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Content
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| Quality : |
17.5 / 20 |
| Quantity : |
15.0 / 15 |
| Entertain : |
15.0 / 15 |
| Updates : |
10.0 / 10 |
| Exclusive : |
2.0 / 05 |
| Download : |
4.0 / 05 |
| sub-total : |
63.5 / 70 |
| Navigation |
| Easy : |
9.0 / 10 |
| Features : |
3.5 / 05 |
| Design : |
4.0 / 05 |
| sub-total : |
16.5 / 20 |
| Other |
| Originality : |
3.5 / 05 |
| Hard Facts : |
4.0 / 05 |
| sub-total : |
7.5 / 10 |
Scoring Criteria New
New Update!
As of Aug 15th, 07, price of a site is no longer factored into the overall score/rank. |
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1. Some good options/features.
2. Videos look good all around.
3. Two new DVDs added daily.
4. Lots of content at a great price.
1. Could use more video types.
2. Browsing could be more robust.
3. Best-quality vids must be fully downloaded.
4. Convert Video feature isn't instant.
"A very great site all around here, though it's not quite ready to take over the #1 position." |
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DVDBox is the site up for review today, and man that sure sounds familiar for some reason. Go to the site, and it looks like most any other DVD site out there these days, no doubt capitalizing on the success of our #1 site, VideoBox. Oh wait, no wonder it sounds familiar ;-) Name similarities aside, they're two different companies offering similar services. This one will cost you $15 a month, which is right in the same ballpark as far as pricing goes.
The goods:
- Lots of content at a great price. They have almost 1200 DVD's up now to download and watch which is obviously a ton of content (considering each DVD has several scenes of course). $15 a month is tough to beat as well, so you're getting decent value for your money here no doubt.
- Two new DVD's added daily. Considering some sites throw up maybe a photo and video set a week, here you'll get 7-10 scenes a day added keeping things fresh and growing quite regularly. They even have a countdown timer to let you know how long until the next video is released.
- Videos look great all around. You have to download the highest quality video completely first, but once you do the specs are obviously very good. I've seen higher once or twice, but the end result is good enough for 99% of us I'm sure as they look very nice. The only next logical step is when high-definition DVD's come out and they can pump those out as well.
- Some good options/features. I like having the options to use a WMV streaming server to watch the video since you can jump around pretty easily, but they also offer downloads which actually results in better quality as well. The upcoming updates have their own page, you can choose to be emailed when a new scene is added, you can set it up to show you which scenes you've already downloaded, and you can browse by category, series, pornstar, or studio.
The bads:
- Videos must be fully downloaded first for best quality. I'm not sure what the benefit of forcing people to download a full video is (instead of WMPlayer's usual behavior of playing the video while still downloading), but that's the deal with their downloads here. Those videos have the best quality too, so you're stuck waiting 10 minutes or more even on a good connection to see those which just isn't fun.
- Browsing could still be more robust. I hate to compare them to other sites, but they're lacking the ability to choose more than one category like you can at VideoBox, and they're lacking the sheer number of categories that Ten.com has which are two of my favorite sites to browse through. It's also a little weird that you can only add a scene to your favorites folder, not a whole DVD. Little things unfortunately make a difference at this stage since all these top video sites have been optimized and perfected so much.
- Could use more video types. I like the options they have for WMV files, but I wouldn't mind seeing another video type or two added (Quicktime, MPG, etc.) to round things out a bit. Being a video-based site, you really want to maximize what you offer so that everyone can enjoy the site easily.
Conclusion:
Against most any site out there, this is a fantastic bargain and a great site. The videos look awesome, there's a ton to see (and it's growing a ton daily), and you just get a good deal for your money all around. I'd be stupid not to compare it directly to VideoBox of course, so here goes:
- Quantity is about the same. DVDBox has slightly less, but the numbers are basically a wash.
- Quality is about the same, though DVDBox is around the 2000kbps mark, and VideoBox is closer to the 3000kbps mark.
- Browsing goes to VideoBox hands down. DVDBox is decent, but they're lacking a few key options here.
- Updates go to VideoBox as well who add five new DVD's a day compared to two DVD's a day here.
So there you go. It's close, but not quite a VideoBox killer yet (or even a draw). Definitely a great site all around, and a few changes could make them even better yet!
| 1st Follow-Up Review |
Review: 01-27-08 |
Not a ton is new here at DVD Box, but thankfully the site has at least grown. The updates have been steady, and they're now over the 2,250 DVD mark which is pretty good. The price is still dirt cheap as well (thanks to a discount they've given our users), which is awesome. The one new thing I saw was an option to "convert videos." They offer quite a few video options here, from DivX to Flash (and a lot more), so I tried converting one to DivX. Unfortunately, it said it'd be ready within 24 hours and placed in my favorites folder, so it's not an instant thing. They do need more video options though, so it's a start I guess, albeit a weird one. Otherwise, much remains the same as I said, which means it's a good join, but has a few little kinks to work out.
Score decreased from 91.5 to 89.5.
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