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**Dockhead** · 20-10-2017, 09:53

Congratulations on your impending return to cruising!

I have a large collection DVDs on board, but as far as I'm concerned this is a legacy format well on its way to join '78s (I have a collection of those too somewhere). I only have them because I brought them on board years ago and it seems silly to throw them away. I play them on a Zone-Free DVD player I bought at least 10 years ago in Russia, and which still works perfectly fine. If you're world cruising and want to be able to watch DVD or Blu Ray disks, you will not want to have one with zone restrictions.

I'm a bit of a movie buff and we watch a lot of movies on board when we're not underway or too busy exploring or fixing the boat

. Especially nice in the long dark winter evenings we get up here.

Most movies I stream, without bothering to download. I use the premium wifi service in my winter berth (25 pounds a month and between 5 and 50mbs download speed limited by the wifi link, but it's almost always fast enough to watch a HD movie. In the summer, I have truly unlimited mobile phone data (no fair use policy) which costs less than $1 a day in Finland and some other places, and is faster than the winter premium wifi.

I do keep a large collection (several TB) of movies on portable hard drives, for when I can't stream.

So my advice, if you're starting from scratch:

1. Have a compact DVD player squirreled away somewhere in case you need to play a DVD, see one in a local shop, etc. But I would not store a collection on board -- takes up too much space.

2. If you have a big collection of DVDs and Blu Ray disks, rip them to a portable hard drive. In future buy or otherwise acquire movies in digital form, rather than as physical DVDs.

3. Keep your collection backed up on two or more portable hard drives in case of failure. They are amazingly cheap now, so this is cheap insurance.

And have fun!

mikereed100 · 20-10-2017, 10:00

We watch a movie most nights when at anchor. During our work stints we comb the thrift stores and have a few hundred DVDs that we watch using the 12 volt TV/DVD player. We also have about 700 movies on an external hard drive that we plug into the computer then connect to the TV via an HDMI cable. Having the TV connected to the computer is nice because it means we can use OpenCPN on a 24" screen.

Dave, It would be worth carrying a 1 Tb external drive with you when you head out as you will run into other cruisers with movies on hard drives that you can swap with. When will you be leaving and where will you be starting from? Should we keep an eye out for you in Mexico this season?

BlueChicago · 20-10-2017, 10:00

Does Handbrake rip DVD's? I thought it was for converting to other file types, aspect ratios, and resolutions.

I can imagine that envelope-type DVD sleeves will end up abrading the DVD if on a constantly moving sailboat. I also can't imagine a salty air environment being good for DVD's, but that is just a guess.

Less than 100 DVD's give you more options, since the average DVD movie, before compression, probably weighs in at somewhere close to 5GB (not including any other 'fluff' that might be included on the DVD). Your collection could sit on a thumb drive.

You will need to make sure you have media playing software that can read the file format of the ripped DVD. New versions of Windows do not come delivered with the media player application anymore (as far as I know), and TV's with a usb port may have a limited variety of movie formats that it can read.

LongGone · 20-10-2017, 10:01

While ripping a movie from DVD is tedious and time consuming (much longer than 45 minutes each if you want to maintain the picture quality of the original), it is your best option for backing up your collection. However, please obey and preserve all copyrights!

There are several portable SSD units available now that also include WiFi, enabling multiple users to stream multiple videos simultaneously from the same stand-alone device. Some are even battery-powered. The largest capacity on these devices was around 1 TB the last time I looked.

For future additions to your film collection, I recommend purchasing digital downloads in lieu of DVDs. Purchase a Google Chromecast (requires a USB port on your TV and an available 110/220 outlet) or other streaming device and stream the video playback from a connected laptop to the TV. This will also work with any music and video downloaded from Netflix, Amazon, etc. to any WiFi-enabled device (phone, tablet, laptop).

farmall.dude · 20-10-2017, 11:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueChicago

Does Handbrake rip DVD's? I thought it was for converting to other file types, aspect ratios, and resolutions.

<snip>

Yup, that's what ripping is. I've ripped several DVDs using Handbrake. It's a free software and pretty good for the price. I had to convert a bunch of training videos for on-line viewing for our training department.

As an IT person, my recommendation is to BACK UP EVERYTHING, twice or three times! Not just movies and music, but anything digital. Personally, I burn everything to DVD and store it away in a safe place away from sunlight and ozone. I've considered vacuum sealing them

I also copy to a separate hard drive and store it away. Of course, I've got access to lots of discarded fairly large drives, so that part is zero cost for me. My philosophy is; if it's mechanical, it's going to break down at the most inopportune time. It's better to have multiple ways to restore.

By the way, storing disks in those sleeves is fine. They're designed to not scratch the disks. If you're concerned about scratches, I can personally recommend the JFJ EasyPro. It's pricy and bulky but it works. As for salt, it should not degrade the disk except for the residue being abrasive. You can wash them with warm soapy water. Just dry them off with something like a microfiber cloth (not a paper towel).

senormechanico · 20-10-2017, 14:17

Lots and lots of DVD's>Handbrake>two 128 gig flashdrives in a hub>boat's LAN>Laser Picoprojector with WiFi and Bluetooth>12 volt car stereo with Bluetooth>roll up screen = 60" image and great stereo sound for only 1 1/2 amp draw.
Gotta have blackout curtains or watch after sunset though.

fernandosmooth · 20-10-2017, 15:37

Hi

You can download content for offline viewing on Netflix. There are a lot of content available for you to download.

Same for Amazon Video. One would think why pay for a movie if you can have netflix, well on amazon video I can find most movies I want to watch. Usually old or foreign movies, anything that I usually find it difficult to find, it is there. You can download those movies to watch offline.

Youtube. There are thousands of movies available for free, old movies perhaps but amazing movies. Do you like black and white movies? It is there, just do a search. You could then download a firefox extension to download youtube videos and then you download those.

Have a look at https://archive.org/details/feature_films, free movies. Btw, on youtube there are a lot of documentaries as well

**Now**

If I may suggest quality over quantity. Criterion Collection https://www.criterion.com

davil · 21-10-2017, 06:45

Transferring my DVD collection to this HD

Silicon Power
Silicon Power 1TB Rugged Armor A60 Military-grade Shockproof/Water-Resistant USB 3.0 2.5" External Hard Drive for PC, Mac, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, PS4 Pro and PS4 Slim, Black
$59.00 in Amazon
They have a water proof for 92.00

Used DVDFab as software

Naughty Cat · 21-10-2017, 08:22

We use DVDFab 10 for ripping and it works flawlessly. We then use a 1tb Bipac. It does have an external power socket but we have never needed to use it.USB power has been sufficient.

Ripping does take time but get a system going, 4 movies a day and it's surprising how quickly they add up. It is worth the effort to free up the space.

Tbonem17 · 21-10-2017, 09:54

Technology has moved ahead slightly since this thread was started with external hard drives now over 5 TB for a small fraction of the price your music and DVD collection cost originally.
My experience is a bit old now but there used to be a couple of no nos associated with their use.
The first was that a drive worked harder the fuller it got and shortened its life. ie leave some space on it.
The second was they were designed to work on a stable platform because of the spinning internals. I'd guess todays models are pretty rugged but I wouldn't count on one lasting forever on a boat rocking and rolling. Easy fix to have a 2nd duplicate drive tucked away for when the original dies.
As I have said my experience is old now and perhaps we have someone much more current on the forum who'd like to comment.

**Dockhead** · 21-10-2017, 10:00

Note also that almost anything you can stream, you can also capture, download and store offline, using software like this:

Criterion Collection Download: Download Criterion Collection Video

This is particularly useful for cruisers who occasionally have access to fast unmetered Internet but then have to go for weeks or months without.

Might be worth a separate thread on tools and techniques.

sailcrazy · 21-10-2017, 21:37

We like to watch movies in the evening, especially if there is no TV signal available.
We bought a 3TB HD, and copied movies from our home library onto the HD.....the 3TB holds about 700 movies! We use a small 12vDC inverter to power our TV and DVD player, and plug the HD into a BriteView BV3100 then HDMI into the TV-no computer required. Our music library (some 800 CDs)has been downloaded onto an IPOD, that plugs into the Aux port on our AM/FM radio, and we get tunes whenever we want them! And if we do happen to find/buy a Movie DVD we play it on our DVD player. Bottom line-no discs onboard! We're currently using "1 Click DVD Copy" to copy onto the HD-it gets automatically upgraded routinely, and has worked very well for us for several years.