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"Blockbuster OnDemand 2Wire Player review - It Stinks" on by Opinioneer
Pros: Nobel bluff to try to keep customers from defecting.
Cons: - Poor wireless network connection
- Klunky onscreen human interface
- Cheap remote control
- Extremely limited titles available
- Poor online support at Blockbuster.com
- Poor telephone supportSummary: At first I was very excited about getting the box and 25 prepaid OnDemand movie rentals for $99. That excitement quickly faded when trying to setup the box. The wireless connection was extremely poor, even though my notebook computers and wireless printer worked just fine being twice the distance from my Belkin N Wireless router.
Thanks to the antiquated onscreen user interface and cheap little remote control with sticky buttons, my displeasure turned quickly to frustration by having to re-input my 55 digit wireless router security key more than a dozen times as the connection would randomly terminate. With an average of 6 button pushes to specify each character by arrowing up/down/left/right and then selecting or deleting, that is 330 per attempt to enter and re-enter the key (since the system does not remember the key until you have successfully connected to a certain point and performed some other actions). Doing the math, 330 key strokes at 12 attempts equals about 4,000 button pushes just to try to connect to the wireless router. Gahhh!
Finally I put the 2Wire OnDemand box in a chair in the hallway with extension wires so that I could line it up directly with the Belkin N Wireless Router through only on wall.
After getting the connection locked and the unit registered with a code I had to search for at Blockbuster.com, I had to keep it in the chair to try to download a movie. The connection broke at least 6 times for both movies I tried to download. One movie I finally watched after manually attempting to reconnect and continue the download. The other movie never did download and I could not watch it. But the system did ding my prepaid credits for it, so I had to call in and get recredited.
In all, I spent over 25 hours messing with the stupid box (and calling customer service) just to watch 1 movie. You can see my full review at <a href="http://www.consumersafety.com/blockbuster-on-demand-video-download-box-not-ready-for-prime-time/#comment-130>Consumer Safety</a>.
Personally, I think Blockbuster's offering of the 2Wire OnDemand product is a marketing bluff much like Microsoft's ploys to announce something as ready well before it really is, in order to influence customer interests and actions. In fact, this headline was on Information Week just yesterday: "Blockbuster, Sonic Partner In Multi-Device Movie Delivery".
I am now a NetFlix customer. -
"Sorry to say it bites" on by thealphageek
Pros: It is a great idea when it works. 1 out of 5 times you can find a movie you like and it downloads and plays seemlessly. When it works, it is cool
Cons: A large selection of movies you don't want to watch. Unstable OS, flakey network driver which requires frequent reconfiguration (still can't get the Ethernet jack to work), a weak UI paired with a decidedly cheesy remote, and heavy video compression.
Summary: It has at least one hardware rev and MANY software revs plus a better selection of movies before it is worth the money.
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"poor support from Blockbuster" on by synisstar
Pros: movies never finished so we never saw the ending but what we did see was good
Cons: movies cut out after 3/4 of the way through
no chance of any movies for 7 weeksSummary: I bought this for myself and my disabled son. I also purchased this product for my parents as a gift. This was in June. This was in June 2011. We watched several movies but the movies always stopped before the end.We were told we needed a higher internet speed and added a $26 new bill to our very small monthly budget.Now we are told that it is being repaired. This has gone on for 7 weeks and blockbuster offers no real hope. I'm told to call back weekly. Wow what a nice gift to give to my parents. I'm ready to go back to Netflix!
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"For the price, it's a good deal" on by StormGryphon
Pros: Easy to use, straightforward interface, friendly customer service, no nonsense setup. Movies look good and the box does what it's supposed to do... play on demand movies! The ability to download movies to watch later rocks too!
Cons: Movie previews don't seem to work, the remote is very small and that can be hard to see in a dark room, the set top box tends to get hot during use. Once in a while, the box wont download the movie "viewing license" Customer service fixes this tho.
Summary: Overall, the box is essentially free since your "prepaying" for 25 movie rentals. There are no shipping charges. It does exactly what it advertises, nothing more. The recent software update has resulted in a significantly more stable experience. WiFi and eithernet both work flawlessly for me as I take this box to multiple rooms in my house regularly. I honestly have no complaints and customer service has always been extremely friendly to deal with whenever I had questions. You can't beat free.
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"Worst product ever! My 15 year old VCR scores better" on by tmspecial
Pros: None except that it is affordable. However, considering its capabilities it is still a waste of money.
Cons: None of the features work as advertised. Their customer support is the worst I have seen and has to be one of the worst of any company.
Summary: The first movie I tried to watch was Iron Man. After about 90 minutes the box rebooted. Unfortunately I wasn?t able to resume the playback so I started the playback again. The fast forward feature didn?t work so I decided to watch the same 90 minutes again. However, the box crashed again. Since it happened on a weekend, Blockbuster?s phone support was closed. I tried to explain the problem to their online support staff in India. After about 30 minutes they told me to call support the next day. The phone support was as bad as their online support. They were unable to even give me a hint. I finally decided to return the hardware and get a refund. Because Blockbuster gave me an invalid return address I was unable to return their crappy box. I had to file a dispute with my credit card company to get my money back. My recommendation: Buy a Roku player from Netflix. Their device is awesome!
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