Apple breathed new life into its once-floundering Apple TV thanks to a recent software update, but it’s got a major competitor to deal with: Vudu, a set-top device with more than eight times as many movies to rent. Which box deserves a place next to your TV?
Setup
A cinch, for both Apple TV and Vudu. Each box comes with more or less the same connections: you get HDMI (with resolutions up to 1080p), component and composite video outputs, analog and Toslink audio outputs, and Ethernet ports (Vudu also has an S-video input). Once they’re connected and ready, each device boots up and launches their individual setup wizards, and within minutes, you’re up and running. For Apple TV, there’s the extra step of syncing up with an iTunes library, although you’re also free to run Apple TV as a stand-alone box. Apple TV also has the option of going Wi-Fi for its network connection, while the Vudu is restricted to Ethernet—although one could argue that speedy wired Ethernet is the way to go when it comes to downloading massive HD movies. Winner: Tie
What you get
Movies: With its catalog of 5,000+ films (about 3,600 rentals, the rest for purchase), Vudu clearly beats the pants off of Apple TV in the movie department. And we’re not just talking grade-Z movies, either—a quick perusal of Vudu’s collection reveals a broad swath of movies, including the latest releases (such as "Into the Wild," "The Darjeeling Limited," "30 Days of Night," and "Gone Baby Gone") and older catalog titles ("Breakfast at Tiffany’s," all the old "Star Trek" movies, "Once Upon a Time in the West," and so on). Apple TV, meanwhile, is still struggling to build up its rental library; as of this week, fewer than 500 rentals were available via iTunes (another 200 or so are for purchase only). That said, both Vudu and Apple TV have about 100 HD movies on tap. Winner: Vudu (by a mile)
TV shows: Here’s where Apple turns the tables on Vudu. iTunes (and by extension, Apple TV) has literally thousands of TV episodes on hand from all the major networks, save NBC. It’s a TV lover’s dream. Vudu, on the other hand, has only 14 shows to choose from, including "24," "Arrested Development," "Prison Break," "NYPD Blue" (seasons one and two only), and "Shark". Not bad, but Vudu has a lot of catching up to do. Also worth nothing: neither Apple TV nor Vudu offers TV shows in HD (as does the Xbox Video Marketplace). Winner: Apple TV
Extras: Vudu may reign supreme with its impressive selection of movies, but Apple TV’s got it trumped with its extras, including full access to the iTunes Music Store, thousands of podcasts, access to Flickr and .Mac slideshows, and YouTube support. Vudu’s got its movies and TV shows, but that’s pretty much it. Winner: Apple TV
Interface
As with most Apple products, navigating the Apple TV’s various screens is a snap, even for novices, and Apple TV’s new interface is a hands-down improvement over the original. I especially like the fact that pressing and holding the "menu" key brings up a main-menu overlay, no matter where you are in the menu structure. But while Vudu’s menus aren’t quite as slick as Apple’s, navigating through Vudu’s movie catalog is a breeze thanks to the jog wheel in the remote (which also lets you fast-forward and reverse while watching a movie). I also love that Vudu lets you click on an actor’s or director’s name to see all their available movies—a browsing feature that’s sorely lacking in Apple TV. Finally, Vudu lets you add movies you want to see later to a "wish list"—another feature that’s missing from the Apple box. Winner: Vudu
Video quality
SD video: Apple TV’s standard-def video quality has been suspect from the beginning, and it remains so now. SD movies and TV shows look way too soft, almost out-of-focus soft, in fact. Very disappointing. Vudu’s SD offerings look much better—shy of DVD quality, mind you, but still reasonably sharp, with digital artifacts kept to a relative minimum. Winner: Vudu
HD video: While Vudu scores with its solid SD video quality, it comes up a bit shy with its HD movies. After repeated A-B viewings of scenes from the HD rental of "Transformers," I felt Apple TV’s HD video looked a bit sharper, with solid-looking colors and few artifacts even during the most furious of action scenes. Vudu’s HD looked a little softer to me, with muddy-looking colors that seemed to float during darker scenes, as well as noticeable edge enhancement (which resulted in "jaggies" along the edges of objects). Winner: Apple TV
Sound quality
When I first reviewed Vudu, I noticed that the sound on many movies (including recent flicks like "Spider-Man 2") seemed to be in mono. Well, Vudu engineers clearly took that criticism to heart and made some changes, because try though I might, I couldn’t find any movies this time with the mono bug. Indeed, the movies on Apple TV and Vudu both sounded excellent, with the DD 5.1 mix for "Transformers" sounding appropriately thunderous and aggressive. Keep in mind, however, that neither Apple TV nor Vudu offer all its movies in full Dolby Digital—understandable for, say, "Casablanca," but less so for newer, HD movies like "X-Men." Winner: Tie
Instant movie viewing
One of Vudu’s big selling points is that it lets you start watching movies from the instant your click "Rent now" (thanks to peer-to-peer video sharing—click here for more details) and the box absolutely delivers. Testing it in Brooklyn over Road Runner digital cable, Vudu’s movies are indeed ready for instant viewing, including HD titles. But while Apple TV’s movies didn’t load instantly, they were ready for watching within less than a minute of pressing "Rent"—and that held true to HD videos, as well. So although Vudu can claim a moral victory in the "instant viewing" category, most viewers will hardly notice the difference. Winner: Vudu (but only by a whisker)
Movie portability
Video you can take with you is a huge trend in tech, and for now at least, it’s something that Vudu fails to address—once you rent a movie on Vudu, it stays in the box, no matter what. Apple TV, meanwhile, gets it half right; if you download an iTunes rental on your Mac or PC first, you get the option of transferring it to your iPod, iPhone, or the Apple TV. But if you rent a movie directly over the Apple TV, it’s stuck in the box—you won’t be allowed to transfer it to a portable player. Winner: Neither really, although Apple TV comes closest.
Price
Hardware: Vudu just dropped the price of its main, 100GB offering by $100, to $299. (There’s also a 1TB Vudu available—the Vudu XL—for a whopping $999, but that’s more for the home-integration market.) The 40GB version of Apple TV goes for $229, while the 120GB model sells for $329. In other words, both boxes are still hovering around the $300 mark, which may still be too high for most viewers. Winner: Tie
Videos: Both Apple TV and Vudu have the same rental-price structure: $3.99 for new releases, and $2.99 for older, catalog titles. (Both services let you keep rented movies for 30 days; once you hit "play", you then have 24 hours to watch your video). For HD movies, Apple TV charges $4.99 for new releases and $3.99 for older titles, while Vudu charges a bit more: $5.99 for the latest and greatest titles, and $3.99 for catalog. Winner: Apple TV (just barely)
And the winner is…
Sorry folks, but there’s no knockout winner here—and even when we go to the cards, both Apple TV and Vudu managed to land an impressive number of points. In the end, you’ll need to ask yourself what your priorities are in a video set-top box to make the best decision. Ultimately, I think Apple TV is a better all-around device, especially for Mac-centric users who love TV shows and want to use their Apple TV as a music and/or podcast jukebox. But until Apple builds up the meager movie selection on iTunes, Vudu takes the prize for movie lovers—although I wish Vudu’s HD video quality was a bit better. And both boxes could still use another price cut.
