DVD Player instead of Streaming Apps?

ididgetwhereiamtoday

If you don't watch live TV, game shows, documentaries, news, current affairs sport etc etc etc then you could save your self a fortune and have no TV licence or any streaming.

If I just wanted to watch Films and TV Series I would just Stream and swap and change every month. Most of them are available for around £10 a month without Ads plans. I would rather this than the faff of searching for, storing and then having to load DVD's into machines and only being able to watch at that fixed station.

You can stream on any device where ever you are. You couldn't watch anything live though and there maybe a few things on the BBC you might miss.

I have a few DVDs and just CBA getting them out and putting them in the machine, waiting for it to load and sit there in front of the TV because I can't nip to the kitchen without pausing.

Interesting concept though and could be worth a try…

MSE_JC

Remember all the bonus features we used to get? Commentary tracks, behind-the-scenes documentaries, deleted scenes, hidden Easter Eggs, animated menus…some even let you change the camera angles during certain sequences. Halcyon days! Most of this stuff has been replaced in some way by online content these days anyway, but there was something rather magical about how it made watching a DVD an experience.

But I also echo @ididgetwhereiamtoday on the convenience of picking and watching something without having to get off the sofa to stare at shelves / wade through stacks of cases, and these days I'm lucky if I can watch an entire film without dozing off halfway through!

poseidon1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82125157#Comment_82125157

This post piqued my interest since I have a number of self recorded dvds via a 2006 Sony dvd recorder.

With many of the recorded discs getting on to 20 years old, thought I would give them a spin on a Sony PlayStation 4.

Other than the quaint nostalgic 4:3 aspect ratio on a 55 inch screen and of course just standard definition, all played with no issues at all.

Can't quite bring myself to get rid of all the commercially recorded dvds sitting in boxes, despite most titles available to stream in slightly upscaled HD.

twopenny

DVD has definitely made a comeback in my neck of the woods. The charity shops are still full of them and the same for CDs.

Being rural maybe with low wages and a beautiful area to spend summer evenings it's just winter when you need entertainment and even then lots to do.

I have an old TV but even back in the dark ages I can plug my laptop in to watch main channel streaming and such but with DVDs I can watch a film I love when I want.

Found with streaming I was having to choose from someone else's selection.

4justice2

I'm a long term DVD watcher. I cancelled my TV licence back in 2011 as I was fed up with the low end tat on the BBC. At that time streaming wasn't the big thing it is now, so DVDs it was.

Even now I prefer using DVDs to streaming. I like the idea that I own that programme. I like the simplicity, just take a DVD off the shelf and pop in the player, no need to wade through various streaming apps trying to find what I want. Plus a lot of the programmes I watch, particularly older stuff is simply not available on streaming.

Then I like using freeze frame, frame advance and slow motion, much easier and more responsive on a DVD than streaming.

Marvel1

I still buy DVDs only if I know i will watch it a few times or to continue the collection - sequel or wider part of a universe.

Stream a film series, oh they dont have the last 2 or first 1 🙄

DiamondLil

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82124659#Comment_82124659

Vinyl never went out of fashion here.

StewedApple

As you've discovered, the main problem with streaming services is that their library is often very limited, and video which you expected to find has either been rotated-off their service just after you've started a subscription or was never there at all (so much for the long tail).

You find yourself subscribing to more and more services just to maintain access to films you want to see, or worse you "buy" a film on their service (which means you're compelled to maintain the subscription) and then find out that the film you thought you'd "bought" has been dropped despite you paying for it because the services' deal with the rights' owner has expired.

Alternatively enshittification sets in and the subscription you thought you'd bought has been downgraded by adverts or pay-thru-the-nose subscription treadmill rises to avoid adverts.

You can pick up a perfectly serviceable new multi-region DVD player from £25 and, as you've realised, box sets on eBay are about a tenner. You will have guaranteed access to your personal library of films and videos for years - plus many of these films are unlikely to ever appear on many of the mainstream services in any event.

Naysayers tell you that apparently these DVD and blu-rays will eventually rot but probably about a decade after who-cares-anyway.

Often the DVDs and blu-rays are offered by various national and regional charities on eBay and are frequently still in their cellophane wrappers. You'd be a mug not to pick up a few bargains this way and you'd be helping others too.

The main downside to DVD/blu-ray is that some films/shows are now no longer being published to these formats but in the meantime fill yer boots.

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82127631#Comment_82127631

The average person in the UK watches approximately 4 hours of TV every day. Some people will be happy watching the same films endlessly but the majority wont. So 2 movies a day, £1 per movie at a charity shop, so £60ish a month in discs plus needing the space to store hundreds of discs. If you fancy watching something new, not from over a decade ago, then the discs are substantially more expensive. Thats certainly more than I spend on streaming services.

I own and use a disc spinner, but I limit it to films that I love and will want to watch multiple times. The majority of films are ok for passing a couple of hours but Im not going to be waiting for the next opportunity to watch it again. Personally my use of discs is for the higher quality sound than you get on the highly compressed streaming services but again, not everything you watch has to be a full on cinema experience.

Ergates

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82127999#Comment_82127999

This is the "problem" I have with DVDs - I don't tend to rewatch them. We have a shelf of old DVDs (we haven't bought any for years) that have been watched once. They're just taking up space.

I don't watch much TV and certainly have no interest in watching "old" series (I'm not big on nostalgia). Most of the series I've watched in the last few years were only ever available on streaming services.

You don't need to maintain a subscription to any particular service either - just wait until they have a completed series of something you're interested in, then sub for a month, binge watch the series and cancel.