How do you get your movies?

[Wayde]

Hi, I'd like to get opinions, thoughts and ideas from you Shacksters, being an HT savvy bunch. This is kind of an informal survey of sorts just for ideas for things to write about.

As we're all aware movie distribution is as much part of our hobby as the enjoyment of film itself. The legal hurdles have become more complicated than the technical ones. Using the internet, potential methods of distribution seem only limited by our imagination.

There are a lot of sub-questions to the main question in the title feel free to answer in as much or as little detail as you choose. I'm curious what methods are popular among shaksters.

How do you get your movies?

Do you use OnDemand services?
PayPerView?
Satellite?
Digital Cable?

Are there any other TV/movie services you use?

Do you download from the internet (I'm not working for the RIAA) to put it more palatably because we don't promote piracy ... would you download movies from the web (in full HD) if you could do it legally and pay for it?

Do you rent DVDs from Blockbuster or other video stores the old fashioned way?
Have you tried renting from DVD mail rental services?

How are you currently getting movies into your Home Theater system?
How would you like to be getting movies to your Home Theater system - in a perfect world?

Thanks for taking the time

[Otto]

Hi there,

We generally get them from Netflix. They have a tremendous selection, and we generally get a movie within one to two days, as we are pretty close to Denver, which I believe has a Netflix "hub".

From there, we can watch them either from the DVD player directly, or from the HTPC, which I think gives a better picture, especially in the blacks. I'm using PowerDVD to playback DVDs.

I would probably not pay to download them from the internet. But, if "they" got it such that it was fast enough (I doubt it's currently "fast enough" using cable internet at ~1.5 Mbps), and if it was cost-comparable to Netflix, I'd consider it. Especially to be able to get something "right now". For the "right now" thing, I am able to hold some DVDs on my HD, and watch them when I want, which is nice. I usually delete them after watching, and I don't trade them around.

If there's something good on HD programming from Dish, I'll DVR it, but generally not.

For me, and for now, Netflix is the way to go.

[Wayde]

Thanks Ott

I'm with you, I think downloading the media isn't quite "there yet". I thought I'd be really into storing my DVDs on HDD when I got my media center PC but now that I'm doing it, I couldn't be bothered.

I occaisionally keep a ripped copy on HDD for convenience, but if I really want the movie I usually just buy it on DVD.

I like cable TV PPV for HD movies that aren't action films with an awesome soundtrack. For instance I still have Capote on my PVR wating to be watched. But I wouldn't get Underworld Evolution that way ... I'd just buy the DVD.

Cable (sat) HD doesn't have near the sound quality of DVD and the video when moving quickly has a problem with macroblocking which looks ******.

[Darren]

We actually don't rent movies anymore, we purchase every new movie on our list as it is released to DVD at the introductory price at certain stores, usually $14.95. We have such a backlog of movies in our library that we haven't watched that we have no problem waiting for the next hottest movie to release to DVD... it's usually released before we know it.

So far we have about 450 movies and counting. We also check the $5.99 bins quite often to find good movies that are a little older. We only buy wide screen and dd/dts unless it is a classic.

Not sure why we don't rent, guess we just prefer to spend the money on a moive and own it, good or bad.

[Sonnie]

We have usually always just purchased the DVDs we thought we'd really like. We mess up sometimes, but most of the time the box office reviews and trailers will get us on the money. The New World was one that fooled us big time... that and the lack of reading the box office reviews.

We've done the Columbia House thingy a few times.... when they offer the better deals we'll bite between long breaks. We started out the first time with them because we had a lot of DVDs we wanted. It averages out to about 6 bucks a DVD once you are done buying the minimums. Then we cancel. After a year or so and after we have found more DVDs in bulk we'd like to own... we'll start watching for another pretty good offer from them. They'll tempt you with an offer for a while and when you don't bite they will make it a little more tempting by saving you a few more bucks on shipping. We've cycled through this about 3 times so far.

We tried the Blockbuster and Netflix deal but found ourselves running out of DVDs to rent on a regular enough basis to make it cost effective.

Generally we will go to www.dvdpricesearch.com and search for the cheapest price on the ones we really want to own. Typically www.deepdiscountdvd.com wins our business. Occasionally other places will have a better pre-release deal.

Then we also take advantage of our local Movie Gallery. If it's a DVD that we are not certain about, we'll rent it first. If we end up liking it and want to make it a part of our library and depending on how much we like it, we'll then go buy it new from an online source.... or, we'll go back to Movie Gallery and pick it up when they have the buy two get two free sale, which is usually 3-4 times a year. They will also have $5 DVD sales quite frequently. This is when we pick up those DVDs that are borderline and/or ones we ain't gonna pay $15-20 for. They offer a lifetime warranty with the used DVD so it's a pretty good deal IMO.

As far as satellite... we hardly ever rent a movie there because we don't have our great room, where the satellite receiver is located, setup with a sound system... it's just a widescreen RPTV. We might watch a movie on the satellite, but it's not a pay movie.

I don't think I'll ever get into downloading movies. I can't see downloading then having to burn it. Seems like I would be able to find it for the same or less money and not have to go through the hassles of downloading and burning. Like Otto... the download speeds are not that great here at home where I'd want to download them to.

Now with HD DVD coming out... we haven't really slowed down on SD DVD buying, but probably will very soon. We may opt to go ahead and buy the HD DVD versions so that we'll have them for when we do get an HD player.

[Phil M]

Need to have movies, eg concert DVD's I buy.
Regular movies used to come from Nextflix but I was driven to Blockbuster by throttling from Netflix. Both have distrubution centers in Pittsburgh but Blockbuster is so much quicker, works weekends, and in addition we get the weekly voucher for the local store.

HD movies I download onto DVR via E*, and have downloaded PPV movies from them. Only issue is inability to archive, I understand and appreciate piracy protection but archiving is a major issue for me. Until the dust settles on the HD DVD war I will continue to use this approach, and would actually prefer a HD solution that didn't require me to store physical media. A one off payment that would allow me to have lifetime on demand download access to a title would work very well for me. Isn't this the future?

More than happy to be a beta tester

[Tommy]

We usually rent or buy the pre-viewed movies. I'm thinking about following Sonnie as far a movie clubs go but sort of undecided if I should continue to purchase new DVD's.

I just got the HD-DVD player last night and still wondering if I should build a collection of these or not along with regular dvds

[Josuah]

I also use dvdpricesearch and deepdiscountdvd gets the majority of my business as well. DDD has decent customer service as well. Sometimes pre-ordering through DDD results in lower prices than at the release date, I've noticed.

But since I have a Netflix subscription, the majority of my movie watching goes through there. Netflix's used movies are equal in quality to new movies, so if I want to buy a movie, I will check there first because they may have it for $6. The price points seem to be $6, $8, and $10 for used movies off Netflix.

[Fincave]

I basically just buy the movies that I want as there are not that many. I also use the local library as they generally have a good selection, however the queues for some movies, especially new releases are very long, the service is however free or very close to, making a reservation costs about 50 cents. I do on occasion store movies on my PVR, the same with tv series as I work in the evenings.

Were it available I would probably download movies (legally) as well.

Living in Finland there are however not that many choices, also no HD at all where I live. Finland is only slowly moving towards digital tv with the final transition from analogue broadcasts to digital broadcasts happening in August 2007.

[Tommy]

I think if they offered the movies for download at the same time they were released at the movies, i'd pay for the download. And although that would hurt the actual movie theaters I think they would see and increased amount of households all doing the same thing.

You all are pointing out some excellent sources to purchase from and as I mentioned previously the question with me really is at what point do you decide to stop investing in regular dvds nowing a newer technology is coming out.

Shoot I still cant get the wife to throw away the old vcr tape collection, even though I dont even think we have a vcr left in the house and havent watched on in a long time.

[Tommy]

How does everyone store there dvd's?

When I was deployed last year, I took my laptop with me and I got rid of most of the dvd cases and put all the dvds into one large dvd/cd album type of case. It made it convient at the time but now was thinking how do I get blank cases and print the labels?

[Wayde]

Last spring I went "digital". That is I gave away every VHS tape I had. It was difficult but it was a combination of spring cleaning and a commitment to the idea that my VCR doesn't get used anymore and I am probably never ever going to watch those old Star Trek episodes. A few "rare" shows like "Prisoners of gravity" (I hadn't thought about watching for years) are basically irreplacable. But they were collateral casualties for a move valuable roomy basement (I build a gym) and solice in the decision that all my media is now digital or I just don't deal with it.

Tommy wrote:

How does everyone store there dvd's?

My basement has a shelfing unit full of them. Many have been ripped to HDD and I play them through the media player PC on my HT. But that's mainly kid's shows that get a high rotation so my son isn't playing with the disk.

I originally aspired to a 100% HDD storage based movie collection but that idea quickly went away when I realized how much work it would be and how expensive storage space is.

[Wayde]

Allow me to paint with a broad brush here and produce a stereotype. Correct me if you think my observation is wrong or just let me know what you think.

The idea I’m picking up here is that we HT fans are ready to embrace new ideas/technologies, as evidenced by the high use of mail order DVD services. But we’re also unwilling to participate in any convenience technology that might sacrifice quality sound and vision.

There are different “tech” crowds like PC and other gadget freaks who arrived at HT not from hi-fi but from other digital technologies. They’re the ones (I suspect) that are embracing digital media players like the Rio Receiver, Olive Opus, Roku etc.

Is it safe to say that many of us who are old enough had a component based two channel stereo system before we had a Home Theater system? And that we'd probably have a stereo system still, even if HT didn’t exist.

I know I would!

And yeah, I for sure reject most technology that provides “convenience” at a cost of quality. I only embrace MP3s because the convenience factor is so extreme (a library on a tiny box that fits in the palm of my hand) for a relatively minor hit in quality - because I use max or high-bit MP3s.

I bet there are many old school hi-fi codgers out there who still scoff at the notion of MP3s. I know at least guy who retains a healthy skepticism to dumbing down hi-fi for the sake of convenience.

[Tommy]

As far as my HT room I want everything to be as high as quality as I can get/afford. This is not a cheap hobby when I decided to start this and to lower standards now on the smaller things would lessen an already expesive investment.

As far as music, I'm no audiophile or anything and would not go crazy on having the perfect stero system. Any little cdplayer or mp3 player is fine with me as long as it works.

[Sonnie]

Somebody else said store those DVDs vertically, Tommy.


Wayde... yes .... had the two channel in 1984 and I don't think surround was out then. I would no doubt have something in my room if there was no surround sound available.

I like mp3's for my car and use them when not listening to XM Radio... usually encoded at the highest bitrate. But for home, I doubt I would use them if I did do a lot of stereo listening. I would probably prefer the higher resolution CD's... or at minimum the original CD.

[Tommy]

Sonnie wrote:

Somebody else said store those DVDs vertically, Tommy.

Besides vertically though, do you think it is better to put each back into a seperate jewel case. Right now a large portion of my video collection is all in a cd/dvd album from while I was away.

I would need to buy blank cases and somehow print out the case labels for all of them.

[Josuah]

If there's no printing on the front of a disc, or the disc has one of those really flat surface fronts, then as long as you don't throw dirt around I would consider it safe to store them right against each other.

I think you're asking if there's any problem with storing them in one of those 50-disc-holder cases or something? I doubt it.

I also believe I was the one to mention storing vertically. That's something I read once, but I haven't been able to confirm the reason or find that statement again since then. So it could just be gobbledygook.

I store all my DVDs in their original cases on a DVD storage rack. Almost all vertically. Some DVDs and CDs are kept horizontal because the case doesn't fit correctly.

[Tommy]

Thanks Jos

Back on subject, I checked most of the dvd places you mentioned above but still having trouble finding any selling any of the hd-dvds yet.

[Wayde]

I used to hear about storing record albums (vynil) vertically, that was the classic storage method. Vertical in milk crates, before they went small.

My first component system was purchased in 1986 when I was in the Army in Texas. CD was brand new then, I opted not to get the CD player.

****, at just over $500 in those days for a CD player it was hard to tell if I was going to play CD or if the CD was playing me.

HA! I slay myself.

[Steve Williamson]

I still use our local video rental store as we do not have a great selection of on line video suppliers over in Australia, also, not all areas have broadband access yet.

Does any one else still hire DVD's from their local store?

[nova]

I usually pick them up at Best Buy (usually the best price) lately Superbits have been $9.99. The local Media Play is gone and a F.Y.E moved in, only $24.99 for Superbit, what a deal They'll probably last less time than Media Play did at those prices.