Watching movies when cruising offshore

[Stellar1970Cat]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

I love to watch movies in the evenings when cruising. I watch more movies on the boat than on land.


I have a 32" Samsung screen mounted on the forward bulkhead of the saloon of my boat. It draws very little power (15 watts?) and I simply run it off the inverter.



In Nordic waters we frequently have fast enough Internet (truly unlimited mobile data in Finland, for example, testing at 30 or 40 mbs, so perfectly adequate for Netflix or any other kind of streaming. I also have multiple terabytes of content on portable hard drives. Some of it can be run directly on the TV via USB stick, but the built-in player (it's an old TV) is not the best and doesn't play all formats, and besides doesn't do subtitles, so I also have a long HDMI cable back to the nav table to connect to the boat computer or a laptop.


This works fine, and I'm happy with the built-in sound.


I sometimes toy with the idea of upgrading the old screen, but honestly, it looks great, so this maybe a stupid idea. I display nav data on it sometimes on passage, or the radar screen, so that I can keep an eye on things while I'm in the galley or in the saloon.



I have a large number of DVD's on board from the old days. I should probably rip them to disk and toss them, but I somehow never get around to it. I'm starting to be dissatisfied with anything less than 1080p content anyway.

In Finland coastal waters you must be spoiled for choice with that all pervasive cellphone data coverage?
I am actually from Finland but now all that cellphone coverage is actually my nightmare since I become electrically sensitive 10 or so years ago!
I used to be early adopter of latest technology and had the latest electronic toys when I l8ved in Finland. I actually worked as AV technician and sometimes took a big Sony 3 lens video projector home just to watch a movie on VHS.
So now even typing this, I have data turned off on my Samsung pad.
Watching TV or DVD's on my 24 inch LCD TV.
But often I am away from reception area so I listen AM radio or even SW radio which nowadays has not got much English language programs.
I was thinking about swapping DVD's with fellow cruisers. Or put a mobile DVD library on my dinghy floating behind my cat when anchored on calm spot.
DVD movies are only couple dollars at charity shops so need to stock up.

[goboatingnow]

Here on the Ionian we have great 4G everywhere. Upto 20-30 km offshore . I watch Netflix and Prime video

[kapnd]

Watching movies when cruising offshore?
That’d be last on my list, as well as a major distraction from the business at hand. (Staying safe and relaxing)
I cruise to get away from all that crap!

[sailcrazy]

goboatingnow.....how do you do that? Do you use a Firestick, or?? Please explain how you can watch Netflix or Amazon Prime. How do you get your 4G, and how much GBits do you use/month watching movies? Do you need to keep running back to the store(Digicell, or??) to top up? Currently, I have a 5GBit HD, with nothing but movies on it.....but getting more current, new movies would be a nice change. Thanks

[chrisr]

we also stream netflicks etc via mobile data dongle. most of the time we can access 5G but if in isolated location it comes down to 4G. connection in your area will depend on local mobile data availability

we have one of these

https://www.telstra.com.au/internet/...a/5g-wi-fi-pro

it creates a wireless LAN

no seperate antenna although sometimes we'll put it in a waterproof bag and haul to the masthead

have 75Gb per month and generally use it all

cheers,

[IslaMujeres]

Some updates on this one?

[chrisr]

star link is say 1- 2 years away. you'll be able to watch all the re-runs of gilligan's island you like...

cheers,

[KateMid]

As for the movies, I usually prepare everything beforehand. I just download the list of movies and TV shows to avoid any internet connection problems or anything. Recently discovered https://www.firesticktricks.com/torrent-sites.html. There are a couple of useful links if someone needs. I'll also appreciate your recommendations if any.

[JD-MDR]

I don't understand all that high tech millennial stuff. I have a $99 12 volt

TV and a $29 dvd player and a cheap inverter. I can watch 2 or 3 movies without draining the batteries too much. I can trade dvd's at different ports.. I know, I'm old fashion.

[sailcrazy]

Katemid....where do you download from, and what do you download to for storage? How much storage space does it require? So far I've copied some of my DVDs to a portable HD, and I have 300+ movies stored there....but they're all old movies, nothing new. some of the new stuff would be nice to add. Sailing the Caribb, we can not rely on internet for movies/TV shows.

[George_SD]

MiFi certified external hard drive with multiple connection options (lightning, USB-C, USB-A) is a perfect setup. You can store a bunch of movies on it and it can work with iPad, iPhone, laptop, Android phone, TV with USB, etc.

I would pair it up with an iPad or laptop and you have a small, multi-purpose, compact and low power portable solution.