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Do you still buy physical media? (DVD/BR)

  • YES

    Votes: 314 55.0%
  • NO

    Votes: 186 32.6%
  • STREAMING ONLY (Netflix/Prime etc)

    Votes: 71 12.4%

  • Total voters
    571
Just wishing everyone on this site a very HAPPY NEW YEAR! You're a very decent bunch and I hope that you all have lots of fun in 2019 with smiles, laughs, great food and plenty of soulful people around you to inspire your dreams!
 
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You take your trusted MakeMKV, select File > Backup... and make sure to tick the "decrypt video" box! Voila!
Works wonders even on UHD, if you have the key, that is.
And a drive to read BD-XL media in UHD movie disc format.
My portable LG drive, for example, seems to be blind to UHD movie discs, although it does triple-layer BD-XLs.

I thought backup put it in folders, not an ISO.
 
I might go back to hard copy becuase Apple has screwed me for a few hundred dollars in movies. I am looking at MA codes but these are old movies and I'm not finding them anywhere.

I sure has hell don't want to have to pay for them again, certainly not apple.

Ugh, this sucks as I have been very happy with iTunes and my AppleTV
 
y'all better be buying my mixtape hard copy and spotify and itunes.
Haha - Hi Kanye, I love your Adidas Yeezy's - It's all about the Sesame's :) :)
Sorry buddy, I deleted your music from my iTunes when you started getting used by that orange piece of nastiness ;)
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I might go back to hard copy becuase Apple has screwed me for a few hundred dollars in movies. I am looking at MA codes but these are old movies and I'm not finding them anywhere.

I sure has hell don't want to have to pay for them again, certainly not apple.

Ugh, this sucks as I have been very happy with iTunes and my AppleTV

Did you actually buy them from Apple or are you taking Movies Anywhere, here you bought films elsewhere? Log into your iTunes account and your iTunes films receipts will be available. Apple will happily refund a purchase if you are not happy.
 
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I might go back to hard copy becuase Apple has screwed me for a few hundred dollars in movies. I am looking at MA codes but these are old movies and I'm not finding them anywhere.

I sure has hell don't want to have to pay for them again, certainly not apple.

Ugh, this sucks as I have been very happy with iTunes and my AppleTV

What happened?
 
What happened?

A bunch of movies bought on my AppleTV suddenly became SD. Even though I can only see the HD versions to buy. Then last night 10 of my 4k movies disappeared (these were HDR but not Dolby Vision) only to return a few hours later as either straight 4k or Dolby Vision. 2001 A Space Odyssey was bought in HD and converted to 4k but is back to HD again (see thread on here about it).

Question for those still spinning discs: Is there a good 4k Blu Ray player with HDR10 and Dolby Vision thats inexpensive? The cheapest I found is $500 at B&H. Upscaling DVD's would be nice but not necessary and I don't need streaming apps and garbage like that.

I'm trying to decide whether to keep on with iTunes or go with discs.
 
I've lately been buying more iTunes movies because it's convenient to do so, but I still buy discs when I can because (1) the picture and sound quality is better and (2) iTunes can't be trusted not to downgrade or eliminate movies which you've paid for. Apple tries to blame this on the content providers, but that's a BS answer because they were only too happy to take my money for movies like "2001" and "Dr. Strangelove" (now both gone or working incorrectly in iTunes).
 
I've lately been buying more iTunes movies because it's convenient to do so, but I still buy discs when I can because (1) the picture and sound quality is better and (2) iTunes can't be trusted not to downgrade or eliminate movies which you've paid for. Apple tries to blame this on the content providers, but that's a BS answer because they were only too happy to take my money for movies like "2001" and "Dr. Strangelove" (now both gone or working incorrectly in iTunes).
Completely agree. I have 300+ movies in iTunes too.
 
Question for those still spinning discs: Is there a good 4k Blu Ray player with HDR10 and Dolby Vision thats inexpensive? The cheapest I found is $500 at B&H. Upscaling DVD's would be nice but not necessary and I don't need streaming apps and garbage like that.

I'm trying to decide whether to keep on with iTunes or go with discs.

I bought this one last year. No problems so far. Plays everything I've thrown at it.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lg-ubk...-blu-ray-player-black/6215814.p?skuId=6215814
 
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Ultravioletcinema and moviesanywhere killed physical media for me.

Just got a Nintendo switch and don’t even want the physical copies
 
Ultravioletcinema and moviesanywhere killed physical media for me.

Just got a Nintendo switch and don’t even want the physical copies
I don't disagree. Its the Apple / Disney feud and that movies can just disappear without any explanation thats got me pissed. No Star Wars/Marvel stuff in 4k because Disney wants apple to charge more and will movies start disappearing or changing resolution? Its a coin flip.

Up until recently I had been happy but now I'm pondering getting a spinner and going that way. The negatives are 200-300 for a player and then new movies are pricier. The upside is that I own it and it cannot be taken away secretly. Plus used BRD's are cheap and plentiful. And I can buy Star Wars and Marvel in 4k.
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I bought this one last year. No problems so far. Plays everything I've thrown at it.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lg-ubk...-blu-ray-player-black/6215814.p?skuId=6215814
Thanks, that ticks all the boxes
 
A bunch of movies bought on my AppleTV suddenly became SD. Even though I can only see the HD versions to buy. Then last night 10 of my 4k movies disappeared (these were HDR but not Dolby Vision) only to return a few hours later as either straight 4k or Dolby Vision. 2001 A Space Odyssey was bought in HD and converted to 4k but is back to HD again (see thread on here about it).

Question for those still spinning discs: Is there a good 4k Blu Ray player with HDR10 and Dolby Vision thats inexpensive? The cheapest I found is $500 at B&H. Upscaling DVD's would be nice but not necessary and I don't need streaming apps and garbage like that.

I'm trying to decide whether to keep on with iTunes or go with discs.
Panasonic UB820 or if you like better build quality the Panasonic ub9000
 
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Question for those still spinning discs: Is there a good 4k Blu Ray player with HDR10 and Dolby Vision thats inexpensive? The cheapest I found is $500 at B&H. Upscaling DVD's would be nice but not necessary and I don't need streaming apps and garbage like that.
There is nothing less expensive than Sony UBP-X700.
 
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Very curious to see who still buys dvds and blu-rays and why? Or why did you stop?

Short answer is yes I still buy physical disks. But not for any perceived difference in the quality of disks vs ATV streaming because basically I’m not seeing anything worth noting. Maybe people who put a magnifying glass on the tv screen or use some sort of sound analyzer on their audio setup might notice something but for everyday normal consumption it’s pretty much a wash for me. The main (and pretty much only) reason I still buy physical disks is that I don’t want to be stuck if there is an ISP outage or other server side issue affecting the ability to stream - and I still get a digital copy with the disk purchase. Also I trust ISPs about as far as I can spit. I am not confident that at some point in the future streaming will be affected either by data caps or other user unfriendly chicanery that ISPs are notorious for.

That said, here are some things I definitely do not miss about playing disks vs streaming:

1 - Constantly mashing the forward button on the remote to skip through endless trailers etc before I can watch the movie. Although this seems to apply mostly to older BR disks (so far) some movies are still available only on older BR disks. This is a non-issue with streaming as any movie starts right from the beginning.

2 - The stupid piracy warning screens that play every time before the movie starts and cannot be skipped. Seriously once is enough but in any event a non-issue with streaming. Starts right up no stupid warnings.

3 - Exchanging defective disks. You would think that in this day in age there would be some sort of system in place that would verify disks before they are stuffed in the box but apparently not. It doesn’t happen often, in fact it’s pretty rare - but it does happen. I had at least two 4K disks that needed to be exchanged and it’s a hassle no matter how willing the vendor is to exchange. Again a non-issue with streaming. Starts right up, never defective.
 
After using Apple products since 1995 (school, college, university, work, own business, MSc) I've grown used to Apple's beautiful build quality, the way they just work and their beautiful user interface - Apple TV is beautiful, again the display on my iPhone X - gorgeous.

What horrifies me is the terrible menu/user interfaces of these disc players - even the Panasonic 9000 at £850 has a UI that looks like something from Windows95. It's something that I notice instantly along with cheap, plastic disc trays. For me buying disc in 2019 is one step forward, 20 steps backwards. They remind me of CD players of the late 1980s. The cheaper players are just that 'cheap'. Nasty components, unreliable disc playback, plastic everywhere, short lifespan. And then it ends up in a landfill. Why would anyone buy a cheap disc player to play expensive 4K BluRays? I don't quite understand that.

I tried it at the end of 2017 with a Panasonic 420 4K BluRay player just for old DVDs but alas, six weeks of ownership and it wasn't for me. It felt too 1990s and didn't fit my lifestyle. The Apple iCloud is simply terrific - streaming iTunes films from it is a pleasure simply because, it's reliable - 100% for me. It never buffers or freezes. Streaming 4K Dolby Vision films over Christmas - just superb!

Apple Home Sharing on the other hand is not a nice experience for me if I want to stream a downloaded iTunes film - sometimes it plays 99% well with one buffer pause (I can't stand that, it ruins the film & experience for us all at my house) whilst at other times, it freezes 5+ times during the film. I no longer use it in 2019. Obviously a WiFi problem going from Mac to router then router to ATV. Just a shame that it can't download more of the file that it is streaming to prevent this.

Apple really seem to have perfection with iCloud and of course, that's their intention. If Apple couldn't get it right, then there really isn't any hope is there ;)
 
I think apple's UI for movies is beyond horrible (purchased itunes movies). The ub820 and 9000 are fine .. i dont use them for anything other than playing discs .. the streaming menus and services are crap on them. I use them for the hdr optimizer.
 
What about content thats not on AppleTV like Disney movies in 4k or Kubrick movies in 4k or SHout Factory releases and the such. I think that and the ever rising cost of internet having me want to jump ship in the future.
 
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What about content thats not on AppleTV like Disney movies in 4k or Kubrick movies in 4k or SHout Factory releases and the such. I think that and the ever rising cost of internet having me want to jump ship in the future.

It's the other way around here in the UK - all of the new films get a HD or 4K release on iTunes BUT many don't even get released to BluRay let alone 4K BluRay and this will only continue even more over the next years.

The old Disney claim. iTunes HD get upscaled by the ATV to 4K and on my LG OLED they look damn impressive. Unless you spend all of your movie time watching Disney releases, then it's hardly a worry!

Coming from a media background, 4K BluRay is a very shoddy investment. It's really for the AV nerds. With only 2% of the market, it's days are very limited. Even Panasonic couldn't be bothered to release a proper update at the CES - they picked their cheapest design from 3 years ago that looked like a 1980s CD player and chucked load of cheap rubbish in it - same with SONY, they simply updated a 3 year old machine. It's pretty clear that they can't be bothered and really don't want to waste their time or resources on such conservatism.

Regarding the cost of internet, just try living in 2019 with it!!!
 
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There is nothing less expensive than Sony UBP-X700.
This is the one I've got. I don't have a lot of 4K discs, but I've been happy with it. It starts up fast, has a ugly interface but it's responsive enough to quickly click on the disc option to play it and it starts the movie without delay.
 
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yes, the xbox one s

Does anyone know of a quality blu-ray player where one can create and save multiple bookmarks on both dvd movies and blu-ray movies? And the player will remember all of your bookmarks on all of your discs?

Thanks.
 
Except for LP's I try to avoid physical media as much as possible. They're eating up space and most of all I hate the piracy warnings, movie previews ans so on for about 5 minutes on DVD's and BD's. I have bought physical medias for years (I own around 600 LP's, 230 CD's, tons of DVD's and +- 2 dozen BD's). But in late 2017 or early 2018 I decided to (nearly completely) stop buying (except for LP's).
Now I buy around 15 to 20 LP's per year and maybe 2-4 good movies on Blu Ray per year which are not available on iTunes. For me Spotify, iTunes movies and Netflix are enough. :)
 
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