iTunes or UV

[Kydd Prodigy]

Just curious...what’s the best digital service to build a movie collection. Which do you feel is more stable and will be the future of digital movies. I have used both, just wanting to know others opinion.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by Kydd Prodigy

Just curious...what’s the best digital service to build a movie collection. Which do you feel is more stable and will be the future of digital movies. I have used both, just wanting to know others opinion.

This all depends which platform you like and back up, I like UV because I'm more on the Universal PC side. If all you have are Apple stuff, then probably for you iTunes is the way to go. As for Quality the best Streaming Provider now is Vudu, UV with their HDX. I'm sure Apple people will say iTunes, but then you lock yourself into one platform. Give them both a try, and see which one works for you. One more thing, it's good to have two Streaming Providers, one Subscription and one for your Movie Collection. I have Amazon and Vudu.

[brentsg]

There was a point where UV felt more diverse, but it's basically Vudu when it comes to viewing. I like that I can share my UV library with family, and I like that I can archive my iTunes movies to my NAS. Tough call?

[BMox81]

Originally Posted by alchav21

This all depends which platform you like and back up, I like UV because I'm more on the Universal PC side. If all you have are Apple stuff, then probably for you iTunes is the way to go. As for Quality the best Streaming Provider now is Vudu, UV with their HDX. I'm sure Apple people will say iTunes, but then you lock yourself into one platform. Give them both a try, and see which one works for you. One more thing, it's good to have two Streaming Providers, one Subscription and one for your Movie Collection. I have Amazon and Vudu.

Not for much longer - the Vudu app is arriving on the Apple TV next week so both platforms on one device.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Kydd Prodigy

Just curious...what’s the best digital service to build a movie collection. Which do you feel is more stable and will be the future of digital movies. I have used both, just wanting to know others opinion.

Neither. Subscription is the future. (For the record, I prefer ITunes.)

[huskerbear]

Originally Posted by Kydd Prodigy

Just curious...what’s the best digital service to build a movie collection. Which do you feel is more stable and will be the future of digital movies. I have used both, just wanting to know others opinion.

I chose UV because with Vudu you can access your movies on a wide range of devices, it's everyplace. With itunes you will forever be locked to Apple.

[Cranston37]

I think if Movies Anywhere comes to be, the question becomes moot...

[wolfpackTri]

Originally Posted by Kydd Prodigy

Just curious...what’s the best digital service to build a movie collection. Which do you feel is more stable and will be the future of digital movies. I have used both, just wanting to know others opinion.

I used to be a Vudu(UV) fan. I switched to iTunes because the interface is so much cleaner, easier to use, and is better in every way.

Vudu is good to, but iTunes just works better. I'll redeem UV only codes on Vudu but I have stopped buying moves on Vudu.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Kydd Prodigy

Just curious...what’s the best digital service to build a movie collection. Which do you feel is more stable and will be the future of digital movies. I have used both, just wanting to know others opinion.

I hope that the future of digital movies (besides subscription services) is a Movies Anywhere type setup where all/most studios and providers participate so that you don't have to choose.

I personally mainly use UV (with Vudu as my primary & FandangoNow my secondary provider), but find there's a lot to like about iTunes. I also find I like Amazon's service a lot.

My biggest issue with iTunes which is probably somewhat irrational as I rarely if ever want to watch anything on a phone (although very occasionally do on a tablet) is that Apple will never make my library accessible on anything but Apple devices (or through iTunes). I get why they do it, their philosophy for digital content is that it is there to help sell devices (where for Amazon it's that devices/apps are to help sell content). It should really be a non-issue for me especially since Vudu and Amazon are coming to Apple TV in the next few months and my primary viewing is done on a TV and not other devices (and I own an iPhone & iPad anyway), but the accessibility/diversity is what first sold me on UV as an idea and I haven't quite let that go yet (although I think I'm getting close).

Of course I'm in the US. If I wasn't I think the decision for iTunes would likely be easier as I'm not aware of any providers outside of the US at Vudu's (or even FandangoNow's) level.

[squatting hen]

There have been a few thread on this and many, many posts.

The only right answer is.....It is a personal preference.

One group says A is better one says B is better. Ideally, it wouldn't matter where you purchased your movies or which service you used, as they would populate into a "locker" that can link to whichever provider you felt like using.

Try both and see what you like. Things are changing though.....hopefully for the better.

For me, when I started collecting digital copies, the logical choice was UV. Codes for just about every new release and you could find them on these forums for cheap. I didn't have to buy any additional devices to play the movies, as Vudu was everywhere. This was logical. Cost + Availability of titles + Availability to watch the titles + Sharing

The safer answer might be iTunes, but really nobody knows what is going to or can happen.

What's better? Playstation or Xbox? Toyota or Honda? Apples or Bananas? PC or Mac? iOS or Android..... Blu-ray or HD-DVD....

[veritas]

Originally Posted by Kydd Prodigy

Just curious...what’s the best digital service to build a movie collection. Which do you feel is more stable and will be the future of digital movies. I have used both, just wanting to know others opinion.

I would say iTunes is more stable its part of ma while uv it would seem is being replaced by ma. This greatly increases the risk for uv over even the next year.

Pretty much per dollar Vudu offers the better value per dollar but the company in the way its written its licensing agreement (uv agreement) (2 years then we can screw you if we want with fees etc or drop service) and the fact that Walmart main business isn't in streaming makes it a much higher risk service. As far as stability for play back uv has a much larger list of bugs in my opinion (this is off personal experience) that interfere with playback compared to iTunes.

Their is also lot of risk relying on vudu because walmart has a track record for cutting its loses on a service (digital music service) and none of the other uv members are strong enough to replace them as they seem to go out of buisness one by one each year.

If you ever do have a problem customer service for itunes seems to be better then for vudu in my opinion which definitely helps with stability.

So in conclusion I would go with itunes ( or amazon as runner up it has some risk but not nearly as much as uv ) if you value stability over everything else. They are a part of ma and both companies seem to be pretty well tied to their streaming service.

[Dustin44]

Originally Posted by squatting hen

There have been a few thread on this and many, many posts.

The only right answer is.....It is a personal preference.

^This.

[kidkash]

Vudu because it's way cheaper! iTunes you gotta wait for the price to drop. You can D2D so much for $2 and before that it was only $1. I have 3,000 movies and 1,000 tv seasons.

[basketb]

Originally Posted by kidkash

Vudu because it's way cheaper! iTunes you gotta wait for the price to drop. You can D2D so much for $2 and before that it was only $1. I have 3,000 movies and 1,000 tv seasons.

OK, but do you have time to watch all of these?

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by Kydd Prodigy

Just curious...what’s the best digital service to build a movie collection. Which do you feel is more stable and will be the future of digital movies. I have used both, just wanting to know others opinion.

Originally Posted by Cranston37

I think if Movies Anywhere comes to be, the question becomes moot...

Okay, but until then UV continues to be King!

[Jakdonark]

Originally Posted by squatting hen

There have been a few thread on this and many, many posts.

The only right answer is.....It is a personal preference.

[Show spoiler]One group says A is better one says B is better. Ideally, it wouldn't matter where you purchased your movies or which service you used, as they would populate into a "locker" that can link to whichever provider you felt like using.

Try both and see what you like. Things are changing though.....hopefully for the better.

For me, when I started collecting digital copies, the logical choice was UV. Codes for just about every new release and you could find them on these forums for cheap. I didn't have to buy any additional devices to play the movies, as Vudu was everywhere. This was logical. Cost + Availability of titles + Availability to watch the titles + Sharing

The safer answer might be iTunes, but really nobody knows what is going to or can happen.

What's better? Playstation or Xbox? Toyota or Honda? Apples or Bananas? PC or Mac? iOS or Android..... Blu-ray or HD-DVD....

With my time limitations digital copies helps with my movie fix, and for ease of use on the go I prefer iTunes. UV is a nice alternative especially when I want to reference something quick, but the interface and playback is awful on a mobile device. If you are primarily streaming at home I think UV would be the cheaper option in the long run. But I like the comment about iTunes being the "safer" option.

I can download iTunes movies and keep them for offline playback, and they play directly through QuickTime so you don't always need an internet connection. And if they ever remove titles, you have a downloaded copy. Recently in Canada Fox started to drop UV from their blu rays, and CinemaNow just changed its whole platform and no longer supports UV. That leaves us with Flixster and the app is worse than the CinemaNow one was. Add to that I just had 84 of my 322 collection go to "playback unavailable", some of those were Disc to Digital from CinemaNow but a lot still work, and the other half were mostly from codes. The reply I got from customer service is that those titles are no longer available to stream from Flixster. I didn't spend a lot on the d2d service, but I would say about $40-50 is down the drain, and some of those movies I never even watched!

The other disturbing thing is I confirmed three of my UV titles were completely removed from my library, and this was when CinemaNow was still active and working. When I tried to reenter my codes it said they were already redeemed. Haven't filed a ticket on those yet. I don't have a complete list because I was going from memory, so there may be more.

Of course in the US you have more UV providers, but even when accessing the main Ultraviolet site I still can't access those titles. I haven't tried with a proxy server yet, so it may be different if you are actually in the US.

[huskerbear]

Originally Posted by kidkash

Vudu because it's way cheaper! iTunes you gotta wait for the price to drop. You can D2D so much for $2 and before that it was only $1. I have 3,000 movies and 1,000 tv seasons.

I think there are a lot of people hoping we don't lose all that with this MA stuff. I don't see anything to gain at this point for me. Itunes? Unless they put an app on my 8 Rokus it's really a non starter, I have every service available except Apple's offering. Itunes doesn't even do 4K or 3D, years behind....

[wolfpackTri]

Originally Posted by huskerbear

I think there are a lot of people hoping we don't lose all that with this MA stuff. I don't see anything to gain at this point for me. Itunes? Unless they put an app on my 8 Rokus it's really a non starter, I have every service available except Apple's offering. Itunes doesn't even do 4K or 3D, years behind....

It's not years behind. Look at how many people actually have 4k or 3D capable TV's and you will see that Apple didn't really have to rush out a 4k box until now.

Remember, the people on these forums are a small percentage that have 4k compared to the average consumer.

The 4k Apple TV is coming. First to market doesn't always mean it's the best.

[flyry]

Originally Posted by wolfpackTri

It's not years behind. Look at how many people actually have 4k or 3D capable TV's and you will see that Apple didn't really have to rush out a 4k box until now.

Remember, the people on these forums are a small percentage that have 4k compared to the average consumer.

The 4k Apple TV is coming. First to market doesn't always mean it's the best.

Yes they are still somewhat niche, but they are also being adopted faster than HDTV's according to the numbers.

Really just sounds like excuses for Apple

[wolfpackTri]

Originally Posted by flyry

Yes they are still somewhat niche, but they are also being adopted faster than HDTV's according to the numbers.

Really just sounds like excuses for Apple

It's not excuses at all. Just because Apple has a different philosophy than other companies, does not make it a bad one. Also, since you hate Apple so much, why do you even care what they are doing?