# Disappointed with Amazon Unbox



## rawgutts (Apr 23, 2003)

Is anyone else disappointed with the service with Amazon Unbox. It was good for about the first week it came out for me and now it's all garbage.

*Lack of new movies
*Lack of rentals
*Partial full seasons of tv shows but not all seasons out and yet the shows have been over for 3 years now.


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## Stu_Bee (Jan 15, 2002)

I think part of the problem is the new Movies Amazon Unboxed does have, are initially only available for Tivo purchase rather than Tivo rental. Eventhough you could go to your Video Rental store and get them on DVD.
[Examples: Music and Lyrics, Letters from Iwo Jima]

I've been told that this is a problem with the movie Industry rather than Amazon. They impose a staggered schedule of making the movie available to different outlets (ie movies available for DVD Rental, PPV, Video Download Purchase, Video Download Rental, blah blah)


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## Soapm (May 9, 2007)

My problem is the price. $4 to rent a movie for 24 hours???

Same price to buy a movie as it is to buy a DVD, except the DVD can be played on any player you want... No thanks!


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## BoosterGold (Aug 17, 2006)

I've been waiting for the Aquaman pilot show to become available. Why does Amazon have it listed but when I try to buy it, it says it is unavailable?


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## Stu_Bee (Jan 15, 2002)

BoosterGold said:


> I've been waiting for the Aquaman pilot show to become available. Why does Amazon have it listed but when I try to buy it, it says it is unavailable?


Are you doing this from the Amazon Unbox website...or via a Tivo HME app?
The Amazon Unbox site doesn't list it as available for Tivo download.


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## ZildjianKX (Jun 11, 2004)

Stu_Bee said:


> Are you doing this from the Amazon Unbox website...or via a Tivo HME app?
> The Amazon Unbox site doesn't list it as available for Tivo download.


Oh, you can buy/rent stuff straight through the TiVo box? I feel dumb.

I bought a TV show episode to test it out through the website and it never got sent to my TiVo. I even selected my TiVo from the dropdown menu when purchasing the show, not too impressive.


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## jeffamerica (Sep 14, 2004)

I rented a couple: Jackass2 and The Game.

1) Video quality is not good at all. I don't thing any of us would want to watch a DVD at non-HD "best" quality (I would argue that it looks even worse than that). Not for a $4 rental. Paying for crappier than broadcast quality movies? Wha?
2) Not anamorphic, so if you have a16:9 TV (as I do) your letterboxed 1:33-1 movie is about 3 inches high. 
3) Pricing is not competitive in any way. Same prices as regular DVD rentals, but with time limits and horrible quality?
4) Download took several hours per movie, so it's not "on demand". I don't think it's really advertised that way, but if you think you're bored one night and want to just dial up a movie, you'll be pissed. You have to plan ahead to watch.
5) 24 time limit is beyond ridiculous. We have Tivos so we can watch things on our own schedule.
6) Some things can only be bought, not rented, and vice-versa.

I don't understand the strategy at all. I won't use it again unless they make it 16x9 friendly, remove the time restriction, and cut the pricing at least in half unless they are going to provide anamorphic DVD quality video. And probably not even then.

Horrible product.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

I actually think the video quality is fine for most things, especially TV shows. However the selection leaves something to be desired. There are several TV shows I wanted to download to my TiVo via Unbox, but ended up having to use my MCE PC and iTunes instead because they weren't available. (i.e. House Season 3 and Eureka) I don't understand how Unbox has rights to certain Fox shows, like 24, but not House or why they have Stargate but not Eureka. You'd think if they had a deal with the network then they'd have all the shows.

Dan


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## Stu_Bee (Jan 15, 2002)

ZildjianKX said:


> Oh, you can buy/rent stuff straight through the TiVo box? I feel dumb.
> I bought a TV show episode to test it out through the website and it never got sent to my TiVo. I even selected my TiVo from the dropdown menu when purchasing the show, not too impressive.


The official Tivo purchase method is thru the Amazon website. In fact, if you can't get that to work properly (no fault of your own) I think the user created HME apps will probably fail too, since they are just a front end for the Amazon site (albeit much more convenient)


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## mtchamp (May 15, 2001)

I use Unbox a lot. It's easy. My TV is a 35 CRT and I record in medium, so no issues with video quality. I rented a number of movies on weekend special for .99 cents from work and they are there when I get home. I bought regular priced favorite movies and bought some $3.99 specials. 

The 24 hour limit is very bad for rentals, because as noted, we are very used to watching a hour of TV here and there and are in a habit of watching half a movie. Of course they need to ramp up the quality to match or beat the alternatives, but my setup isn't very advanced for video quality.

I never bought a DVD because I couldn't be bothered with storing, protecting and caring for a library. I couldn't be bothered with store or mail rentals of DVD's. Too much time and handling involved. That's why we've had TiVo for 7 years and really never run out of things to watch, so Unbox is perfect for me and my family and I expect Amazon will be improving the service along with TiVo.

Maybe I'm spending too much money, but I feel it's been worth it to get the content same as if I searched for programs to record on my TiVo. For me, the only bad thing is the 24 hour limit to finish watching a movie once you start it. 

I bought a Todd Rundgren concert video at home last night and was really happy to watch it an hour later. My age and taste definitely play a part in my overall satisfaction. There's a lot of old stuff on Unbox that appeals to this 51 year old.


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## jimdoo (Dec 20, 2004)

They have had a decent selection in recent weeks - especially on weekends- they run a .99 special- not bad for a newer movie like Smokin Aces


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## MickeS (Dec 26, 2002)

Until they release movies in 16:9 format, I'm not buying anything.


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## irishayes (Jan 24, 2007)

I was excited about this new feature.

Now . . . not so much.

Very small selection of new releases, unless you want to purchase them. 

I think I'll stick with Netflix. :down:


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## kc2ctm (Jun 28, 2006)

I was psyched about Unbox, until I realized it wasn't available to PR Tivo subscribers (actually, Amazon doesn't sell anything involving electronics or software to PR residents... all B$ to me..)


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## Bill_GS3 (Jan 28, 2007)

Good idea, BAD idea.

The price, download times, 24 hour limit, new moveis not available.

Sounded good at first but not what I expected, maybe things will get better in time.


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## rcomito (Oct 13, 2004)

My complaints are that I can't use TiVo Desktop to move a movie I bought off of my TiVo to my PC for storage. It wouldn't take too many movies to fill up a standard disk. I also can't watch a movie I bought on another TiVo in another room.

I know I can delete it, and re-download it from Amazon, but I want to watch it when I want to watch it. I shouldn't have to wait for a movie that I own to download. If I could use Desktop to put it on my server, I can watch it whenever I like from any of my TiVos.

I've looked at the other unbox threads, and haven't seen anyone else mention this. Maybe it's just me.

Rick Comito


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

It is a simple fact they are protected against piracy. If you want more flexibility, you ought to buy it form a source that gives that fexibility to you.


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## rcomito (Oct 13, 2004)

classicsat said:


> It is a simple fact they are protected against piracy. If you want more flexibility, you ought to buy it form a source that gives that fexibility to you.


I understand, and agree. However, this remains to be a limiting factor of Unbox.

Rick


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## ncmusicman (May 8, 2007)

RCOMITO, I'm with you. I too have one of hte unbox movies sitting on my TIVO box that I would like to archive to my network server. Not getting much any kind of price break on the purchase to justify more of a content restriction than on DVD.

Just my opinion & why I won't be buying anything until this is addressed. I do a lot of downloading of music in WMA and MP3 format. They include technology in the file that limits how many machines you can put it on and how many times the file can be written. Seems to me, that's the solution here if they want this service to fly.


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## Mathmn (Mar 24, 2006)

I'm not happy with the quality of the videos I downloaded, and with the selection.


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## Granny (Mar 29, 2005)

Unbox just doesn't work for me. I ws told by Amazon CS that I needed to delete all the items in my recently deleted folder, and clean out my seasons passes. In other words, Amazon needs a clear path, even though I have a 1000 hour hard drive. They can keep it.


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## segaily (Aug 3, 2003)

I am pretty sure I read that once you buy a movie you can download it again for free so there is no reason to archive it to a PC.


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## Bill_GS3 (Jan 28, 2007)

segaily said:


> I am pretty sure I read that once you buy a movie you can download it again for free so there is no reason to archive it to a PC.


But who wants to wait another two hours while it downloads, again.


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## Kahless (Nov 17, 2005)

The pilot episode (Aquaman) is avaiable on iTunes for $1.99. I've been happy with Unbox. I am on an old Adelphia cable network which Time Warner is supposed to upgrade in the next 2 or 3 years. I can't get the Sci-Fi channel on my Tivo until then. So I have been downloading the Stargate Atlantis episodes. All has gone well.


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## Soapm (May 9, 2007)

I'm with you also RCOMITO, I bought one movie then rented another for a buck. That's all they'll get out of me. They'll have to tweak the concept if they want me for a customer.


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## davidkaupp (Oct 19, 2004)

I know that a lot of people were upset with Amazon Unbox when it was first released... mainly becuase of the downloading issues.

And I know that someone posted (a few replies earlier) that they were told to "clean" out their Season Pass recordings.

But here is the best answer to why you can't download......
You have too much stuff set to "Do Not Delete".

That means stuff in your 1) Now Playing List and 2) in the To Do List (or your Season Pass). I just changed a lot of my shows (temporarily sometimes from "Do Not Delete" to 1 day or 2 days). And then I changed all my Season Pass items (or any extra items on my To Do List) from "Do Not Delete" to Space Available. As long as you have enough space, non-of that stuff will roll of anyway, and you can always change it back.

This is becuase Downloading from Unbox uses the same rules as scheduling a new show manually on Tivo. If you don't have enough space becuase too many items are flagged as "Do Not Delete", then it gives you that warning messags that you have too many shows flagged as such. So you resolve that the exact same way as you would trying to schedule a new show.

Many people did not realize that that was happening though, and even when they changed all their shows to 1 Day or 2 Day in the Now Playing List, the Tivo automatically goes back through all the Season Pass schedule for the next 2 weeks and schedules all your shows including the "Do Not Delete" ones. So if it schedules enough of those to fill your box capacity, then essentially you have run out of space again.

That's why you need to change Season Pass and To Do List as well. I just used to have that as my default, but now I just have it set to Space Available.

So now all my movies download without any hitch.

I know, maybe more tedious than you wanted... but at least the rules are the same as when scheduling a new show. So it is consistent.

Dave


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## weymo (Jan 26, 2003)

When first announced I was really excited about this feature and I was impressed. But I agree with most of those who've posted above; the selection is limited and the 24-hour cap feels restrictive.
That being said, I've been happy to find a few shows here and there that we've missed (Hell's Kitchen 3.02) for whatever reason. I think I would be more interested in using it that way than as another movie PPV service.
For instance, I've never watched The Shield but my buddy raves about it. I'm thinking I'd like to catch it from the beginning. If Unbox would become a much larger archive, I'd spend more money on it. A good example of the holes they have are with "Doctor Who" where they've just thrown a few seaons in there.

I get the sense that Amazon is testing the waters with this service rather. As big as they are, they could commit more resources and make this a better service.


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## Redux (Oct 19, 2004)

Is Redbox only a local thing? I never see references to it.

We watch mainly older stuff; Turner Classis Movies, Fox Movie Channel and Netflix account for 90%+.

But for current releases, is there anything remotely approaching the usefulness of Redbox?

A mile and a half away; $1.00 per day (the whole current day until 9 p.m. the following day).

I know B&M is so last century, but WTH.


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## c_tripps_2k (Sep 12, 2005)

I rented one and purchased one then realized the the audio was only 2 channels and not 5.1. For me I consider sound primary for the home theater experience. When you consider downloading a 2.5gb movie, another 200mb for the digital sound is not going to make much of a difference. The advertise DVD quality and I think that should include the soundtrack. I requested and received a refund.


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

rcomito said:


> I understand, and agree. However, this remains to be a limiting factor of Unbox.
> 
> Rick


It is not really Unbox, but the nature of the service, and to a certain degree the TiVo.

The way it actually goes, is you would pay more for the flexibility.


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## Lastword24 (Aug 24, 2003)

I've downloaded only 2 movies so far, Casino Royale and Music & Lyrics. They may be the last because the quality is so poor. 

Motion sequences are blurred, sort of stop-action in some cases. It was especially noticeable during the long foot chase sequence at the beginning of Casino Royale. This movie was almost unwatchable. 

Not a lot of action in Music & Lyrics, but any movement in the movies at all looks bad on the screen.

I expected the long download times and the pricing is OK by me for the most part. I timed the purchasing so that the downloads would take place during the night.

Bad quality is the deal-breaker here. It's back to Blockbuster for me.

:down:


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## Ariela (Dec 14, 2005)

I'm also disappointed in Amazon Unbox. I'd rather have unlimited movies right to my mailbox than spend money on such a short term rental.


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## dlowings (Jan 23, 2004)

I downloaded a few rentals and bought 1 movie. I don't have any quality issues however I think the video store is the best bet. The price of rentals is not good at all. the price of non rentals is not good as well, for the same price I can have a DVD that is on hand and I can move to any TV in my house. Ive seen people make the clame that you can re download the movie at any time, HOW STUPID IS THAT. I am a full time internet user, and I have better things to do with MY bandwidth then REDOWNLOAD a movie I already bought and downloaded ONCE! I for one am not a big fan of this service I once had high hopes for, and the selection is not acceptable :down:


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