is itunes the only service where you can download TV shows?

[gorcorps]

I use xbmc to play all of my ripped shows from discs, but there are still shows I like to keep up with mid-season and can't always catch on TV. DVR may be an option in the future, but I'd rather have something I can play on any device. I know you can download stuff via itunes, but I don't believe they download in a format that anything can recognize. Everything else out there seems to be streaming only.

 

[shortylickens]

I think Amazon lets you download.

 

[gorcorps]

From what I can see, Amazon is streaming only which is why I'm asking. It streams though some "unbox" player or some such crap. I don't want extra software just to play the videos.

 

[shortylickens]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...2A241748F7B417


CTRL+F "download".

 

[gorcorps]

Okay, I need to rephrase what I said

Yes you're right, you can indeed download it so you don't need to be online to see it. But it looks like they're all played through the Unbox player and not in a format that can be played through xbmc or anything.

 

[shortylickens]

Ahhhhh......


Well, I guess thats why torrents are so popular.

 

[Cuda1447]

Ahhhhh......


Well, I guess thats why torrents are so popular.

Yep. Some people want to legally download stuff, but distributors haven't got their head fully out of their ass yet and are still making it was more difficult than it should be. Torrents fulfill that void.

 

[bbhaag]

Amazon videos can be played through the Unbox player or in WMP only. If you want to watch them on any other player you will need to use a program like Audials One 10 to rip out the DRM. Ripping out the DRM needs to be done in real time though so it's a pain in the ass. CPU intensive to. My PII 965 can only do SD media not HD. HD bogs it down to much and it stutters real bad.

 

[gorcorps]

I just tried out a free sneak peak thing on Amazon to see what it actually downloads as. It actually just downloads a WMV file, but it's protected. It doesn't play in media player classic, but it DOES play in windows media player which I can force xbmc to use with such file types. It won't be as smooth functionally but it could work.

 

[Leros]

Yep. Some people want to legally download stuff, but distributors haven't got their head fully out of their ass yet and are still making it was more difficult than it should be. Torrents fulfill that void.

It really is unfortunate that torrenting is easier to use than the paid version. I don't torrent anymore, but I used to buy content and then immediately torrent it so I could get an unprotected version that I could use however I wanted.

 

[lokiju]

Well if you have Apple devices then you shouldn't have to repay to re-download them to the other devices at least. Not ideal but yeah, it sucks and is part of the lack in standards that is making it slower than it should be to cut the cord fully.

 

[gorcorps]

Well if you have Apple devices then you shouldn't have to repay to re-download them to the other devices at least. Not ideal but yeah, it sucks and is part of the lack in standards that is making it slower than it should be to cut the cord fully.

I have zero apple devices. I reinstalled iTunes because I remembered there were a couple videos I bought and wanted again. It's also the best (only?) way to actually download Red Letter Media videos.

 

[QueBert]

Yep. Some people want to legally download stuff, but distributors haven't got their head fully out of their ass yet and are still making it was more difficult than it should be. Torrents fulfill that void.

More difficult? I assure you it's easier for me to download a South Park episode off iTunes than it is a random torrent site. If iTunes is too difficult for a person to use, I doubt they'll be able to figure out a torrent site and how to use WinRAR to unarchive it.

 

[shortylickens]

I have zero apple devices. I reinstalled iTunes because I remembered there were a couple videos I bought and wanted again. It's also the best (only?) way to actually download Red Letter Media videos.

Theres web apps you can use to download and keep flash vids from a site. Like redletter or youtube.

 

[bigrash]

itunes has most tv shows that I need. I also tried google play on my tablet, and it seems nice, but now I dont remember if it downloads or streams tv shows.

 

[bbhaag]

I just tried out a free sneak peak thing on Amazon to see what it actually downloads as. It actually just downloads a WMV file, but it's protected. It doesn't play in media player classic, but it DOES play in windows media player which I can force xbmc to use with such file types. It won't be as smooth functionally but it could work.

Read my original post(#8). If you really want to use MPC-HC to save functionality it's the only way to do it with Amazon videos because of the DRM. It's the only way I have found anyway but there might be other methods.

 

[Cuda1447]

More difficult? I assure you it's easier for me to download a South Park episode off iTunes than it is a random torrent site. If iTunes is too difficult for a person to use, I doubt they'll be able to figure out a torrent site and how to use WinRAR to unarchive it.

Once you learn how to torrent, or shit, usenet. It's WAY eaiser/quicker, IMO. If I want a tv show/movie, 95% of the time I can go from wanting it, to having it downloaded and ready for play in 5-20 minutes depending on file size, with about 2 minutes of work

 

[vshah]

Once you learn how to torrent, or shit, usenet. It's WAY eaiser/quicker, IMO. If I want a tv show/movie, 95% of the time I can go from wanting it, to having it downloaded and ready for play in 5-20 minutes depending on file size, with about 2 minutes of work

also i don't like drm. if i could download drm free h.264 encoded tv shows, i'd pay for it.

 

[Aikouka]

It looks like iTunes does work, but you'll end up with DRM'd M4V files. A quick Google search shows that it is possible to remove the DRM and re-encode the video so you can use it on other devices.

 

[chalmers]

I pay $15/month for cable. It's called usenet.

 

[bbhaag]

Usenet is not the answer, it's also not a replacement for cable.

 

[pcslookout]

usenet

I won't help you though until you get the person to stop.

 

[gorcorps]

I know about usenet, and yes that's by far the easiest way, but it's also not legal and there are nzb search providers going down as fast as torrent sites. All I really want is a legitimate way to download videos for use offline or on other devices. Amazon or itunes is the closest I'll probably be able to get though it seems, and I'll just have to deal with the DRM through some programs mentioned here.

 

[rcpratt]

More difficult? I assure you it's easier for me to download a South Park episode off iTunes than it is a random torrent site. If iTunes is too difficult for a person to use, I doubt they'll be able to figure out a torrent site and how to use WinRAR to unarchive it.

A step-by-step guide for downloading/installing/learning iTunes would be pretty comparable to a step-by-step guide for downloading/installing/learning uTorrent and learning to search a torrent tracker.

TV shows are rarely RARed anymore. I would expect the average computer user to be able to know how to unarchive something, though.

(not advocating actually teaching anybody anything [legal or not, fuck that], just saying.)

 

[zCypher]

A step-by-step guide for downloading/installing/learning iTunes would be pretty comparable to a step-by-step guide for downloading/installing/learning uTorrent and learning to search a torrent tracker.

TV shows are rarely RARed anymore. I would expect the average computer user to be able to know how to unarchive something, though.

(not advocating actually teaching anybody anything [legal or not, fuck that], just saying.)

I'd say uTorrent is quite a lot easier than iTunes. You download the content you want. Not that using WinRAR is difficult, but if you're downloading a video or movie, chances are it's going to already be in the ready-to-play format (AVI, WMV, MKV etc). I'd be wary of things in .RAR.

I don't have any apple devices, so I might be biased in saying I hate iTunes. However, my mother is an iPhone user and also hates iTunes. She is by no stretch a techie user at all, she can make her way through a computer to do what she needs, but has often been annoyed by iTunes. IMO the interface is unintuitive.