External Hard Drive- Saving my DVD collection

Strongbow10

Hi guys,

I am looking to store my dvd collection (300 dvds +) and have sought out a media player/external hard drive.

Excuse my very novice like questions but would anyone recommend the following media player?

http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/10823523/art/seagate/goflex-cinema-multimedia.html

How exactly do I go about completing the transfer? is it as easy as just hooking the above device up to my laptop and copying and pasting files one by one?

I've heard of a file compresser which will free up more space, how does this work exactly? and would people recommend it?

Any advice you guys could give would be greatly appreciated

Thanks a million in advance

degsie

The method of getting your DVD's into a playable file format is known as 'ripping'. Two pieces of s/w I'd recommend for ripping are 'anydvd' and 'handbrake'. Once you have the media in file format then you can play on just about any modern media player. I have no knowledge of the player you linked. I personally use WDTV Live Streaming player which I am very happy with.

Johnboy1951

If you wanted to preserve everything on the DVDs, in original format and quality, you could, using PC software, create one ISO file for each DVD and store it on that device.
According to the spec the device will play the ISOs.
That also gives you the opportunity, if necessary, to make a replacement DVD if the original becomes damaged or unusable.

Most 'rippers' are designed to convert the video on the DVD to a lower quality to save space and make file/s that are compatible with more devices (some cannot play back ISO files).

Access

I was in the same predicament as you last year and i decided to rip 200+ dvds using anydvd (google what this particular program does as we might get rapped on the knuckles for talking about it on boards by the mods!)

And then i used handbrake to compress the size of each of the ripped dvds to a manageable size - about 1.5gb per movie - no extras by me - just the actual movie.

Others will say dont use handbrake at all (in other words if you rip a dvd movie which is 5gb - leave it at a 5gb ISO full stop) but this will fill your drive in no time if you are fine with that

There is no easy "press one button" solution for doing dvd ripping and it will take a good while per dvd... Allow 5-10 mins to rip the full dvd to your laptop/pc and then about 30 for handbrake to compress it. (this is all depends on how fast your laptop/pc is)

Good luck with it and ask any questions if you get stuck.

Strongbow10

Access wrote: »

I was in the same predicament as you last year and i decided to rip 200+ dvds using anydvd (google what this particular program does as we might get rapped on the knuckles for talking about it on boards by the mods!)

And then i used handbrake to compress the size of each of the ripped dvds to a manageable size - about 1.5gb per movie - no extras by me - just the actual movie.

Others will say dont use handbrake at all (in other words if you rip a dvd movie which is 5gb - leave it at a 5gb ISO full stop) but this will fill your drive in no time if you are fine with that

There is no easy "press one button" solution for doing dvd ripping and it will take a good while per dvd... Allow 5-10 mins to rip the full dvd to your laptop/pc and then about 30 for handbrake to compress it. (this is all depends on how fast your laptop/pc is)

Good luck with it and ask any questions if you get stuck.

thats brilliant, thanks a million for the response

degsie

Strongbow10 wrote: »

thats brilliant, thanks a million for the response

Did he/she not just repeat what I suggested??

Strongbow10

degsie wrote: »

Did he/she not just repeat what I suggested??

sorry, was kinda meant as a thank you to everyone who responded to my query

thanks a million for taking the time to do so

warrenaldo

I hope you have a lot of time on your hands because ripping 300+ DVDs is gonna take a lot of your time.

I was in the same predicament a couple of years ago.

I had all the DVDs bought, but ripping them would have taken forever, so I downloaded them - it was much easier.

PogMoThoin

My brother asked me rip some DVD's, I said no because it's easier and just as quick download them

Strongbow10

warrenaldo wrote: »

I hope you have a lot of time on your hands because ripping 300+ DVDs is gonna take a lot of your time.

I was in the same predicament a couple of years ago.

I had all the DVDs bought, but ripping them would have taken forever, so I downloaded them - it was much easier.

i'd do that but I just wouldn't have a clue where to download them from if i'm honest

Alun

warrenaldo wrote: »

I hope you have a lot of time on your hands because ripping 300+ DVDs is gonna take a lot of your time.

Amen to that ... it's the same as scanning in all your old photo collection using a negative scanner, or ripping your old vinyl collection. Sounds great in theory, but after you've spent a few days doing it and discover you've only got 5% through it you lose the will to live, believe me.

Johnboy1951

With such a lot of DVDs it would be much quicker to create ISO files of each and store them on the drive.

You could later rip them if you wished to save some space.

With the available HDD sizes these days there is hardly any need to rip for space reasons ....... and each one takes a hell of a lot of time to do ....... and needs some decisions on what you think would be best for your situation.

I suggest you try the three methods suggested on ONE only DVD, so you can compare results ......

1. Make an ISO of the DVD and save it on the drive

2. Rip the movie from the DVD and save to the drive

3. Search for and download the movie .... bearing in mind that you are likely to be creating problems for yourself if your actions are noticed by the 'copyright police'

We all have our own needs .... for some the time does not matter; for others the download does not matter; while for other the quality does not matter a lot.

So I suggest you try all three methods on one DVD before making up your mind.

Strongbow10

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

With such a lot of DVDs it would be much quicker to create ISO files of each and store them on the drive.

You could later rip them if you wished to save some space.

With the available HDD sizes these days there is hardly any need to rip for space reasons ....... and each one takes a hell of a lot of time to do ....... and needs some decisions on what you think would be best for your situation.

I suggest you try the three methods suggested on ONE only DVD, so you can compare results ......

1. Make an ISO of the DVD and save it on the drive

2. Rip the movie from the DVD and save to the drive

3. Search for and download the movie .... bearing in mind that you are likely to be creating problems for yourself if your actions are noticed by the 'copyright police'

We all have our own needs .... for some the time does not matter; for others the download does not matter; while for other the quality does not matter a lot.

So I suggest you try all three methods on one DVD before making up your mind.

has anyone ever been caught out by the "copyright police?"

I actually don't mind the time consuming nature. I am selling my collection so i'll do them one by one as I sell them

I have no idea what an ISO file is to be honest, basically im just looking to save the movie, all of the extras are of no use to me.

Johnboy1951

has anyone ever been caught out by the "copyright police?"

I actually don't mind the time consuming nature. I am selling my collection so i'll do them one by one as I sell them

I have no idea what an ISO file is to be honest, basically im just looking to save the movie, all of the extras are of no use to me.

I see ..... so it is your intent to keep copies and sell the originals ..... which is copyright infringement without even the excuse of wanting your own backup for preservation purposes.

Not something I can condone .... and would be surprised if such discussion is allowed on Boards.

If you want to know what an ISO file is I am sure there are plenty of references you can find if you try.

no more interest in this thread!

Strongbow10

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

I see ..... so it is your intent to keep copies and sell the originals ..... which is copyright infringement without even the excuse of wanting your own backup for preservation purposes.

Not something I can condone .... and would be surprised if such discussion is allowed on Boards.

If you want to know what an ISO file is I am sure there are plenty of references you can find if you try.

no more interest in this thread!

is there a reputable site to buy movie downloads online in that case?

I am not looking to circumvent any laws, basically wish to swap my dvd collection for something I can store in a hard drive. Its nothing more than a space issue.

I will only sell my DVDs if I can replace them via legal means.

Its not a profit making exercise, i'd gladly swap my collection for a collection of the same on hard drive.

If its a space issue, get a DVD wallet/binder and throw away the cases. Or rip your DVDs and then put the originals away in the attic.

Strongbow10

Deleted User wrote: »

If its a space issue, get a DVD wallet/binder and throw away the cases. Or rip your DVDs and then put the originals away in the attic.

if the attic was not full that would be the first stop

thanks for all of the replies

PogMoThoin

Strongbow10 wrote: »

is there a reputable site to buy movie downloads online in that case?

No, but there is Netflix. Streaming is the same as downloading only you don't keep a copy