I've been using Amazon Unbox to watch both Bionic Woman and Heroes. Here's what I think.
First, what I like about it. I like that I can download a show to any machine with the software on it (that I've logged in on). This means I can be at work, and tell Amazon to download the show to my desktop at home. That way it can be waiting for me. That's pretty cool.
I also like that it doesn't use a proprietary file format. Unlike iTunes, Unbox's files are in WMV format, so I can use most any file player to watch them. This means that I can use the Media Center (included in Vista), which is better than Amazon's player in part because my remote works with media center.
For those who need this sort of thing, you can also download a version of the video file designed for portable players. I don't have (nor do I really want) a portable video player, so I haven't tested the quality or anything. But it's great that you can do that.
It works with TiVo. I don't have one, but a lot of people do, and you can set you Unbox download to go right to your TiVo. That's awesome.
Finally, I like their pricing model. On iTunes, if you bought a season of a show, you were locked in, and you paid all at once. On Unbox, you pay when the show is released on Unbox. Not only that, but I'm pretty sure you can cancel your season subscription at any time. If you do subscribe for a season, you get a discount: with my two shows, it's $1.89 instead of $1.99 per show.
There are only two things I don't or didn't like about Unbox. First, the video quality in the beginning was pretty poor. It seemed very pixellated. I haven't noticed this lately, so maybe that's been fixed. Second, I really wish I could set it to automatically download to my chosen machine rather than going to the website. It's a small thing, though, and just a slight inconvenience--not a deal-breaker.
If you think it's obscene to pay cable companies a subscription rate for a load of crap, as I do, Amazon Unbox is a solid option. This is especially true if you're in a situation where your computer is a comfortable viewing machine, or you have a TiVo.
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