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I have just started ripping all my DVDs (~500) to a 4 TB RAID 1+0 using a somewhat automated workflow as described in this Handbrake forum post.

I am thinking about buying a Blu-ray drive I can use to rip my BRDs. Any recommendations? I'm looking at some of those found at OWC.
 
Not everybody takes that route
In fact, I have never torrented anything

Netflix for me

I'm the same as you are. I don't torrent anything, every movie I have I own (300+ so far). I also own every piece of software I run.

I guess that's part of being older; to me, torrenting anything isn't worth the time. Sure I can, but seriously, why? The time it takes me to get the torrent, download it, then convert it; I've watched it on BluRay or DVD. Now, one could argue that I have to go buy the disc, but that often happens when I'm at the store anyway for something else. I don't make trips just for a movie. And with RedBox I get a ton of stuff when doing grocery shopping.

I need to start ripping all my DVD's and putting in iTunes for the AppleTV -- just I don't have the time to even do that. My life is just too busy to waste time doing something to save $10 to $20.
 
I'm the same as you are. I don't torrent anything, every movie I have I own (300+ so far). I also own every piece of software I run.

I guess that's part of being older; to me, torrenting anything isn't worth the time. Sure I can, but seriously, why? The time it takes me to get the torrent, download it, then convert it; I've watched it on BluRay or DVD. Now, one could argue that I have to go buy the disc, but that often happens when I'm at the store anyway for something else. I don't make trips just for a movie. And with RedBox I get a ton of stuff when doing grocery shopping.

I need to start ripping all my DVD's and putting in iTunes for the AppleTV -- just I don't have the time to even do that. My life is just too busy to waste time doing something to save $10 to $20.

While I don't like doing this, there are many reasons that apply to me:
  • I want to have an electronic copy of my movies in high quality
  • I want to have the original sound and not the German one :)
  • I want to watch movies that have just got released and are still not available on Bluray.

Before someone says that it isn't ethical to download movies like that, I can tell you that I do buy the movies I really like in Bluray format. I have more than 50 Bluray movies and more than 2000 DVDs (original DVDs that I bought).
If I had a service here in Germany that can offer me a solution to all of the above, I would love to use it and pay for it. Unfortunately there is nothing.
 
1. Netflix Streaming - great service, just wish it was the full library and was more portable, hence the need for option (2)..
2. Netflix DVD's - get them in the post, convert using handbrake, send them back, watch via ATV

If Netflix or Hulu would allow streaming wherever I happened to be located then I would give up eating up gigabytes of storage and just happily subscribe to watch the streams. However as a/in the case of netflix their streaming library is only a subset of the main DVD library and b/in both cases you are denied access when out of the country I frustratingly have to continue to deal with ripping shiny plastic discs into digital files and then pay to store them and back them up...
 
1. Netflix Streaming - great service, just wish it was the full library and was more portable, hence the need for option (2)..
2. Netflix DVD's - get them in the post, convert using handbrake, send them back, watch via ATV

If Netflix or Hulu would allow streaming wherever I happened to be located then I would give up eating up gigabytes of storage and just happily subscribe to watch the streams. However as a/in the case of netflix their streaming library is only a subset of the main DVD library and b/in both cases you are denied access when out of the country I frustratingly have to continue to deal with ripping shiny plastic discs into digital files and then pay to store them and back them up...

I am on a 2010mbp, and ripping DVDs is just not an option with the built-in drive due to riplock or whatever you want to call it. Anyone have suggestions for an external that would be reliable and do a good job (looking more for recommendations that people have used - I can google just fine :))
 
I am on a 2010mbp, and ripping DVDs is just not an option with the built-in drive due to riplock or whatever you want to call it. Anyone have suggestions for an external that would be reliable and do a good job (looking more for recommendations that people have used - I can google just fine :))

I have a 2010 MBP and have no problems ripping DVDs. I've probably done a dozen so far and have yet to run into problems.
 
i kind of like the new netflix logo:
Bildschirmfoto 2011-02-07 um 22.28.03.png
 
I have a 2010 MBP and have no problems ripping DVDs. I've probably done a dozen so far and have yet to run into problems.

The ripping works, but it's painfully slow, a straight rip wth no compression takes as long as it does to watch the movie, whereas with a desktop I was always able to rip / compress in 25 minutes or so depending on compression rate...
Researching into it I found that they are spinning movie disks slower to reduce noise, causing the rip speeds to be trashed...
 
The ripping works, but it's painfully slow, a straight rip wth no compression takes as long as it does to watch the movie, whereas with a desktop I was always able to rip / compress in 25 minutes or so depending on compression rate...
Researching into it I found that they are spinning movie disks slower to reduce noise, causing the rip speeds to be trashed...
It's slow, but I just use Fairmount to copy DVDs to a staging area while I work on other stuff, and batch encode them when I'm not using my computer.
 
Before someone says that it isn't ethical to download movies like that, I can tell you that I do buy the movies I really like in Bluray format. I have more than 50 Bluray movies and more than 2000 DVDs (original DVDs that I bought).

I dont quite understand the logic behind all the people that argue using torrents is fine because they then go an buy the (probably) small proportion they actually liked. It doesnt matter if you go anyd buy it, you still ripped off all those movies you didnt like.

Anywho, I tend to buy the DVDs and Rip them using handbrake, but as of last night I rented my first iTunes movie through my atv2 and feel this could become a very expensive habit....
 
All of my movies, with the exception of two, have been purchased from iTunes or encoded from my personal DVD/HDDVD/Bluray collection. I'll admit that I have "pirated" two videos simply because they are unavailable in any current digital format. They are: Song of the South (Disney) and Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown (Paramount). I assure you as soon as either of these are released, I'll be there on day one to buy my own copy.

That said, I really doubt we'll ever see an official release of SotS from Disney in the future.
 
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I dont quite understand the logic behind all the people that argue using torrents is fine because they then go an buy the (probably) small proportion they actually liked. It doesnt matter if you go anyd buy it, you still ripped off all those movies you didnt like.

Anywho, I tend to buy the DVDs and Rip them using handbrake, but as of last night I rented my first iTunes movie through my atv2 and feel this could become a very expensive habit....

It is actually very simple. The prices Studios ask for their movies isn't right. Most people feel from the movie studios ripped off so they don't have any problem downloading these movies. As I said, I don't like doing that but at the moment there is no alternative.
 
I dont quite understand the logic behind all the people that argue using torrents is fine because they then go an buy the (probably) small proportion they actually liked. It doesnt matter if you go anyd buy it, you still ripped off all those movies you didnt like.

The issue is that there isn't a service that can offer something that torrents do. Like petvas said, he and I would be more than happy to pay for a service that offered decent HD content. It doesn't have to be as good as Blu-Rays but something better than what iTunes calls HD (we don't even have iTunes movies or TV shows here...).

I'm not saying it is ethical but seriously, these big film companies should start offering services to fight against piracy. Torrents aren't just for nerds anymore, nearly anyone can download a movie and watch it. Some, if not most, of these people are people who would pay for a service if there was one. The only services we got here offer SD quality movies and still charge 5-6€ to rent them! That is ridiculous. And these are old films that have usually come from the TV several times already.

I know these are just excuses and I wish I didn't have to use torrents. I would take streaming over downloading any day as then I could start watching immediately and my HDs wouldn't get full of stuff. I would be more than happy to pay 10-20€ a month for something like Netflix if they offered it in here.
 
It is actually very simple. The prices Studios ask for their movies isn't right. Most people feel from the movie studios ripped off so they don't have any problem downloading these movies. As I said, I don't like doing that but at the moment there is no alternative.

I feel ripped off that VW are wanting to charge 40k for a California campervan that i really really like, doesnt mean I am going to go steal one hahah SO you are now saying the movie industry has driven you to a life of crime, maybe they should pay out some compensation ;)

I know where you are coming from though, I rented Predators the other night and it cost £4.49 which seems real expensive. I would really like a UK Lovefilm Service on the atv where I can stream content for a fixed price.

It does seem like a catch 22 though, film companies have to jack the prices up to make up for their 'perceived' loss of profits through piracy, which causes more people to go the dodgy route...more profits lost etc etc

I am mainly playing devils advocate here to be honest, I agree with both sides of the argument to some extent, but I do find the way people justify things to themselves very interesting.


I would take streaming over downloading any day as then I could start watching immediately and my HDs wouldn't get full of stuff. I would be more than happy to pay 10-20€ a month for something like Netflix if they offered it in here.

So you really get nothing over there? Seems a bit harsh! Is this due to licensing or what then?

P.
 
The issue is that there isn't a service that can offer something that torrents do. Like petvas said, he and I would be more than happy to pay for a service that offered decent HD content. It doesn't have to be as good as Blu-Rays but something better than what iTunes calls HD (we don't even have iTunes movies or TV shows here...).

How can you keep talking down iTunes rentals as not being HD when you don't even have the service there? I and most others who have actually tried it would have to say iTunes HD rentals are excellent quality. Not Blu Ray but it is certainly as good as or better than almost anything else referred to as "HD". And that includes Satellite TV and cable.

When it comes to internet streaming, iTunes is better in quality than other competitors like Netflix or Amazon and while there may be services like Vudu that let you stream at higher bitrates, they can't compete with the price and selection of iTunes. If your only standard for "HD" is Blu Ray then just say it isn't Blu Ray quality but don't say it isn't HD quality. But then, no one else is streaming upwards of 30mbps either.

Just like with digitally downloaded music vs CDs, it took some time but the quality has now reached the point where the convenience factor far outweighs any perceivable quality benefits of discs for most people. Most people aren't audiophiles or videophiles. Once the quality of the movie is no longer distracting (clear with no artifacts and blockiness), the story line becomes the focus and you just immerse yourself in the movie (like it should be) and that happens to be the same no matter which method you view your content.

With that being said, I use EyeTV for recording current seasons of TV shows which are automatically exported to iTunes and then immediately available to watch on my ATV2 with Home Sharing or on my iPhone 4 with the EyeTV iOS app and various other streaming video apps like Air Video. I use Netflix Instant Watch for older seasons, older movies, and documentaries. That makes up the bulk of my TV watching.

Then on weekends, movie night with the family, or when I just want to watch a good current movie, I rent it on iTunes. Great selection, high quality, and instant convenience. I have the Blu Ray disc option on Netflix but I just never seem to have time to mail them back on time and they sit here for weeks sometimes. And by the time we get the disc, we may not be in the mood for that particular movie.

I used to buy DVDs and BluRays but I converted all of them with Handbrake to play on the ATV2 and just don't buy any discs anymore. Nowadays when I want to watch a new release movie, I just use iTunes rentals on the ATV2.
 
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I used to buy the DVDs I was really interested in keeping (most often from Play.com or wherever had the best deal) and torrent many others. However it's very rare I torrent these days because LoveFilm (netflix but for the UK) has made it cheap and easy to see what I want to see. I still buy the DVDs (and soon, BluRays) that I really want to keep hold of.

Regardless of anyone's opinion on piracy, it has done some good things for us all. It's dropped prices, new releases are brought out worldwide much faster and films from the cinema come to DVD much faster as well. So drink up, me hearties, yo ho!
 
I am on a 2010mbp, and ripping DVDs is just not an option with the built-in drive due to riplock or whatever you want to call it. Anyone have suggestions for an external that would be reliable and do a good job (looking more for recommendations that people have used - I can google just fine :))

the 2010 mbp hard drive can't be upgraded? I have the 160gig mb pro 13.3 mbp & i have upgraded from 320 to 500 gigs.
 
Cmon guys be honest you guys know you love torrents.

I like a above poster mention love the itunes 4.99 movie feature. I ve gotten alot of movies off of that. I also buy cheap bluerays from walmart. Other than i haven't purchased dvds in a long time. It's mostly itunes & netflix for me.
 
You are probably right. Most people just download mkv files and convert them using Handbrake. I do that too. The only difference is that if I like a movie a lot, I buy it in Bluray.

This. I go the torrent route. I've got a peerblocker so I'm good to go ;) Also Netflix (a friend's account) and blurays when I really like the movie. I've spent more than enough on dvds and blurays in the past few years, time to start saving
 
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