mood may have changed since renting.

Selection is awful. Wake up call - there is a big market for independent films, and I can see X-Men 3 anywhere. I expect to see things I can't find to rent locally.

Used up my credit and don't see using this service again.

ricocarlos · 04-29-2007, 08:34 PM

I really like it, but I would LOVE it if they had a subscription service.

rainwater · 04-29-2007, 09:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michael.neel

Selection is awful. Wake up call - there is a big market for independent films, and I can see X-Men 3 anywhere. I expect to see things I can't find to rent locally..

Amazon's selection is bigger than any that I have seen. Btw, maybe you haven't heard of CustomFlix. Its a subsidiary of Amazon who's sole purpose is to distribute independent films (which includes Unbox of course).

mansart · 05-01-2007, 11:29 PM

I don't really watch movies on TV (I go to the movies a lot) so I've only used UnBox for TV shows, but I think it's awesome for when you miss an episode or two of a must-see TV series. I only hope they are able to expand on the number of series they offer. Can you say Heroes?!?!?