Giveaway of the Day Forums

1. 

   mikiem2
   Moderator

   Note: I didn't try to get multiple keys today, but in the past have found that DVDFab often records your IP address when they have a giveaway, meaning that you need to use a VPN to change your IP address if you wanted to install the giveaway on more than one device.

   As reflected in the name, DVDFab started their biz with software for copying / backing up video DVDs. While they've started to diversify, with apps like the recent GOTD, Photo Enhancer AI, DVD & Blu-ray copy / ripping is still a core part of what they do. With today's GOTD, DVDFab Blu-ray Copy, unlike some of their competition, you don't have to worry about if the disc will work, or worry about if the movie or TV show will play properly. Blu-ray DRM can jumble scenes, or quit playing part way through a movie, so not having to worry is sort of a big deal. It's also frequently updated -- videohelp[.]com/software/DVDFab/version-history

   DVDFab Blu-ray Copy is just one module of DVDFab 12, so the app is a bit large at ~550MB -- if you're considering buying it, you *might* want to look at their Passkey app instead... when it's running it detects when you insert a DVD or Blu-ray disc, then bypasses the DRM. That allows you to play the disc with a regular player that otherwise would not handle the DRM, and it allows you to copy the entire disc to your hard disk. A free app, tsMuxeR, lets you copy just the main video(s), with the option to just save / use the conventional 5.1 audio, which can reduce the total file size. [Note: I use the original, old version] videohelp[.]com/software/tsMuxeR

   DO hang on to the registration info you get today via email -- stuff happens, e.g. my GOTD copy of Photo Enhancer AI lost its registration / activation, and I was able to re-register using the same info.

   FWIW... Lots of people dismiss Blu-ray discs as being too old fashioned vs. streaming, often complaining about disc storage & file size, but it's still the highest quality video you can get easily. While YMMV depending on the quality of your TV's up-scaling, I've found Blu-ray video at 1080p is typically higher quality than 4k streamed, because that streamed video has more compression to fit through the internet's pipes. OTOH I have had far too many issues with even relatively high end, name brand Blu-ray players, & even PCs stalling or stuttering during playback [because of the heavy DRM?]. I've found that playing the same files on a USB stick or hard disk eliminates the problems. After copying the disc to a hard disk, tsMuxeR copies the main video to another Blu-ray folder minus all the menus & add-on features, and using VLC for Android even plays well on a lower end Kindle HD tablet as-is [no ripping or conversion] including subs. No Blu-ray drive in your PC/laptop? Amazon sells adapters for $10-$20 [depending on sales] that let you plug in a full sized drive via USB -- it's not pretty but it works. Portable drives have gone up in price [doubled last I looked], but you *might* be able to save some cash buying a laptop drive and housing separately.

   Posted 2 years ago #
2. 

   Whiterabbit-uk
   Games Guru

   I'm still buying Blu Rays. I don't particularly like paying for Streaming, being rathe rold fashioned and preferring to buy the Blu Rays (I'll eventually update to the higher quality ones if they remain around).

   We have occasionally subscribed to Netflix , and Now TV, but only for short spells to watch particular series that appeal to us. When it comes to movies, I'll buy a disk any day.

   Maybe in the not too distant future they will stop production of DVD's and Blu rays, much like the soon to happen closing of the phone land lines in the UK within the next eight years.

   I've only ever had a mobile phone when I was working as a motorcycle courier in between jobs almost 25 years ago, when I was forced to have one as part of the job. Though it looks like I'll be forced to buy one again once the land lines are closed. (I have bought them for both my kids and my wife is finally succumbing to one and we will be looking for a basic phone soon. Personally I won't bother until the land lines are closed.

   Posted 2 years ago #
3. 

   gergn
   Member

   Re: " Personally I won't bother until the land lines are closed. "

   In the Netherlands they have found the perfect solution to encourage people like me to stop using land lines for voice: calls via a mobile are now a lot cheaper than via a land line. Via a mobile you can call any European number as often and as long as you like for anything between 5 and 15 euros a month, depending on your provider. The most expensive provider is also the most reliable one. So I only use a land line for incoming voice calls by people who do not know my mobile number, or that of my wife.
   Internet access and television uses the copper land line: 100 Mbps downstream, 30 Mbps upstream, no limits. Via Microsoft 365 I have 60 minutes per month for Skype calls to make calls outside Europe.

   Posted 2 years ago #
4. 

   mikiem2
   Moderator

   From the GOTD download page:
   

   If anyone does get it to work directly from the BD drive, please tell me how you did it. Thank you.

   I prefer to keep PowerDVD Ultra current -- I usually find new versions on sale for $25 - $35. Besides the audio & visual enhancements it plays all the Blu-ray menus & features, & since Cyberlink pays for licenses from the corp. overlords that own the Blu-ray spec., it works with rather than tries to bypass the DRM like the ThunderSoft Blu-ray Player. These sorts of players usually go the bypass route, which may or may not work, and with the exception of Leawo's player [it has the option to install Java], they can't handle the normal menus on a retail Blu-ray disc. I tried the newest disc we've got, the "Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard", assuming the DRM *might* be newer: the ThunderSoft Blu-ray Player found and opened the secondary, non-Java menu, but when I clicked on Play, it went back to the default screen you see when you 1st open the app. It did not however have any problem playing a Blu-ray folder without DRM on my hard disk. Compared to VLC, or my preferred Media Player Classic Home Cinema [MPC-HC], you *might* like the way the ThunderSoft Blu-ray Player presents the audio, chapter, and subtitle menus on it's main screen, rather than making you dig into the menus like those other 2 players, though on the downside, it lacks the enhancements available in MPC-HC.

   videohelp[.]com/software/Media-Player-Classic-Home-Cinema

   Installing ThunderSoft Blu-ray Player gets you the app's folder [there's only the 32-bit version], plus a folder in Users\ [UserName]\ AppData\ Roaming\. The registry gets 2 keys for the app itself, one for uninstall, and a few keys for the QT code the app uses.

   --------------------

   RE: Phone & cable lines etc., FWIW, the US has problems with corruption & a lack of regulation. Laying new cable or fiber or phone lines is next to impossible because the officials running every little township / community have their hands out, & there are ~20k of them. Cell phone coverage is easier, but it's not available everywhere, while a lack of regulation & provider greed limit quality of service and security. Telephone over cable is a fairly big thing.

   RE: TV & streaming, again FWIW, while the cable that's been laid is now ancient, both internet & phone over cable are more reliable than [digital] TV over cable. While the software sucks since an update a few years ago, the Android app from our cable provider is much more reliable streaming than trying to use the cable box for traditional viewing. That app isn't available in the Amazon App Store, so even though FireTV gives a better picture [IMHO], we've moved onto the Roku platform for TV. And since we're already using a Roku device, streaming is just basically easier than switching over to a Blu-ray movie. Most all of the streaming movies we own are Movies Anywhere compatible, meaning we can watch them using several different apps interchangeably, even the movie player in Windows. My favorite way to buy streaming movies is when a Blu-ray disc comes bundled with a code to get the streaming version -- you get both for the cost of one. And not so much since Amazon's set up their own delivery service, in the past we've accumulated small amounts of credit from Amazon for using their No Rush shipping, and we've bought movies with that. Hulu & AMC+ had special sales where you get a year for $2/mo., so we've got those, while Peacock & HBOMax are included with our cable TV service. My son gets Disney+ free from Verizon cellular.

   Maybe in the not too distant future they will stop production of DVD's and Blu rays

   That would surprise me, because there's a huge industry making B grade [and lower] movies direct to disc. It started with VHS tapes, filling the rental stores [e.g. Blockbuster], then moved to DVD, & quite a few are now doing Blu-ray. Some of it's moved to streaming services like Hulu, but not much.

   Posted 2 years ago #

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