Once you choose what you'd like to watch, you can either start downloading and watching it immediately, or "bookmark" it for later viewing. Viewing restrictions are fairly standard: prices are between $1.99 and $3.99 per download, and videos expire within 24 hours of first viewing them, or within 30 days of download, viewed or not. If that sounds too draconian for you, complain to the Hollywood studios, not Blockbuster; these are basically the same restrictions and pricing levels you'll find on any video-on-demand platform, including Vudu, Apple TV, Xbox 360 Video Marketplace, and PlayStation Video Store.
Of course, the big exception to that rule is Netflix: that service provides all-you-can-watch access to about 12,000 titles (at the time of this writing) for one flat monthly fee starting at $8.99--and includes access to Netflix's DVD-by-mail program as well. However, the knock on Netflix is that its on-demand catalog skews toward older content: there's a decent selection of films from the 20th century, but the pickings get slimmer as you approach the present-day.
Indeed, Blockbuster On Demand included an array of more recent fare unavailable on Netflix--popular 2008 movies including The Dark Knight, Iron Man, and Sex and the City. However, other 2008 hits now available on DVD--Horton Hears a Who, Wall-E, and Kung Fu Panda--were nowhere to be found. In fact, there are currently less than 2,000 titles available (compared with more than 100,000 on DVD). And don't look for every movie to hit the box day and date with their DVD release. While that's the case with Warner releases, most other movies take about 30 days from the DVD release before they become available for viewing. (Again, this is the same studio restriction that exists so far on all rental-based video-on-demand devices.)
Another downside on the content front: the TV options on Blockbuster were lacking. While this is a real strength of Netflix's online offerings--episodes of some CBS shows, for instance, can be watched within days of their initial airing--Blockbuster's selection seemed limited to older "classic" TV shows such as The Beverly Hillbillies (Disclosure: CBS is the parent company of CNET.).
According to Blockbuster, the devices video is billed as "DVD quality." While we wouldn't go that far, it's pretty much on par with standard-definition Internet video we've seen on competing services. The picture looks a bit soft on larger TVs, and eagle-eyed viewers will spot occasional compression artifacts (solarization, blockiness, jaggies); however, overall it's quite watchable, especially for casual viewing. As always, the larger your TV, the more the flaws in the picture will be amplified. Obviously, that's where an HD option could help immensely. On the bright side, most of the movies were in their proper original wide-screen aspect ratio.
One big annoyance: while you can start watching a movie moments after choosing it, you can't rewind or fast-forward until it's been fully downloaded; only pausing works. That's a big problem if you miss a line of dialogue or want to rewatch a key sequence. (Netflix downloads have an easy fast-forward and rewind option based on thumbnails.)
In addition to the sluggishness of the interface, the box gave us a "connection error" while using the search page that left a blue box on the screen. The only way for us to clear it was to reboot the system by pulling the power cord.
The final analysis
In its current incarnation, the Blockbuster On Demand service works well enough, but it doesn't distinguish itself from nearly identical services offered by Vudu, Apple TV, and Amazon (or, indeed, VOD services on cable or satellite). The big selling point is the quasi-free pricing. Truth be told, we'd be more inclined to invest that $99 in something like the Roku Digital Video Player. That box already offers unlimited Netflix viewing, and it will soon offer pay-per-view videos from Amazon's Video-on-Demand service as well. That could well be a best of both worlds scenario--watch the limited tier of what's available with a Netflix subscription online, and bolster it with Netflix discs-by-mail or--on a pay-per-view basis--streaming content from Amazon.
That said, the Blockbuster situation is fluid. The company has cut a deal with CinemaNow and is looking to offer combined video-on-demand service integrated into products such as LG's 2009 TVs, Blu-ray players, and home theater systems--where it will co-exist with built-in Netflix support as well. In other words, consider the 2Wire box to be a "version 1.0" iteration of what will likely be a more robust and widely available Blockbuster On Demand service coming soon.
We'd like to see the box get a variety of upgrades to fix all of the issues we've mentioned here. Some of them can be added via future firmware upgrades, others--such as the dodgy remote--will require new hardware. And anything involving content--such as getting more TV shows, or movies closer to their DVD release--will be a matter of Blockbuster cutting deals with the Hollywood studios.
In the meantime, the 2Wire box is a decent alternative if you don't like the Netflix subscription model, or that service's limited online viewing options. The worst case scenario is that you'll watch the 25 movies included in the price of the box, and then unplug it and toss it in a closet--not such a bad deal, really.
What You'll Pay
- Set Price Alert
