This past week I had my first opportunity to sample Amazon and TiVo’s newest service: Amazon Unbox. The concept behind it is pretty simple. Amazon offers a number of movies that can be either bought or rented from them which can then be directly downloaded to one’s TiVo (or computer).
It was easy enough to purchase a movie, in this case Blood Diamond. The purchase occurs much like any other on Amazon. Rather than having a cart and having to checkout though, there is a “Rent now with 1-click” (or “Buy now with 1-click” button depending on which you’re doing) button. There is also a drop-down menu to choose where you’d like the movie to be downloaded, listing any TiVo boxes (series 2 or 3) that one has added to Amazon as well as the chance to download to a PC. It should be noted that for the service to work with TiVo, the TiVo boxes must be connected via broadband, not dialup.
Once purchased from Amazon, Blood Diamond began downloading to my TiVo almost 30 minutes later (after speaking to customer service, I was told it should have started about 15 or 20 minutes after the purchase was made). The two-hour 23 minute movie downloaded fully in around 70 minutes (making the total time from purchase to completed download 100 minutes). Movies downloaded to a computer via this service can begin playing before the entire film is on the local machine, but downloading to a TiVo requires that the entire file transfer be complete prior to beginning viewing.
The sound and video quality of the movie were outstanding, far superior to digital cable and everything I have ever watched on my TiVo. I noticed no discernible difference between the video quality of this movie off of my TiVo and watching a DVD.
At $14.99 for the movie, the price of the feature did come in lower than the DVD, but without any of the special features that accompany DVD releases. Additionally, it is not portable like a DVD. The service does allow purchased movies to be located on up to two TiVos or two computers at the same time (one TiVo and one computer is acceptable) and be transferred onto two portable devices as well (but will not work on iPods or Macs). Should one choose, one need not download it to any device, it will live on at Amazon in a media library and be available for future download, or re-download should you want to delete it from your TiVo and get it again later (there are some restrictions on re-download for new releases).
Article comments
1 - convextech
I would like to add that you need to be careful before ordering. Some items say Unbox but they can only be downloaded to a PC, and can't be transferred to TiVo. Also, I think $3.99 for a 24HR download is just plain too high. It is much cheaper to just rent the DVDs through Netflix, and the comvenience is about the same, except you have to wait a day to get the movie. You have to wait several hours to get the downloads.
2 - itgranny
unbox has been so disappointing. I live in the country so it is much easier to download than buy movies. I also like buying movies because the good ones get watched over and over. Unfortunately, unbox terms are attrocious. I found that out the hard way. They let you change computers, BUT you need to redownload everything that you've purchased. Never mind the the back ups you made, they don't work. It took me 3 days solid to download the old movies and tv programs i purchased. That isn't the worst of it though. I purchase 10 new releases that can't be downloaded now, even after they've been out on dvd for over a year. They are in what's called a "blackout window" where they won't download. Amazon claims that their hands are tied, it's the studio that makes them have it that way. Buyer beware. If you buy a movie from unbox, back it up with something like tunebite or you'll loose them.