Entered CNET Catalog: 06/22/2006
SKU: SERVSTARZVONGO
Manufacturer: Starz Entertainment Group
Product summary
The good: Starz Vongo has a large and growing selection of titles; more movies added weekly; excellent video quality; compatible with Portable Media Center 2.0 devices; some movies available with DVD-like bonus materials; reasonable $10-per-month subscription fee.
The bad: Movies are mostly cut-rate, and a handful of the better titles are restricted to pay-per-view; only one portable player is compatible (so far), and we had trouble getting it to work; downloads can be slow.
The bottom line: We love the idea of Starz Vongo and think $10 per month is a fair price for all-you-can-watch movies, but the service needs a better selection of movies and improved compatibility with portable devices.
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 06/22/2006
That's a refreshing change of pace from existing movie-download services such as Movielink, which charge you by the movie and impose various viewing restrictions. What's more, Vongo works with the new breed of Portable Media Center devices, including Toshiba's killer Gigabeat S, with more devices running PMC 2 coming soon from LG, Philips, and Tatung. That means you're not limited to watching movies on your desktop or notebook; you can also view them on a pocket-size player. (CinemaNow, for its part, supports some older PMC players but offers only a handful of Z-grade titles for them.) Your account entitles you to watch content on up to three PCs and/or devices. In addition, you can transmit movies from your device to a television if you have the proper TV-out hardware.
Vongo's attractive Windows XP/2000 client software is required to browse, download, and watch movies and to transfer them to a player. Although the software is fairly easy to navigate, with colorful DVD cover icons and an embedded video trailer window, we found it somewhat sluggish and didn't like the limited sorting options. For instance, you can sort movies by title and MPAA rating but not user rating. Also, you can't maximize the window to see more movie titles in the browser pane. Starz plans to roll out movie recommendations based on your user ratings.
Those are minor quibbles. Our major one is with Vongo's title selection. Although you can find a smattering of A-list movies (The Bourne Supremacy, The Incredibles), many of the films fall on the B-list and below (Cellular, Mr. 3000, Shall We Dance). We had to dig deep to find worthwhile movies we hadn't already seen or wouldn't mind seeing again. And our delight in finding a real gem--The Chronicles of Narnia--turned to disappointment when we discovered it was one of Vongo's handful of pay-per-view titles. We had to pay $3.99 over and above our subscription fee, a major annoyance. If there's a plus side, it's that the pay-per-view selection allows nonsubscribers to use the service. You may also search Vongo by actor, keyword, rating, language, and category.
Movies were also surprisingly slow to download. Over our relatively speedy home broadband connection, Sin City took around 50 minutes, and we waited even longer to download Hitch using our Wi-Fi-connected notebook. At CNET's offices, however, movies arrived in less than 15 minutes, so your mileage may vary. Either way, if you're planning to stock up on multiple movies before a trip, make sure you plan a day or two in advance so that you have time to download them.
Another hitch is that not all movies are available in a portable-friendly format, and there's no way to make the determination at a glance. For any given movie, you have to click Preview/Details, then scroll down to the bottom of the description to see if Portable is among the formats. If it is, you have to remember to download that version of the movie (an easy selection in the options pane). Although this is something of a hassle, it saves the Vongo software from having to perform time-consuming conversions before transferring movies to your player.
Speaking of transfers, we encountered a few problems on that front. The Vongo software sometimes failed to detect our Toshiba Gigabeat S. And when it did establish a connection, we couldn't get movies to copy over. Vongo is aware of this issue and is working to remedy it. When that happens, we'll update our review and report on transfer times, video quality, and more.
As for desktop video quality, movies played silky smooth and looked at least as sharp as you'd see on the Starz cable channel, which, in a nice touch, you can stream live. We watched Sin City on our TV-connected Media Center PC and saw little difference between the Vongo version and a DVD. Speaking of which, some movies come with DVD-like bonus materials: interviews, making-of featurettes, and so on.
Vongo is close to being an outta-the-park home run, an unbeatable service for frequent travelers, movie buffs, and PMC-toting gadget freaks. But until there's working support for those PMCs and a better selection of movies to watch, we'll stop short of giving Vongo our unequivocal recommendation.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39out of 39 user reviews
Vongo has sold out to Verizon
Pros: Inexpensive access to movies
Cons: Limited selection
Check out:
www.vongo.com
out of 39 user reviews
No working support and their program found poor and lacking in design for easy use.
Pros: The pricing seems fair, if things work.
Cons: Can't get their program to restart or download to work.
SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, PA
out of 39 user reviews
Library lacking
Pros: Easy to use
Cons: Need more titles
I think the CNet editor hit the nail on the head.... For 10 bucks a month they need more content.
out of 39 user reviews
I spent the weekend with Vongo & I Am :-)
Pros: Video & Sound perfection
Cons: Selection of movies weak
I only wished they kept a bigger library of recent movies and international hits..I hate the fact that Stars consider SciFi and horror one. That w
s dumb. Finally, I am a Zatoichi fan - You listening Vongo?
out of 39 user reviews
Save yourself the headache
Pros: none that I can think of
Cons: Terrible Customer Service, poor selection of movies, interface is very slow to respond
BE SURE TO CALL AND CANCEL - don't trust the program's cancellation option.
out of 39 user reviews
Deletes Your Library not Good
Pros: Good picture if you can download it
Cons: Slow to download & Deletes Your Library
out of 39 user reviews
worst software product i've installed in awhile
Pros: more recent movies than netflix "instant viewing"
Cons: technical problems
i was able to cancel my subscription by clicking a button within the vongo app.
out of 39 user reviews
DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT....
Pros: Looks Good on the Outside
Cons: "Bait and Switch" on the Inside
out of 39 user reviews
What a nightmare!
Pros: None at this time
Cons: can't be uninstalled
HP support will give you a temporary fix but the next time you boot up there it is again
Do not buy an HP or Compaq notebook unless you want a new computer with pre-installed and unremovable MALWARE!!!
out of 39 user reviews
Avoid this one
Pros: Great concept
Cons: Flawed software, limited selection
The service itself is highly limited, with many popular movies being available only for pay-per-view, with less than desirable movies being the only ones available for download. This makes getting a subscription pretty much useless, unless you want access to the streaming video, which is an okay service but not worth the price.
There is no service or software for non-Windows or pre-Windows 2000 operating systems, locking out Mac and Linux users (there are at present no plans to fix this).
Account cancellations and refunds are only done live via telephone or online chat. Given that Vongo has no trouble taking your money via the internet, you would think they would have a way of doing the whole thing by internet. The music on hold is boring, but customer service is above average.
But the real problem is the software. Unless you are very advanced and know a great deal about editing the Windows Registry, the software literally cannot be removed from the computer once installed. I tried several times, and it would simply reinstall itself the next time the computer started (without notification or asking permission, no less).
Another issue is that the movies downloaded automatically will be deleted (again without notification or permission) after a few months, and you cannot make a backup copy onto CD or DVD. At least iTunes doesn't delete the movies and shows you download, and allows you to back them up (and in fact will remind you to do so).
Vongo supposedly comes pre-installed on HP and Compaq computers. To uninstall you will need to contact the manufacturer directly. Otherwise, look up the Wikipedia article and access the blog links at the bottom of the article to uninstall the software. This is not recommended for the typical user, and requires experience and proficiency in editing registry keys. This is the only way to block the software from reinstalling itself.
Unfortunately, iTunes remains a better option, which tells you just how bad Vongo is. Avoid this one, and do not allow it to be installed on your system.
out of 39 user reviews
Starz Ticket on Real was way better
Pros: It's a download movie rental, no DVDs
Cons: Bad coding, sub-par quality, proprietary player, requires IE
For starters, an irritation I had was Vongo -requires- Internet Explorer. I tend to prefer Mozilla for security, and speed (Even IE 7 is slower on my computer).
Second, Vongo uses Adobe's Flash Video for its streaming. Out of all the codecs, they chose a mediocre delivery system, especially for broadband? Due to this, they have a "special player," which is nothing more than a IE extension of Flash wrapped in a frame that looks better than the video within.
Third, for anime fans, they have very little anime for showing on this service. No Hellsing, no Blood, just a couple of old movies. Unless you're new to anime, this service is NOT for you.
All in all, aside from being a source for online viewing, this service should be withdrawn. Starz needs to go back to RealNetworks, or at least provide a better medium compatible with PCs and Macs.
out of 39 user reviews
It would not let me install
Pros: There is none
Cons: says error in trying to configure directory
Thank you all,
Myles
out of 39 user reviews
slow, poor selection, poor user interface
Pros: cheap, fast enough compared to snail mail Netflix
Cons: super small selection, super slow download
out of 39 user reviews
Terrible service
Pros: movie quality good,
Cons: Terrible movies to choose from
out of 39 user reviews
Hard to cancel
Pros: low price to watch a lot of movies
Cons: found it difficult to cancel and problems with software
out of 39 user reviews
Vongo is terrible
Pros: Just go straight to cons
Cons: download slow, customer service slow, terrible movie selction even if you pay 10 bucks you have to pay $3 for new movies
Stay with netflix or blockbuster. If you never trust other users opinions, this is the time to listen and avoid doing business with vongo.
out of 39 user reviews
Vongo is a no go...
Pros: Movies are DVD quality
Cons: Horrible selection, failed downloads
In the end, I'm going to cancel. Once they get their stuff together, work out the problems, and more importantly, get a better selection of movies, maybe then I'll give them another try. For now, I'm sticking to Netflix.
out of 39 user reviews
Very poor software
Pros: lots of movies -- although low grade or old
Cons: no current flicks except by PPV
out of 39 user reviews
Don't get scammed
Pros: None at all
Cons: Everything is a con
https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01
out of 39 user reviews
What's a 10 character word for "bleh"?
Pros: It sorta did what they claimed.
Cons: They didn't claim much.
From the time I signed up, 10 Things I Hate About You and Gone in 60 Seconds were on the PPV list and remained in that spot until I canceled. Why would they expect someone to pay $4 to watch movies that have been on TBS? The selection of non-ppv movies is pretty bad. It's mainly crap you'd see on at 3am on cable networks... or not even on TV at all. They also had way too many concerts and music related titles. I don't know why anyone would want to watch a video of a concert, but if you're into that sort of thing you may enjoy Vongo. I logged in to look around before I finally canceled and the selection was even worse. Pretty much everything is a PPV title now to a degree. They have the old $4, some $3 and $1 ones now.
I must say movies downloaded mighty fast for me, it only took me around 20 minutes to get most if the time of day was right. Oh yea, the software sucks too. It lagged really bad for me and you have to double click in a certain area to get it to max/minimize properly.
In conclusion, it sounded like a great idea to begin with. All the movies I want, fast and legally for a small fee! Unfortunately, it was just executed wrong and now I'm turned off VOD services that don't run through my cable box. Do yourself a favor and don't subscribe at all. But, if for some reason you do, you can cancel painlessly through the program now.
out of 39 user reviews
Because of 48 hours - I signed up - what a waste of money
Pros: Didn't see any pros about this site
Cons: customer service - old unheard of movies - troubles downloading
out of 39 user reviews
Beats buying DVDs and piracy
Pros: Great price, no waiting to watch what you want
Cons: Selection could be better
For $10 a month, it's an awesome deal, and I don't have to wait for movies to come in the mail, like with Netflix, or pay per movie, like with buying DVDs. And, unlike with pirating movies, it's actually legal.
Even if there's only a dozen or two "hot" movies on the site, they have a lot of great Indie movies (for instance, Junebug and Life Aquatic are free downloads) and leser-known flicks that I've found enjoyable.
Re: free trial complaints: The getting-out-of-a-free-trial trouble is common with many companies. My recommendation: Only get the trial if you genuinely think you might pay for Vongo; don't just get it for the free ride and plan to cancel. Also, **try to cancel, using multiple methods, well before the 14 days are up if you don't like it**.
out of 39 user reviews
Beware! Vongo's Database Appears to Have Been Compromised
Pros: There are no Pros. Avoid this service.
Cons: Bad player software. Many Compression artifacts. Terrible customer service.
That email address was never provided to anyone other than Vongo.
Either the Vongo systems have been hacked or their company sold my email address to spammers who are engaged in fraudulent activity. Either way, I am very unhappy that they have put my system at risk.
Users Beware!
And if you want to contact Vongo, just try to find contact info on their Web site. You can't do it. They do not provide any way to contact them if you don't currently have their software installed. The only way to track down contact info is to do Google searches for forums where users have posted contact info.
out of 39 user reviews
Is is no good
Pros: none do not get it
Cons: is sucks do not get it
out of 39 user reviews
Con artists
Pros: Good Color Scheme, Nice Logo, Funny Commercials
Cons: Slow Service, Limited Selection, Impossible to Cancel
There is no self-service method for cancelling an account. It took me 2 hours to find the phone number to call, and I've called to cancel 7 times over the past 4 months and they still keep charging my card. I had to cancel my card and pay the bank for a new one. I tried to pursue legal action, but they are located in Canada and are effectively immune to any legal action from the US.
out of 39 user reviews
what a sham
Pros: there are none
Cons: lied about iPod use
out of 39 user reviews
Don't Waste Your Time or Money
Pros: There aren't any
Cons: Too many to list
Their content blows... they have nothing worth renting or watching, and even the pay-per-view titles are over a year old. As such, I decided to cancel the day I signed up and went through the same cancellation nightmare as listed in the other reviews. The only difference is after I got through to cancel I never received an e-mail confirmation and they continued charging me for three more months... Customer Service kept saying my account was cancelled, but I kept getting billed and the Vongo service was fully functional. I had to call the CEO's office of STARZ before I was able to get a real cancellation.
Recently, Vongo sent me an e-mail asking me to resubscribe on a 14-day trial. The e-mail stated that they have improved their content and portable player options. However, when I joined I found the same old Vongo (same titles, same horrible selection, same inability to put the movies on any portable player but the one nobody uses). When I tried to rent a pay-per-view, the service told me there was a problem and that I couldn’t download the title, but charged me twice for the download and it was a nightmare getting it straightened out. Rather than crediting my account, on-line customer service got back to me three days later, telling me to call Vongo (whoopee what great insight!).
Although Vongo lured me back with all these promises, nothing changed... it is the same crappy service it always was. The only real change was the cancellation actually went smooth (my call was answered in about five minutes and i received an e-mail confirmation the same day).
out of 39 user reviews
Poor Selection and Buggy Software
Pros: Very few pros
Cons: Poor Quality, Poor Software, Very Poor Selection
out of 39 user reviews
Don't bother me! I'm trying to get this thing to work.
Pros: If you like talking to low skilled tech people, this might not be so bad.
Cons: There is no self help for you to troubleshoot problems. You get to call tech support instead.
out of 39 user reviews
Vongo Is the Wrost Thing Ever Launched
Pros: What Pros are there!
Cons: Bad Selection Bad Customer Service
Straz has hurt themselves with this thing.
NetFlix forever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11
out of 39 user reviews
Its a great idea, but needs a lot of improvement
Pros: A few pros...
Cons: More cons...
out of 39 user reviews
Stick with Netflix - Vongo is Terrible
Pros: Can't think of any
Cons: Bad Execution, Poor Support, Poor Quality
Also, software is buggy, and offers limited options. Quality is terrible.
Stick with Netflix.
out of 39 user reviews
Avoid this service
Pros: Decent transfer rates. Almost-Instant access to movies without leaving home
Cons: Too many to list here
Next, the quality of the movies is very poor. I've watched VHS tapes with better quality, they are no where near DVD quality which is probably why they have decent file transfer rates.
Also, you don't get to keep your movies, after a certain amount of time they automatically delete from your hard drive. The time varies depending on the movie.
The list of movies is atrocious. I already own most of the movies worth watching so the list of movies I don't own is pretty bad.
Finally, those of us that use wireless routers will run into problems. When signing on last the program informed me that I was operating outside the US and had to reconnect within the US to use the service. When I spoke with tech support they told me all I had to do was reset my router and my computer. Well that wasn't going to happen since the router is located in my roomates room.
Don't deal with vongo, at least not now. If they can get a better selection (which is no where near over 1,000 title) and clear up these glitches then maybe it will be worth it.
out of 39 user reviews
Shady Service Buyer Beware!!!!
Pros: Fancy Download Manager provides preview of titles.
Cons: Download Manager acts like Spyware. You need to supply a valid credit card before even being allowed to browse titles. Title selection is limited. Video Quality is not as good as other services.
Considering this service is coming from Starz I was surprised at the limited title selection. Not only is the title selection limited but it gets even smaller if you only want to Pay Per View movies and not pay a monthly subscription. Out of the 100 titles that were listed only 4 were current titles (movies released within the last year).
Just to try out the service, not watch any movies, just browse the title selection you are required to download their software and provide them with a credit card that they keep on record! This is just too shady, after having the service for two week I decided to cancel the service.
To use the service you have to download their download manager which continues to run in the background even when you’re not using it but unlike other programs that stay in memory this one hogs up more then 8 MB of RAM and that’s when it’s not in use! Not only was it hogging up resources when not in use but every 5 minutes my firewall reported that the service was trying to transmit data , I don’t know about you but I become suspicious of any program that sends out data when not in use by me. AND there is no option to turn this off, exiting the program just means you don't see it. I had to kill it from the task manager each time I started my computer.
If you’re looking for legal movie downloads then look into CinemaNow or MovieLink. Both have a greater title selection than Vongo. Neither requires you to give a credit card just to browse their library. Both give you the option to stream or download the movies at yourt choice of video quality of 700K, 1200K or 1500K bit rates much better than Vongos 700K only streaming. Both give you the option of subscribing, Pay Per View, or Buy a Movie.
out of 39 user reviews
Won't Let Me Cancel, Will Have to Fight via Bank
Pros: Sleek Interface
Cons: Customer service will not answer phone or e-mails, charges 2 membership fees even at the beginning of the so-called "trial" period, does not work with my Toshiba Gigabeat S
I then tried to download a PMC-ready video to my PMC and the download consistently failed, giving instead a vague error message. I contacted customer service via e-mail, and no one responded.
After several days of waiting, I again attempted to e-mail customer service again, and still no one responded.
It is now nearly two weeks later, and I have been charged a SECOND $9.99 fee even though I haven't reached the end of my trial period and haven't even watched a single movie. They don't allow you to cancel via e-mail, so I called their customer service, which is supposedly 7-days/week, 24-hrs/day. AFTER WAITING 62 MINUTES ON HOLD QUEUE, I finally hung up.
I am now going to have to fight this through my bank by disputing the charges, and since Vongo has my credit card number, they will undoubtedly keep trying to charge it, meaning that I will likely have to cancel my credit card number/account and get a new one.
I can't say that others have experienced what I have, and, in fact, I shudder to think that there are other victims.
PLEASE beware of my experience before choosing to "try" Vongo out with a "free trial" period. You may end up paying a lot more than you bargained for.
Caveat emptor.
out of 39 user reviews
re: customer service
Pros: price, video quality
Cons: mediocre selection for now; not fully operational with portables
out of 39 user reviews
Terrible selection, no iPod or PSP compatibility
Pros: Very cool concept, the price is right
Cons: 2nd Rate movies, anything good is pay-per-view, seriously...only one device works with this service
out of 39 user reviews
cancellation is not as easy as signing up.
Pros: Alot of quality movies ... divided into catagories ... as well as a live feed
Cons: can only cancel by calling a 1800 ... live feed repeats ... not enough quality movies added
So close to a quality product but it is not there yet.
out of 39 user reviews
A great movie service but its no Netflix!
Pros: DVD quality and extras, fast downloads, Starz! TV channel included with the service, good value for the price, weekly additions to their movie library.
Cons: Small selection, films expire from the Vongo library, some compatability issues, movies only playable in Vongo proprietary player, not a Netflix replacement (yet).
All in all its worth the $10 but don't expect to never rent a movie again. I think Vongo needs to grow their collection and allow other windows media based players to play the protected content (The Media Center Application especially) Its all based off of the WMP DRM so it should not be hard. If they can start getting newly released films and possibly HD films (They do have a Starz! HD Channel) they will have a significant edge over Netflix and even Apple's soon-to-be-a-reality movie store in iTunes.
