Leary about buying all movies in iTunes

[Farkie]

Hi,

First of all I would like to start by saying I love watching movies. I also love the idea of not needing media and having everything available via iDevice and Apple TV. That being said there are a few concerns I have before I fully embrace this route and was hoping someone could help me with some questions:

1. Movie selection - Its not that it is bad, there are a lot of great movies available for purchase. Just not all. Like will Star Wars ever be on iTunes? Indiana Jones is another one I really want. Also even though Green Lantern wasn't a great movie (IMO) I like super hero movies and it seems like WB doesn't like iTunes. Will this always be a challenge for Apple?

2. HD. I have a 55" LED and love HD. I notice a lot of movies are still only available in SD. Will this be corrected anytime soon?

3. Availability. If I buy a movie on iTunes, my biggest fear is that one day they may pull it away and I cant watch it. Could this happen?

Well that's about it for now. Thank you for your help!!

 

[GoCubsGo]

When you buy the content it should be "yours" forever. They can't just rip it away. I do not recall if there is a way to backup the movie purchases.

Eventually you'll see more and more 1080p movies there but fact is, for some reason, we're not there yet.

I'm not sure how I feel about buying all of my movies on iTunes because of pricing. They're charging a bit much for nothing more than a digital copy of a movie. That is an opinion.

Finally, WB wants to love iTunes and it will probably expand the selection but for now, they should have content on there. See this link from 5-2012.
http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/8/3006957/warner-brothers-1080p-movies-itunes

 

[Hammie]

Two thoughts...

1.) I equally love the HD audio portion of movies, so buying a movie from iTunes will never fit the bill, IMO. They only provide DD5.1 at most. On the same note, the compression is greater than a RAW blu-ray of "equal" 1080p video. You can see a lot of pixelation and banding on 1080p/720p iTunes movies. I see this on both my 50" and 65" Panasonic plasma HDTVs with a 100Mbps+ Internet connection and Gig-E wired local network at my house.

2.) I recently experienced an Internet outage during the middle of watching a ripped movie in my iTunes collection. The Apple TV froze up since it could no longer "call home" to authenticate with Apple. How can I enjoy movies if I have to have an Internet connection to watch them?

Just my two cents. Your requirements may vary.

 

[bearcatrp]

If you buy only itunes media, your married to itunes as no other software can view the movie. But if you dont have the capability to rip, your stuck buying from someone. As was mentioned above, if you loose internet for what ever reason, your dead in the water getting the movie.

 

[JoeBlow74]

Now, this is just me, but I never will buy movies from Itunes. Never! Why? I buy disk based movies for the HD video and the lossless DTS Master Audio, or the DolbyTrueHD sound. I did not spend $3,000 on a 65inch plasma and another $4,000 on a sound system to watch crappy low quality movies. Video and sound have come a long way since the days of black and white televisions with Beta casset players. Music on the other hand, it can be ripped into Apple lossless and played through the Apple TV just fine. If you like watching movies, spend the money and invest in a nice quality home theater set-up with some nice subwoofers. Trust me when I say this. Your small investment now will provide many years of enjoyment without having to worry if Apple will go away some day. Physical disks are the only way to go in todays market.

 

[Hammie]

Now, this is just me, but I never will buy movies from Itunes. Never! Why? I buy disk based movies for the HD video and the lossless DTS Master Audio, or the DolbyTrueHD sound. I did not spend $3,000 on a 65inch plasma and another $4,000 on a sound system to watch crappy low quality movies. Video and sound have come a long way since the days of black and white televisions with Beta casset players. Music on the other hand, it can be ripped into Apple lossless and played through the Apple TV just fine. If you like watching movies, spend the money and invest in a nice quality home theater set-up with some nice subwoofers. Trust me when I say this. Your small investment now will provide many years of enjoyment without having to worry if Apple will go away some day. Physical disks are the only way to go in todays market.

I've purchased a couple kids movies and a few hard to find on DVD/blu-ray movies, but I agree with you 100%. I have invested too much into my home theater (far more than you I am afraid... ) to deal with the substandard quality from a downloaded movie.

 

[musicpenguy]

I've converted entirely to buying movies on iTunes.

I live in a very mobile world - I move around alot and try to keep all of my possessions into a single duffle bag I can bring with me on trips. I once was a huge DVD collector, but now am loving the fact that I can buy things in iTunes and download or stream them to my devices.

iTunes in the Cloud is what changed the game for me. Prior to that coming I did not buy anything in iTunes (I know I'm gonna loose files over time).

So yea I trust the Apple ecosystem and am loving building out my movie collection in iTunes. There are weekly sales of movies and I pick up a couple of titles every week at a good price - many at 5 bucks for SD comedies that I don't care if they are in HD for, and several 10 buck HD ones.

I think it is a good solution that will work with many people - you just have to embrace it - if you live in a big comfy home and aren't moving around as much I can see why you like the discs - for me it is less hassle and no worry buying - no worry about files being lost, discs scratched, fires etc.

Anyways my 2 cents.

 

[Diode]

Another option is buying blu-rays that include iTunes digital downloads. That way you have the best of both worlds.

 

[Zeke D]

When I buy (I will admit it is infrequent) I usually purchase a BR/DVD/digital copy edition. I watch the BR on my main home theatre system, I rip the DVD to m4v with hand brake and download the iTunes on my G5 (ill stream it to my ATV) Usually there isn't much difference in price or the disc...

 

[mmomega]

All of my movie purchases are digital now, and I'm so glad, with as many movies as this family buys we would have to have an entire room set aside just for storing DVD/CD/BluRay cases.

As long it is of an HD quality of some sorts, I'm not that picky, I remember the quality of TV 30 years ago compared to what we have now.

 

[spacepower7]

Now, this is just me, but I never will buy movies from Itunes. Never! Why? I buy disk based movies for the HD video and the lossless DTS Master Audio, or the DolbyTrueHD sound. I did not spend $3,000 on a 65inch plasma and another $4,000 on a sound system to watch crappy low quality movies. Video and sound have come a long way since the days of black and white televisions with Beta casset players. Music on the other hand, it can be ripped into Apple lossless and played through the Apple TV just fine. If you like watching movies, spend the money and invest in a nice quality home theater set-up with some nice subwoofers. Trust me when I say this. Your small investment now will provide many years of enjoyment without having to worry if Apple will go away some day. Physical disks are the only way to go in todays market.

Not to pick on you but to bring up a ranting of my own. you=any reader

When's the last time you had your hearing checked? Did it include frequency as well as spatial perception?

Have you ever had a scientific visual acuity test? I have, and while I did much above average, I wasn't gifted.

I understand video compression since I have been dealing with it on Avid and Media100 systems since the 1990's, and FCP since 1.0

All science a side, if the plot and acting are good enough, you pay attention to the film, not the tech specs. If the compression bothers you enough, the plot and acting aren't enough to immerse the viewers and you probably should not waste your time watching the film.

I'll take a good 480p film with a good story, blown up to an 80 foot screen in theater, compared to the latest crap film somewhere else.

Rant over

 

[brentsg]

I'll take a good 480p film with a good story, blown up to an 80 foot screen in theater, compared to the latest crap film somewhere else.

Rant over

I guess I don't understand your rant. There is no need to choose between a good movie and a top notch presentation, we can easily have both.

There is also no need to quantify one's enjoyment with testing. If someone enjoys the expensive setup then that's enough. Even if you can't drive 200mph on the way to work, owning a Ferarri is still a lot of fun.

At the end if the day the only significant advantage to iTunes media is that it doesn't take up space on a shelf.

 

[JoeBlow74]

Not to pick on you but to bring up a ranting of my own. you=any reader

When's the last time you had your hearing checked? Did it include frequency as well as spatial perception?

Have you ever had a scientific visual acuity test? I have, and while I did much above average, I wasn't gifted.

I understand video compression since I have been dealing with it on Avid and Media100 systems since the 1990's, and FCP since 1.0

All science a side, if the plot and acting are good enough, you pay attention to the film, not the tech specs. If the compression bothers you enough, the plot and acting aren't enough to immerse the viewers and you probably should not waste your time watching the film.

I'll take a good 480p film with a good story, blown up to an 80 foot screen in theater, compared to the latest crap film somewhere else.

Rant over

You are correct, some older 480i/p movies look good on a 65inch plasma, some do not. It all depends on how the film was shot and by what equipment. It also depends on how the TV upscales that 480i stream. Some TV's do better than others. I agree. But, I would take a loosless bitstream or PCM uncompressed stream with a HD quality video signal over a low quality Itunes stream anyday. I mean Streaming is only as good as your internet connection. You will never get high quality video or audio streaming from the net. Every ISP is using some form of network management to restrict or slow down data streams to allow their network to flow better. You and I have no control over this. Yes, some of the newer movies are complete garbage in my mind. Take John Carter as a perfect example. Horrible, simply horrible. Sure, it was eye candy and the sound was meh!...but the story was garbage. I would even take an old black and white movie with mono sound over some of the garbage Hollywwod is releasing.

 

[26139]

Me too

I've converted entirely to buying movies on iTunes.

I live in a very mobile world - I move around alot and try to keep all of my possessions into a single duffle bag I can bring with me on trips. I once was a huge DVD collector, but now am loving the fact that I can buy things in iTunes and download or stream them to my devices.

iTunes in the Cloud is what changed the game for me. Prior to that coming I did not buy anything in iTunes (I know I'm gonna loose files over time).

So yea I trust the Apple ecosystem and am loving building out my movie collection in iTunes. There are weekly sales of movies and I pick up a couple of titles every week at a good price - many at 5 bucks for SD comedies that I don't care if they are in HD for, and several 10 buck HD ones.

I think it is a good solution that will work with many people - you just have to embrace it - if you live in a big comfy home and aren't moving around as much I can see why you like the discs - for me it is less hassle and no worry buying - no worry about files being lost, discs scratched, fires etc.

Anyways my 2 cents.

Same here. I have a 42" LED, but no cool sound system or real need for one. For anyone with a home, I get the issue with wanting 1080p, 5.1 sound, etc., but for everyone that doesn't have a kick-ass setup, either buying from Apple or ripping into iTunes is far more practical.

 

[arbogast777]

For the sake of nothing for than playing devil's advocate - is there really a ton of value in owning movies anymore?

Pretty much everything is available at our fingertips nowadays. And if you figure $3.99 for an HD catalog rental and $19.99 for a purchase, you'd have to watch a movie 5 times before purchasing would have been more economical than just renting it. Back in the day when the only thing you could rent was what Blockbuster carried, there were all kinds of titles that you had to purchase if you wanted to see them. But not any more.

I would say everybody is going to have about a dozen titles that they honestly watch enough to justify a purchase, but there's just so much content out there to watch if not free then very cheaply that I just don't feel the same draw to own that I used to. On my Apple TV I have my iTunes Watch List set up of all the movies I might want to see (including all my favorites I've seen) and that acts as my collection of sorts.

One thing I like about renting as well is it keeps you free of an ecosystem. If you don't have a ton a money tied up in one you feel free to move to something else if you wish. Amazon comes up with a new Kindle or set-top box you like better than what Apple has? You won't feel torn about leaving your purchased movies on iTunes behind.

 

[mic j]

For the sake of nothing for than playing devil's advocate - is there really a ton of value in owning movies anymore?

Pretty much everything is available at our fingertips nowadays. And if you figure $3.99 for an HD catalog rental and $19.99 for a purchase, you'd have to watch a movie 5 times before purchasing would have been more economical than just renting it. Back in the day when the only thing you could rent was what Blockbuster carried, there were all kinds of titles that you had to purchase if you wanted to see them. But not any more.

I would say everybody is going to have about a dozen titles that they honestly watch enough to justify a purchase, but there's just so much content out there to watch if not free then very cheaply that I just don't feel the same draw to own that I used to. On my Apple TV I have my iTunes Watch List set up of all the movies I might want to see (including all my favorites I've seen) and that acts as my collection of sorts.

One thing I like about renting as well is it keeps you free of an ecosystem. If you don't have a ton a money tied up in one you feel free to move to something else if you wish. Amazon comes up with a new Kindle or set-top box you like better than what Apple has? You won't feel torn about leaving your purchased movies on iTunes behind.

Hoarders like to OWN not RENT!!!

 

[26139]

Yep

For the sake of nothing for than playing devil's advocate - is there really a ton of value in owning movies anymore?

Pretty much everything is available at our fingertips nowadays. And if you figure $3.99 for an HD catalog rental and $19.99 for a purchase, you'd have to watch a movie 5 times before purchasing would have been more economical than just renting it. Back in the day when the only thing you could rent was what Blockbuster carried, there were all kinds of titles that you had to purchase if you wanted to see them. But not any more.

I would say everybody is going to have about a dozen titles that they honestly watch enough to justify a purchase, but there's just so much content out there to watch if not free then very cheaply that I just don't feel the same draw to own that I used to. On my Apple TV I have my iTunes Watch List set up of all the movies I might want to see (including all my favorites I've seen) and that acts as my collection of sorts.

One thing I like about renting as well is it keeps you free of an ecosystem. If you don't have a ton a money tied up in one you feel free to move to something else if you wish. Amazon comes up with a new Kindle or set-top box you like better than what Apple has? You won't feel torn about leaving your purchased movies on iTunes behind.

You make an excellent point. There are really only 20-25 ish movies that I watch repeatedly, seems pointless to own any more.

 

[d21mike]

For the sake of nothing for than playing devil's advocate - is there really a ton of value in owning movies anymore?

Pretty much everything is available at our fingertips nowadays. And if you figure $3.99 for an HD catalog rental and $19.99 for a purchase, you'd have to watch a movie 5 times before purchasing would have been more economical than just renting it. Back in the day when the only thing you could rent was what Blockbuster carried, there were all kinds of titles that you had to purchase if you wanted to see them. But not any more.

I would say everybody is going to have about a dozen titles that they honestly watch enough to justify a purchase, but there's just so much content out there to watch if not free then very cheaply that I just don't feel the same draw to own that I used to. On my Apple TV I have my iTunes Watch List set up of all the movies I might want to see (including all my favorites I've seen) and that acts as my collection of sorts.

One thing I like about renting as well is it keeps you free of an ecosystem. If you don't have a ton a money tied up in one you feel free to move to something else if you wish. Amazon comes up with a new Kindle or set-top box you like better than what Apple has? You won't feel torn about leaving your purchased movies on iTunes behind.

A number of years ago I converted 180 DVD SD Quality Movies so I could watch them on my AppleTV and iOS Devices. I really only watched about 10 of them on a regular basis and mainly when traveling on my iPad. I now have Netflix or I just rent in HD so I no longer need the 180 movie library. However, I do really like about 10 of them so I bought them on iTunes and downloaded at 1080p. Now I have my most favorite movies on my trips. Really hard to stream movies on an Airplane but I guess that is coming as well.

 

[Rigby]

However, I do really like about 10 of them so I bought them on iTunes and downloaded at 1080p. Now I have my most favorite movies on my trips. Really hard to stream movies on an Airplane but I guess that is coming as well.

Just as a tip: You can download *rented* movies as well from iTunes and take them with you when traveling. You have 30 days to start watching, and then 24 hours to finish. I do this all the time on long flights.

 

[d21mike]

Just as a tip: You can download *rented* movies as well from iTunes and take them with you when traveling. You have 30 days to start watching, and then 24 hours to finish. I do this all the time on long flights.

Good Tip. Never thought about doing that.

 

[ChristianVirtual]

I have concerns once you move countries and need to make a new Apple ID or switch the country in your account. For music in iTunes Plus (w/o DRM) no deal but movies can't be shown. They are linked to your country (I guess due to license reason). There was here some day ago a poor guy who moved from US to Asia and got his US account locked because used fro outside US. So it add some risk.

If you have no plan to move (EVER) iTunes will save you lots space on DVD and ripping time.

 

[musicpenguy]

For the sake of nothing for than playing devil's advocate - is there really a ton of value in owning movies anymore?

Pretty much everything is available at our fingertips nowadays. And if you figure $3.99 for an HD catalog rental and $19.99 for a purchase, you'd have to watch a movie 5 times before purchasing would have been more economical than just renting it. Back in the day when the only thing you could rent was what Blockbuster carried, there were all kinds of titles that you had to purchase if you wanted to see them. But not any more.

I would say everybody is going to have about a dozen titles that they honestly watch enough to justify a purchase, but there's just so much content out there to watch if not free then very cheaply that I just don't feel the same draw to own that I used to. On my Apple TV I have my iTunes Watch List set up of all the movies I might want to see (including all my favorites I've seen) and that acts as my collection of sorts.

One thing I like about renting as well is it keeps you free of an ecosystem. If you don't have a ton a money tied up in one you feel free to move to something else if you wish. Amazon comes up with a new Kindle or set-top box you like better than what Apple has? You won't feel torn about leaving your purchased movies on iTunes behind.

I hate to rent because I am one of those guys that rewatch movies several times 10x or more - I also tend to buy the majority of my movies when they are on sale with HDs at 10 bucks or SDs at 5 bucks - I do buy some of my favorite films at the 20 buck price tag, but the majority are the lower cost ones.

 

[pjarvi]

1.) Selection - I currently have 300 movies bought from iTunes, no problems with selection really. Everything new gets released on iTunes and old movies keep getting added all the time. Some studios do some stupid things like make some movies available for rental only, but eventually they make them available to buy as well. Disney is the biggest headache regarding rent vs. buy.

2.) HD - Still a problem, many movies are rental only for the HD version. Out of 300 movies in my collection, only 29 are HD (~10%).

3.) Long term support - There are already 3rd party programs that can screen capture what you're playing and re-encode in non-DRM formats. Apple's DRM has been hacked before and will ultimately be hacked fully in the long run. If Apple pulled support, it would just give more hackers reason to work on cracking it. Not to mention, everyone loves to sue Apple for the littlest of reasons.

If I wasn't already invested into their system, I would just buy DVD & Blu-rays and rip the content myself, I like the time savings from just buying digital though. I do still rip the occasional title that is not available anywhere digitally, and even capture some VHS movies that time forgot.

 

[Wolffie]

Half deaf, half blind

I have a 42" flat screen, no additional sound equipment
I rip from DVD's because I hate the wasted shelf space.

Indian Jones is coming to iTunes this Tuesday, same day release on Blu-Ray

 

[Madmic23]

I don't buy a lot of movies, but when I do, I always try to purchas the BluRay with the iTunes digital copy. It really is the best of both worlds, as I can watch the movie on my nice HD setup in the basement on BluRay, or stream it to the bedroom tv from the cloud.