| Type |
Site - Score |
Feedback / Review |
Date |
Reply
2251
|
AEBN Video On Demand
(0)
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Reply of
Ergo Proxy's Reply
Thanks for the comment. I have a love/hate relationship with VOD sites. I prefer downloading but that can be very expensive, but VOD sites have allowed me to watch some titles from my early days as a porn user. Depending on how much you watch one of the channels may be a good value for you.
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03-13-12 05:15pm
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Reply
2252
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AEBN Video On Demand
(0)
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Reply of
rome476's Reply
I think in a lot of cases using that option would make sense. Obviously a lot of that is subjective in the sense of how many times will you stream it again. If the option is the $2 48-hour streaming or $5 48-hour streaming that would have some impact. This is also a bit subjective, but I think there's a lot of objectivity too - that's considering the bitrate options available to you. A lot of the $2 rentals are older and offer a maximum of a 512k bitrate. That's pretty low quality. I accepted that so I could see a few older titles that I wanted to see, but the quality is so poor I'm not sure I'd go back to watch it again. But... if it's a movie you'd watch again and again and there are higher bitrates available then I think that could be a good option.
As I said in my review though, make sure to check the other main VOD sites for the same title. You might be able to get a better quality video for less cost at one of the others. In case you're not familiar with the other VOD sites, some of the bigger ones that you should check are Adult DVD Empire, Adultempire.com, HotMovies, DownloadtoOwn, Gamelink and Sugar VOD. (Two things about Adult DVD Empire and Adultempire.com: 1) they're affiliated but make sure to check them both because they have different pricing structures, and 2) there is a disreputable site called Adult Empire. Make sure you're on the VOD site. Entering Adultempire.com in your browser should get you to the right site.)
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03-13-12 04:15am
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Reply
2253
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AEBN Video On Demand
(0)
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Reply of
Tree Rodent's Reply
As much as I regret what I have to spend on these sites, it does give me access to some older titles that I want to see. The "channel" idea really cuts down on the cost, and with 8000 titles on the channel I subscribed to it will probably be a good value.
Thanks for your kind comments.
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03-12-12 06:06pm
|
Review
2254
|
AEBN Video On Demand
(0)
85.0
|
| Status: |
Current Member for over 1 year (at the time of review).
|
| Pros: |
- Likely the biggest VOD collection on the internet
- Many titles not available anywhere else
- Multiple ways to stream and download
- Good search function
- Can sort by theme/niche
- Can sort by studio
- Good search function
- Offers a subscription to “channels” which allow unlimited streaming of select titles |
| Cons: |
- Can get VERY expensive
- Videos are DRM-protected unless you pay (dearly) for a DRM-free download
- The ‘channels” have lots of titles but few big studios
- Many of the older titles have poor bitrates |
| Bottom Line: |
I know a lot of members here have a strong negative reaction to VOD sites, and I share all of the same concerns. Building a video collection using just VOD sites would be incredibly expensive when compared to DVD sites like Videobox, but when used as a supplement to DVD sites, VOD sites like AEBN can work well. If you’re a serious collector, like many members here are, VOD sites are a useful way to see some titles that aren’t available elsewhere. I’ve been using AEBN for several years but hadn’t actually bought anything from them in probably 12 months, until a week ago when I rediscovered them.
So why would you choose AEBN over another VOD site? The primary reason would be selection: AEBN has studios and titles that are unavailable on other sites. An example of this is that AEBN continues to offer a wide array of Max Hardcore titles when other sites have dropped him. The fact that they still carry Max indicates how broad their collection is.
The site has a good search function using star, title or many other keywords. I also like being able to sort by studio because there are several studios that I really like so it gives me a chance to see some titles that I might have not otherwise known about.
The site is pretty simple once you find a title you want to see or buy. Clicking on that DVD brings you to a page with all the streaming and purchase options available. In most cases you can stream a movie for either 48 hours or for life. In most cases the ‘for life’ option costs $10 and the 48 hours costs $5, though there are many titles that you can stream for $2. In most cases there is also an opportunity to ‘buy’ a DRM-free download of the title. The price for that us usually $25. Yes, that is expensive, but it is the cost of the DVD and if it’s a must-have title for you it may be a viable option. I certainly wouldn’t complain if they lowered the price though. Some titles offer a download rental that is DRM protected and expires after the allotted time.
Once you select and pay for your access you get access immediately. There are other VOD sites that can take several minutes for your title to be available. Not so here. There are options for streaming quality so you can choose based on your internet connection. Bitrates of 56k, 225k, 512k, 1024k, 2048k, 4000k and 6000k are often available. I generally use 2048k and find that it is smooth and looks good. Streaming can be through Windows Media Player (which I use) and Silverlight. I didn’t try the latter one so I can’t comment on it.
The download option gives you the technical specs on the file before you buy so you can make an informed decision. You can see the size of the file and the bitrate so you can gauge the quality. In most cases there are no download options, which seems a bit puzzling to me.
One flaw in the streaming is that some titles will only stream at a maximum of 512k. In 2012 that just isn’t good enough. That seems to be mostly with older titles. Fortunately newer titles have better options.
The thing about AEBN that appears to be relatively new and may be a game-changer in the VOD world is the ability to buy a membership to a “channel” that gives you unlimited streaming. I subscribed to the channel called “Super Pass” which is the largest selection of all the channels. There is a 1-day trial for $1 that then recurs at $20 for a month of access. That’s the good news. The bad news is that not all titles are available on the channel, and a lot of what is available isn’t mainstream porn. Some of it looks pretty interesting and I’ll be there for at least a month, but you won’t find many of the major studios available. Currently there are just shy of 8000 titles available on the Super Pass channel.
The channel is great for people who prefer streaming, but for a guy like me who prefers downloads it can be a bit frustrating. The same streaming options (see above) are usually available on the channel.
There are two other channels available: Vivid and West Coast Productions. If you’re a Vivid fan, my recommendation is that you carefully compare the value of the AEBN channel with the value of the Vivid channel at Videobox.
I’m not going to weigh in on whether or not I’d recommend this site because it isn’t a traditional membership based site. What I would recommend is that you spent some time browsing there because it may cause you to rethink any notions you have about VOD sites. And the “all you can eat” option really does change the value equation.
One last caveat when using any VOD site is to check the other main VOD sites for that same title. You might find another site offering the title in the same quality for less. It pays to shop around. You should also check the DVD sites like Videobox because you may find what you want there. It all comes down to how you perceive the value for yourself. |
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03-11-12 06:17pm
Replies (10)
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Reply
2255
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N/A
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Reply of
Vegas Ken's Poll
I find the TBP information all useful and I rely on it, but I don't use the join page screen captures. My assumption is that they are more useful for our European members who can compare to ensure they're not getting regional pricing.
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03-11-12 06:45am
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Reply
2256
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N/A
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Reply of
Drooler's Poll
My worry is that there is some hidden or variable glitch that I haven't read about. Like a download limit that hasn't been reported. In m ost cases though all a site's warts are noted in TBP and PU reviews so I rarely have unpleasant surprises.
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03-10-12 12:15pm
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Reply
2257
|
In The Crack
(0)
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Reply of
Cybertoad's Review
Excellent review. One of these days I'm going to have to rely on all of the PU members here who reviewed this site favourably and join it. I was complaining on a recent forum thread that not enough photographers give any attention to a woman's ass, and particularly here anus. This site looks like it doesn't suffer from that issue.
Thanks for the great review.
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03-10-12 12:12pm
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Reply
2258
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Penthouse
(0)
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Reply of
gaypornolover's Reply
Thanks for the comments! I'd like to think that maybe at some point enough people will complain about automatic streaming that websites will drop it. I can't imagine what it actually contributes to the site.
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03-10-12 12:09pm
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Reply
2259
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N/A
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Reply of
Khan's Poll
I'm okay with just two or three days. I admit that sometimes I can't get on the site and therefore lose any meaningful way to comment on a poll (yes, I know I can still post but the chances of engaging the regulars in a debate is much less) but I can live with that.
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03-07-12 01:48pm
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Reply
2260
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Penthouse
(0)
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Reply of
Cybertoad's Reply
I can't really say because all I did was skim through a couple of scenes. The scenes I saw looked just like two images side by side and had no colour differentiation that you'd normally see with 3D. There may be better ones there, but since I selected two randomly and recently posted I suspect that they're a true representation of 3D. I confess that I didn't look at them through 3D glasses, which is obviously required. The problem is that I have no idea if we have 3D glasses in the house and if I ask my wife she'll want to know why. I doubt 'so I can look at 3D porn" will be an acceptable answer. If I am able to source some 3D glasses I'll make sure to update the information here. PH does also say that the scenes work on 3D monitors for those who have them. For now though, I'm treating 3D as a gimmick with little real value to a porn collector.
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03-07-12 01:46pm
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Reply
2261
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Penthouse
(0)
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Reply of
lk2fireone's Reply
The definition on the older photos isn't great at 432x648 but given the age of them they are pretty good. I can see why you'd avoid the site if all you want are some of the older photos. Getting just those would skew the value of the site to not being a particularly good use of your porn dollars.
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03-07-12 01:37pm
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Reply
2262
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Penthouse
(0)
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Reply of
lk2fireone's Reply
Some bad news... Karen Sather and Sandi Greco only have 10 photos each on the site. Cindy Mcdee has none. I didn't spend a lot of time in the really old material but now that I've checked on these for you I can also say that in 73, 74 and 75 there are only three or four models there. In 76 it starts to get better, but it isn't until the mid to late 1980s where you start to get every monthly Pet available.
I'll be a member for at least another 10 days so if you have more specific names you want stats on I'd be happy to provide that information.
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03-07-12 04:04am
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Reply
2263
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Penthouse
(0)
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Reply of
lk2fireone's Reply
I wish I could be more specific but the number varies widely. There are some sets where there are only five photos and some where there are 50. I'd say the average is 25-ish. What the site appears to do is include all the photos that a Pet does if she appeared in other pictorials apart from the time when she was Pet of the Month. That happens more frequently as you get into the 80s meaning that the 70s sets tend to be smaller.
I hope this helps. Please follow up if you'd like more information.
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03-06-12 03:47pm
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Reply
2264
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Penthouse
(0)
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Reply of
Denner's Reply
Thanks for the compliment, Denner.
I had some mixed feelings about joining because there were some older reviews and comments that were somewhat negative. But I balanced those against the review that TBP did less than two weeks agao where they gave it an 87 and said some good things about it. So I took the plunge and I'm glad I did.
One thing I can't confirm yet but plan to after I cancel my membership is whether you get access until you cancel or access for 30 days like you paid for. Like most people I cancel any membership a few days early to avoid a recurring charge and several older comments here have said that terminates your membership immediately. I'm not planning to stick around for more than the one month and I'll add a comment here to either confirm those older findings or to report that the membership is no longer terminated on cancellation.
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03-06-12 03:44pm
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Reply
2265
|
Penthouse
(0)
|
Reply of
Tree Rodent's Reply
I was pleasantly surprised. TBP reviewed it and liked it so that gave me some confidence even though past PU reviews weren't all that favourable. It's certainly among one of the best studio sites I've seen and it clearly shows that Penthouse understands the internet. The biggest weakness (and this may be subjective) is that the quality of the videos looks lower than the numbers would suggest. One of their strengths (again this is subjective) was access to exclusive stuff from models I like that.
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03-05-12 05:38pm
|
Review
2266
|
Penthouse
(0)
85.0
|
| Status: |
Current Member for less than 1 month (at the time of review).
|
| Pros: |
- Multiple video download options
- Huge site with diverse models
- Good mix of softcore and hardcore
- Mix of porn stars and ‘lesser knowns’
- Photos of all Monthly Pets back to 1973
- 3700+ photo galleries
- 2200+ video scenes
- Full length movies available (340+)
- Access to Penthouse Forum and Variations
- Some videos are available in 3D |
| Cons: |
- Download speeds can vary and sometimes can be a bit slower than average
- Links time out after 10 minutes or so
- Video scenes stream automatically on opening page
- Picture galleries tend to be small (less than 50 photos is common)
- Some pictures appear to be airbrushed
- Even on HD many of the videos don’t look great |
| Bottom Line: |
I find that if I join a studio site I’m best served if I go in with low expectations. That way I’m not too disappointed when the site barely meets what I expected. But I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised at how good a site Penthouse is. This is a very well done adult site.
Penthouse likely needs no introduction to anyone reading this review. The magazine was my introduction to adult stuff back in 1980. The site is much more than the magazine though because the Penthouse empire has grown to include softcore and hardcore videos. The site gives access to a huge amount of PH material and all of it is very good quality.
There is a search function but I didn’t use it much since the site is so well organized. There are links to sort material by porn stars (which gives you access to all the photos and videos with those models) and Pets (which again is an easy way to access photos and videos). If you’re looking for specific themes in videos the video scenes are tagged with the most common themes. Finding them is as easy as using the pull-down menu.
PH does a disservice to itself by not allowing prospective members the opportunity to get a good idea of what the site has to offer. I can’t see what harm it can do to any site to allow non-members the ability to see what’s on offer. (It was mentioned here on an earlier comment and it still happens: when you go to join the offer is for a free membership. It’s only when you click through the non-existent free membership that you have to enter payment information. Most porn buyers are sophisticated to know that they have to pay to get access to a site like this so why hide behind a trick that fell out of favour years ago?)
Most models have pictures and videos available. PH has certainly become more hardcore in the past decade, but there is a good amount of soft stuff too. Video downloads are available in a wide array of formats and sizes. MP4 HD, WMV HD, MP4, MPEG, Mobile and WMV SD are all offered on most scenes. I downloaded WMV HD and SD. HD came in at 1280x720 8000+ kb/s 24fps. SD is 768x432 3200+ kb/s 24fps. Both use WMV Codec 8. Subjectively, the videos don’t look that great even though the numbers would suggest otherwise.
Huge pet peeve of mine with this site (which is becoming more common too) is that when you open a link to a scene the scene starts to stream immediately. If you have your speakers on this can be a problem, but what I dislike about it is that it hogs bandwidth for something that I don’t want. To make matters worse with PH is that the scene continues to download even after you pause it. I open scenes I want in new tabs and wondered why my download speeds were so slow until I realized that most of my bandwidth was being sucked up loading streams for scenes that I was going to download. Webmasters: please stop doing this!!!
Apart from offering scenes with various porn stars and Pets, PH also offers about 340 full length DVDs. These are mostly PH-produced with a lot of Jill Kelly Productions thrown in the mix too. The problem with the full length videos is that they are full length. They are broken up into approximately 3-minute clips but those clips don’t necessarily begin and end with the one scene you want to see. With many of the titles added 5+ years ago there are no star names associated with them but many of the titles are listed on IAFD so you can get that information.
Photos are available in multiple resolutions, listed as being small, medium, large, extra large and extra extra large (no actual resolution sizes were listed). I downloaded the extra extra large and they came in at 2667x4000. Subjectively they look great. One beef I had with the zipped sets is that many (likely most) that I downloaded were buried six folders deep before you got to the pics.
I’m not a big photo collector but I always take the opportunity to get photos of favourite models. It was going through some of these photos that I realized that some of them have been airbrushed. I noticed this when I was looking at a high res photo of Faye Reagan and realized that they airbrushed out her anus. I know she doesn’t do anal, but I’m pretty sure she has an anus. Websites: please don’t doctor the photos!
The absolute bottom line? I really liked this site. PH is synonymous with stunning women and great photographers and the site carries on that tradition. PH has branched out into hardcore to follow the money, but there is a lot here for most people to like. There are models of different ages and body types and there’s hardcore, softcore and solo. And given the amount of older PH photos there’s also lots of hair for guys who remember those days. I’d definitely recommend giving PH a try. |
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03-05-12 04:30pm
Replies (14)
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Reply
2267
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N/A
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Reply of
messmer's Reply
Thanks for the comment messmer. I was concerned that good BDSM porn was being lumped in with abusive porn.
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03-05-12 04:17pm
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Reply
2268
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N/A
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Reply of
Colm4's Poll
I've seen a lot of porn and not much can really disgust me, but there are some things I prefer not to see.
First though, just a comment on the thoughts expressed about degradation and humiliation. Degradation and humiliation can be an intergral part of BDSM sex, and while most of us wouldn't think of BDSM as mainstream, those who practice it seem to enjoy it. The difference, in my opinion, it evdient in sites on the Kink.com network where degradation, humiliation, bondage and pain are applied to women who enjoy that. It's done for the sole purpose of giving THEM the pleasure they seek. This is completely different from a male performer degrading, humilating or causing pain to a female for HIS twisted pleasure. I've been a member to many Kink sites many times over and, trust me, the difference between a male giving a female pleasure through degradation and humiliation is completely different from watching some A-hole degrade a woman for his own pleasure.
Having said that, there appears to be a new niche starting in porn. It's a development of extreme anal. While I'm a big fan of anal-themed scenes, this freaks me out a bit, and maybe there's even some disgust in there too. The niche appears to go by either "rosebud porn" or the more accurate and medical term of "prolapse porn." That's exactly what it is: some of these new models that dominate the extreme-anal market can prolapse their colons at will. It's very weird and not very sexy. And maybe even a little disgusting.
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03-05-12 02:11pm
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Reply
2269
|
My Public Dreams
(0)
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Reply of
mbaya's Reply
Thanks for the comments. Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems that a lot of Nude-in-Public sites seem to drop the ball when it comes to making the material hot. There are sites that do manage it, so at least some people can figure it out.
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03-05-12 01:51pm
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Reply
2270
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N/A
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Reply of
Khan's Poll
While price is a factor, I prefer to consider it more in terms of value rather than just as a raw number. I've given high scores to expensive sites and low scores to inexpensive ones. I like to think that I explain and justify that in the body of the review.
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03-01-12 02:48pm
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Reply
2271
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N/A
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Reply of
Denner's Poll
There seems to be a greater likelihood of a European model having multiple names than an American one. That, or the model's name stops changing when there is broad name recognition. For example, Nollie became Lexi Belle, and no one is going to change her name now and risk the gravy train associated with her.
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02-28-12 04:46pm
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Review
2272
|
My Public Dreams
(0)
65.0
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| Status: |
Current Member for less than 1 month (at the time of review).
|
| Pros: |
- A relatively large site in an under-served niche
- 56 videos
- 80 photo sets
- Zips available
- Updates weekly |
| Cons: |
- Sloooow download speeds
- Doesn’t support download managers
- Not particularly titillating or erotic
- Poor camera work
- Photos are low resolution |
| Bottom Line: |
I think most members here would agree with me that for a site to be good it has to have more than just decent porn. The site needs to be easy to navigate and the material needs to be reasonably accessible. That latter part is where My Public Dream fails. In 2012 having download speeds that top out at 300kb/s doesn’t cut it, especially when the site offers some files that are getting close to 1GB in size.
The site’s premise is simple: take attractive Eastern European models and get them naked in public. Most of the scenes appear* to add some boy/girl hardcore to the mix.
I’m a big fan of this genre and one constant issue with it is that if it isn’t done right then all the heat and titillation can get lost. Unfortunately this site seems to* make this mistake. I think European public nudity sites tend to lose some heat and titillation simply because public nudity isn’t the huge taboo that it is in North America. The problem is that the public nudity can just seem common and normal. The best public nudity scenes (in my opinion) show the model as being nervous and excited at the same time while being nude in public. (As an aside, I noticed that one American NIP site, Nude in L.A. appears to be gone, at least temporarily.) My Public Dreams falls into the trap of making public nudity seem like an everyday occurrence. It might seem hard to do, but a lot of NIP (Nude in Public) sites can take an attractive and nude model and make that unerotic.
The site design is also pretty simple and basic. That’s not a bad thing though. There are tabs for updates, videos and photo sets. Once on those respective pages there is a single column of scenes that can be downloaded. For the videos, clicking the download link opens another page with the download or streaming options, while you can open the photo set for single pictures or download a zip right from the main photo page. There is no discernable search function, but it really isn’t needed either.
As of this writing there are 56 videos and 80 photo sets available. The site seems to update weekly with one photo set OR one video being added each week.
The site is modern in that they do offer multiple ways to see the videos. On the scene page there is the option to stream it there and there are download links below that. The videos are available in WMV format (codec 8) at 1280x720, 720x400 and 480x272. Mpeg files are available at 384x240. There are resolutions available for mobile devices too. I give full marks to this small site for offering HD, but keep in mind that they don’t offer any reasonable access to that material. The download speeds are so slow that it is practically impossible to download the HD material unless you’re very, very patient.
I only downloaded the 720x400 size (which still took 15+ minutes to download a 300MB file). The reported size is what you get, but subjectively they don’t look great. I noticed some pixilation. I can’t speak for the other formats or sizes, but the 720x400 plays at 25fps.
Adding to the grief of slow download speeds is that the site doesn’t seem to allow download managers. I normally use Free Download Manager to queue up scenes to be downloaded one at a time, but I couldn’t use that. I had to download within my browser, which made the download speeds even slower.
One problem with the few scenes that I did download and watch is that the camera work is poor. Like a lot of NIP sites they have to rely on a handheld camera. The camera movement is at best distracting and at worse nausea inducing. The last thing I need is for my brain to start associating naked women with the need to barf.
Photos are also available, as singles or as zips. The resolution is low though, at only 800x444. I’m not a huge photo collector, but when I collect photos I want them to be better quality than this.
For fans of the NIP niche, it can be hard to find new material so you may be tempted to join this site. There may be some excellent material here, but I didn’t find it. The slow download speeds are this site’s Achilles Heel and until that gets fixed I wouldn’t recommend a membership here.
* My apologies to anyone relying on this review to make a decision as to whether or not to buy a membership. Normally I spend a lot of time with a site and the material on it and can make definitive statements. I have to confess that I can’t do that here. I found the slow download speeds so annoying that I didn’t download a lot. I cancelled my membership pretty quickly and left disappointed. |
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02-26-12 09:01am
Replies (2)
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Reply
2273
|
N/A
|
Reply of
nadiencendia's Poll
It depends, but I think the overall trend is downward.
Recently I signed up for a couple of Kink memberships (Everything Butt and Public Disgrace). Kink is a company that I trust and I've never been disappointed. As they add niches it's easy to say that they're getting better.
But... yesterday I had a hankering for some new porn so I browsed through TBP and bought a couple of trial memberships. In both cases I was disappointed.
So the problem I've got is this: I have a list of sites that I go back to regularly and I know I'll be happy, but when I try to go beyond that list I often face disappointment.
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02-26-12 06:01am
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Reply
2274
|
Brazzers
(0)
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Reply of
pat362's Reply
Normally I wouldn't use a trial for a site like this, but Brazzers isn't a site that really interests me. I find they tend to use models with breasts and bums larger than I prefer. I stumbled on their public exhibitionism site, Asses is Public, and figured I'd download a scene or two with a more petite model but that didn't work out. Honestly, it just wouldn't be worth it for me to pay more than a trial price for this network.
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02-25-12 12:57pm
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Reply
2275
|
Brazzers
(0)
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Reply of
pat362's Reply
Crap. I wish I had read the comments and learned this too! At least I'm only out a dollar!
I'm usually a lot more careful about this, but since the TBP page confirmed the full trial recently I didn't think I was taking a risk.
And cancelling is NOT easy!
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02-25-12 09:20am
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