| All Activity |
A summary of all the feedback from this user. |
| Type |
Site - Score |
Feedback / Review |
Date |
Reply
1
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VideoBox
(0)
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Reply of
pat362's Reply
1- I don't care whether its WMV or MP4. My only preference is quality by way of the bitrate they offer it in. 1000 bitrates are garbage and comparable to a tube site. I still don't think you get that they were already offering MP4 since the dawn of time. They didn't add any new format.
2- I'm not sure what you are trying to tell me here. Are you suggesting that VB spent over a decade classifying videos into a "High" "Medium" and "Low" quality range when it was completely unnecessary and Medium was indiscernible from High and nobody can tell the difference? There is no difference between a video in 3000+ bitrate compared to 1000 bitrate? This is something I'm not even going to try and convince you otherwise. If you think there is no difference, I'm not going to go any further.
3-Jules Jordan and Evil Angel specifically offer their directors exclusive rights over their own movies. They don't belong to the studio, rather the director. I've read this about both studios already. This is why you will find some directors on VB and not others. IE: you'll never find a Rocco video on Videobox despite the Evil Angel contract, and you won't actually find one Jules Jordan directed video, only from other directors within the "Jules Jordan Video" studio itself. Some directors would rather pimp their videos on 20 different websites and grab every coin they can. Others like Jules has his own website that he is trying to grow and needs no middleman.
4- I used Hotmovies and AEBN for years until simply the quality just wasn't up to par anymore. To try and stream in their highest quality stream causes buffering (even on my 24 Mbps ISP). I actually started to join sites like VB to get much better quality and to OWN the movie rather than "rent" it in a way with PPM streams. Now I use those sites just once in a while only to preview new movies, and figure out which studio site I want to join to download and own the video.
As I said, to each his own how they view porn. If you are into streaming movies, and don't get wrapped up in quality of the video feeds, much of what I'm saying might not matter. If you mainly know exactly what you are looking for and simply want to download to own it in a high quality, VB used to be great, if not the best at this.... but not anymore. They now score low.
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03-30-15 11:15pm
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Reply
2
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VideoBox
(0)
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Reply of
pat362's Reply
I'm going to answer each point directly:
1) How did they improve when they simply dropped a format and added no replacement? If I'm selling pizzas, my large is 18", my medium is 14" and my small is 10". One day I tell my customers it was hard to bake the 18" pies because its a lot of dough to roll and toss properly and nobody else in town is making 18" pies anymore, and then I rename my 14" pizza "large" on the menu at the same price as the old 18", what exactly did I do?
They previously offered WMV in a high and medium bitrate, around 3000 and 1000 respectively, and an MP4 in a medium and low bitrate, around 1000 and 500 respectively. 4 formats for every video on the site, excluding the 13k videos that had a 5th HD format. Now they elimated both WMV and only offer the two MP4 formats which they've simply renamed "MP4 medium" files calling them "MP4 high".
2) It goes without saying that if a video was not shot in HD it cannot be uploaded in (real) HD. My point is that every video they upload it should be offered in a format that is similar to purchasing or renting the actual DVD, whatever format it was shot in. I think its fair to presume that was their original plan for the site. Something that digitally replaces your neighborhood porn store.
3) Money coming in to a dead studio is almost like free money for junk in your garage you thought was old and useless. Most studios still producing porn have no need for a middleman eating into their profits.
4)I will join Videosz maybe once a year, but most likely go direct from now on. I wont join Videobox again because Im not joking when I say the quality is equal to free tube sites. But that's just me. For those who don't download and look mainly to stream, it might have some value.
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03-29-15 02:24pm
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Reply
3
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VideoBox
(0)
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Reply of
pat362's Reply
The score is directly related to the significant drop off in quality.
I should add that not only does the dropping of the WMV format signify a loss of download quality, but ALSO a drop of STREAMING QUALITY. The "HQ" button that was available while streaming every video is now greyed out for 88% of their content now (I'll explain this number next). It only remains on the videos available in HD format.
To add some more detail, for those unaware, as of today, 03/25/2015 they have a total of 108424 scenes, but only 13793 (12%) are available in HD. Of those HD scenes, 4396 are Premium-only and not available with the standard membership, leaving you with 9397. So maybe I was speaking in hyperbole before, but the facts are 92% of their content is in the same quality you would find on a free tube site.
The purpose of buying a subscription from VB was for the quality of streaming and downloading, and to support the porn studios in a 3rd party indirect line. We pay VB, VB pays studios, studios can then continue to pay performers and keep producing movies. With VB so nonchalant about such a significant drop off in quality, I would not recommend them at all, so I feel the score is warranted. Its almost as if they are begging me to use free tube sites by their recent changes. I would rather piece meal memberships, a month here, a month there, at all of the studios I like directly. They will offer quality in HD, have more videos than is available on VB, and sometimes cost cheaper than the $15-$35 fee that VB charges for premium channels.
If you are set on a collection site like this, I'd recommend Videosz before this one. They have similar studios and the download quality is (NOW) much better (though that wasn't the case 3 months ago).
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03-25-15 07:40pm
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Reply
4
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VideoBox
(0)
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Reply of
Monahan's Comment
I really, really, really, really wish I came to this site and read this comment before adding a new membership in March 2015, because now this site is just not worth it for me. Well, you live and you learn.
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03-20-15 07:18pm
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Review
5
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VideoBox
(0)
65.0
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| Status: |
Current Member for less than 1 month (at the time of review).
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| Pros: |
-Pretty well organized, easy to search and sort
-Straight forward join/cancellation
-One of the largest collections available
-Very fast download speeds |
| Cons: |
-Video quality leaves much to be desired
-Premium channel prices cost as much membership direct from distributor
-Numerous recycled scenes (especially lately)
-Mostly outdated content unless its a premium channel |
| Bottom Line: |
Time to post a new review for 2015.
I would no longer recommend this site to most users. I am a long time off and on member for at least 6 years (I know because I have files that I downloaded from them dated 2009), and I've finally decided to call it quits on this site.
I rejoined yesterday to download a few new scenes they added over the past year, but was surprised how exactly they changed. They now no longer offer high resolution downloads on around 99% of their catalog. Previously they offered between 4 and 5 different formats. Although a few years ago they added typically 1 HD resolution DVD every couple of days, their highest resolution was in WMV for 99% of the videos. At anywhere from 2500-4000 kbps bitrate this was very good quality. Now the highest they offer is an MP4 that is around 1100 bitrate. For those not savvy on video quality, just to put it simply, the downloads look no better than you can find for free on many tube sites.
Coupled with the numerous duplicate scenes, erroneously encoded files that show up pixelated once downloaded, and a lack of new content due the changing industry. Videobox just seems out of touch with the demands of its customers.
Here are my ideas that might improve them:
-They should stop offering 5 DVDs per day if many are going to be duplicates.
-They need to find more exclusive content. I'm sure there are studios that are sitting on 4-6 year old content that they are willing to lease or sell to VB... especially in the foreign markets (Europe, Russia, Japan, Brazil).
-There are many American studios that have thousands of DVDs in their catalog but aren't making new videos in 2015, or may have a website that has not been updated in over 6 months with a new scene. Just a few examples off the top of my head: RedlightDistrict, Anabolic, and Vouyer Media. They should try and get some more of that.
-In 2015 ALL of their content, NEW OR OLD should be available in HD or at least DVD quality (3000+ bitrate). They seem to be heavily promoting things like the Roku... but do they seriously think people are watching that subpar video quality on their HDTV?
EDIT: I want to add this to the review since I didn't make it clear initially. The changes affect the streaming quality also, not just download quality. See comment section below.
They do a few things right such as the easy organization of the website to find what you are looking for, but the download quality and lack of new content not readily available elsewhere no longer makes this site a good value. |
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03-20-15 07:02pm
Replies (7)
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Reply
6
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N/A
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Reply of
Khan's Poll
Sports mostly... only other TV watch that is a must see is The Walking Dead (I'm hooked). Otherwise I don't regularly watch TV anymore.
If Netflix counts, then I watch a ton.
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12-29-12 02:50pm
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Reply
7
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VideoBox
(0)
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Reply of
RustyJ's Reply
Sorry, I edited the review trying to make it a little easier on the eyes.
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12-22-12 11:28am
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Reply
8
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N/A
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Reply of
rearadmiral's Poll
Yes... they simply don't make porn like they used to, so you can't really rely on new scenes at the same frequency like before. You might find 1 new scene or DVD you like per month nowadays.
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12-22-12 10:11am
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Reply
9
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VideoBox
(0)
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Reply of
rearadmiral's Review
Completely agree on the full site preview that you mentioned. It's definitely one of my favorite aspects of the site which allows me to drop and renew membership whenever I feel like. It's the only way I know what they've added since I left.
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12-22-12 10:04am
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Reply
10
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VideoBox
(0)
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Reply of
exotics4me's Reply
VB2 is still available in the top right corner, just click "Back to old site" or go directly to vb2.videobox.com and login as normal.
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12-22-12 09:53am
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Reply
11
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VideoBox
(0)
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Reply of
benmar51's Comment
Yes as someone has said above, it's a better option to just go direct for most of videobox's premium channels. You will have far more EXCLUSIVE content to choose from, which is always the key. VB never gets the newest stuff anyhow.
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12-22-12 09:48am
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Review
12
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VideoBox
(0)
70.0
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| Status: |
Current Member for over 1 year (at the time of review).
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| Pros: |
Decent price for unlimited downloads, multiple resolution formats, high resolution available, tons of content, various genres, steady server, good download speeds, very simple signup and cancellation |
| Cons: |
Nothing is exclusive, terrible video support when they do make mistakes, declining quality of material, dated content, multiple re-posts and bargain bin compilations, for the price of the premium channels its often better to go direct, site ownership does not play to their strengths |
| Bottom Line: |
This site's strength is that it has a ton of content with 5 new DVDs added per day. At the date of this review they have exactly 12,880 DVDs which is just massive in comparison to other sites. They also offer multiple formats and the download times are pretty fast. Most, but not all of the the major DVD distributors at least have some DVDs on the site.
The problem that frustrates me the most though as a long time off and on member from since 2008 is that they want to make the site something its not. They have spent a ton of time and money over the past 2 years focusing on changing a website hundreds of members have grown comfortable with instead of perfecting what they are good at (downloads) and improving and updating the content . They are trying to make an experience sort of like a Video On Demand (VOD) site which plays to bringing you slightly dated non-exclusive content but a massive selection, quick streaming, etc. But the fact of the matter is this isn't a VOD site, its a download site. I have a VOD site I use (which has more content, streams faster, and has pay per minute), so when I sign up to VB its to download a scene not to stream it.
But to this effect VB has hundreds of DVD scenes that stream correctly, but the downloads are broken. You can send 1000 messages or emails to the support team, and no matter what, the problem will not be fixed because they simply don't care in my opinion. They drew you in with a monthly membership fee, and they figure you can keep paying to watch it as many times as you want, even if the download is scrambled, garbled, noisy, has green frames, or is simply half length of what it is supposed to be when streamed.
What annoys me the most is some of my favorite video companies like Jules Jordan, Red Light District, Platinum X, and Lethal Hardcore have tons of scenes that I've wanted to download and they are broken. Lately EVERY single time they upload a "new" Jules Jordan scene most of the scenes are broken. The WMV HIGH (which is their highest resolution) has corrupted encoding, so you are left with only low resolution MP4. If I send a support email it is ignored. If I or somebody else leaves a comment about the scene being faulty in the comment box below each scene, an administrator purposefully and quickly deletes the comment within an hour or two. This says they know about the problem, see people complaining about it, but just don't care.
A main problem is their dated content that they simply keep reposting, sometimes within the same week they upload the same scene 2-3 times. There is an ongoing joke in the member comments area about a scene by the pornstar Kat on a pool table that has been uploaded by the latest count 10 times already in varying lengths.
This site is becoming less useful each month and I keep telling myself to stay away and only sign up for 1 month a year and download all the scenes I liked from the past year rather than waste money renewing each month to have them add 10 scenes I liked (though only 6 of them actually work). That's the way I'd recommend anyone else to use this site. Find a better VOD site if you just want to stream because they will have more content, and newer DVDs. |
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12-22-12 09:44am
Replies (3)
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