Anybody watch full DVD's on their mac?

[foofan]

I think it's great to be able to play DVD's on your mac, but does anybody actually watch full-length movies on their computer? Why watch them on a mac when you can watch on your tv? I have an old dvd of "the hire" short films. It was nice to watch these on my emac because they are short. It would be great to find my favorite music videos on dvd. That would be cool to watch them on my emac.

[robbieduncan]

I've watched quite a few. On planes/waiting for planes/on holiday. I've got an iBook. It's really great to be able to watch films where you can't normally.

[shadowfax]

i watch full length movies in my room before i go to sleep often. they look good on my powerbook right by the bed. i also do it on roadtrips and such.

[foofan]

I can understand laptop users watching them, but what aboutthe desktop users out there?

[shadowfax]

Originally posted by foofan
I can understand laptop users watching them, but what aboutthe desktop users out there? i bet they would look badass on a 17 inch widescreen iMac!

[baby duck monge]

i think the majority of people who watch would be watching on laptops. but as far as desktop users... think college students or the like that maybe don't have tvs for space or money issues - why get a tv and a dvd player when your computer already works just fine?

[medea]

I don't have (or want) a tv in my bedroom so we sometimes watch dvd's on my mac in there.

[shadowfax]

Originally posted by baby duck monge
i think the majority of people who watch would be watching on laptops. but as far as desktop users... think college students or the like that maybe don't have tvs for space or money issues - why get a tv and a dvd player when your computer already works just fine? damn it, you just made me realize--i signed up not to have a roommate in my dorm at college next fall. that ruins my chances of having a TV. i guess my only consolation is that i never watch it anyway.

[bombensington]

none of the girls in my apt have a tv except me...so it's stuck in the living room.

if i want to watch a movie but my stupid roommates are watching some boring show i just watch it on my fp imac. i'm a big fan of the tilting/moving screen - works really well when i want to lay in bed & watch.

[trebblekicked]

there are few things in life better than watching a dvd on a tibook, IMHO.

i spent last week on tour w/ my sketch group and we were stuck in rural ohio for a night. i had the pleasure of watching "Best in Show" on my TiBook in the backseat.

Actually, i use the Tibook's DVD player to run the video cues for our shows, so that's another great use...

anyway, i have four DVD players: 1 in my gateway, 1 in my G4, 1 in my Tibook, 1 in my PS2. i never had to buy a standalone.

[Snowy_River]

I used to use my iBook DVD player exclusively. Probably half the time, I'd watch DVDs on my TV, but from my iBook, and half the time I'd watch them on my iBook (while in bed, or somthing similar). Unfortunately, now I am without DVD playing capabilities until the new 15" is released...


65...

[Freg3000]

Quite ironcially, I have watch a DVD only on my Power Mac, not my PowerBook (yet). It was pretty good-Gattaca. Looked good on the screen.

[ollywilson2003]

Originally posted by Shadowfax
i bet they would look badass on a 17 inch widescreen iMac!


Heheheheh It does.... But I only watch DVD's on it if my normal DVD player breakes or something.

[LethalWolfe]

I don't have a DVD player in my den/computer room and sometimes I wanna watch a DVD while I work so I'll play one in my desktop. I have 2 monitors so one plays the DVD and I work in the other one. :)


Lethal

[matthew24]

I've got a 17 Inch Studio Display and I prefer it over my TV because you are much closer to the screen (when you are alone) and because it is flat, this combination gives you e real cinema experience, just great.

[nikfel]

I haved watched various DVDs on my Powerbook G4 connected to a dolby prologic stereo however they are definitely noy as clear as on a standalone dvd player. I have tried to cure this by connecting my Powerbook to my old 17inch apple monitor that has finally found a new life as my dvd monitor for my Powerbook....and I must say inspite the monitor being over 10 years old and paying about 5 times its equvalent today it has stood the test of time and the quality is much better than the lcd of my powerbook. Having said this I am in the process of purchasing a 17inch iMAC does anyone know if DVD quality is good on this LCD or better on a CRT screen and can someone explain why this occurs...I thought LCDs are supposed to be clearer and brighter than CRTs.

[alset]

I have a pretty great monitoring setup on my Mac for all my audio work. Sometimes I watch DVDs on it just to get better sound.

Dan

[Mblazened]

When playing DVDs, Your computer monitor will offer more lines of resolution than that of your average TV

[ilben77]

Does anybody know if there are good third party software dvd players for the mac (osx). I find the standard dvd player on my powerbook pretty basic. feature wise and also quality wise.

There are dozens of very good dvd players for pc's but what about mac?

any recommendations?

[edesignuk]

Originally posted by Mblazened
When playing DVDs, Your computer monitor will offer more lines of resolution than that of your average TV
And? DVD is still (fairly) low resolution at only 720x480 (I think), playing back on a high-res screen makes no difference. IMO DVD's look worse on high-res LCD's as there aren't enough pixels from the DVD to fill each available pixel on your screen, there-by making the picture look pixelated. I never watch DVD's on my Mac/PC, DVD deck and TV all the way!

[bwawn]

Originally posted by ilben77
Does anybody know if there are good third party software dvd players for the mac (osx). I find the standard dvd player on my powerbook pretty basic. feature wise and also quality wise.

There are dozens of very good dvd players for pc's but what about mac?

any recommendations?

I've never really played around with DVDs with these programs, but MPlayer and VLC will both play DVDs. (At least, I know for sure VLC does.)

They're both listed at versiontracker.com.

[hacurio1]

Originally posted by foofan
I can understand laptop users watching them, but what aboutthe desktop users out there?
Me....I have a Sharp projector and I offten hook it to the VGA on my Powermac. With the help of a good sound system, It's like going to the movies, well not quite, but it's still is fun. So yes, I do watch full DVDs.

[shadowfax]

Originally posted by ollywilson2003
Heheheheh It does.... But I only watch DVD's on it if my normal DVD player breakes or something. you know, i'd sung the praises of that 17 inch iMac, but really, who could forget the 23 inch cinema display? how can you even start to describe how cool that is? it's a freaking high definition monitor! you can get a big subwoofer and some surround satellites, turn off the lights in your room so it's real dark, and get real close, and it's suddenly like being in the theater. haha, minus all those idiots that cheer and comment...

yeah, if only i had 2500$...

[Steradian]

Originally posted by Shadowfax

yeah, if only i had 2500$...
you could sell your Ti Book ;)

I watch movies on my dad's QS tower...when all the T.Vs in house, and my laptop is being used, (New years).

ShadowFax, Where are you going to college?

[MacFan25]

I havent watched a full DVD on my mac, but I have watched like a few episodes of shows on DVDs on my mac.

[shadowfax]

Originally posted by Steradian
you could sell your Ti Book ;)

I watch movies on my dad's QS tower...when all the T.Vs in house, and my laptop is being used, (New years).

ShadowFax, Where are you going to college? yeah, let me think about that... i sell my computer to buy a device to display what it's displaying. right :D

iam going to OU, hope to graduate with honors and get into a... better... grad school..

[VoodooDaddy]

This is an interesting thread, Ive always thought who would watch a dvd on their desktop computer?? (mac or pc)

The notebook is a given...trips or whatever its nice to have.

But Ive never watched a dvd on my desktop pc for at least a few reasons:

1) I dont have a widescreen monitor. Tv is widescreen, and 57".

2) my computer chair just isnt comfortable enough to sit for 2 hours watching a movie

3) my computer speakers are good (5.1 Logitech something) but nowhere near my home theatre

I did one time d/l a divx movie of "Hgh Crimes" before the dvd was out and I did watch the whole thing on the desktop. I had to pull over the LazyBoy sit in to watch it. Not worth the hassle.

I'll stick with the tv.

[TimDaddy]

If we are watching a movie in the living room, we often let the kids (3&5) watch something of their own on the iMac. They get a bigger thrill from the fact that they are watching a movie on the computer than they actually do from the movie! And I've learned from my parents' mistakes, my kids will rarely watch even a PG movie with me. No matter how innocent the movie may seem, they always end up learning something they didn't need to know yet.

[losfp]

I watch DVDs on my 12" PB, but only really if we're travelling, or I'm on the train etc. If we're at home, I prefer to watch on the widescreen telly + surround sound system.

[pfranzen]

the mac will actually make up the extra lines to fill your screen. I watch alot of movies both on my tiBook and my Cinemadisplay 23" they look great. You actually get alot more pixellation on a Large TV because each 'pixel' is larger. Most people dont realise this as they sit alot further away from a TV. On my Cinemadisplay the picture is awsome!

I cant seem to get the same quality on the PC but I suspect that its a monitor quality issue and not a Winblows issue :)

P

[gotohamish]

Does anyone know if with my second monitor attached to my tibook I can play a DVD full screen on the monitor, and work on the tibook?

The same question goes for itunes visulas too...

thanks
h

[Schiffi]

Let me check...

Not with Apple DVD player...
VLC seems to work well, if you don't watch widescreen movies and use cmd+1 viewing on a 640x480 tv. You must also position the frame within the second monitor (I prefer to have overscan turned on).

I did have a difficulty with image capture freezing while I was watching the movie though.

[Rainy]

Hi there,

Does anyone know how i can watch Dvd's on my Television usin my G4 tower? Do I need a special cable? Or is it just a bad idea?

thanks for your time,
Rainy

[Schiffi]

You need a vid card with TV out. On the back where the monitor is, look for an S-Video out. If you do not have a S-Video in on your tv, you need a S-video to RCA converter.

P.S. VLC can now play DVDs in a second monitor easily.

[lmalave]

Originally posted by foofan
I can understand laptop users watching them, but what aboutthe desktop users out there?

I haven't owned a TV for the past 7 years. I bought the Toshiba Infinia PC with built-in TV tuner and haven't looked back since. I used that as a TV until 2 or 3 years ago when I bought an external Viewsonic TV tuner unit which allowed me to use any computer monitor as a TV. Then about a year ago I bought a Cornea Systems 17" LCD screen with built-in TV tuner. When I want to watch a DVD, I just hook up my iBook to the Cornea if I'm watching it with other people (Cornea also has built-in speakers and audio input jack), but the same would apply if I owned a Mac desktop - I'd just watch DVDs through that. I even bought the Keyspan Digital Media Remote so I have remote control over the Mac OSX DVD Player.

[TEG]

If I'm the only one watching, I usually us my PowerBook, or when it was working, My PC. Many times it seems to difficult to hook up the compuer to the TV to watch a movie, or even try using someones PS2 or X-Box to watch one, when all I have to do is slip the disk in, and it plays.

TEG

[Bear]

On the TiBook when on the road.

Sometimes on my PowerMac. I have some Region 0 PAL DVDs that won't play on my normal setup (because they are PAL) they work fine on the Mac. Also, sometimes I'll pop in a movie and sorta watch it in the background. My screen is the 23" so the DVD Player app only takes up a corner of the screen anyway.

For those who say their compute rchair isn't comfortable, either they don't normally sit at their computer very much or they should be getting a better chair.

[simX]

Last year, my dorm had a huge TV with a DVD player, but for some reason it wouldn't play a few DVDs.

For that purpose my 17" widescreen iMac was perfect for watching DVDs. I had it positioned on the edge of my desk, so I'd just swing the display around to face the couch, put in the DVD, and then we could easily put on a show for about 7 or 8 people (which was about the limit for how many people could comfortably squish into our room). That screen really helps in a dorm room, if you've got your room set up correctly.

I must say, the stock Apple Pro Speakers are pretty decent, too. Even though there's a bit of distortion when you crank up the volume, they still sound great for stock speakers.

[bousozoku]

I sometimes watch DVDs on the computer because of the increased detail over my standard (now sub-standard) t.v. The only problem is the sound, which is so-so for the computer and amazing for the t.v.

Of course, I can't get my 12 inch laserdiscs into the DVD-R drive in the computer, so I have to use the t.v. for them. :D

[Macnasien]

I watched a lot of times DVDs on my iBook and its great ! The Quality is much better then on TV and any Windoze !!!! A friend of mine uses a PC and he was impressed with the quality.
Thats also a reason for me looking DVDs on my Mac !!!

[mactastic]

My TV sucks, it's almost 20 years old, so yeah sometimes I watch DVD's on my PB. When I set the computer next to the TV and mirror it, there is no comparison. The TiBook wins hands down. Now I just need a good way to stream the audio to my amp without a wire.

[saabmp3]

The DVD player on the mac doesn't properly upscale the 720x480 video of a DVD so you don't really gain much by using it. However, a good PC DVD program will upscale to as high as 1600 res. I watch movies on my PC all the time and they look sweet.

BEN