downloading purchased movies

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hello, I am somewhat of a neophyte and have some basic questions. my son is in submarines in the Navy and has limited personal space. I thought a good Christmas gift would be some movies I
purchased on line and then transferred to a flash drive to give to him. I have a macbook pro and mac mini but he does not have a mac computer. how would I go about doing this?
 
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Hello and welcome to the forum! :)

You might tell us what device(s), such as an iPad, that he has to even watch movies? If he does have an iDevice, might have been easier to give him an iTunes gift card, so he could rent or buy films on his own (assuming a submarine has Wi-Fi to connect to the store?). Please provide some more information - Dave
 

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...(assuming a submarine has Wi-Fi to connect to the store?).

I'm pretty sure the "underwater service" is super-super-duper secret. I think that internet access is seriously restricted (or not even allowed) I think that they only get very limited messages from home while deployed (since the underwater location of sub's is way way way secretive for strategic reasons).

But the iTunes gift card is a great idea.:) The OP's son would just have to do the downloading prior to being deployed for use while deployed (on the sub).:)

- Nick
 
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MacInWin

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Assuming navydad's son is in the USN (he said "Navy" not "Royal Navy" or "RN" so I'll got with it) the submarine goes to sea with a large library of movies for the crew, but if he wants his son to have a library of his own, the questions about his son's device are key. WiFi or Cellular or any other radio communications are out. Radio waves don't travel through water very far (inches, at the frequency of WiFi and cellular), WiFi is limited range and Cellular is a only a bit better. Oh, and the hull is steel, which is a pretty effective blocker of signals as well. So we have to know what device his son has that might use a USB stick. And movies take ton of space, so any solution will need to be LARGE capacity.
 

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WiFi or Cellular or any other radio communications are out. Radio waves don't travel through water very far (inches, at the frequency of WiFi and cellular), WiFi is limited range and Cellular is a only a bit better. Oh, and the hull is steel, which is a pretty effective blocker of signals as well.

Great point!:) From what I understand (which is very limited)...sailors on a sub have VERY limited communciations with the outside world while deployed (at least submerged while deployed)...for strategic reasons of course.

And the communications (with the outside world) while deployed are VERY limited to short messages from family. I don't even think that the individual sailors have direct access to communications equipment. I believe that the very limited communications that are sent & received...are handled only by the sub's communication personal (security clearance and maintaining security issues).

And...when the sub does communicate (rarely) with the outside world...the sub raises some sort of aerial to the surface of the water (to improve...or even allow) connection with satellites. AND...this period of time that the aerial is deployed is super-short as possible...so to minimze the possibility of being detected & located by potential enemies.

So all of this secrecy & limited communications...certainly precludes any sort of downloading movies from iTunes while deployed & submerged on a sub!;)

- Nick
 
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Also, depending on where dad gets the movies from, DRM may prevent dad from transferring movies to a USB and son from playing them.
 

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^^^

DRM will prevent them from being played without the playback device or software being authorized on the same account they were purchased. I'm not aware of any service where that is not the case from all the Ultraviolet services (Vudu, Flixster, MGo, etc.) to Amazon, CinemaNow, iTunes...

Ultraviolet, however, does allow you to set up 5 family members with their own accounts that can watch your videos
 
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chas_m

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Ultraviolet, in addition to being the most consumer-unfriendly service mankind has yet dreamed up, requires online authorization, so there goes that idea. I **never** buy DVDs that only offer Ultraviolet digital copies.
 

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Ultraviolet, in addition to being the most consumer-unfriendly service mankind has yet dreamed up, requires online authorization, so there goes that idea. I **never** buy DVDs that only offer Ultraviolet digital copies.

From someone that owns and purchases movies from at least a half dozen different services, your continued attempt at putting down ultraviolet and at the same time lauding iTunes is just mind boggling.

While ultraviolet is going to require "authorization" in order to stream or download the movies you own... that's no different than iTunes requiring authorization (signing in with your Apple ID) in order to stream or download the movies you own either.

Just as with iTunes, after downloading, I can play and watch any of my couple of hundred ultraviolet movies via the Vudu app (my personally preferred app) without an internet connection (read, no further authorization).

Where watching movies purchased via iTunes requires you to use iTunes, there are half a dozen different services available to watch ultraviolet movies.

Where watching movies purchased via iTunes requires either an "Apple" device or a Windows computer with iTunes installed, I can stream &/or download and watch my ultraviolet content via a Mac, Windows, iDevice, Android, Roku, PS3, PS4, Xbox, practically any DVD or Blu-Ray player on the market today as well as Smart TVs.

Those owning content from iTunes and want to watch their purchased video content on their phone or tablet, there is one option - an Apple device - you are effectively "locked" in.
Those owning content via Uvvu have the option of Apple, Android or Windows devices.

Where watching iTunes content requires the device to be authorized by the single account (password/username) used to purchase the movie/TV show, ultraviolet permits you to set up to 5 other family members with their own individual logins to watch that content.

Whether using iTunes, Amazon or any of the half dozen ultraviolet services, every single one of them requires that either the device or the app being used to watch your downloaded content be "authorized". You can't just move iTunes content to another computer and expect to watch it without first "authorizing" that machine.

While the picture with ultraviolet may not be all rosy, If you want to continually eschew it, you should be showing the exact same contempt for iTunes and every other service that permits streaming and downloading of digital movie/TV content that is available today. There is not a single "legal" service today that permits you to view your purchased digital content on any device you elect to use that does not require that new device (or an app on that device) to be authorized.

(Also, many Blu-Rays that have Ultraviolet logo on the packaging, actually have codes for both uvvu and iTunes inside the box. At least on the Blu-Rays I've purchased, this has become more common than not.)
 
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thank you for all of the replies. here is some additional information I should have sent initially. My son has an HP computer (I have macbook pro and mac mini). he does not have wi fii on the boat and can not download movies or access the internet while he is deployed underwater (often for months at a time). they do have access to movies on the boat but I thought he might like to have some of his own choosing that he can watch on his computer. I just purchased a 128 GB USB 2.0/3.0 flash drive and thought I would download/purchase movies from Amazon or iTunes and then transfer them to the flashdrive so he can view them on his computer . somebody said I first needed to format the flashdrive in FAT?? All suggestions are appreciated.
 

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I just purchased a 128 GB USB 2.0/3.0 flash drive and thought I would download/purchase movies from Amazon or iTunes and then transfer them to the flashdrive so he can view them on his computer . somebody said I first needed to format the flashdrive in FAT?? All suggestions are appreciated.

What about the suggestion that RadDave made above (purchasing an iTunes gift card)? This way your son can download the movies he wants before he is deployed on the sub (on shore)…then watch them while deployed.:)

- Nick
 
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that sounds like a possible solution. I am sure he does not have much memory on his computer so (remember I am a computer neophyte) if he downloads the movies can he then transfer them to the flashdrive and erase them from his computer so he doesn't use up his memory and should I still format the flashdrive before I give it to him?
 
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OOPS, you started a new thread. Can a Mod move this to the thread of the same name?

As for your question, you don't need to format the flash drive, he can do that on his HP.
 

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that sounds like a possible solution. I am sure he does not have much memory on his computer so (remember I am a computer neophyte) if he downloads the movies can he then transfer them to the flashdrive and erase them from his computer so he doesn't use up his memory and should I still format the flashdrive before I give it to him?

Like MacInWin mentioned…your son can do the downloading…and transfer to the flash drive if his computer does not have enough internal storage.:)

- Nick
 
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does it make a difference if the movies are downloaded from iTunes or Amazon to his HP computer (trying to decide which gift card to buy him)
 

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If you get an Amazon gift card…he may not download movies (which seems to be your intention). He may purchase something else since Amazon sells a LOT of stuff!;) iTunes sells far less "stuff".

As far as downloading movies...I don't think that it matters (iTunes or Amazon).

- Nick
 

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I purchase from both Amazon and iTunes. Because you are asking about movie downloads strictly in relation to a computer, would definitely recommend iTunes over Amazon.

The deal Amazon has with the distributors is the worst of all the services as it relates to the end user. For those that only buy in HD, Amazon is a problem. A great many of their videos cannot be streamed to a computer in HD (even if you own it) and for a great many more, the HD version cannot be downloaded to a computer.

iTunes typically downloads faster than Amazon also.
 
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My wife and I lived on our boat in the Caribbean for a number of years and being movie nuts had to develop a method to feed our habit. Some info first:

1. PCs read FAT or NTFS and Macs read their own type of Mac OS partitions. If you want to use media on both types of devices, simply format them using the disk utility into a FAT or extended FAT partition. Files will then be readable on both Win XX or OS X.

2. Usually, DVDs have some form of protection. This can usually be bypassed (broken) with some DVD copier. AnyDVD will break protection and copy any DVD onto another DVD with no protection and it will do it two-sided if desired.

What I used to do is rent DVD-s eight at a whack from my favorite supplier on a monthly subscription. I would then xerox them using AnyDVD and return them for eight more. The turn-around was less than a week when we were in port in US Territories. I built up a library of more than 1000 DVDs this way. AnyDVD was the best converter at the time up to three years ago and we simply bought DVD blanks in lots of 100. At the time, I did not want to try to store movies on my computer HDD because of size/cost limitations. Today I would use high capacity external HDDs.

Now, it's tough to play a DVD-format file that has both VIDEO and AUDIO folders because of multiple VOB, BUP and IFO files. However, a good DVD-to-DivX converter will allow you to change the movie to Div-X or another format that you can then play from your hard drive. A program such as Worldshare Video Converter Ultimate can output many different formats such as mp4 and many others. These you can play directly from a folder on your computer.

So, what I would like to suggest is to buy your son a 2.5-inch external HDD that uses the fastest interface both you and he have. You can get 3 TB of storage for peanuts (less than $100) these days. I would highly recommend Western Digital or Hitachi, Seagate is secondary to these in my opinion. This will let him store beaucoup movies. Then get a couple of 64 GB flash drives for transmittal of things to him. Format these using exFAT on your MAC. Convert the DVD videos you have to unprotected mp4 files, shovel as many movies onto the flash drive and send the card to your son. Keep doing that on the second flash drive while the first is being transmitted, received, copied onto his HDD and returned to you. I think you will find this to be simultaneously the most easy and least expensive to get many many movies to him inexpensively.

There may be better formats than mp4 to use in which case use one of those especially for HD movies. I'm sure someone can give you some direction here as my knowledge is somewhat old in this area.

Hope this helps
 
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Illegally copying movies from rented dvds is a crime. Every DVD I've ever rented had that FBI warning at the beginning, saying just that. In addition to the FBI, the US Navy frowns on bringing stolen property aboard ship. And illegal copies of movies are stolen property.

The size difference between a USB memory stick and an external drive enclosure is, on a submarine, a huge difference. (I know because I've been on a submarine and I know exactly how tight it really is.) Also, the idea of "transmittal" of flash drives to the son won't work because submariners do NOT get mail on anything like a regular basis. They go out, go under, and stay there, for the most part, until they get back to home port or a sub tender somewhere a few months later. Mail can take months to catch up, particularly if world circumstances change the ship's routing. What navydad wants to do is to provide his son as many legal movies as he can that can fit in the very, very tight spaces aboard submarines. An external drive just won't cut it. Using mail won't cut it. What navydad needs to think about is how to get the movies he buys legally onto something his son can fit in the few cubic inches of free space he has on board.

I don't buy movies online for download, so I don't know the prices, but one thing to think about is that if his son's PC has a DVD player inside it, maybe the best way is to buy the movie on DVD, take it out of the case and put it in a "paper" sleeve (Those come in boxes of 100's for a very cheap price) and give his son a stack of DVDs in those sleeves. Nice, compact stack for storage, slips into tiny crevices in his locker, tradable if other sailors have different movies in their inventory. Without the crystal cases, they don't take much space. Of course, if the HP PC doesn't have an optical drive, that won't work.
 

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