Digital Copy Discs - waste of time & money - Page 2 - Blu-ray Forum

dragons lair · 10-13-2008, 07:53 PM

I would love it instead of a Digital Copy it came with a extra DVD (like Sleeping Beauty) the reason is I used to be really heavy (326lbs) but I joined a gym two years ago and after being on the Life Cycle for 30 min. I would get really bored, so I started taking my portable DVD player, so instead of 30min. I could go a hour or longer because I have something to distract me, now I weigh 196lbs.

ClaytonMG · 10-13-2008, 07:55 PM

There's 2 things that I don't like about digital copies:

1. When companies like Lionsgate say things like "2-Disc Special Edition" making it seem like there's so many features that you're going to get the film on one disc, the features on the other.

2. They don't even need to be on another disc. At least I don't think so. Didn't WB do something with 10,000 BC where they just put in a code where you can download the digital copy from a website. Why not do that? It wouldn't raise the price of the disc for us that don't use the digital copy and if they wanted to chage like $1.99 for the digital copy or something like that.

But having said that, I don't really care either way. These are just my observations so it's not really so much that I don't like them, it's more that I don't use them. I'd like to watch my movies on a big screen compared to a tiny 4" one or something like that.

djluis2k6 · 10-13-2008, 07:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dragons lair

I would love it instead of a Digital Copy it came with a extra DVD (like Sleeping Beauty) the reason is I used to be really heavy (326lbs) but I joined a gym two years ago and after being on the Life Cycle for 30 min. I would get really bored, so I started taking my portable DVD player, so instead of 30min. I could go a hour or longer because I have something to distract me, now I weigh 196lbs.

An extra DVD might increase the price, but a digital copy wouldn't, or if it did, it wouldn't be by much. Plus the whole point of Blu-Ray is to eventually replace DVD. It would almost be like a step backwards to keep relying on a DVD in the case to help sell it.

dadkins · 10-13-2008, 08:20 PM

One plus about Digital copies, older machines that either don't have the horsepower to play a Blu-ray, or have a BD drive(or both) can store and play the Digital Copy.

I have an older laptop here that is just under the required power to play a BD and it doesn't have a BD drive.
The Digital Copy(Speed Racer) plays fine. All it is is a DVD rip with protection.

For anything else, whether on my other laptops themselves, or HDMI tethered to a HDTV, I'll play the Blu-ray.

ckenisell · 10-13-2008, 08:58 PM

Nobody has really touched on what I'm about to say yet, so I'm going to throw this out there and let you discuss.

I don't think that digital copies has anything to do with "mobility" as it has been marketed to us.

I think digital copies included with BD is a way for BD supporters (within the industry insiders) to compete with digital downloads. Remember, BD has to compete with DVD (doing well so far) AND this new digital download craze that many are hyping. Why would I need to digitally download anything if I can get the BD (highest possible quality) AND get a digital copy with my purchase (for other things like viewing in my car, on my laptop, on a mobile device, etc.)?

I think digital copies are great! Here are the down sides:

Every studio handles digital copies differently. There should have been a BD standard around this. Now, I have to try and figure out which studio's digital copies will work with my particular mobile device. I have a PSP. I don't even WANT a video iPod or iPhone.
The technology is confusing. Can I put the disc in my PS3 and directly transfer it to my PSP? Can I put it in my PC and then burn it to a DVD for viewing in my car DVD player? What are the limitations? Does it also differ by studio? How many different online accounts do I need to set up so I can legally extract these digital copies?

This is starting to become more like BD-Live. I don't like how different studios require you to create a new account. I still haven't figured out if I can have a single "BD-Live" account and access all BD-Live features. So far, it doesn't look like it. Sony has a different BD-Live login than Disney which differs from the Lionsgate login. It's all so confusing.

On top of that, different studios are offering different "rewards" programs. First Disney and now Sony. Too many accounts to create.

Mobe1969 · 10-13-2008, 09:10 PM

I should start selling mine or trading them. I will never have a use for them.

Minimejer05 · 10-13-2008, 09:16 PM

I have yet to use the digital copy but once I get a new Ipod I shall so I dont think there a COMPLETE waste.

un4gvn94538 · 10-13-2008, 09:18 PM

i had two movies with digital copies. downloaded but never watched. had to reinstall windows on my computer and transfered the files. they didnt work. tried to redownload. didnt work. waste. i would much rather have a dvd copy like sleeping beauty has. much more options for me for playback around the house or a friends house/trip. with the digital copy, i have a useless disc next to my blu ray. there should be some sort of recycling program for this waste.

djluis2k6 · 10-13-2008, 09:25 PM

I would say maybe an alternative is to include a special username and password with each release to give purchasers the "option" to obtain the digital copy if they'd like. The username and password could be used either through an official blu-ray website of some sort, the studio's website, or if they could all get along on 1 master website, that would even be best. Online, you could get a more detailed description as to have to add the digital copy to your iPod, PSP, burn to a DVD (if available), etc.

Konrad · 10-13-2008, 09:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mobe1969

I should start selling mine or trading them. I will never have a use for them.

Me neither. Even if the film on the BD is region-free you cannot download the digicopy if you are not in the US (or Canada). It is funny that studios protect the give-away more than the real thing.

dadkins · 10-13-2008, 09:55 PM

With this thread, I decided to run the Speed Racer Digital Copy - for kicks...
Apparently, since I had to restore my C drive(I trashed it with beta drivers and it was erroring), the Digital Copy stored on D drive no longer works.

It asks for the authorization code but errors out saying it has exceeded uses(ONE).
Went to Warner site, filled out the support page abd hit submit - script error!

So, no support and I now have a useless file on my D drive. Yeah, that's cool, huh?
What a joke!

Good thing I can make... nevermind.

Joe Redifer · 10-13-2008, 10:00 PM

I'm perfectly happy with my Analog Copy Blu-ray version of the movie. No need to go digital. Now if there were a "Portable Copy"...

Augustine864 · 10-13-2008, 10:07 PM

I wish ALL blu-rays had digital copies. My laptop has only a blu-ray reader, not burner, so I can't back my blus up on my harddrive to watching elsewhere at places that do not have bluray players, (most places). I hope digital copies invade our blus, our homes, our lives, and eventually take over the world.

dadkins · 10-13-2008, 10:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Augustine864

I wish ALL blu-rays had digital copies. My laptop has only a blu-ray reader, not burner, so I can't back my blus up on my harddrive to watching elsewhere at places that do not have bluray players, (most places). I hope digital copies invade our blus, our homes, our lives, and eventually take over the world.

Uhm... why would you need a burner to backup to HDD?

Marine Mike · 10-13-2008, 10:51 PM

I wish that every BD would come with a Digital Copy so I can watch them on the road because there isn't a portable BD Player yet.

Clark Kent · 10-13-2008, 11:10 PM

It is strictly a marketing move to attract younger customers. Digital copies basically add nothing to the cost of the Blu-ray and the studios hope by including it a consumer will get the Blu-ray over the regular dvd version. The studios have researched this all out and tested consumer preferences. Disney included a regular dvd with the Sleeping Beauty BD because their surveys had indicated that a portion of their customer base was avoiding BDs because their children couldn't play them.

Augustine864 · 10-14-2008, 03:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dadkins

Uhm... why would you need a burner to backup to HDD?

Maybe I don't know what I'm doing. If you want to PM me and enlighten me, that would be excellent. When I put the BDs in my laptop the backup program which is supposed to work with BD discs does not seem to recognize them. (DVDFab). It would be great if I were simply doing something wrong.

S2K1 · 10-14-2008, 03:37 AM

I LOVE the Digital Copys. I seek it out. I love having the ability to put a copy on my computer/iPhone for portable watching. Watching it on my big screen on a Blu-Ray player isn't always an option for me, so when I travel and still want to see the movie. How many hotels keep a Blu-Ray player in their room? None that I know of, so with Digital Copy I can still watch my movie and hook up my iPhone to the TV.

Grant Matrix · 10-14-2008, 02:13 PM

I don't really care about digital copy at all. Personally I don't watch movies on my PC and I can't imagine why anyone really wants to watch a movie on a small portable I-pod type device, but to each his own. I think the studios are using the digital copy as an excuse to jack up the prices and that is wrong. I saw at Best Buy that they are now selling the digital movies separately. If the studios are really putting them in as a free bonus, great, but using it as an excuse to charge more = lame!

MillerTimeNCSU · 10-14-2008, 02:23 PM

I get sick of these "DC suck" threads every week.

Here's the deal, some people, like myself and others in this thread, enjoy having a copy of the movie we've purchased on an Iphone or Ipod for travel and whatnot. If you don't like the DC - throw it away, sell it, use it as a coaster....who gives a flying F? just quit *****ing about it.

The overall cost of the Blu is NOT more for the inclusion of a DC....just look at the discs with it and without it....there is no increase in price. Even if you hate the DC, you're not paying more for it.

I don't watch extras on movies- and I imagine I'm not alone - are we starting weekly threads about how much extras suck just b/c we aren't interested in them?

10-13-2008, 08:58 PM	#25
ckenisell Blu-ray Samurai Top contributor Member since:Jun 2007 Location:Round Rock, TX Blu-ray collection:368 Blu-ray reviews:3	Nobody has really touched on what I'm about to say yet, so I'm going to throw this out there and let you discuss. I don't think that digital copies has anything to do with "mobility" as it has been marketed to us. I think digital copies included with BD is a way for BD supporters (within the industry insiders) to compete with digital downloads. Remember, BD has to compete with DVD (doing well so far) AND this new digital download craze that many are hyping. Why would I need to digitally download anything if I can get the BD (highest possible quality) AND get a digital copy with my purchase (for other things like viewing in my car, on my laptop, on a mobile device, etc.)? I think digital copies are great! Here are the down sides: Every studio handles digital copies differently. There should have been a BD standard around this. Now, I have to try and figure out which studio's digital copies will work with my particular mobile device. I have a PSP. I don't even WANT a video iPod or iPhone. The technology is confusing. Can I put the disc in my PS3 and directly transfer it to my PSP? Can I put it in my PC and then burn it to a DVD for viewing in my car DVD player? What are the limitations? Does it also differ by studio? How many different online accounts do I need to set up so I can legally extract these digital copies? This is starting to become more like BD-Live. I don't like how different studios require you to create a new account. I still haven't figured out if I can have a single "BD-Live" account and access all BD-Live features. So far, it doesn't look like it. Sony has a different BD-Live login than Disney which differs from the Lionsgate login. It's all so confusing. On top of that, different studios are offering different "rewards" programs. First Disney and now Sony. Too many accounts to create.

10-13-2008, 09:55 PM	#31
dadkins Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Jan 2007 Location:Hercules, CA Blu-ray collection:35 Blu-ray reviews:2	With this thread, I decided to run the Speed Racer Digital Copy - for kicks... Apparently, since I had to restore my C drive(I trashed it with beta drivers and it was erroring), the Digital Copy stored on D drive no longer works. It asks for the authorization code but errors out saying it has exceeded uses(ONE). Went to Warner site, filled out the support page abd hit submit - script error! So, no support and I now have a useless file on my D drive. Yeah, that's cool, huh? What a joke! Good thing I can make... nevermind. Last edited by dadkins; 10-13-2008 at 10:06 PM.

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10-13-2008, 07:53 PM	#21
dragons lair Active Member Member since:Jul 2007	I would love it instead of a Digital Copy it came with a extra DVD (like Sleeping Beauty) the reason is I used to be really heavy (326lbs) but I joined a gym two years ago and after being on the Life Cycle for 30 min. I would get really bored, so I started taking my portable DVD player, so instead of 30min. I could go a hour or longer because I have something to distract me, now I weigh 196lbs.

10-13-2008, 07:55 PM	#22
ClaytonMG Blu-ray Samurai Member since:May 2006 Location:New Brighton, MN Home Theater Gallery:16 4K collection:844 Blu-ray collection:2383 Blu-ray reviews:2 Trading Score:1	There's 2 things that I don't like about digital copies: 1. When companies like Lionsgate say things like "2-Disc Special Edition" making it seem like there's so many features that you're going to get the film on one disc, the features on the other. 2. They don't even need to be on another disc. At least I don't think so. Didn't WB do something with 10,000 BC where they just put in a code where you can download the digital copy from a website. Why not do that? It wouldn't raise the price of the disc for us that don't use the digital copy and if they wanted to chage like $1.99 for the digital copy or something like that. But having said that, I don't really care either way. These are just my observations so it's not really so much that I don't like them, it's more that I don't use them. I'd like to watch my movies on a big screen compared to a tiny 4" one or something like that.

10-13-2008, 08:20 PM	#24
dadkins Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Jan 2007 Location:Hercules, CA Blu-ray collection:35 Blu-ray reviews:2	One plus about Digital copies, older machines that either don't have the horsepower to play a Blu-ray, or have a BD drive(or both) can store and play the Digital Copy. I have an older laptop here that is just under the required power to play a BD and it doesn't have a BD drive. The Digital Copy(Speed Racer) plays fine. All it is is a DVD rip with protection. For anything else, whether on my other laptops themselves, or HDMI tethered to a HDTV, I'll play the Blu-ray.

10-13-2008, 09:10 PM	#26
Mobe1969 Blu-ray Knight Top contributor Member since:Jan 2008 Location:Brisbane, Australia 4K collection:980 Blu-ray collection:1610	I should start selling mine or trading them. I will never have a use for them.

10-13-2008, 09:16 PM	#27
Minimejer05 Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Dec 2007 Location:Minnesota Home Theater Gallery:14 4K collection:532 Blu-ray collection:1995 Blu-ray reviews:28 Trading Score:6	I have yet to use the digital copy but once I get a new Ipod I shall so I dont think there a COMPLETE waste.

10-13-2008, 09:18 PM	#28
un4gvn94538 Blu-ray Knight Top contributor Member since:Dec 2007 Location:Limbo (Bakersfield, Ca.) 4K collection:143 Blu-ray collection:811 DVD collection:54 Digital collection:1494 Trading Score:277	i had two movies with digital copies. downloaded but never watched. had to reinstall windows on my computer and transfered the files. they didnt work. tried to redownload. didnt work. waste. i would much rather have a dvd copy like sleeping beauty has. much more options for me for playback around the house or a friends house/trip. with the digital copy, i have a useless disc next to my blu ray. there should be some sort of recycling program for this waste.

10-13-2008, 09:25 PM	#29
djluis2k6 Power Member Top contributor Member since:Feb 2007	I would say maybe an alternative is to include a special username and password with each release to give purchasers the "option" to obtain the digital copy if they'd like. The username and password could be used either through an official blu-ray website of some sort, the studio's website, or if they could all get along on 1 master website, that would even be best. Online, you could get a more detailed description as to have to add the digital copy to your iPod, PSP, burn to a DVD (if available), etc.

10-13-2008, 10:00 PM	#32
Joe Redifer Member Member since:Jan 2008 Location:Denver, CO USA Blu-ray collection:63 Blu-ray reviews:9	I'm perfectly happy with my Analog Copy Blu-ray version of the movie. No need to go digital. Now if there were a "Portable Copy"...

10-13-2008, 10:07 PM	#33
Augustine864 Active Member Member since:Feb 2008 Blu-ray collection:83 Blu-ray reviews:9 Trading Score:85	I wish ALL blu-rays had digital copies. My laptop has only a blu-ray reader, not burner, so I can't back my blus up on my harddrive to watching elsewhere at places that do not have bluray players, (most places). I hope digital copies invade our blus, our homes, our lives, and eventually take over the world.

10-13-2008, 10:51 PM	#35
Marine Mike The Busey Member since:Apr 2008 Location:Ohio Home Theater Gallery:10 Blu-ray collection:120 Blu-ray reviews:4 Trading Score:4	I wish that every BD would come with a Digital Copy so I can watch them on the road because there isn't a portable BD Player yet.

10-13-2008, 11:10 PM	#36
Clark Kent Blu-ray Prince Top contributor Member since:Oct 2007 Location:Metropolis Blu-ray reviews:2 Trading Score:184	It is strictly a marketing move to attract younger customers. Digital copies basically add nothing to the cost of the Blu-ray and the studios hope by including it a consumer will get the Blu-ray over the regular dvd version. The studios have researched this all out and tested consumer preferences. Disney included a regular dvd with the Sleeping Beauty BD because their surveys had indicated that a portion of their customer base was avoiding BDs because their children couldn't play them.

10-14-2008, 03:37 AM	#38
S2K1 Member Member since:Dec 2007 Location:SLC, UT	I LOVE the Digital Copys. I seek it out. I love having the ability to put a copy on my computer/iPhone for portable watching. Watching it on my big screen on a Blu-Ray player isn't always an option for me, so when I travel and still want to see the movie. How many hotels keep a Blu-Ray player in their room? None that I know of, so with Digital Copy I can still watch my movie and hook up my iPhone to the TV.

10-14-2008, 02:13 PM	#39
Grant Matrix Banned Member since:Dec 2007 Blu-ray reviews:4 Trading Score:1	I don't really care about digital copy at all. Personally I don't watch movies on my PC and I can't imagine why anyone really wants to watch a movie on a small portable I-pod type device, but to each his own. I think the studios are using the digital copy as an excuse to jack up the prices and that is wrong. I saw at Best Buy that they are now selling the digital movies separately. If the studios are really putting them in as a free bonus, great, but using it as an excuse to charge more = lame!

10-14-2008, 02:23 PM	#40
MillerTimeNCSU Active Member Member since:Jan 2008 Location:Charlotte, NC Blu-ray collection:17	I get sick of these "DC suck" threads every week. Here's the deal, some people, like myself and others in this thread, enjoy having a copy of the movie we've purchased on an Iphone or Ipod for travel and whatnot. If you don't like the DC - throw it away, sell it, use it as a coaster....who gives a flying F? just quit *****ing about it. The overall cost of the Blu is NOT more for the inclusion of a DC....just look at the discs with it and without it....there is no increase in price. Even if you hate the DC, you're not paying more for it. I don't watch extras on movies- and I imagine I'm not alone - are we starting weekly threads about how much extras suck just b/c we aren't interested in them?

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