How to Get Digital Copy of Disney Movie

"I feel like the only person left who goes out to rent DVDs. The shop is empty. What's going on?"

MATT BUCHANAN (Associate Editor, Gizmodo.com): People are still watching movies, they're just using new technology to get them delivered digitally and directly into their home.

Really?

Yeah, it's pretty simple, actually. The absolute easiest way is to use your cable company's so-called video on demand service. You typically tune to a dedicated station and use the buttons on your remote control to navigate through a menu of available videos. You use the remote to pick and pay for a movie and it starts almost instantly.

Does my cable company have all the movies I might want to watch?

Probably not. If you want the most titles, use Netflix, a Web-based service. They offer subscriptions for $5—$48 a month. You log on to their site to choose a movie or television show on DVD and they mail it straight to your home. You keep the discs as long as you want, and each comes with a postage-paid envelope that makes returning them easy.

OK, but we're still talking about physical DVDs...

Yes, but that's changing. Netflix has an on-demand service that lets you skip the DVDs altogether by sending the movie to your PC where you can watch it on your monitor. If you want to watch it on your television, you can buy a small box called Roku roku.com that sits on top of the TV like a cable box. It hooks your TV to your Internet connection in your house, then you can watch from your sofa. The Roku box sells for $100, but you can watch unlimited movies with all but the least expensive subscription.

So I need another box in my house?

Not necessarily. If your kids have an Xbox video game system, the computer inside it works like a Roku. In September LG introduced a Blu-ray DVD player [called the BD300] with the Netflix technology inside for under $500.

What if I don't want to spend that much?

Then try iTunes or Amazon Unbox. Apple uses a box similar to Roku called Apple TV, but the easier way to watch loads of movies and TV shows is to go to the iTunes store itunes.com and rent them for $3—$5. You have 24 hours to watch once you first hit play, and then it expires. It actually self-deletes.

Amazon.com's Unbox service, in partnership with TiVo, doesn't use a physical box. Rentals start at $3 and you can watch on your computer. They're also available for purchase.

What if my computer isn't very new? I'm not about to buy a new one just for videos...

As long as your PC runs Windows XP, you should be fine. One significant glitch is for Macintosh users. Right now Unbox and Netflix won't run on a Mac, but Netflix promises that it's in the works.

I love old black-and-white movies. Which system has as many classics as my video store?

Netflix has the largest library. They offer about 100,000 DVDs available through the mail, but the digital list is much smaller—only about 12,000 movies and TV shows, and they're mostly older titles. If you can't find what you want to watch instantly, you can probably get it through the mail.

The size of the library is the biggest issue right now. Apple only has 2,000. But no matter which service you choose, there's probably going to be a movie or two you won't be able to find yet.

When I Google 'watch movies' I get hundreds of hits and some look pretty shady.

Yeah, lots of them aren't legitimate. But there's a site called Hulu.com that's a partnership with NBC Universal and Fox that offers a lot of TV episodes, and a surprisingly decent movie collection from Universal or Fox that you can watch for free. They have ads in TV shows, but if you miss an episode of 30 Rock you can watch it online. It's pretty awesome. *

MATT BUCHANAN, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, GIZMODO.COM.

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How to Get Digital Copy of Disney Movie

Source: https://www.housebeautiful.com/shopping/home-gadgets/tips/a131/technophobia-digital-movies-1008/

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