TV set-top battle: Apple TV vs. Vudu

Fri Mar 7, 2008 3:42PM EST

See Comments (29)

Apple breathed new life into its once-floundering Apple TV thanks to a recent software update, but it's got a major competitor to deal with: Vudu, a set-top device with more than eight times as many movies to rent. Which box deserves a place next to your TV?

Setup

A cinch, for both Apple TV and Vudu. Each box comes with more or less the same connections: you get HDMI (with resolutions up to 1080p), component and composite video outputs, analog and Toslink audio outputs, and Ethernet ports (Vudu also has an S-video input). Once they're connected and ready, each device boots up and launches their individual setup wizards, and within minutes, you're up and running. For Apple TV, there's the extra step of syncing up with an iTunes library, although you're also free to run Apple TV as a stand-alone box. Apple TV also has the option of going Wi-Fi for its network connection, while the Vudu is restricted to Ethernet—although one could argue that speedy wired Ethernet is the way to go when it comes to downloading massive HD movies. Winner: Tie

What you get

Movies: With its catalog of 5,000+ films (about 3,600 rentals, the rest for purchase), Vudu clearly beats the pants off of Apple TV in the movie department. And we're not just talking grade-Z movies, either—a quick perusal of Vudu's collection reveals a broad swath of movies, including the latest releases (such as "Into the Wild," "The Darjeeling Limited," "30 Days of Night," and "Gone Baby Gone") and older catalog titles ("Breakfast at Tiffany's," all the old "Star Trek" movies, "Once Upon a Time in the West," and so on). Apple TV, meanwhile, is still struggling to build up its rental library; as of this week, fewer than 500 rentals were available via iTunes (another 200 or so are for purchase only). That said, both Vudu and Apple TV have about 100 HD movies on tap. Winner: Vudu (by a mile)

TV shows: Here's where Apple turns the tables on Vudu. iTunes (and by extension, Apple TV) has literally thousands of TV episodes on hand from all the major networks, save NBC. It's a TV lover's dream. Vudu, on the other hand, has only 14 shows to choose from, including "24," "Arrested Development," "Prison Break," "NYPD Blue" (seasons one and two only), and "Shark". Not bad, but Vudu has a lot of catching up to do. Also worth nothing: neither Apple TV nor Vudu offers TV shows in HD (as does the Xbox Video Marketplace). Winner: Apple TV

Extras: Vudu may reign supreme with its impressive selection of movies, but Apple TV's got it trumped with its extras, including full access to the iTunes Music Store, thousands of podcasts, access to Flickr and .Mac slideshows, and YouTube support. Vudu's got its movies and TV shows, but that's pretty much it. Winner: Apple TV

Interface

As with most Apple products, navigating the Apple TV's various screens is a snap, even for novices, and Apple TV's new interface is a hands-down improvement over the original. I especially like the fact that pressing and holding the "menu" key brings up a main-menu overlay, no matter where you are in the menu structure. But while Vudu's menus aren't quite as slick as Apple's, navigating through Vudu's movie catalog is a breeze thanks to the jog wheel in the remote (which also lets you fast-forward and reverse while watching a movie). I also love that Vudu lets you click on an actor's or director's name to see all their available movies—a browsing feature that's sorely lacking in Apple TV. Finally, Vudu lets you add movies you want to see later to a "wish list"—another feature that's missing from the Apple box. Winner: Vudu

Video quality

SD video: Apple TV's standard-def video quality has been suspect from the beginning, and it remains so now. SD movies and TV shows look way too soft, almost out-of-focus soft, in fact. Very disappointing. Vudu's SD offerings look much better—shy of DVD quality, mind you, but still reasonably sharp, with digital artifacts kept to a relative minimum. Winner: Vudu

HD video: While Vudu scores with its solid SD video quality, it comes up a bit shy with its HD movies. After repeated A-B viewings of scenes from the HD rental of "Transformers," I felt Apple TV's HD video looked a bit sharper, with solid-looking colors and few artifacts even during the most furious of action scenes. Vudu's HD looked a little softer to me, with muddy-looking colors that seemed to float during darker scenes, as well as noticeable edge enhancement (which resulted in "jaggies" along the edges of objects). Winner: Apple TV

Sound quality

When I first reviewed Vudu, I noticed that the sound on many movies (including recent flicks like "Spider-Man 2") seemed to be in mono. Well, Vudu engineers clearly took that criticism to heart and made some changes, because try though I might, I couldn’t find any movies this time with the mono bug. Indeed, the movies on Apple TV and Vudu both sounded excellent, with the DD 5.1 mix for "Transformers" sounding appropriately thunderous and aggressive. Keep in mind, however, that neither Apple TV nor Vudu offer all its movies in full Dolby Digital—understandable for, say, "Casablanca," but less so for newer, HD movies like "X-Men." Winner: Tie

Instant movie viewing

One of Vudu's big selling points is that it lets you start watching movies from the instant your click "Rent now" (thanks to peer-to-peer video sharing—click here for more details) and the box absolutely delivers. Testing it in Brooklyn over Road Runner digital cable, Vudu's movies are indeed ready for instant viewing, including HD titles. But while Apple TV's movies didn't load instantly, they were ready for watching within less than a minute of pressing "Rent"—and that held true to HD videos, as well. So although Vudu can claim a moral victory in the "instant viewing" category, most viewers will hardly notice the difference. Winner: Vudu (but only by a whisker)

Movie portability

Video you can take with you is a huge trend in tech, and for now at least, it’s something that Vudu fails to address—once you rent a movie on Vudu, it stays in the box, no matter what. Apple TV, meanwhile, gets it half right; if you download an iTunes rental on your Mac or PC first, you get the option of transferring it to your iPod, iPhone, or the Apple TV. But if you rent a movie directly over the Apple TV, it's stuck in the box—you won't be allowed to transfer it to a portable player. Winner: Neither really, although Apple TV comes closest.

Price

Hardware: Vudu just dropped the price of its main, 250GB offering by $100, to $299. (There's also a 1TB Vudu available—the Vudu XL—for a whopping $999, but that's more for the home-integration market.) The 40GB version of Apple TV goes for $229, while the 120GB model sells for $329. In other words, both boxes are still hovering around the $300 mark, which may still be too high for most viewers. Winner: Tie

Videos: Both Apple TV and Vudu have the same rental-price structure: $3.99 for new releases, and $2.99 for older, catalog titles. (Both services let you keep rented movies for 30 days; once you hit "play", you then have 24 hours to watch your video). For HD movies, Apple TV charges $4.99 for new releases and $3.99 for older titles, while Vudu charges a bit more: $5.99 for the latest and greatest titles, and $3.99 for catalog. Winner: Apple TV (just barely)

And the winner is...

Sorry folks, but there's no knockout winner here—and even when we go to the cards, both Apple TV and Vudu managed to land an impressive number of points. In the end, you'll need to ask yourself what your priorities are in a video set-top box to make the best decision. Ultimately, I think Apple TV is a better all-around device, especially for Mac-centric users who love TV shows and want to use their Apple TV as a music and/or podcast jukebox. But until Apple builds up the meager movie selection on iTunes, Vudu takes the prize for movie lovers—although I wish Vudu's HD video quality was a bit better. And both boxes could still use another price cut.

Note: What about the Xbox 360 and its Video Marketplace, you ask? Well, with its about 340 movies for rent, 322 TV shows, and plenty of HD content, the Xbox 360 ($400 and up) makes for an attractive choice—for gamers, that is. But for those who aren't interested in Call of Duty 4, the 360 is probably overkill—hence, I've decided to stick with dedicated TV set-top boxes for the purposes of this duel. Also: In my original post, I got the size of the Vudu's hard drive wrong; it's 250GB, not 100GB. Sorry for the goof.

Comments on TV set-top battle: Apple TV vs. Vudu

Post a Comment

Join in the discussion. Here you'll see the comments in the order they were posted.

  • 6 Posted by stan44s on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:39PM EDT Report Abuse

    I noted an error, as Vudu's $295 box gives you 250 gigs vs Apple's $319 for 120 gogs. Vudu gives you twice as much and their new Vudu vault results in TV's being off the box on a server, while Apple's storage is quite limited at half the space. So hardward price goes to Vudu, not Apple. Summary: Movies Vudu 5000 to 500. Extras Apple Interface Vudu Video quality Vudu much better on 4900 standard def flics. Video quality Apple slightly better on 100 high def films Instant Viewing Vudu by a whisker Price Vudu - Vudu gives twice the storage for less money. It seems to me that movie viewing is significantly better with Vudu, with 10 times the movies, better movies, all that you noted in your article. Thank you for such a great report. .

  • 7 Posted by kathryn4cab on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:47PM EDT Report Abuse

    I love my Vudu. I live in a condo and have worked with the Apple a little. Apple has lousy movies, and not many. I tried the Vudu critic rating filter just a couple minutes ago when I read it above. It is sensational. When you click that, every one in the list is a winner! I couldn't believe it. I didn't know it was there. And it does just take seconds to do a couple clicks. Someone ought to right an article on that. No bad movies ever again! Sounds catchy. I don't find $1 to $4 for a movie bad at all, even with the box cost. It cost $7 in the movie house, and you have to get there, hire a baby sitter, pay $6 bucks for some popcorn and $4 for a coke. The price is cheap. $2.50 a flic and $295 for a box that you'll use 5 years for $50 a year. Big deal. Get a job.

  • 8 Posted by bern.lin90 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:05PM EDT Report Abuse

    I have an AppleTV and I'm a little disappointed, and maybe I'm the first to say that about Apple. But I live in an apartment house and my friend has a Vudu. It's better than my Apple. Her control is much easier and she has a zillion more movies than I have. That Vudu is better.

  • 9 Posted by magpagbst on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:03PM EDT Report Abuse

    kathryn4cab . . . here's my home theater set-up . . . sharp 20000 dlp projector, dnp 120" supernova screen, two pioneer 50 inch plasmas (5080's) on each side of the dnp, and atlantic technology in-walls to complete the 6.1 surround sound . . . i also have a six foot stack of components to drive it all . . . i can afford vudu and apple tv without cramping my lifestyle . . . but if a company wants my money . . . they've got to earn it . . . the current offerings of these two companies do not meet my standards . . . therefore, they won't get my money . . .

  • 10 Posted by len.xyz1 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 6:48PM EDT Report Abuse

    I don't care about music. I bought this for movies. The best movie selection, ten times more movies, and a better navigating around makes my Vudu a charmer. In ten seconds you can scroll through menus, find a category that you like, also screen for only good movies as they said above, and then hit preview, make sure you like it, and click and it starts. All right. It takes about a minute to do all that. With Apple you get 500 movies or ONE TENTH of the movies with VUDU and Apple has a poor selection,. Apple's quality is only 720p, you get half the storage of Vudu, and its not half the fun as it is to zip around with that super remote. I only hear criticism of Vudu from people who haven't tried it.

  • 11 Posted by stevesreed on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:43PM EDT Report Abuse

    In addition to YouTube, AppleTV also lets you directly view thousands of pod casts, which turns out to be pretty cool.

  • 12 Posted by george.bender4 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:07PM EDT Report Abuse

    I am not happy with my Apple. It's not as clear as the store people said it would be and they don't have many movies. I can afford another box. Would you get a Vudu?

  • 13 Posted by kenfox6 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:49PM EDT Report Abuse

    I kept my Apple almost a year. It was not clear and they had very few movies, and what they have isn't great. I bit the bullet, bought a Vudu, and have been very happy. Many more movies, much easier to pick movies and move around the menus and they keep making improvements. Also Vudu's clearer.

  • 14 Posted by carolsky9 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:18PM EDT Report Abuse

    I'm an old vudu fan. I love the large movie content, and the fact that its got that content filter. Incidentally, if you don't know about it. Start with select movies genres left column, 2nd or third down is filters 4-5+ critic rated movies only. It takes a second or two per click and you're done. That's it. Every movie in the shortened list is a winner and you don't have to scroll down so much to find the pearls.. Its very easy. I've seen the Apple and its not bad except for the movie content, of course. But to put it on a two inch screen or to get u-tube or podcasts and put them on your high def screen makes them look even worse. I don't understand how any one thinks that's so great. Flickr is nice but how many times a year do you watch your pictures? Hardly ever.

  • 15 Posted by theaudax on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:02PM EDT Report Abuse

    The "wish list" feature on the Vudu is a big deal! We currently do Blockbuster's mailed DVD service (like Netflix), and our very favorite thing about this service is the queue. We love that whenever we think of a movie we would like to see sometime, we can just log it on the queue and know we won't forget about it. It sounds so simple but it's huge! Any downloadable movie service I use would need to have this feature - I'm glad to hear Vudu's thought of it.

  • 16 Posted by hedo4three2002 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:18PM EDT Report Abuse

    I just dont see a market for this in US but I guess time will tell...I assume its an alternative to cable(who has done a decent job with on "On Demand" features) satelite and netflix but really unless they start giving the boxes away I dont see them really taken off. The only thing I expect as that as more and more companies attempt to take advantage of residential broadband service, the companies that offer high speed internet may star charging us per MB instead of a flat rate...and if that happens many will have a pretty paper weight next to their TV.

  • 17 Posted by george.bender4 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:07PM EDT Report Abuse

    #16 it sounds as if you haven't used anything but cable, so you couldn't possibly know the advantages. Vudu is quick, has a fabulous remote, great graphics and gives 5000 movies to your cable company's 260. That's twenty time more movies available, and the cables are known for horrendous movies. They are charging lower rates because they are providing you with so much less. They also don't have the technology people of Vudu or Apple to make it any better. You are stuck. But don't guess about Vudu not doing well until you have tried it. Virtually everyone who uses it, raves about it. I have never heard any one rave about their cable company. Best.

  • 18 Posted by madeuwish on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:02PM EDT Report Abuse

    I can beat both of these with my setup! I have a Series 2 TIVo Wired to my network. Besides all the movies and features you get from Amazon, I can watch anything on my iMAC hard drive. It only takes a few minutes to convert the video format using VisualHub and I can start watching while it transfers wirelessly, with no interruptions what so ever! You also have access to your music and photos; Yahoo mail, weather, and traffic, and multiple other things!

  • 19 Posted by plmossjr on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:14PM EDT Report Abuse

    Ben, Thanks for the write-up. This gets me up to speed. QQ's: Let's say I have this device hooked up to my TV in the living room, I am at home sick for the day, and I want to watch a movie in my bedroom in bed. How portable are these devices? It would seem like I have to do some pre-wiring to the bedroom. True? What if I want to take the device to a friend's house to watch a movie with a group over there? Is it feasible? Would it be a pain? Can you download the movie to a DVR and burn a DVD to take with to the friend's house?

  • 20 Posted by plmossjr on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:14PM EDT Report Abuse

    Hey bib12342004, Where are you getting the free movies? Please share with the rest of us. I'm always looking to save a buck or two.

  • 21 Posted by jfmet99 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:34PM EDT Report Abuse

    Only a matter of time before all the cable and satellite companies update their boxes and include all this stuff. Who wants all these extra boxes? Tivo no, got my DVR and soon it will have all the stuff Apple TV has. Plus just hook up your PC to your TV. I did and its great.

  • 22 Posted by symesmd on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:52PM EDT Report Abuse

    I do not know why reviewers consistently overlook Tivo HD and Amazon Unbox combination. This is a clearly a superior solution and with the majority of people having a DVR this will eliminate another box from your living room...in addition if you have a cable box you can use the CableCard slot in the Tivo, rent a CableCard from your cable provider for about $2 and return your monthly rented cable box, thus saving money and also eliminating yet another box.

  • 23 Posted by george.bender4 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:07PM EDT Report Abuse

    The reason Tivo HD and Amazon are rated poorly is because the quality is not good. That's simple. If you have one don't throw it away. But if you were buying anew, you wouldn't go there. When you say that all the companies will do it eventually, that's nice wishful thinking. But the cable companies have had more time than anyone else in the market and they are falling further and father behind. What's more, they don't have 100 techies working on improvement day and night. They are people who happen to own broadband and they string wires from house to house. As someone else said, Vudu has just out-engineered everyone. Apparently they can compress the signals better (I think I understand that), and their graphics and navigation are absolutely super. Oh. And they have 5000 movies to Apple's 500.

  • 24 Posted by pkumin on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:14PM EDT Report Abuse

    I think a very important point was missed here; I believe the Apple TV requires a PC or MAC running iTunes for certain transactions. While this may not seem like a big deal, I think this could give Vudu an edge on ease of set up in certain households.

  • 25 Posted by hedo4three2002 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:18PM EDT Report Abuse

    @17..I think you may have misunderstood my comment...the theme of my statement is that these services depend on your broadband service and ultimately if any of these ideas make a blip on ther owners of these broadband services you may have and issue.

More Posts: First Prev 1 2 3 Next Last

Post a Comment

Sign In to Post a Comment

My Tech

Please enable your browser's cookies to activate the My Tech column.

Also on Yahoo! Tech

Computers Home Office Wi-Fi & Networking Phones & PDAs Cameras & Camcorders TV & Home Theater Portable Audio
 

Site Map | Tour | Subscribe to Yahoo! Tech

Question and Answer content at Yahoo! Tech is written by Yahoo! users at Yahoo! Answers. Yahoo! does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any Yahoo! Answers content. For more information, read the Full Disclaimer.

Opinions expressed by the Advisors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Yahoo! Inc. Yahoo! receives no compensation from any manufacturer or distributor nor does it compensate any Advisor for the coverage of any product or service in any Advisor's content.