Today's Show:
There are a few movie download services vying for a spot in your entertainment cabinet. They all have their pros and cons, so we thought we'd look at four of the big dogs to see how they stack up. We chose to look at services that offer both the movies and a piece of home theater equipment to watch them with. There a ton of other options if you want to connect a computer to your TV, but since most people aren't doing that, we've decided to omit them from the discussion.

Movie Download Roundup

Vudu
Vudu pioneered the "direct to TV" movie download business and continues to set the bar for audio and video quality. Unfortunately, despite being first to the party, they haven't grabbed too much market share.
Hardware: Vudu Set Top Box for Movies on Demand, Cost $149
Rental cost: New releases $3.99 for SD and $5.99 for HD/HDX
Titles available: over 16,000, almost 2,000 in 1080p
Audio/Video quality: 5 stars
Portability: none
Pros: Best video quality available, great selection
Cons: No portability, no IR control

Apple iTunes
The dominant player in the music download market, Apple has quickly emerged as a force to be reckoned with in the download video market as well. With theintroduction of the Apple TV, they are poised to push all sorts of 'i' devices and technology into your living room.
Hardware: Apple TV, Cost $224 for 40 GB (or $324 for 160 GB of storage)
Rental cost: New releases $3.99 for SD and $4.99 for HD
Titles available: "thousands", less than 50 in 720p
Audio/Video quality: 4 stars
Portability: iPod and iPhone for purchased movies (additional hardware cost)
Pros: Easy to use, good quality, portability option, low cost HD rentals
Cons: A little bit pricey, "Apple only" solution, very few HD titles

Sony Playstation Store
Due to the success of the Playstation 3, Sony has also become an impact player in the online movie rental space. For those with a PS3, it's a no-brainer, but that's pretty much your whole market right there. There's the little added bonus that if you buy a PS3 to download movies and watch Blu-rays, you get a pretty nice game system thrown in for free. Hardware: Playstation 3, Cost $399
Rental cost: New releases $3.99 for SD and $5.99 for HD
Titles available: 1358, 754 in 720p
Audio/Video quality: 4 stars
Portability: Sony PSP for purchased movies (additional hardware cost)
Pros: Easy to use, good quality, portability option, Blu-ray player
Cons: Expensive, "Sony only" solution

Amazon VOD
As with anything for sale via the Internet, it can't take long for Amazon to get involved. And when Amazon gets involved they pretty much play to win. TheVOD service is still fairly new, so we need to give it some time, but it could become a big factor. The Roku video player is a nice little device, and Tivo owners can get to Amazon titles as well.
Hardware: Roku Digital Video Player, Cost $99
Rental cost: New releases $3.99 for SD and $5.99 for HD
Titles available: 11,611, None in HD yet (in Beta)
Audio/Video quality: 3 stars
Portability: Many portable devices for purchased movies (additional hardware cost)
Pros: "Open" solution, portability option, multiple player options
Cons: Low quality, no HD titles (yet)

Posted by The HT Guys, July 9, 2009 10:53 PM