Movielink vs. Vongo
Copy Vongo Movies: I think this is a helpful tip for anybody interested in copying the vongo movies to their hard drive to watch later - apparently you can do it by going in to C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\My Videos\Vongo and just dragging and dropping the .wmv files wherever you want to be able to play them later. I am not sure what Vongo’s TOS are on copying the videos, but this is comparable to saving shows on a Tivo for later viewing so I don’t think you’ll have any problems.
I recently wrote a post about using Akimbo, a way to watch television on-demand by downloading programming over the internet. So far the experience has been pretty good and it has really opened my eyes to on-demand programming.
So far I have tried Movielink and Vongo, two different VOD services. First of all, I will probably never rent a DVD again - I love the convenience of being able to download movies without worrying about picking them up and returning them.
Titles Available
I did notice, however, many differences between the two services. First of all, Movielink seems to have many more titles, although many of them are movies I wouldn’t consider paying to watch. Vongo had much fewer titles, but seemed to have more that I was interested in watching.
Movie Quality
I realized very quickly that the quality of Movielink’s movies are much, much better. My first clue was that the file size of the average movie on Movielink is about 2-3 times the size of the average Vongo movie. Movielink films are high-definition a higher resolution and look great on a 42″ display. Vongo movies are not awful (they are still watchable), but definitely more suited to a 20″ screen.
Download Speed
Despite the fact that the files were so much larger (averaging over 1GB per film) the Movielink servers are so much faster that the Vongo and Movielink downloads took about the same amount of time (1 hour per download). Note that this is over Comcast cable (they claim 4 Mbps, I rarely see 2) - this could be faster or slower depending on your connection.
Viewing length
Both services let you download the movie and leave them on your hard drive for a month or two, but after you start watching the film you have 24 hours until it is deleted. This is convenient if you don’t know when you’ll have a chance to watch a movie (as long as your reasonably confident that you will be able to watch it within a month or two). Keep in mind, however, that your 24 hours starts ticking the second you start watching the movie.
Price
Prices for the two services were comparable - I have either paid $4 or $5 for each download (depending on the release date). Movielink wins the price war, however, since many General Mills cereal boxes have a free $5 coupon for Movielink inside. I have only paid for one Movielink movie (some movies are not eligible for the gift certificate).
Movielink wins but needs more titles
Overall I prefer Movielink because of the quality of the movies. That being said, however, I will probably continue to use both services based on the content they have available. The winner of this battle will be determined by the availability of quality programming. If we learned one thing from the Beta/VHS wars it is that content can be more important than quality. I hope more companies enter this market (Google Video doesn’t count right now since it stinks) and drive prices down and availability up.
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I would like to correct a statement you made and comment on another.
The statement “Both services let you download the movie and leave them on your hard drive for a month or two, but after you start watching the film you have 24 hours until it is deleted” is not true for Vongo for subscription content. If you pay the 9.99, you can watch a movie as many times as you want and keep it for as long as it is in window and you keep paying you subscription. If you purchase a Pay per View, the statement is correct.
As to the quality, we are in our beta period and customers have raised this issue. You will see it address in the next few weeks.
Thank you for your review.
Ryc Brownrigg
VP - Technology
Starz Entertainment Group
Vongo - Choose Now. Watch Now. - vongo.com
Comment by Ryc Brownrigg — January 26, 2006 @ 6:29 pm
[…] Correction: I incorrectly stated that when you download a movie on Vongo that you have 24 hours after you begin watching it until it is deleted. This is only true for Pay-Per-View downloads, it does not apply to subscription downloads which are available as long as they are “in window” and your account is active - thank you to Ryc Brownrigg, the VP-Technology of the service (see the comments of the original post). […]
Pingback by The Preston Blog - An internet marketing blog for internet retailers » Movielink, Vongo Follow-Up — January 26, 2006 @ 9:30 pm
Movielink movies are not high definition.
Comment by Mark — April 3, 2006 @ 7:57 am
Mark,
Thanks for the correction - you are right, Movielink movies are not high-definition.
Preston
Comment by admin — April 3, 2006 @ 8:00 am
Vongo is charging for what you can do for freeeee! With simple technology…either your TV capable video card…or PVR…you can copy legally and for personal use what is on your cable TV. Then move that content to your notebook PC. Why then would you pay for someone else to do that? Also, Vongo markets its Starz content like you have allll these movies to watch. Most of them are older and not worth watching. Also, most studios do not license their content to Vongo except for a DVD rental rate. I choose Netflix. The subscription version of Vongo is highly limited. Moreover, the encoding of the content is inferior and not worth paying for. Movielink or even better Cinema Now offer the full range of DVD titles. Yet, to date, none of these services give you the right to watch the content on portable devices…though they say they do. The reality is far different. However, when I copy cable broadcasts from my PC video card connected to my cable box, I can convert the content as I wish…when I want…and legally. This service is not worth the time or effort. Save yourself the hassle of the minimal experience and disappointment. Also…try the Sling box…that is a cool service that works and is fun and uses the content from your PVR and you don’t even have to copy it onto your PC…you connect over Wi-Fi or broadband. Nice.
Comment by Blake — May 27, 2006 @ 2:17 pm
The reality is far different. However, when I copy cable broadcasts from my PC video card connected to my cable box, I can convert the content as I wish…when I want…and legally.
Comment by enric — August 2, 2006 @ 12:54 am
While you’re at it, you should give CinemaNow.com and Direct2Drive.com a try. I’ve used both of these as well as Movielink, but have yet to try Vongo.
Comment by Ron — November 27, 2006 @ 9:15 pm
I subscribed to Vongo about 4 hours back. Firstly, they don’t have any collection worth watching, then their software, is in no way compatible with Windows Vista, or even XP Professional. It seems to me that they hired free software developers to develop their product.
I somewhat downloaded 2 movies, but couldn’t watch any one of them, due to Windows security issues, and their unstable software.
If you’ve already seen their website, which is another pain in the neck, they don’t have any sort of customer service. There’s no way you could contact them before using the “Cancel service” option from their software.
Netflix and Blockbuster movie services are a lot better. I recommend you spend a few extra dollars, to use other services than get exploited by Vongo.
Comment by T — December 2, 2006 @ 1:29 am
I totally agree T. I subscribed to Vongo and could not download one single movie. I contacted customer service and they could not help me at all. So its a waste of time and thankfully they have a free 14 day trial so you wont get charged. However they do put a hold on the funds in your account to see if they are available. And then after a day or two they release the hold. So if you dont have sufficient funds I suggest you dont even try to download. It’s a total waste of time and an extreme hastle.
Comment by Amirah — February 15, 2007 @ 1:14 pm
Is movielink software compatible with Windows Vista
Comment by Mark — March 1, 2007 @ 12:26 pm
The size between movielink files and vongo files is negligible. The difference in picture quality is probably due to different compression processes.
Comment by reasoN — April 14, 2007 @ 2:56 am