My parents live in Alaska. For them internet data is slow and limited to 100GB per month. They love DVDS AND CDS.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Do you still buy physical media?
- Thread starter JamesMay82
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
My parents live in Alaska. For them internet data is slow and limited to 100GB per month. They love DVDS AND CDS.
Also to note I recently bought a DVD on eBay of a old TV show you can’t find digitally. Glad my MacBook has a built in DVD player.
I own probably 42 UHD BDs out of 1300+ titles. Since I have a very nice JVC 4K Projector that projects onto a 127" screen the difference in detail is very obvious on good transfers. I haven't bought more because the Sony player upscales my older Blu-rays just beautifully. I will buy iTunes movies, though they are largely limited to inside shots and conversation or older movies that are only available in HD. BTW - Apple 4K streaming seems to beat out the others, but not by a huge amount.
I always buy Blu-ray. They're not starved for bandwidth (I have a 120" screen so I can really notice the difference), they don't magically disappear because someone has lost a licence, they're not cropped to 16:9 like some of the iTunes releases are, and there's effectively no DRM.
WOW you seem to have it all covered buddy! That's a lot of ripping you've done. I've done less than 10 over the years and got truly bored with it. I've found the iTunes/Vimeo route works for me.
I've just watched a beautiful documentary about immigrants and their suffering and how 65 million people are displaced. They don't even have food let alone shelter (It's called Human Flow).
Anyway buddy, if you ever want advice on your iTunes films or streaming or downloading, please feel free to message me on this site and i'll do my best to help
PS You can always download a HD version of the 4K iTunes films to keep forever, so in reality, you've always got that at least as much as someone who has a BluRay or DVD. In fact the iTunes download will probably last longer before these discs die out very very soon.[doublepost=1541125079][/doublepost]
Easy - I hardly watch TV! The USA is very different to the rest of the world when it comes to TV watching. I've NEVER watched TV episodes - I love surfing films, indie / foreign film on a weekly basis. These are never released onto disc and always make it to iTunes or Vimeo. And I love travel vloggers on YouTube. We watch a film once a week. The rest of the time, I prefer to be outdoors travelling or whilst a home, going to the gym, cycling, surfing, playing basketball or eating dinner with friends. Sadly, I have a 5 minute attention span for TV. It's never been my thing.
Last edited:
Still do! Not always have reliable internet.
The difficulty is to find a good 4k TV that is only 40" for the bedroom.
Any recommendations?
The difficulty is to find a good 4k TV that is only 40" for the bedroom.
Any recommendations?
I still buy uhd blu rays, but its mostly for event movies, and if they have digital copies, it's usually icing on the cake. I have quite a few retail options near me.
That said, I do buy some movies that really don't require surround sound via iTunes. Heck, I even caved and bought The Incredibles after learning the 4K disc wasn't so great. So maybe I'll do the same with part II as well.
That said, I do buy some movies that really don't require surround sound via iTunes. Heck, I even caved and bought The Incredibles after learning the 4K disc wasn't so great. So maybe I'll do the same with part II as well.
I used to more frequently at Target with their $5 deals (DVD / BlueRay) - but lately, they don't vary it up as much as I'd like and it is rare to find something I like. I will not drop $20+ on media because I use Apple TV, Netflix, and HBOGo? Now? … And even then, we rarely get stuff when it comes out, we wait for it to be around $6 to rent or $9-$14 to buy.
I have actually settled on spending $20-$30 for seasons of TV shows I want to watch on Apple TV that aren't available on Netflix. Having a blast going through Last Man Standing.
I have actually settled on spending $20-$30 for seasons of TV shows I want to watch on Apple TV that aren't available on Netflix. Having a blast going through Last Man Standing.
If I want to own a movie or music, I buy the physical media. I'll immediately rip the disc into Plex so I can stream it and not have to deal with the disc, but I still have the physical copy of the movie I've paid for.
Many times the discs also come with a DVD version, so that's helpful when the kids want to watch the movie in our car on a road trip.
I've read where people have bought the 4K version of a movie on iTunes, but then for some reason it randomly won't show up as 4K, but just 1080p. The responses always seem to be "yeah, that happens, they're probably updating something, it'll be back in a day or two". Well that's unacceptable. If I've paid for a movie, I expect to have it in the quality that I paid for whenever I want, without it being degraded in quality.
I have full control over the movie. Nobody can take it away, lack of internet connection won't make it so I can't watch it. Nobody can suddenly decide that it's not licensed right, or anything like that.
Many times the discs also come with a DVD version, so that's helpful when the kids want to watch the movie in our car on a road trip.
I've read where people have bought the 4K version of a movie on iTunes, but then for some reason it randomly won't show up as 4K, but just 1080p. The responses always seem to be "yeah, that happens, they're probably updating something, it'll be back in a day or two". Well that's unacceptable. If I've paid for a movie, I expect to have it in the quality that I paid for whenever I want, without it being degraded in quality.
I have full control over the movie. Nobody can take it away, lack of internet connection won't make it so I can't watch it. Nobody can suddenly decide that it's not licensed right, or anything like that.
I pretty much stopped buying music altogether and just stream now. I still, however, buy DVDs and BluRays and will continue to do so. I don't want to be locked into any one particular movie service and prefer using Plex.
That said, it's rare that I even buy movies anymore. My collection is large enough (500+) where I already have just about every older movie I'd ever want to watch and few new releases are worth buying IMO.
Just stick with 1080p. You're not going to notice a difference with a TV that small.
That said, it's rare that I even buy movies anymore. My collection is large enough (500+) where I already have just about every older movie I'd ever want to watch and few new releases are worth buying IMO.
Just stick with 1080p. You're not going to notice a difference with a TV that small.
I used to more frequently at Target with their $5 deals (DVD / BlueRay) - but lately, they don't vary it up as much as I'd like and it is rare to find something I like. I will not drop $20+ on media because I use Apple TV, Netflix, and HBOGo? Now? … And even then, we rarely get stuff when it comes out, we wait for it to be around $6 to rent or $9-$14 to buy.
I have actually settled on spending $20-$30 for seasons of TV shows I want to watch on Apple TV that aren't available on Netflix. Having a blast going through Last Man Standing.
I love last man standing.. I really want to buy home improvement but not at $20 a Season
SONY make top line 43" TVs (£1000) as do Panasonic and LG. I believe that this year, all three are using LG Display panels.
Asus blue ray writer recent purchase.
Hopefully a few blue ray movies to upload to Plex server and via Plex or infuse-Apple 4kt.v.
Hopefully a few blue ray movies to upload to Plex server and via Plex or infuse-Apple 4kt.v.
Last edited:
Just ordered a limited release LP & CD, this is my first LP purchase lol...and first CD in years...
For music, yes, I still buy CD's, plus I stream as well.
For video, it's 99.999% streaming. I have one DVD that none of the streaming services I use have. That is Young Frankenstein. I submitted the request to add it to Netflix and iTunes a while back.
For video, it's 99.999% streaming. I have one DVD that none of the streaming services I use have. That is Young Frankenstein. I submitted the request to add it to Netflix and iTunes a while back.
There's something weird about that movie. A few years ago a friend in the US gave me a Mel Brooks box set with nine movies in it. All of them play in NZ except for Young Frankenstein, which is region coded to the US. I wonder what's so special about it!
Assumption is you're outside the US? Was wondering how you were able to get a Panny OLED (I believe they unfortunately abandoned the consumer US market). I loathe the day my Panny plasma goes...
For me it's all in the sound so I don't even consider streaming any film which has any decent soundtrack. I'm just started my conversion to 4K by setting up an Oppo BDP-205. Hopefully I'll find an OLED TV on sale this month. Looking at the well reviewed OLED65C8PUA which has dropped from $3500 to $2700.
I purchased my first UHD Disk (Blade Runner 2049) and ripped it for Plex. Not sure how viable a ripping solution is going to be for the long run as there are only a small number of movies with keys that MakeMKV can use. I had one problem which I'm currently trying to diagnose. The physical disk sticks and skips at some points in the film when played on the Oppo. The Plex version, ripped on an LG, does not skip even though MakeMKV showed errors. Not sure what is going on there. Ordered Valerian UHD to see if it has the same problem. There are multiple Valerian keys, just hope that one works with my version.
Listening to the sound of this movie through great surround speakers (Goldenear in my case) is a breathtaking experience. I've found that sometimes I don't even watch the movie, I just listen to the wonderful sound.
The drawback as mentioned by others is that physical media takes up space. I have boxes and boxes of CD's and Blu-Rays which won't fit on my shelves. Streaming a lossless rip is a really convent way to quickly find and play a movie.
I purchased my first UHD Disk (Blade Runner 2049) and ripped it for Plex. Not sure how viable a ripping solution is going to be for the long run as there are only a small number of movies with keys that MakeMKV can use. I had one problem which I'm currently trying to diagnose. The physical disk sticks and skips at some points in the film when played on the Oppo. The Plex version, ripped on an LG, does not skip even though MakeMKV showed errors. Not sure what is going on there. Ordered Valerian UHD to see if it has the same problem. There are multiple Valerian keys, just hope that one works with my version.
Listening to the sound of this movie through great surround speakers (Goldenear in my case) is a breathtaking experience. I've found that sometimes I don't even watch the movie, I just listen to the wonderful sound.
The drawback as mentioned by others is that physical media takes up space. I have boxes and boxes of CD's and Blu-Rays which won't fit on my shelves. Streaming a lossless rip is a really convent way to quickly find and play a movie.
I do streaming for shows and stuff thru netflix and hulu but that's it. I buy blurays and UHD disks because the quality difference is ridiculous compared to streaming. There is no comparison. Also actually owning the movie instead of a long term lease and having to deal with licensing agreements etc. Plus you can pick up blurays for dirt cheap and it is yours forever. Also UHD discs go on sale often as well.
I have gigabit fios and streaming at times still doesn't look great.
I have gigabit fios and streaming at times still doesn't look great.
Living in the sticks as I do, internet is very limited. So the few movies I acquire movies I do so on dvd, but music mostly streamed on iTunes. Except when I’m in a thrift store and see music CDs for $1 - $3, in good shape. Those I rip to my iTunes library.