Could movie downloads kill off the portable DVD player?

[tron3]

I was sitting here wondering why I would want to keep my DVD's, especially my DIPs replaced by blu-ray. I thought, "Well, I do have a portable DVD player and no portable blu-ray player is available yet."

Then I realized some people use their notebook as a portable player. Again, I reasoned, with HD movie downloads available, why would anyone even buy a portable DVD player?

Yes, the obvious thing is many of us are dying for a portable blu-ray player.

[stockstar1138]

why a portable blu-ray player?

its a lot cheaper (i would guess) and easier (at the time) to just put a blu-ray drive in your laptop.

[The Don]

this is where movie downloads have a chance....

they can't take on DVD or Blu-ray at this point..

maybe DVD after Blu-ray softens the market for them and disc sales shift towards HDM a little more...

but their strength is watching movies in the car or on the go....

they shouldn't even consider high def transfers right now...

[Cobalt]

A portable BD player would be nice.

The problem is - a lot of people will argue - why - the screen is too small to benefit from the HD goodness. That's not the issue here. The issue is portability and playability of the media you already own.

It's not about how good it looks. It's being able to use what you already have and take it with you. Not having to buy the same movie for portability.

That's what it's about right now

Some may not care about double/triple dipping. If that is the case - your good to go. Some of us don't want to pay 3,4,5+ times for the same film.

It would be nice to have BD's contain a portable version of the film.

[Guinness7]

I can see movie downloads being something someone with a laptop would buy, but I think others like the smaller compact size of a portable dvd player as well as I think that would be a better thing for childern to use as well. Thinking about it though moive downloads could remove portable dvd players in the long run.

[The Laughing Man]

Well, I think it might be more complicated as a lot of people (especially SUV and minivan owners) are using the built-in units.

I know a few couples who started out using their notebooks, but quickly gave them up to do battery life. They went out and bought cheapo portable DVD players.

I've often wondered how that will impact Blu-Ray adoption. The idea that if you do buy a movie on Blu-Ray (like Cars, Ratatouille, etc.) you'd have to turn around and buy a an SDVD copy for the kids when you travel. Then add to the fact that you don't really gain the HD benefit on that small of a screen, is there an incentive to switch?

While it may not be an issue w/ small kids (your 5-yr old probably isn't going to watch '3:10 to Yuma' on the trip to Grandma's and likewise you will probably pass on 'The Wiggles' in all their strange Australian High-Def glory). However, some titles may overlap like Pixar titles and as the kids get older some titles we've collected on Blu-Ray they may want to watch.

You know, it wouldn't be a problem if kids read books on long car trips like we had to.

Do we have any families here where they've run into this sort of thing?

[glenn22]

for portable movies I'll just use my iPod touch, or even get a PSP and make use of the newly announce BD -> PSP option.

[Cobalt]

Originally Posted by glenn22

for portable movies I'll just use my iPod touch, or even get a PSP and make use of the newly announce BD -> PSP option.

BD -> PSP option? I heard about this but I thought it was only for Sony titles and it was not "fully implemented" ?

[ben7ben3]

Originally Posted by glenn22

for portable movies I'll just use my iPod touch, or even get a PSP and make use of the newly announce BD -> PSP option.

to be honest, i hear a lot of people saying, oh eventaully hd downloads will replace BD. and that is never going to happen. first of all, people prefer to buy something and actually own it. no one is going to download stuff for 15 bucks or so, especially if it is going to take FOREVER to have, and it is only a file on a system. i dont see many people liking that, as there isn't much portability there either.

think about it, music downloads are so much easier than cds, etc. but people still buy cds, and they will continue to do so, because you actually own the thing and don't have to rely on a file, or backing up a file, etc.

also, considering that even dvd-qual movie downloads are not even close tot he quality of dvd, i do not see how it will ever be that of a blu ray. also there is no sound quality.

basically, downloads will NEVER be a format. it just wont happen. now when it comes to the original question, until laptops have 10 hour battery life, etc, there is no way downlaods will even beat out a portable dvd player

[Joe Cain]

Originally Posted by The Laughing Man

You know, it wouldn't be a problem if kids read books on long car trips like we had to.

Do we have any families here where they've run into this sort of thing?

So far the only movies we own on BD that the kids are really into are Cars and Ratatouille (much more popular than Meet the Robinsons or Chicken Little), and we've only taken a couple of long trips since adopting BD. I own a ton of Disney titles on DVD because...well, I'm a Disney animation sucker and have been since long before I thought I'd marry or have children...so we have a rather large selection of viewing material available anyway.

If AACS ever gets finalized and there's some sort of universal implementation of Mandatory Managed Copy we'll have a workaround for the lack of portable BD players, I think.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by tron3

I was sitting here wondering why I would want to keep my DVD's, especially my DIPs replaced by blu-ray. I thought, "Well, I do have a portable DVD player and no portable blu-ray player is available yet."

At the moment, the only mainstream download-video service that hasn't lost their shirt has been Apple iTunes store--
Which, after the unfortunate circumstances with AppleTV, demonstrated that people really only were buying download-movies to watch on their Video iPod.

(...How many questions has this one post answered so far? )

[glenn22]

Originally Posted by Cobalt

BD -> PSP option? I heard about this but I thought it was only for Sony titles and it was not "fully implemented" ?

Here's a quick article on it:

http://www.psp-vault.com/Article1323.psp

Yeah it's only going to be on a few titles to start, but could eventually be on all films as the amount of space required on the disc to make a portable version is pretty minimal.

[tron3]

Originally Posted by ben7ben3

...
think about it, music downloads are so much easier than cds, etc. but people still buy cds, and they will continue to do so, because you actually own the thing and don't have to rely on a file, or backing up a file, etc.

...

I worked at Radio Shack from 11/02 to 4/04, and several months part time thereafter. I saw a lot of the younger generation complaining they couldn't fit all their songs onto one device. Such whiny people. Here is where I begin to sound like an old person, but try to appreciate what I am saying as I am very youthful in heart and appearance. I just have a lot more experience.

(Old speak) Back in my day.... We had hand held transistor radios and were glad to have them. If you didn't like the music you changed the station. The Sony Walkman with cassette brought it to a new level as now you had stereo ear buds and a chance to play your own music. Same with portable CD.

But the younger people being the "gimmie now" generation demand to put all their eggs in one basket. Anyone else recall the saying, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket". Well, I reminded the young people of that all the time and the perils of putting all their music in one place. "BACK IT UP". Well, perhaps a few listened. But I heard a few complaints from people who lost all their music on their hard drive because they blindly trusted the technology. They litterally lost thousands of songs and hundreds of hours in download time from a simple hard drive crash.

But the "I deserve it" generation demands to put thousands of songs onto one device so they can spend the entire week detached from the real world with buds pounding against their ear drums. Deafness will be the new cancer among young people for the new millenium. Now, what does this have to do with movies?

Movies on a hard drive is having all your eggs in one basket. The greatness of disc is you can bring it to your friends house and watch it on his home theater if it is better than yours, or he just has the space for a bunch of the guys to come over.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Originally Posted by tron3

I worked at Radio Shack from 11/02 to 4/04, and several months part time thereafter. I saw a lot of the younger generation complaining they couldn't fit all their songs onto one device. Such whiny people. Here is where I begin to sound like an old person, but try to appreciate what I am saying as I am very youthful in heart and appearance. I just have a lot more experience.

(Old speak) Back in my day.... We had hand held transistor radios and were glad to have them. If you didn't like the music you changed the station. The Sony Walkman with cassette brought it to a new level as now you had stereo ear buds and a chance to play your own music. Same with portable CD.

But the younger people being the "gimmie now" generation demand to put all their eggs in one basket. Anyone else recall the saying, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket". Well, I reminded the young people of that all the time and the perils of putting all their music in one place. "BACK IT UP". Well, perhaps a few listened. But I heard a few complaints from people who lost all their music on their hard drive because they blindly trusted the technology. They litterally lost thousands of songs and hundreds of hours in download time from a simple hard drive crash.

But the "I deserve it" generation demands to put thousands of songs onto one device so they can spend the entire week detached from the real world with buds pounding against their ear drums. Deafness will be the new cancer among young people for the new millenium. Now, what does this have to do with movies?

Movies on a hard drive is having all your eggs in one basket. The greatness of disc is you can bring it to your friends house and watch it on his home theater if it is better than yours, or he just has the space for a bunch of the guys to come over.

I agree with you 100%.

For the record, I like the idea of downloading music as an alternative to CDs, but mostly because I'm the type of person that if I buy a CD, it's usually for one song and I most often don't end up caring for the rest of the album, hence making the download purchase the better option.

But yes, for the love of God BACK IT UP. Burn some discs, get an extra external Hard Drive that can be hooked to any computer... somthing! Don't 100% rely on this one medium to be fail safe.

Having said that, I don't see movie downloads ever being as popular as music downloads. You really aren't going to get the same advantage with movies that you do with music since I woud think the vast majority of people would be buying movies to have the entire movie and not just one portion of it. And given how much space would be needed to store many 2 hour movies, it just wouldn't be efficient at all.

[Cobalt]

Originally Posted by tron3

But the "I deserve it" generation demands to put thousands of songs onto one device so they can spend the entire week detached from the real world with buds pounding against their ear drums. Deafness will be the new cancer among young people for the new millenium. Now, what does this have to do with movies?

Sorry, but this comment is a little proprietary. Does it harm you in any way when these kids "detach" and listen to their music at high volumes? Does it impede on your quality of life some how? As far as I know - that should not effect you the least bit. I suppose you would rather see kids doing drugs, drinking and other questionable/illegal activities?

I don't see people posting comments about all the alcoholics we have in this world that drink/smoke to help "detach" themselves from the real world. Isn't that why most people drink?