Every now and then a new technology comes along which is truly revolutionary. Fire for example, the wheel, the light bulb, the airplane and most recently the Internet. The Internet ushered in the information era which has created a true paradigm shift in how we shop, communicate, conduct business and entertain ourselves.

Vudu is a company that looks to push the envelope of Internet based entertainment beyond mere You Tube and JibJab video clips. Their product unites Internet connectivity with your high-def television to offer instant streaming of their 10,000+ movie titles, in full 1080p resolution. The Vudu BX100, or Box for short is their most affordable product and comes with everything the average consumer could ever want for a very reasonable price of $299. It includes the small black box, the most ergonomic remote ever created and all the cables one could possibly need to hook it up.

Connect the box to a broadband Internet connection and your TV, then turn it on. Voila, you are ready to browse more than 10,000 movie and television titles and instantly watch them. Movie rentals range in cost from $0.99 to $3.99 for standard definition movies and from $3.99 to $5.99 for high def versions. Once purchased you can begin watching immediately or wait to watch it later. The rental is good for a full 24 hour period and you can watch it as many times as you wish. If you like you can also purchase the movies which reside permanently on your Vudu box. Keep in mind that there is no contract to sign either. You only pay when you watch a movie. Your account is activated when you go to the Vudu website and enter a credit card number for billing.

Once you are ready to watch a movie you go to the Vudu video store which appears on your television. You can sort their library by latest release, most popular, highest rated, or any number of other metrics which Vudu incorporates to help you find a good movie. If you know exactly what you're after just type in the name and off you go. It's ingeniously simple and powerful.

Once you click play the movie begins instantly. There is no delay, none. I was especially impressed by this considering I was watching a high def presentation. At first I thought that the picture quality must suffer in order to allow for such a quick stream but I was mistaken. It looked, and sounded every bit as good as my Blu-ray player.

This product is an absolute must for all of those who dread the local movie rental store and find it too inconvenient to wait a day for your movie to come in the mail.

High Points
- This unit is extremely simple to setup and use. The remote control is completely intuitive so don't even bother reading the instructions as there is no reason to.
- I was amazed at how quickly I could begin watching the movie that I just rented. There is just no way that I should be able to stream a 1080p movie quicker than I can download a .pdf file.
- The user interface was one of the best I have ever seen. It's as if I was walking through a movie store picking up boxes off the self and reading the information on the back. What's best is that everything was in stock and I didn't have to wait in line to check out.
- The picture and sound quality was absolutely first rate. I cannot think of a single aspect in which my Blu-ray player performed better than the Vudu machine.

Low Points
- I would like to be able to access movies that I rented or purchased at different locations. For example if you bought a movie and downloaded it to the Vudu box at your home, then decided you wanted to watch it on the Vudu box at your lake house you would have to either pay for it again or take the box with you. I feel that it should be accessible from any location.
- I once had a frustrating experience with the 24 hour rental policy in that I started watching a movie and had to pause it until I could finish it up the following day. I resumed my viewing the following day only to have it turn off with about 20 minutes left in the movie. Apparently my 24 hour period ran out before I had a chance to finish the movie. I think you should be allowed to finish the movie if it was resumed within the rental period.

Conclusion
This is a fantastic product and one that I did not want to return. It completely changed the way my wife and I watched movies. It easily one of the most convenient devices I have ever used and found myself making more time for movie watching. I can highly recommend the Vudu box to anyone who is a movie buff and values their time enough to avoid the rental store.