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Latest 3 user reviews in this niche. |
1. AEBN Video On Demand (2)
PPV |
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| Status: |
Current Member for over 1 month (at the time of review).
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| Pros: |
-Huge movie selection
-Multiple payment options (ppm, buy/rent movies, channels)
-Fewer premium titles than competitors
-Good search function |
| Cons: |
-Inconsistent scene tags (especially actors)
-No Flash Player (WMP and Silverlight only)
-Videos take longer to load
-Can be more expensive if watching lots of content (and no giveaway minutes) |
| Bottom Line: |
No site exists in a vacuum. All sites are (and should be) compared to the similar to themselves, to see what works, what doesn't, and what they could do better. While pay-per-minute sites aren't that prevalent, there are a few out there that seem to be doing well, and it's good as a consumer to compare them to each other to see which ones are more worthy of your time. This is why I started looking at AEBN after joining another PPM site, but it means that my opinions on this site are generally in comparison to another site.
The selection here is huge. Definitely bigger than any other site I've been to, and it's not even close. They have movies from every era, and from the huge feature companies all the way down to the small operations with a camera in someone's bedroom. From looking through their selection, I get the impression that if you're looking for something or someone and it was ever even mildly popular, you'll find it here. I've definitely found DVDs on this site that I haven't seen anywhere else that are made by other companies. And they even have a little of their own truly 'exclusive' content, which you won't find anywhere else (though I have found that not all the content marked as exclusive is actually exclusive). Also, from the browsing that I've done, they have less premium titles (ones that cost more than one minute per minute of viewing) than other sites, and some videos that are premium in other places aren't premium here.
Finding the specific content you want is relatively easy, but it could be easier. The search function is good, and returns not only actor and title matches, but studio matches as well. They also make it easy to browse all the movies in a series (i.e. Barely Legal), which can come in handy when you find one that you like. Tag searching works, but doesn't look very organized. My biggest gripe is that while they do a good job of listing all the actors in a movie, even though they separate the movie into different scenes, many (but not all) of the separate scenes don't have the actors tagged, so you may have watch a little of the movie to make sure that the scene you're about to watch actually features the actress you're looking for. Thankfully, they provide a short free preview for each scene so that you don't have to spend your minutes doing this, but it would be much easier if they just named the actors in each scene on the page.
The movie player works well enough, but I feel like it could definitely be improved. They offer the option of using Silverlight or Windows Media Player, and while both work well enough, I feel like it's strange that they don't have the option of using a Flash player when other sites do, and not everyone is going to have Silverlight installed. The Silverlight player works decently well enough, though it does take a while to get started, and if you pause, you have to wait for a few seconds for the video to buffer before it will start again. They have multiple bitrate choices (including the ability to watch some scenes in HD), but the highest options still don't match the quality of a high definition downloaded file.
The payment options are generally the same as the other PPM sites that I've been to, with one twist. You have the ability to pay for minutes to watch content, and you can also buy specific movies for rental or lifetime ownership. I got 30 free minutes when I signed up for the site, but so far I have found no way to add minutes without paying for them, so you'll have to start using your own money pretty quickly. They also seem to be introducing "channels", which allow you to pay a monthly fee and have unlimited access to that channel's content. Right now there are three available, two being from specific studios (Vivid and West Coast Productions), with the third being a "super pass" that, while it features a lot of movies, most of them seem to come from lower-tier DVD companies, with very little content that I had heard of before. The idea of channels does seem interesting, especially if they can get more companies signed up to offer their content through them.
I've stated before that I basically use pay-per-minute sites as something to let me preview things that I haven't seen before, to decide if I want to spend my money on them. And while AEBN does this as well as anyone else, they also cost more than anyone else to let me do so. If you're looking for/at the content here that you can't find anywhere else, it is definitely worth it, and if they can get more companies on board with having their own channels, it becomes an interesting alternative to signing up for that companies pay site (especially if the company has their own underdeveloped or difficult to use pay site instead). But, as good as it is, it still isn't my preferred pay-per-minute site. |
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2. Hot Movies (2)
PPV |
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| Status: |
Current Member for over 6 months (at the time of review).
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| Pros: |
-Large, varied selection of movies
-Most content is pretty well described/tagged
-Many different player options (quality, mobile players)
-Low cost of entry and maintenance
-Customizable Home Page |
| Cons: |
-Like other pay-per-minute sites, expensive if watching lots of content
-Videos take a little bit of time to load
-Lots of premium titles (cost more than normal) |
| Bottom Line: |
The selection of movies here is very large and very varied, stretching from the classic porn of the 70s to today, and filling a whole bunch of different niches. If your tastes run anywhere near mainstream, you're likely to find something that you like. And the site does make it easy to do so. Not only do they do the customary tagging of each movie by actors and actresses so that you can find the actors that you like, in most movies each scene has its own set of tags, covering things like the location, the sex positions, and the performers appearances. You can generally get a good idea of the content of a scene just by reading the tags, which helps you to be able to find the stuff you like without having to use a few minutes on stuff that doesn't contain what you're looking for.
As far as the technical aspects of watching the video, they're good, but it could stand to be improved. They offer three choices of how to watch the videos (Flash, Silverlight, and WMP), which should cover you no matter what operating system you're using. The video quality is good, but not great, even at ultra and mega settings. When starting a video, it generally takes somewhere around 15-30 seconds between when you see the window and when the video starts playing which is longer than most any other site I've been to. They have a mobile site that supposedly works with both iOS and Android devices, but I haven't had the opportunity to check it out yet.
Navigating the site takes a little bit of getting used to, but is easy once you have, and they have a customized home page feature that can make it very easy to get to the content you're looking for. The classic homepage does a good job of showing you the newest and most popular videos, but can be a little confusing of a starting point if you're looking for something specific, especially since the search bar isn't at the top of the screen. But with the customizable home page, you can pin specific movies or actors to your home page so that you can get to them quickly, and you can rearrange the elements on the page making the site much easier to use.
And now to the cost. The actual costs to buy minutes look to be about the same as most other PPM sites. If you're only watching a few minutes a day, it's fine, but it can get expensive quickly. Like AEBN, they have premium titles that cost more than 1 minute per minute to watch (between 1.5 and 3 minutes per minute), but they seem to have more of them, and some movies are premium here that aren't premium there. They offer the option to rent and buy movies, but the prices are along the same lines of buying/renting DVDs, which isn't much better cost-effectively. But (and this is what makes this my preferred PPM site), they offer enough deals and promos for the site that it can be very cheap to be a prolonged member. They offer 10 free minutes when you sign up, and every day they have a link on the site for a free minute or two that is easy to see. They have a rewards program that gets you points when you buy minutes that can be redeemed for rentals. And last year around the holidays they gave away a ton of free minutes and rewards points and rentals, to the point where I have never paid to add minutes from my account and I went from the original 10 free minutes to having 4 lifetime rentals and 100 minutes. Just the extra free minute or more per day alone makes me prefer it to AEBN, who offer 30 initial minutes instead of 10, but with no way of earning more without paying for it.
Coming from someone who had previously only joined subscription based web sites (pay a price per month, have access to all of the sites content), pay-per-minute sites such as this one are a little different, and a little harder for me to figure out how I should use, let alone how to review them. You have access to a lot more content than nearly every subscription site (Videobox might come close), but you have to pay for it piece by piece, which way more expensive in the long run for someone who consumes anything more than a few minutes of content per day. In the end, I found that the best way for me to use them is basically as a preview site, something secondary to other sites that I am a member of. If I want to check out the content of Elegant Angel movies before joining their website, I can stream a few minutes of a few movies to see if I like it. Or I can check out that new girl I've heard about or seen in pictures but never watched a scene of. Just that option/opportunity, in addition to the benefits of being a prolonged member, make me likely to stay a member of this site for a long period of time, even if I don't use it very often. |
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3. AEBN Video On Demand (2)
PPV |
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| Status: |
Current Member for over 1 year (at the time of review).
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| 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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