DVD collection loaded onto a media centre or DVD with hard disk

[admin_exported]

Bit of a novice so need some advice. I am buying a new lcd tv and want to attach a device where I can download my collection of DVD's ( 100 + ) but be able to playback easily via some form of menu function ie MS media centre.

Was looking at a number of media centres or DVD players with Hard disk.

Any advice?

Thanks

 

[Craig M.]

even if all your dvds are single layer, which they won't be, you would need at least a 500 Gb hard drive to fit 100+ dvds. if most are dual layer, then you would need at least 1 Tb of storage space. buy too many more dvds and you would need more space. if you get a dvd player with hdd then i would think it sensible to get one that can accept some form of external storage to avoid having to sell it when you fill the hdd. bit more complicated would be a media pc, but it would be more flexible and offer unlimited storage potential.

 

[Clare Newsome]

I feel honour-bound to mention at this point that it's illegal to copy DVDs - even ones you own.

ÿ

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Clare, did not know this!

 

[laserman16]

Dvd players with a hard drive will not copy dvds as the dvds are copy protected.

Also as Claire quite rightly points out, What you want to do is illegal.

 

[John Duncan]

Yeah, so don't go googling "DVD to apple tv", and then don't get an apple tv to stream all your dvds to your telly...........

 

[Anonymous]

Clare's right. VERY illegal..... And you'd have to find a ripper that ignores Macrovision or other copy protection.

 

[John Duncan]

There's either legal or illegal. There is no 'quite' or 'very'. There are, however, moves in the industries (music and film) to sort out 'fair use', which might seem like common sense but does not apply in the UK.

But you're right, any ripping software would need to (illegally) circumvent copy rotection, like those pesky Mactheripper and ImToo's DVD Copy Express do.

 

[Anonymous]

John - you are, of course, grammatically correct. My point is that there's 'blind-eye' illegal and 'make an example' illegal. "Very" refers to the latter. And until fair use comes in, anyone who breaks copy protection or any copyright restrictions is a pirate. All the industry needs is one poor sap to jump on hard to make people think twice.....

 

[John Duncan]

And that will happen to someone who either downloads huge numbers of free music (as has already happened, and will continue to happen - cf Virgin's piracy initiative) or makes copies of films and sells them on for profit, not the OP. If that were the case, every iPod user in the country should be very afraid.

 

[Anonymous]

Not necessarily, JD. The music side of the business has effectively given up on the copying issue; they've lost the war, although if you go to some piracy-rife territories, like South Africa, even CDs are Copy Protected so you can't stick 'em on your pod.
Most of the holding companies are the same anyway (Universal, Sony etc) and they've all said that they won't get burned again. Movies are their last stand and they're going to fight with all their (substantial) resources.
Yes, of course, major pirates are a target and will continue to be so. But if you look at what they tried to do with music, they certainly will go after a few individuals with more than a few titles on their hard drives.
To my mind, a hundred plus is more than a few.....
Going forward, some titles (I Am Legend, for example) now have limited copying included on the disc itself as part of the purchase price as a way of both controlling copies but also showing a legal willingness to accept "limited" copying to any prospective court.
Their message is "Yes. You can copy. Yes. You can download. But only when we say you can and where we can control the process."
Oddly, Macrovison was cracked pretty early on in the life of DVD. As I understand it, Blu-Ray copy protection, and region-coding still have to be hacked, and that's one of the reasons why the Studios are putting substantial money behind the format. It's secure and they can CONTROL it.

 

[Anonymous]

how about a dvd jukebox????? no breaking of copyright laws there!!!! and no compression!!!! something like the sony dvpcx-995v?????? don`t know if you can buy it this side of the pond .....but worth a look maybe

 

[Anonymous]

As its illegal to copy DVD's, you almost certainly wouldn't want to google 'DVDshrink' as that might point you at a rather excellent (and free) DVD ripper... you also probably wouldn't want to investigate things like the QNAP TS109 Network servers with a 1TB drive for streaming the DVD's to a PS3 or apple tv or popcorn hour or some other such cunning device plugged into your tv.