Best way to watch "DVDs" in flight on long flights?

What are the best methods of watching DVDs in flight on a flight of 10
hours or more?

Any portable DVD video players have battery life that long?
What about copying DVDs to the local hard drive of your laptop so you
can view them without the battery drain of running the DVD drive and
also save the hassle of packing and carrying the DVD discs? Best
software for copying/viewing DVDs from a hard drive?
Another method?
I will also burn some of my own to watch TV programming.
I have a DirecTivo and a set top DVD burner as well as a DVD burner in
my PC.

Quoting (TS) regarding Best way to watch "DVDs" in flight on long flights? in a message dated 8 Sep 2004
16:33:48 -0700:

What are the best methods of watching DVDs in flight on a flight of 10
hours or more?

Any portable DVD video players have battery life that long?
What about copying DVDs to the local hard drive of your laptop so you
can view them without the battery drain of running the DVD drive and
also save the hassle of packing and carrying the DVD discs? Best
software for copying/viewing DVDs from a hard drive?
Another method?

Since my Hard Drive is small (it's a older laptop), I can't copy the DVD to it.
So I just use the DVD drive as is. I just try to find aircraft that have laptop ports
so I don't have to worry about battery usage. Most of the flights I take these
days are CO flights that are 767 or 777 and have laptop ports. So I just need
to pop in the DVD and go. The biggest problem for me is finding 2 or more hours
of uninterupted time to actually watch a movie (since they're serving meals etc.
I need the tray for the service items and can't put the laptop on it). And it's also
good since I also use the DVDs at the destination as well.

I will also burn some of my own to watch TV programming.
I have a DirecTivo and a set top DVD burner as well as a DVD burner in
my PC.

I do something similar. But again I use the DVD and not copy to Hard drive.



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Mark Hewitt wrote:
"Charles Newman" wrote:
The software to do that is illegal in the United States. The MPAA and
DVDCCA recently had 3-2-1 studios shut down because their software did
just that.

Really? I thought it will fall under making a backup copy for your own
purposes?

It does, which is legal. However, the DMCA has provided a shortcut that
undercuts a lot of rights like that and makes formerly legal things illegal.
Among other things, the law makes it illegal to counteract an 'effective
technical measure' put in place to prevent copying. To me that seems pretty
absurd, since if it can be counteracted, it's not effective. But as the
courts are interpreting it so far, basically it comes down to if the judge
can't figure out how to counteract it in about 30 seconds, then it's
"effective".

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos from 30 countries on 5 continents: http://travel.u.nu

"TS" wrote in message
om...
What are the best methods of watching DVDs in flight on a flight of 10
hours or more?

Any portable DVD video players have battery life that long?
What about copying DVDs to the local hard drive of your laptop so you
can view them without the battery drain of running the DVD drive and
also save the hassle of packing and carrying the DVD discs? Best
software for copying/viewing DVDs from a hard drive?
Another method?
I will also burn some of my own to watch TV programming.
I have a DirecTivo and a set top DVD burner as well as a DVD burner in
my PC.

I've been copying DVDs to my Sony Vaio and watching them on that. The Vaio
has a better screen than most, if not all, of the portable DVD players, and
the audio quality is excellent.. I can usually eke out 1 full movie on a
single battery charge. However, I picked up a heavy-duty battery for the
Vaio and, with that, I can easily watch 2 films (which is pretty much my
quota for in-flight entertainment). I've also got a seat power adapter, but
I've yet to fly on the right combination of airline and fare class to be
able to use it.

"TS" wrote in message
om...
What are the best methods of watching DVDs in flight on a flight of 10
hours or more?

Any portable DVD video players have battery life that long?
What about copying DVDs to the local hard drive of your laptop so you
can view them without the battery drain of running the DVD drive and
also save the hassle of packing and carrying the DVD discs? Best
software for copying/viewing DVDs from a hard drive?
Another method?
I will also burn some of my own to watch TV programming.
I have a DirecTivo and a set top DVD burner as well as a DVD burner in
my PC.

I've been copying DVDs to my Sony Vaio and watching them on that. The Vaio
has a better screen than most, if not all, of the portable DVD players, and
the audio quality is excellent.. I can usually eke out 1 full movie on a
single battery charge. However, I picked up a heavy-duty battery for the
Vaio and, with that, I can easily watch 2 films (which is pretty much my
quota for in-flight entertainment). I've also got a seat power adapter, but
I've yet to fly on the right combination of airline and fare class to be
able to use it.

"Miguel Cruz" wrote in message
...
Mark Hewitt wrote:
"Charles Newman" wrote:
The software to do that is illegal in the United States. The MPAA and
DVDCCA recently had 3-2-1 studios shut down because their software did
just that.

Really? I thought it will fall under making a backup copy for your own
purposes?

It does, which is legal.

Actually it doesn't. The one-copy backup rule applies only to computer
software. See 17 U.S.C. Sec. 117. Nonetheless, copying a DVD to a computer
for viewing on an aircraft probably comes within fair use doctrine.

However, the DMCA has provided a shortcut that
undercuts a lot of rights like that and makes formerly legal things
illegal.
Among other things, the law makes it illegal to counteract an 'effective
technical measure' put in place to prevent copying. To me that seems
pretty
absurd, since if it can be counteracted, it's not effective. But as the
courts are interpreting it so far, basically it comes down to if the judge
can't figure out how to counteract it in about 30 seconds, then it's
"effective".

Well, it's not quite as bad as that (though it's bad -- Congress has pending
legislation which will correct some, but not all, of the abuses of the
DMCA). The DMCA contains a provision that it does not supplant fair use
doctrine. As the decisions which construed time- and media- shifting as
within fair use predate the DMCA, I think it's reasonable to assume that
they are still valid and would apply in this context.


miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos from 30 countries on 5 continents: http://travel.u.nu

(Miguel Cruz) wrote in message ...
Mark Hewitt wrote:
"Charles Newman" wrote:
The software to do that is illegal in the United States. The MPAA and
DVDCCA recently had 3-2-1 studios shut down because their software did
just that.

Really? I thought it will fall under making a backup copy for your own
purposes?

It does, which is legal. However, the DMCA has provided a shortcut that
undercuts a lot of rights like that and makes formerly legal things illegal.
Among other things, the law makes it illegal to counteract an 'effective
technical measure' put in place to prevent copying. To me that seems pretty
absurd, since if it can be counteracted, it's not effective. But as the
courts are interpreting it so far, basically it comes down to if the judge
can't figure out how to counteract it in about 30 seconds, then it's
"effective".

miguel


Since I will be mainly copying my own home-made DVDs of television
programming to the hard drive, this is moot. No government
intervention required.
I'd just need way to watch them from the hard drive so I can save
battery usage. I may even buy one of those super ultra light notebooks
where the DVD drive is an add-on and I don't want to have to carry the
CD/DVD with me Some laptops let you install a second battery where
the CD/DVD would normally go. With that setup I might get 8 hours
battery life on the plane, but I wouldn't be able to play DVDs from
the discs, but I could still watch them if they were viewable from the
hard drive.
My current laptop only has a CD rom with no DVD at all so it will not
be useable for DVDs.
Are there any portable DVD players that can play even 4 hours per
battery so I can have 8 hours of use without carrying more than 1
spare battery?

(Miguel Cruz) wrote in message ...
Mark Hewitt wrote:
"Charles Newman" wrote:
The software to do that is illegal in the United States. The MPAA and
DVDCCA recently had 3-2-1 studios shut down because their software did
just that.

Really? I thought it will fall under making a backup copy for your own
purposes?

It does, which is legal. However, the DMCA has provided a shortcut that
undercuts a lot of rights like that and makes formerly legal things illegal.
Among other things, the law makes it illegal to counteract an 'effective
technical measure' put in place to prevent copying. To me that seems pretty
absurd, since if it can be counteracted, it's not effective. But as the
courts are interpreting it so far, basically it comes down to if the judge
can't figure out how to counteract it in about 30 seconds, then it's
"effective".

miguel


Since I will be mainly copying my own home-made DVDs of television
programming to the hard drive, this is moot. No government
intervention required.
I'd just need way to watch them from the hard drive so I can save
battery usage. I may even buy one of those super ultra light notebooks
where the DVD drive is an add-on and I don't want to have to carry the
CD/DVD with me Some laptops let you install a second battery where
the CD/DVD would normally go. With that setup I might get 8 hours
battery life on the plane, but I wouldn't be able to play DVDs from
the discs, but I could still watch them if they were viewable from the
hard drive.
My current laptop only has a CD rom with no DVD at all so it will not
be useable for DVDs.
Are there any portable DVD players that can play even 4 hours per
battery so I can have 8 hours of use without carrying more than 1
spare battery?

In article , PTravel
wrote:

U.S. copyright law does _not_ permit making a backup of DVDs if for personal
use.

...snip..

Most likely (but as yet not decided by the courts), copying a DVD to a
laptop for viewing at a different time would also come within first sale
doctrine.

but copying a dvd to a laptop is a backup, is it not?

so will this decision, should it come to pass, nullify the former? i
can't see how they both can coexist.

thanks for any clarification.

In article ,
(TS) wrote:

What are the best methods of watching DVDs in flight on a flight of 10
hours or more?

Any portable DVD video players have battery life that long?

Its not rocket science. Bring another battery or two. Make sure to
charge all the batteries you need on your flight before departure ...
or just bring a good book to read and make life simple.