Did you stare at the headline to this post for a few seconds, then wonder why I write such long posts?
Here are some ideas for enjoying television and movies without wasting precious calories getting in the car. Now if you’re really poor, you probably don’t have a television set or computer.. but I needed a catchy headline. And these tricks will save movie and television lovers some money, and make their viewing far more convenient. But don’t stop watching videos online, kay? They’re free and funnier.
Clara and Her Owl Despise Blog "Scanners"
Steal: The ultimate “poor man’s guide” is to use peer-to-peer and steal movies, but we lazy people aren’t so ambitious. I’ve tried, and it was a nightmare– I even paid token amounts to have access to certain websites, but they were scams. The experience was like using Napster as it crumbled, where everything was porn, spam and fake. Then there’s this whole 10 commandments thing, and the fact that my kids are asking questions about digital theft.
AppleTV: Pay per movie you watch — $3-$5 to “rent” or purchase at regular DVD prices. Not a great bargain, but no pesky monthly service fee, and you don’t need a Mac to use it! The AppelTV is probably my favorite electronics purchase in the past 2 years because it’s so darned easy to use. In the past months, I’ve spent about $150 buying movies and Lost (season 1 and 2) via AppleTV. Although I can’t afford to sustain that, it kept me sane after back surgery. The slick lil’ box connects my wireless Internet to the television set, and is so easy my parents could figure it out. As I’ve been saying, I expect this year’s Christmas “tipping point” device (previous years it was DVD players, HD televisions and GPS machines) to be a web-to-TV player. The AppleTV is my favorite for ease of use (brainless installation and elegant interface), and I like that I don’t pay unless I’m watching. I just wish the price point was lower on purchases, because I can’t stand digital renting (more on that later), and Apple desperately needs to shift its attention from stupid flat phones to this crucial piece of connectivity. The device will put you back $200-$400, but one of the best electronic purchases I’ve made.
For $340 you can have 160 Gigs of memory instead of 40 (click here for details: Apple TV with 160GB Hard Drive – MB189LL/A). The extra memory is more important if you expect to buy a lot of high definition videos.
Netflix/Roku: $9 per month gets you access to unlimited views of a portion of the Netflix library. I recently got frustrated by the limited movie selection on AppleTV and Verizon Fios ($3 to watch 1970s Disney films?) so I’m trying Netflix again (I was an early adopter, but so busy the red envelopes were piling up like unread magazines). Netflix won me back last month with its unlimited access to a portion of its movies that I can watch “on demand” — on either my computer or via television through a $99 device called a Roku Digital Video Player. As long as we watch one movie a week, it’s going to save us a lot, and minimize my obsessive need to stock-pile videos unless I love them. The Roku’s quality is a bit better than VHS but certainly not DVD quality. It’s frustrating to find a Netflix movie that can’t be viewed via this program, so you go to netflix.com, login, flag your favorites from the “watch instantly” section, then they’re waiting for you at your television set via a simple Roku device and remote. Again- my folks could handle this. I don’t imagine I’ll watch many movies on my computer, but the sound is great and the Netflix PC/Mac player (Microsoft makes it) is decent.
Turn that Old PC into a Media Center: If you’re clever, you can turn that old PC into a media center (here’s a lifehacher.com blog post that gives you tips and a PCWorld article). There is software you can purchase, or you can simply use services like Hulu.com and Netflix without the Roku. All you need is a connected PC with a remote (see Switched video for some solutions). Remember you can just plug your current laptop to your television, so you don’t have to settle for staring at your monitor. Furthermore, you can pirate movies on YouTube if you’re willing to search and tolerate poor resolution and 8 separate videos for one film. Again- good for the poor, bad for the lazy.
Buy an inexpensive media drive: You can buy fairly inexpensive media centers that can fling the movies on your hard drive to your television set. Since I can do that via the AppleTV, I’ve never needed this. But it’s half the price of AppleTV and useful if you already have movies on your computer. Here’s a Western Digital one for $99: Western Digital WD TV HD Media Player.
That Gaming Device is a Media Center, Dude: If you have an Xbox, you can use it to play DVDs and watch movies via Amazon.com and other websites. I’ll bet you didn’t know that. Seriously- admit it. You have an Xbox and use it for gaming only.
Amazon is Renting and Selling Digitally. You can pay-per-view (rent) or buy movies, but you’ll pay almost as much as you would with DVDs. Just like with iTunes/AppleTV, you can purchase or “rent” videos via Amazon On Demand. You can transact via a PC, Roku or TiVo. A word of advice- don’t be tempted by “renting” videos digitally (a third of the cost). Murphy’s law dictates that you’ll forget or get too busy to finish it. Then *poof* they’re gone. I’ll never know the ending to Transsiberian, just like when my VHS ran out of tape recording the original “Planet of the Apes” decades ago. I missed the classic fallen Statue of Liberty scene, and didn’t know that landmark was created before the human species evolved.
TiVo: I’m going back to TiVO today to replace the horrible Verizon Fios and Comcast Cable DVRs. I’m big on simple interfaces. It infuriates me when I have 20 minutes to watch a show, and it takes 10 to start it. I bought this one, but don’t forget you need an expensive USB TiVo TCD652160 HD Digital Video Recorder. But don’t forget you have to pay that irritating monthly service rate and buy one of these stupid USB network adapters unless you have an ethernet cable that reaches the TV: TiVo AG0100 Wireless G USB Network Adapter for TiVo Series 2 and Series 3 DVRs. TiVo’s partnership with Amazon.com may erode my purchases on AppleTV, but it depends if my lazy ass is on the couch or the bed.
Rip Web Television or Digital Rentals: Once you’ve rented a digital movie or streamed a television show with ads on Hulu.com, there are hacks to rip and save the video. But again, we lazy people aren’t motivated enough to figure that out. I suppose I could use SnapX Pro to grab it and save it.
Some newer televisions are coming with Ethernet cables, and the ability to bypass some of these devices. We’ll see manufacturers soon creating standards, and some of these intermediaries getting squashed. But that’s got some time to develop, and you need answers now.
I hope you’ll comment with anything I’ve missed or misspelled (and you know who you are). I know this isn’t a comprehensive list, but it’s an exciting time. In 1998 I debated buying a Dell media center that was $3000.00, and a decade later my TV and the Internet are finally connecting in strange workarounds. But I’m telling you- watch for that $199 killer device before Christmas 2009 that could make web-to-TV “mainstream” as DVD players.
The AppleTV and Roku are So Easy a Hand with a Face Can Use Them
Here’s the note I got from SpecialOpsMedia when they were promoting “The Office” webisodes: The serialized, weekly arc will star the accounting staff of the Dunder Mifflin paper company in an edge-of-your-ergonomically-designed-seat whodunit. Also, we will be getting in prize packs with t-shirts as well as Dwight Shrute bobbleheads! And here’s the note I got…
Six months ago I’d be falling asleep on my couch right now watching TV. But here’s a classic example of how I’m “leaning forward” instead of “leaning back.” Unless your grandson is reading this post to you, you’re probably making a similar transition. “Here’s my travel log, and keep in mind that for online video…
I’ve had many occasions to be struck by the power of virtual community, but never quite like this. I recently made a video titled “NAPPY” in which I asked fellow YouTubers to help me get into the YouTube Partners program (which allows select creators to share in the advertising revenue). The NAPPY video is now…
Direct-response television (TV ads that have a “call to action”) aren’t new. But I did have a chance to hear about best-practices on DR-TV and they struck me as awfully similar to some of the online-video entertainment best practices. Example: Immediate Appearance of Response Mechanism (start your video with a compelling clip) Response Mechanism Duration…
Hats off to General Motors for this refreshing viral advertising campaign featuring flying cars. I almost hesitate to reveal GM as the sponsor because conspiracy theories would be more fun (and they’re already taking place). For instance, Future Technology Today is taking them pretty darned seriously. I think. Meanwhile, the GM chat board is pretty…
More research about online-video and television viewing. This Harris study tells us so much and yet so little. What I was hoping (based on the lead) is that it would talk about how online-video is cannibalizing, if at all, television viewing. Certainly for me I spend far more time watching video on my monitor than…
10 Comments
I’m too poor to use any of those devices you’ve purchased (except an actual DVD that arrives in the mail from Netflix) and too lazy to read your entire post, but quite frankly, it doesn’t apply to “the rest of us.”
Sorry, Nalts, but none of these are really good for actual poor people. Everything comes with a cost.
The best thing to do, IMHO, is to buy a media center PC to be dedicated to only the TV, so you can stream videos and TV shows stright to your TV from a computer. This sort of covers your points 4 & 5; hook it up to some speakers as well and play your music off it. Wire the whole house, get several TVs and sound systems, and you’ll be able to access your music from anywhere in the house. But now we’re talking big bucks.
I bought an old TiVo off eBay a few years back that came with a lifetime subscription (the subscription follows the box, not the account), for less than the cost of the subscription. I love my TiVo, except for the fact that I can only record one show at a time. Usually not a problem, though.
As for your #9: My sons are both Computer Science majors at college and, even if I weren’t a geek myself, can rip anything I want or need.
PS: A cursory look finds everuthing spelled correctly this time. Finally learn how to use Spell Check, did we?
I got distracted an pulled out a book. I wished I cared enough about this stuff to comment, but I didn’t even make it all the way through. Half way through my cartoon bubble said, “Why are you reading this?” This has to be one long meeting.
all you need to hook your PC to the TV is a KB Switch and a couple of wires, which will cost you under 50 bucks or a PC TV card and a couple of wires, which you can find for under 100, but I suppose that’s not lazy enough.
Yeah. Seriously.
Katie asked me if the song on my phone was illegal or not. I looked at her like…what?
Where the hell do they learn this shit?
I miss a year ago Kevin…when they were all littler. (Yepp. Littler)
And when I said 1…2… they were all up the stairs before 3.
Bring on the tweens.
P.S. Were you rocking out the van today?
I think I saw you in my rear view mirror after checking on Bear.
OMG nobody cares about this post. But I agree the cheapest way is to rip movies, and plug the computer to the television directly. And BSON- I’m going to let them all miss the bus tomorrow and punish them.
a
. As long as we watch one movie a week, it’s going to save us a lot, and minimize my obsessive need to stock-pile videos unless I love them. The Roku’s quality is a bit better than VHS but certainly not DVD quality. It’s frustrating to find a Netflix movie that can’t be viewed via this program, so you go to netflix.com, login, flag your favorites from the “watch instantly” section, then they’re waiting for you at your television set via a simple Roku device and remote. Again- my folks could handle this. I don’t imagine I’ll watch many movies on my computer, but the sound is great and the Netflix PC/Mac player (Microsoft makes it) is decent.
.
. You can transact via a PC, Roku or TiVo. A word of advice- don’t be tempted by “renting” videos digitally (a third of the cost). Murphy’s law dictates that you’ll forget or get too busy to finish it. Then *poof* they’re gone. I’ll never know the ending to Transsiberian, just like when my VHS ran out of tape recording the original “Planet of the Apes” decades ago. I missed the classic fallen Statue of Liberty scene, and didn’t know that landmark was created before the human species evolved.
. But don’t forget you have to pay that irritating monthly service rate and buy one of these stupid USB network adapters unless you have an ethernet cable that reaches the TV: TiVo AG0100 Wireless G USB Network Adapter for TiVo Series 2 and Series 3 DVRs
. TiVo’s partnership with Amazon.com may erode my purchases on AppleTV, but it depends if my lazy ass is on the couch or the bed.
I’m too poor to use any of those devices you’ve purchased (except an actual DVD that arrives in the mail from Netflix) and too lazy to read your entire post, but quite frankly, it doesn’t apply to “the rest of us.”
Sorry, Nalts, but none of these are really good for actual poor people. Everything comes with a cost.
The best thing to do, IMHO, is to buy a media center PC to be dedicated to only the TV, so you can stream videos and TV shows stright to your TV from a computer. This sort of covers your points 4 & 5; hook it up to some speakers as well and play your music off it. Wire the whole house, get several TVs and sound systems, and you’ll be able to access your music from anywhere in the house. But now we’re talking big bucks.
I bought an old TiVo off eBay a few years back that came with a lifetime subscription (the subscription follows the box, not the account), for less than the cost of the subscription. I love my TiVo, except for the fact that I can only record one show at a time. Usually not a problem, though.
As for your #9: My sons are both Computer Science majors at college and, even if I weren’t a geek myself, can rip anything I want or need.
PS: A cursory look finds everuthing spelled correctly this time. Finally learn how to use Spell Check, did we?
I got distracted an pulled out a book. I wished I cared enough about this stuff to comment, but I didn’t even make it all the way through. Half way through my cartoon bubble said, “Why are you reading this?” This has to be one long meeting.
all you need to hook your PC to the TV is a KB Switch and a couple of wires, which will cost you under 50 bucks or a PC TV card and a couple of wires, which you can find for under 100, but I suppose that’s not lazy enough.
Yeah. Seriously.
Katie asked me if the song on my phone was illegal or not. I looked at her like…what?
Where the hell do they learn this shit?
I miss a year ago Kevin…when they were all littler. (Yepp. Littler)
And when I said 1…2… they were all up the stairs before 3.
Bring on the tweens.
P.S. Were you rocking out the van today?
I think I saw you in my rear view mirror after checking on Bear.
OMG nobody cares about this post. But I agree the cheapest way is to rip movies, and plug the computer to the television directly. And BSON- I’m going to let them all miss the bus tomorrow and punish them.
I quit reading after “pimple juice.”