Copying d.v.d.'s to a harddrive

[ranger58sb]

We've found it easier to simply remove the DVDs from their jewel box, store just the discs in purpose-built sleeved "loose-leaf pages" in a case made by somebody like CaseLogic. A few hundred DVDs in a 9x12x4 binder... with no processing time involved.

Of course that means needing a DVD "player" of some sort, and a computer will do for that (even better if piped to a big TV display, whatever).

For us, ripping 500 CDs made some sense; ripping a boatload of DVDs isn't worth my time.

YMMV, of course.

-Chris

[David M]

The DMCA made something that is ethical into something that is now illegal. I see no problem with changing the format of something that you have purchased the rights to view. That is ethical. I see it as unethical to outright copy something that you have not purchased. That is called stealing. Piracy is too nice of a word for what amounts to stealing.

[MarkSF]

Originally Posted by ranger42c

We've found it easier to simply remove the DVDs from their jewel box, store just the discs in purpose-built sleeved "loose-leaf pages" in a case made by somebody like CaseLogic. A few hundred DVDs in a 9x12x4 binder... with no processing time involved.
-Chris

Looks like the best suggestion to me.

[chemist]

I have tried them all.

By far the best at present is: Makemkv at http://www.makemkv.com.

Easy to use. Rips DVD and Blue-Ray fast with no problems at all.

Allows selection of languages, subtitles, etc..

Creates a single file in MKV format, which is a standard video format readable by most viewers, such as VLC-viewer.

Available for Mac and Windows.

No affiliation.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

Anyway, I sail to get away from TV, not to watch more. Get a Kindle or a Kobo and fill it with books instead.

We got tremendous enjoyment on this year's summer cruise watching movies all together after dinner. It helps a lot to have a big collection of movies on board so that you have a good choice depending on the collective mood. It is really hard, even on a big boat, to store a couple of hundred DVD's (actually, BlueRay disks) on board, but a 2 terabyte portable hard drive shrinks a whole collection to pocket size.

BlueRay and a HD monitor makes it even that much better.

I don't watch television at all, and haven't had a working TV at home in many years. My 3 year old son doesn't even know what a television is; doesn't know the word. Movies are a different story altogether -- although, naturally, to each his own.

[kingwoodie]

I have about 800 movies on my external hard drive's. I use dvd shrink 3.2. It works on about 80 to 90 % of the films. I have my hard drive's mounted at my chart table where my pc is located. It's real simple to use and is fairly fast.

Kingwoodie
s/v "The Lady Margaret Ann"

[Wanderlust]

Originally Posted by ranger42c

..... store just the discs in purpose-built sleeved "loose-leaf pages" in a case made by somebody like CaseLogic. A few hundred DVDs in a 9x12x4 binder...

A good solution but take care to avoid what happened with mine (mostly copies fortunately). I filled the binder with discs and zipped it shut. But the long term storage in a tight enclosure caused many of the discs to warp to the point of being unplayable.

Just make sure the discs are sitting loosely without any pressure on them.