DVR movies at home then take on the road
 

I was wondering if it is possible to DVR Netflix movies and then take them with me on the road. I was thinking of buying a TIVO for that purpose.
If you could do that I would not need all the satellite equipment ( dish, Directv) in my Airstream. Any ideas?

Can you store enough HD movies on a TiVo to make it worth while? My regular DVR only stores about 20 hours at a time. I have over 300 movies and 2000 songs on a 1T portable hard drive.

Netflix either streams content or rents DVDs. I can't think of a way to save a streamed movie from them. We also rent their DVDs. I rip some of them to watch at another time via my Apple TV but if going out on the weekend I'll load them on my laptop or iPad and watch via those devices to the AS TV via HDMI.

Kelvin

I think DVR files are encrypted to prevent that. I usually purchase DVDs cheap used at Movie Stop and convert them to unencrypted digital files I can take with me.

There is a software program called Audials that allows you to record and save a movie that you are watching on your pc. It is advertised as a legal way to copy a movie not sure if it is or not. But other than that I don't know of any other legal way to make a dvd from Netflix. Netflix on TiVo is stream only, no way to copy as far as I know.

You cannot store streaming media. It will need a live connection. I tend to download iTunes movies or series on my iPad and bring that along with the HDMI media adapter. Another option is to install an AppleTV (which is what I have done) and you can use it several ways. If there is sufficient bandwidth available, you can use Netflix or Hulu. You can use it to "broadcast" media from your compatible computer or iPad as long as you have them all on a router. I have everything sync'd through my WifiRanger. There are so many options out there that are better than lugging a Tivo!

So how does a person download movies to a hard drive? Format? From where? Do you own all the movies?

One word: Slingbox. It allows you to watch anything from your DVR but you need to have an Internet connection wherever you're camping. Some older cable/sat boxes and older TiVos will let you watch DVRd shows without cable plugged in so in theory you can plug it into your RV and watch your DVRd shows. But if you have an Internet connection I really like the Slingbox. I have one and it's great.

You can go to the DVDfab site and download a tool called DVDfab decrypter. They have a paid and a free version. Look under the "products" tab, I think the free stuff is down near the bottom. The site says you are entitled to make a backup of your own DVDs. I cannot speak as to the legality but if it's your DVD I would think it's like making a copy of your cassette tape or CD, even using tools to copy from an LP record to your computer to make a CD.

Once you've created the backup on your hard drive you need to use another tool like Nero Express to create a single, viewable file. You could just rename each of the larger "vob" files to "mpg" and view them, but you have to start them one by one, a real pain.

Once you've created the single, viewable file, you need something to play it with. You can use your laptop to show the movie on the TV, using something like Windows Media Player or the freeware VLC (now completely loaded with spyware, I don't recommend this.) I have something called a 'media player' (check it on Amazon) that will allow you to connect the external drive directly to it and the TV. You use the remote control just like a DVD player. You go through the list of movies on the hard drive, press enter on the one you want to start it.

I know this sounds a little complex but once you have the software installed it's not so bad, it just takes time to copy your movies this way. Once you've built your library you just take the media player and hard drive with you, plug into the TV on the HDMI port (some can still use composite) and you're all set.... I've heard. :rolleyes:

If you are an Apple Mac user I'd suggest Handbrake (free) or MacX DVD Ripper Pro. They will convert to an viewable file in one pass. Watch on your Mac laptop or iPad if you move them to the movie area on your iPad. iPad can be connected to the TV in your AS via an HDMI adapter. Works like a champ.

For PC users (rather than Mac, Handbrake is great for Mac), this is a good example where the functionality of the 'paid for' version is worth the cost. With the paid for version of DVDFab you don't have the multiple steps, just drop a DVD/BluRay (of course one you own!) in your PC, open the software and chose the format you want it converted to (and all the resolutions and formats are supported....I normally convert to .mp4 so that I can play on my PC or Apple device), save it on a usb drive/portable disk.

Most modern TVs have a USB port and play directly, but personally, I use a micro format media PC and an 2Tb external drive that syncs to our home network storage whenever the PC is on the home network. Gives me somewhere around 6,000 video files as well as 3,000 music albums (albums not files), when on the road....who needs streaming video!

I've tried Handbrake but still like DVDFab better, more frequent updates. I like to backup mine as .iso images so we can see the "extra" stuff on the DVD, select chapters etc. There aren't many players that can play .iso images and TVs aren't one of them. :mad:

I already have Nero for editing movies and the price of DVDFab was just too much for saving the extra step. If you were doing your entire library then it's worth the expense but I built mine over several years so now I just have to add a new one here and there. If you're fast (or have multiple PCs), the full version of DVDFab is available for a 30 day trial.

You are 100% right about not needing streaming video. I've got 2 of the 2-TB drives (they back up each other), one for the road and one for home. I have also taken the hard drives out of my old PCs and laptops before turning them into the recycle place. I got a USB to SATA/IDE adapter for about $20 so I can add more movies on them. There isn't as much capacity but it's better than tossing them out. Laptop drives are the best because they're small, easy to carry.

Chief,
So you take a laptop with HDMI out and connect the 1T to that ,connect the HDMI to the TV? The new AS have an HDMI input near the bluray player, should work there too, right?

Many stand alone DVDs record to a hard drive or directly to a dvd. Also you can transfer recorded shows from the dvr hard drive to DVDs.
Dvr have recording speed/quality settings so that you can record 100's of hours of programs at slp. I do this when we travel for a month or two at a time.
These DVDs are not the TiVo types where you need a subscription
I do my recording over the air from an antenna since I canceled my cable.

Why take a laptop?

I use a Lenovo Q190....it is a full blown Windows PC with HDMI out and also a TOSLINK optical audio our which can be connected into most 'car' audio systems (ours goes into our Kenwood amp)

They cost way less than a laptop, have a matching wireless 'remote', are smaller than the Bluray at 8" by 6" by 0.75" and wireless LAN built in.

Q190 HTPC: The Smallest Home Theater PC

We have ours mounted inside the wardrobe on to which the TV is mounted and the simplest thing would be to replace the Bluray, although if you have a spare HDMI then there should be no issue running both

Checking in out now...

Thanks everyone for all of your suggestions. They make a lot sense. Rich

Martin,
Great Idea. I have not been looking at PCS for a while..so unaware of the options. You've had no buffering issues with the combination of processor and ram? Or does the video card make up for the slower processor?

I really like the small HTPC format. I had two of the old Phillips Freevents systems on the two main TVs at home (living room and family room) and set up the home network to share files - I always run from a local drive to the PC, as network speed is an issue. But then changed to the Q190s over the last couple of years, and now have four Q190s (replacing the two Freevents, one in my workshop and one in the Argosy), and have no issues in playback.

In the main living room we have, Apple TV, Chromecast, SmartTV, the Q190, a Bluray and a region free DVD as well as FIOS, but in reality the only ones that get used are the Q190 and the FIOS, the rest could be removed and we wouldn't notice it (even though I have around 1000 DVDs they never get played other than the initial rip, and even though we use iTunes for all media management - I much prefer to sync the iTunes libraries and run from the local source rather than iTunes/Apple TV). We have an Airplay enabled sound system at home so it doesn't care what the source of the iTunes library.

The Q190 isn't 'all singing, all dancing' it is just great at playing back digital or streamed content, if you want to create digital content (ripping DVD etc) you need something else. I just use a laptop at home to dump content onto the home network, all the local drives sync and then play from the local source.

right. my home theater is just bluray player, DVR/UVerse or streamed from vudu and Netflix on the bluray player or Xbox. While I've ripped before and have content on the server, I never even play it from there, don't know why that is...

I'm thinking that since I need to rip, save, sync, the lazy way for the AS is to just burn to a DVD, stick them in a wallet case and leave them in there for whenever. I have not really explored streaming to the AS since most parks have awful download speeds and reliability. Do you use the chromecast much? I have one but it's still in the box!