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Site - Score |
Feedback / Review |
Date |
Reply
2751
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VideoBox
(0)
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Reply of
elephant's Reply
I wish I had the answer on costs for you, but in all the comments and reviews it seems no one, including myself, ever noted that. But some of the more recent information there does suggest that the pro-rated pricing for the add-ons is still in effect, which means that you can control what you pay provided you cancel your main membership after a month. If you're confident that you can get all the Kink scenes you want in a few days then sign up to Kink with three or four days left on your VB membership and you'll only be charged for those few days remaining. But if you forget to cancel you'll be charged full price for both VB and the add-on at the start of the next monthly billing cycle.
I don't remember what the file resolutions were either, but I can say that I have since deleted all of them. I'm guessing 540x480 or somewhere around there.
I agree with you that it would be a great idea for Kink to offer some 'buffet' kind of membership where a member could access a specific number of scenes across all their sites for a set fee. One thing about Kink though, is that if you join one site you get a discounted price to the others. But that's still an expensive proposition. Kink does offer some form of pay-per-scene but I don't know how much it is per scene. If you're really only interested in a few scenes that may be a cost-effective way to get HD scenes at a reasonable price.
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06-24-14 01:14pm
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Reply
2752
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VideoBox
(0)
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Reply of
elephant's Comment
I don't have the answer for you, but the last time I was a member there the add-on 'channels' were pro-rated to the remaining length of your first month. So if you joined VB on July 1 and also joined the Kink channel on July 1 you paid the full price. But if you waited and joined Kink on July 20 you were only charged for the one-third of the month that you used. That was valuable if you were only staying a month. Subsequent months you'd be billed full cost for both VB and the Kink channel.
One major caveat, VB really seems to have changed their business model. They don't seem as transparent as they once were and they could have changed the billing practices for the channels.
One advantage though is that the Kink channel gives you access to shoots from several different Kink sites so you can get samples from a lot for a lot less money. The biggest disadvantage is that the file resolutions on the Kink channel are far lower than what you can get on an actual Kink site.
I hope this helps.
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06-23-14 05:32pm
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Reply
2753
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VideoBox
(0)
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Reply of
EverNight's Review
This is an excellent review of what is probably one of the most popular sites here at PU. I was a member there for five years straight and then dropped that in favour of going back two or three times a year to get some updates but I think the last time I joined was the last time I'll ever join. As you point out, the video quality is far below standard for 2014. It was sufficient back in 2008, but definitely not now.
My current view is that they need to change their business model and focus more on quality rather than quantity. The last time I joined I found I could go days without finding something that I liked. And their over-reliance of compilations bugged me too. They really need to drop the five uploads a day and make it one high-quality one. And they need better file resolutions.
The other thing I noticed is that they've stopped the practice of allowing prospective members to see everything before joining. I have no idea why they changed that since it now seems like they're hiding something.
Having ranted all of that, I'd still recommend this site for someone who is tired of tube sites and wants a good value.
Sorry for the bit of a rant...!
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02-08-14 06:31am
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Reply
2754
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VideoBox
(0)
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Reply of
Cybertoad's Reply
Thanks for the reply Cybertoad. That seals the deal for me: with resolutions that low in 2014 I won't be back.
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01-11-14 10:00am
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Reply
2755
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VideoBox
(0)
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Reply of
Cybertoad's Review
Welcome back cybertoad.
I used to subscribe to VB at least twice a year and usually three times a year but haven't for a while and likely won't again. For me the problem is file resolution. Can you advise if they still upload four videos per day at fairly low resolution and then one "HD" and medium resolution? TBP reports the resolution as 720x576 for the majority of the videos, which is pretty low by today's standards. Is that still the normal resolution?
Another thing that bugs me now is how there are no tour options. Up until a year or so ago you could see everything they had but now, as you know, there is no tour at all.
VB used to be one of the best sites on the internet. How the mighty have fallen!
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01-11-14 06:16am
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Reply
2756
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VideoBox
(0)
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Reply of
Laptopbs's Comment
How the mighty have fallen!
VB was a site that I rejoined several times per year. Actually I was a member there continuously for probably four years. But I think I may have joined for the last time a few months ago. While I didn't notice the number of broken links that you report, what got me was the low quality of the videos. Most of the videos are uploaded in the same resolutions that were being used years ago. The rest of the industry has improved but VB seems to rely on quantity rather than quality.
(As an aside, I re-downloaded all the "Kelly the Coed" series that VB has available. I did this to get the MP4 files to replace the WMVs I had downloaded earlier. The problem is that most of the MP4 files are dubbed versions with different languages. Some sound like German, others sound an Asian language. That's poor quality control, but that's VB these days.)
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10-10-13 01:29pm
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Reply
2757
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VideoBox
(0)
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Reply of
jberryl69's Comment
The inability to preview anything is a big flaw and whoever made that decision at VB should be tarred and feathered. I always used VB as an example of how to make a site user-friendly and allow a prospective customer to see everything that was available. This is bad news.
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07-19-13 12:04pm
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Reply
2758
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VideoBox
(0)
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Reply of
hodayathink's Reply
Good point on a possible source of material for them.
I discovered something that I thought was odd about the site. I'm going through there and replacing some of my favourite scenes that I had downloaded as lower-res wmvs with the best resolution H.264 on offer and I noticed that Burning Angel studio gave VB almost everything in HD whereas other studios have nothing in HD. I assumed that VB licenced the material and decided how to upload it, but it may be that they're licence is a lot more restrictive.
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03-09-13 04:56am
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Reply
2759
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VideoBox
(0)
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Reply of
messmer's Reply
It sounds like you and I are on the same path - now that we've taken the plunge into HD there is no going back.
I agree that if your tastes are for mature women this isn't the site for you as a frequent rejoin or as a long-term member: the updates you're interested in just aren't that frequent and they are rarely in HD. You're right though that my tastes make this a better deal. But the reality of porn is that my tastes are just better served by the market anyway. I do have a few niches that aren't well served so I can empathize with you in your search for good quality porn with mature models even if I don't share that specific interest.
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03-09-13 04:52am
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Reply
2760
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VideoBox
(0)
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Reply of
hodayathink's Reply
I agree - VB is trapped in a cycle that they probably don't want to break out of, namely the need for five updates per day. With a $12 per month membership that limits them. But I'm assuming that at any given time VB must have thousands of members so it must still be lucrative for them - and I don't begrudge them for that. They provide a decent product for a low price.
But... I'm sure I'm not alone is saying that I'd stand by them if they went to one or two good quality updates per day. I think they could get away with that due to the huge size they've already built up.
I do think you've probably hit on a big part of the problem in that major studios might be reluctant to licence titles to them as that might divert traffic away from the studio's own site.
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03-07-13 01:27pm
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Reply
2761
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VideoBox
(0)
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Reply of
messmer's Reply
Thanks for the comments - and for correcting my error. They do upload 5 videos per day. I agree that if you have a specific niche you like you're better off going to sites that cater to that niche rather than relying on VB. The lack of anything above 640x480 on 80% of the uploads is a real drawback.
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03-07-13 01:21pm
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Review
2762
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VideoBox
(0)
90.0
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| Status: |
Current Member for less than 1 month (at the time of review).
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| Pros: |
- 15,000+ DVDs
- Hundreds of Studios
- Incredible value
- Many popular niches served well
- Access to some hard-to-find titles |
| Cons: |
- Too much reliance on compilations
- File quality hasn’t kept up with industry standards |
| Bottom Line: |
I’m not sure if there is enough new here to qualify as a review rather than a comment, but I can’t pare down what I wrote to fit the comment section. Please be gentle if you scold me – I admit to being pretty long-winded here at PU.
VB is huge and continues to add four new DVDs per day. When you add the low monthly fee, the fact that they allow download managers and put no restrictions on downloads the site is an incredible value. People who prefer stolen porn over paying a low fee for a massive collection of virus-free porn must just enjoy stealing stuff.
Because of their size they tend to offer a lot of niche material. Take ‘classics’ for example. I wouldn’t consider VB a ‘classics’ site because proportionally there aren’t that many, but in terms of raw numbers there are probably more classic titles here than on some specific niche sites. Same with a lot of other niches like BDSM and peeing.
This subjective, but I really like that VB is adding a lot more titles from Diabolic, Anabolic and JM Productions. These are hard to find as legal downloads so seeing them here is great. They’re all great studios, though JM is likely an acquired taste.
Now on to the bad news:
I think the old phrase “jack of all trades, master of none” probably applies here. This is just my opinion, but I think that VB stresses quantity over quality as a lot of their uploads are pretty crappy. Yes, I realize that there may be a lot of people out there who like grade-C European porn and that they probably get mad when a title from a big American or European studio with good production values and known models is posted. So I won’t harp on the fact that a lot of the uploads are low-grade titles.
I do think a valid criticism is the number of compilations they upload. I get the concept of compilations and I used to buy a lot of compilation VHS tapes and DVDs when that’s how I got porn. That made sense. If I wanted a bunch of scenes with models in schoolgirl outfits doing anal I could but eight titles with one scene each in them or buy one compilation. That was an easy decision to make in those days. But that model doesn’t apply to the current download concept. If all I want are those scenes with youthful models in anal scenes then I can just download it the first time it gets uploaded and I have it. I don’t need it reposted a second, third or fourth time. The good news is that there are usually other members who post comments to identify that the scene is a repost. The bad news is that in some cases the scene might have been posted a half-dozen times, sometimes are recently as a day or two prior. The problem, in my opinion, lies in the decision to buy material from studios whose sole business model is to package compilations FROM STUDIOS THAT VB ALREADY BUYS MATERIAL FROM. I don’t see why VB buys titles from studios like Pandemonium when all that studio has to offer is material that is already posted on the site. The cynic in me figures that VB does this in the relentless push to upload four titles per day.
My biggest complaint about the site is something that I’ve just recently discovered. About six months ago I made a decision that many of you had made long before that: life is too short for low-res porn. I have no data cap from my ISP, external harddrives are relatively cheap and getting cheaper per GB so I download better quality scenes now than I would have even a year ago. But here’s the problem with VB: they haven’t expanded their download options in years. The highest resolution they offer now in 75% of their files is 640x480 and that’s the same that they offered back in 2005 when they started. Yes, I know they offer one HD DVD per day (on rare occasions they offer more than one HD per day) but that still leaves 75% of their titles with download options that fall short of industry standards. I realize that with a lot of older titles they are dealing with lower quality video to start, but they should still offer better choices than they currently do.
I usually add some of the extra ‘channels’ with my VB memberships but I’m not sure I will this time as the ones I do add – Evil Angel, Vivid and Kink – all offer HD on their own sites while most of the uploads on the channels offer nothing higher than the same 640x480. (I should add that Elegant Angel offers about half of the titles on their channel in HD but Evil Angel and Vivid offer none in HD.) One great thing about the channels is that the price is still pro-rated in your first month. There is one Vivid title that I really want so I can wait until the last days of my membership and add it for a low cost.
Even with its flaws, I have to admit that VB is still an amazing value. Whether you’re joining for the first time or the 20th time, you can’t deny that they offer a lot of porn for a low price. As much as I complain, VB will remain in a constant rotation through my memberships for the foreseeable future. |
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03-05-13 02:45pm
Replies (9)
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Reply
2763
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VideoBox
(0)
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Reply of
marcdc1's Reply
No roku for me. I'm old school!
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03-01-13 06:55am
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Reply
2764
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VideoBox
(0)
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Reply of
Dracula's Review
I definitely agree with your bottom line. I'm pretty open about my porn habits and people sometimes ask me for recommendations. VB is always my first recommendation. I can't see why anyone would risk viruses and promote piracy by using a tube site when VB exists and costs so little for the overall value.
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03-01-13 04:33am
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Reply
2765
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VideoBox
(0)
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Reply of
Goldfish's Comment
I always go straight to VB2 to avoid a lot of the gimmicks in VB3. My concern about this is that it would probably hog a lot of bandwidth for stuff you likely don't want to see. Is that the case?
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09-17-12 09:16am
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Reply
2766
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VideoBox
(0)
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Reply of
pat362's Reply
I think we're mostly in agreement. I have to have the sound off a lot of times for 'strategic' reasons. But when I am able to listen to the sound too I prefer no music at all. I'm so used to no music in much of what I watch that it seems obtrusive when it is there - even if it is subtle.
One possible exception is the original music that X-Art uses. I don't necessarily like it, but I will admit that it adds to the mood that the site is trying to create.
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09-05-12 04:11am
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Reply
2767
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VideoBox
(0)
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Reply of
pat362's Reply
I didn't, but I do watch a lot with the sound off too so I'd be less inclined to notice that.
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09-04-12 05:15pm
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Reply
2768
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VideoBox
(0)
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Reply of
pat362's Review
Great review pat. Regarding your comment that you might be in the minority since you don't find VB all that great, I think you're both right and wrong. As you say, VB is an excellent site for someone who is just starting to collect porn so you'd be in the minority among most people. But here at PU, I suspect that you're in the majority. I like VB and I'll keep going back, but I really wish they'd make it a better site and concentrate more on quality than quantity.
I also strong agree with you that it is frustrating that studios on VB don't make more of their catalogue available.
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09-03-12 05:01pm
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Reply
2769
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VideoBox
(0)
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Reply of
messmer's Reply
Thanks for the tip messmer. I'll definitely check this out.
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08-18-12 10:19am
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Reply
2770
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VideoBox
(0)
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Reply of
messmer's Reply
I've tried mp4s and I agree with you on their quality. My beef with that format is that I really don't like the players. I've tried Quicktime and VLC and I don't like either of those. But with wmv HD getting more rare, I suspect I'll have to jump ship soon...
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08-18-12 08:31am
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Reply
2771
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VideoBox
(0)
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Reply of
whowho's Comment
I definitely agree - downloading the HD isn't any realy advantage over the next lower resolution. I don't have any technical knowledge to offer a suggestion as to why, but it does seem odd that some sites have lower resolutions that look better than higher resolution files on another site.
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08-15-12 06:05pm
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Reply
2772
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VideoBox
(0)
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Reply of
Monahan's Reply
I should probably point out that the problems I had (they seem to be fixed now) seemed to be mostly associated with VB3 and the add-on channels that require VB3.
And I sure agree with you on the content issues. I stand by my position that VB could improve by offering one or two good updates per day rather than five crappy ones. And the constant use of repackaged and reposted scenes in a major annoyance. The only good news is that the other users will usually point out a repost.
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08-06-12 09:39am
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Reply
2773
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VideoBox
(0)
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Reply of
mike11w's Comment
I've found VB a little unstable for the past couple of days. It seems to take pages long to load. I've also had links die on me which I've never seen with VB. But I wouldn't go so far as to denigrate the whole site for a couple of technical glitches. I'm sure they get any problems fixed soon.
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08-03-12 01:05pm
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Reply
2774
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VideoBox
(0)
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Reply of
xexbot's Reply
I agree. I've recommended it to several people and know of at least one who tried it. He's a recurring member now too. It's like having access to a well-stocked adult video store.
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07-20-12 08:52am
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Reply
2775
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VideoBox
(0)
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Reply of
slutty's Reply
Yes - American Vice. That's the site I was thinking of. That was a great site and I'm sorry it closed.
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07-18-12 03:46pm
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