Movie Downloads

[pjphilli (Peter)]

Hi
I would like some advice about downloading (legally) movies for display my led flat screen TV. There appears to be a lot of info on the net about this but it is hard to get passed the mumbo-jumbo.
I have in the past connected audio/video files from my laptop to the TV
using svideo and audio cables.
My current internet connection is at 7.2Mbps and 2Gbytes per month.
What speed/data capacity would I need to download a typical digital movie (I understand that high definition requires considerably more)?
I don't really want a special box to do this as I already have a good PVR
for general use with the TV.
Cheers Peter

[Lee]

Your current speed is fine - but 2GB per month is going to limit you a lot in terms of movie downloads.... the average high-def movie I download run 5-10GB each.

[Lee]

SD movies are obviously less, usually 1G or less.... I find them a bit 'meh' on a large flat panel though....

[JB80 (Jarrod)]

Well we have just gone through 11GB of data like that with the end result of upgrading to 22GB and I still wouldn't download movies. We have had unlimited internet for the last 5 years and now to not have it is soul destroying.

Really how unlimited is not a basic human right is beyond me, I can't watch the footy on the weekends plus more importantly can't Skype more than once a month.
It's a joke, especially these days where a family is likely to have a 2 or 3 smartphones, a tablet or two, a playstation or xbox.
It's draconian.

I don't know what packages they offer in Australia these days but it was never too great. Still it can't be worse than Spain where you might not even be able to have a phone line.

[TrevorW]

Bollocks to them all !!!!

[pjphilli (Peter)]

Thanks All
From the replies I gather that downloading movies is not
so great and perhaps not worthwhile upgrading my download
capacity. From what I have seen on the net there are all sorts
of problems in movie downloads especially those who have obtained
a special box at considerable expense and on long contracts.
I think I will continue to read books which at least are cheaply
and easily obtained on line!
Cheers Peter

[naskies (Dave)]

Downloading movies using your monthly quota can be expensive/frustrating if you're on a small quota.

Ideally, you'd want to use a service that is "unmetered" by your ISP. For example, my ISP does not include any downloads from Apple iTunes as part of my quota. The typical 2 hour movie through iTunes is a ~ 2 GB download in SD, and ~ 5.5 GB in HD.

Similarly, BigPond Movies is unmetered through Telstra BigPond.

[TrevorW]

I've been told that there are programs like Utorrent- and a few places where downloads may be obtained although not legal copies but with a 5gb download capacity it's not worth the effort- IMO

[Eggmoon (Geoff)]

Downloading movies....

I do it via my Foxtel box, unmetered on my Bigpond Cable account... fast, legal. The movie can start playing within minutes of the download commencing, and the rest downloads in the background as you watch. There is a HUGE library of movies on the Foxtel "On Demand" system... newer ones are charged for... most older ones no charge.

Can also watch movies via the Foxtel "Catch up" service on my PC, Tablet and phone within the house, as they use the WiFi via the same bigpond account, and so it's also unmetered and included in my Foxtel subscription. Also can get a lot of "Live" Channels this way... I have been known to watch a bit of the Ashes cricket on my phone while lying in bed....

Of course, with Foxtel, you only get to keep the movies or other shows (TVseries are available for download too) for a short time before they automatically delete themselves, so you cant build up a movie library like this.

You can go via services such as iTunes, and the Google Play Store, where you can download and keep a copy of the movie, thus building up a library. But it can be expensive.

You can also download "free" movies via torrent files as someone else mentioned (other systems too, but torrent best known for now), and that isn't legal. Speed depends on your internet connection, but as people here have pointed out, they are rather large in size.

Not legal as I said.... not that it stops a lot of people. You can build a movie library that way too.

Geoff.

[pjphilli (Peter)]

Thanks for the information Geoff.
I have just received a flyer from Foxtel offering and "Essentials Pack"
and optionally "Foxtel Movies" for $17/month. I rang Foxtel and they were strangely coy about giving me details and said that they would send me and "installation pack" which I could examine and cancel actual
installation within a fortnight of receiving it. Apparently the deal is for a minimum of one year including an extra $150 equipment and installation fee. Seems tempting but I see on the net that sometimes efforts to cancel within the proscribed 2 week period are ignored with subsequent
problems.
I have also examined other movie download offerers such as Fetch TV and Quickflix but also saw a raft of problems from users.
It appears that these suppliers cannot make straightforward offerings
that provide a "customer first" policy (as Foxtel/Telstra proudly proclaim).
However, if I am to proceed Foxtel looks the best bet.
Cheers Peter

[TrevorW]

Don't go Foxtel it's a ripoff

[Eggmoon (Geoff)]

Not a rip off if you live in Melbourne, but are wanting to watch the NRL and the Super Rugby.

[AdrianF (Adrian)]

During time off from work due to injury I watch 1 movie a day for 3 weeks and obliterated my monthly download limit. I had 100gb now have 200 but
back at work

Adrian

[White Rabbit]

http://www.news.com.au/technology/co...-1226084045938

Nuff said...