We just got a new ISP. One of the selling points was free dowloads after midnight. (We get 10 gig a month usage except after midnight, when it becomes free usage. RE does not count in our monthly usage limits)
It dawned on me that not only do I not know how to schedule downloads. I don’t even know how to download a movie to this computer at all.
We are using IE-9 and have plenty of memory to store. We also use Google chrome if that makes any difference.
One of my favorite sites for movie trivia is IMDB, the Internet Movie DataBase. Enter the name of any movie, and you get lots of info about it. Near the top will be some links like “Watch it now” or “Own it”, and you can download from there.
If you were asking how to download illegally, that’s against the rules of the Straight Dope, and you won’t be getting any answers from us.
Nope! Not asking how to download movies illegally. I know that would be against the rules.
I don’t know how to download ANY movies or Youtube videos or anything at all!
I don’t have netflix or any other service.
What the hell did I say that you thought I wanted to download movies Illegally? Before you lecture me about rules on this message board maybe you should compare join dates? I HAVE been here long enough to know the rules and protocol here.
I was asking for factual information that maybe I SHOULD know but don’t. Just an ignorant old guy looking for some tips.
Thanks anyway.
On preview Doubticus Thank you for your help. I will look there as soon as I know how to download a movie after I find one. Maybe then Ican figure out a scheduler.
Netflix is a streaming service, meaning it’s not set up to allow you to download now and watch later, but instead to watch what is being sent at the moment. So of what’s been suggested, Amazon and iTunes are probably where you should start. Although I don’t think you can schedule either service for later download.
Crackle is like an ad sponsored version of netflix. With netflix you pay $8/month and get all the ad free movies you want. With crackle you have to watch an ad every 10 minutes or so, but the service itself is free.
FWIW, ‘download’ and ‘stream’ are not the same thing. You seem like you are asking about streaming movies, not downloading. Downloading means you save them to your hard drive, streaming just means you watch them but don’t save them.
And whether you are streaming or downloading, you will rack up the data usage from your ISP. So really if you want to take advantage of stuff to download after midnight, you have to start the downloads at midnight and then wake up early and shut them off if they aren’t done before the time where your bandwidth usage starts kicking in again.
I would try to explain my frame of mind from when I wrote what I wrote, but it would just be an excuse. I should have omitted my second paragraph. I’m sorry.
No prob. Keeve
I guess what I am trying to ask is that I am not smart enough to even start a download. I don’t know how to operate this machine. I am out of the loop and all I really know how to do is turn this damn thing on!
Once I find a movie, clip whatever, How do I do a download.
I think I can find a scheduler on the website that I may be able to use to do downloads of movies I have purchased and whatnot. I am just too cheap to pay premium rates when I can do free downloads between midnight and five AM.
I hope that makes a little more sense.
BTW thanks folks for the suggestions. They have been helpfull.
In Keeve’s defense, the majority of movie downloading is done illegally. If somebody talks about downloading movies in general and doesn’t specify they’re talking about legal downloading, most people are going to assume it’s illegal downloading by default.
My job is being “the computer guy” at a local school. I’m the guy they call when something doesn’t work. The most common things said to me are “My computer doesn’t work” or “My printer doesn’t work.” I’d love to help these people and magically say “Shazam”, but they’re not really giving me much of a clue about what the real problem is. So invariably, the next thing out of my mouth will be along the lines of, “Did it simply sit there doing nothing, or did it give you some kind of error message?”
So I hope you won’t be offended if I say that you’ve been on The Straight Dope for a long time, and you’ve clearly figured out how to participate in these forums. Your computer skills are not quite as weak as you’re making them out to be. Still, downloading movies for the first time can indeed be challenging. I have no idea what you’ve tried and what problems you run into, so here’s an intro that I hope might help you out:
Downloading movies legally is a combination of several skills that one can practice for free, and then get into more deeply. Specifically, here are three specific things - which you might have already done! - which might be considered “prerequisites” for movie downloading:[ol]
[li]Downloading a file in general — Has anyone ever sent you a file by email? For example, if someone sent you a Word document, you would click “download”, and then you’d save the file to your hard drive, and then - totally separately from your email - you would open the document in Word and make changes and/or or print it out.[/li][li]Watching a video — Have you ever gone to YouTube or Hulu similar FREE sites which show professional and/or amateur movies and videos? Going there might help you understand the playback and pause buttons, and other things.[/li][li]On-line shopping — Have you ever bought something at Amazon or elsewhere, or even paid a phone bill or something? This will show you the art of entering your credit card number and such.[/ol]Once you’ve done all of these, then you can go to the sites other posters have mentioned, and you’ll find the movie you want, and you’ll tell them you want to buy it, and you’ll be able to download it, save it to your computer, and watch it.[/li]
But I don’t think you’ll be able to schedule it for any particular time. I don’t recall seeing that feature on any site I’ve ever gone to. You might have to bite the bullet one day, stay up late looking for the movie you want and paying for it, and then hit the “download” button at 12:01 AM. Another idea is to check with your ISP: Is it possible that the weekends are free also?
I gotta go now. I may be able to check back later, but probably not for a couple of days. Good luck!
Thanks** Keeve**.
Other tan just point and click I have no idea. Maybe I need a computers for dummies book.
Sorry if I seemed a little sensitive. I do understand that lotsa folks try to pirate movies and such but thats not what I am after.
I know what you mean as far as watching streaming videos or clips but I don’t know how to watch them and save them to disc for future viewing. Or if that is even legal.
If you are interested in purchasing and downloading full length Hollywood type movies, it doesn’t sound like you are set up well for that situation. Your bandwidth plan is very restrictive (even with the 5 hour grace period) and the minuscule 10 gig/month cap leads me to believe that your throughput speed is probably quite slow, meaning you might not be able to finish downloading overnight. So the question becomes Are you so cheap that you don’t mind spending a week waking up at 4:55 in the morning to pause the download just so you can watch Howard the Duck?
What I’d really love to do is to ask you for the name of a movie you want, and then I’ll get it myself, and make a list of every button that I pressed, and send you the list. But I’m not gonna do that, mostly because I’ve never bought movies online anyway. (I’m even cheaper than you are. If I have to pay for it, I’ll just wait until it comes on tv for free.)
So here’s a different idea. First call your ISP, and ask them how much of your 10 GB you’ve usedso far. Then go to http://www.hulu.com and pick one or two movies or tv shows and watch them for free. You can’t go wrong - even if it is something you hate, it is free, and you’re not really watching it anyway - it is just a learning exercise. Then call the ISP and ask how much of the 10 GB is still left.
My bet is that you will not have used nearly as much as you fear. You’ll probably find out that you can watch an occasional movie for free on Hulu without blowing the 10 GB limit. Good luck!
I’m another bloke just past the flush of early youth… Once you download a movie to your PC, can you burn it to a DVD, and watch it in a DVD player? Or are you kinda stuck watching it on your PC?
(Just a few weeks ago I downloaded a piece of music – legally! paid for and all! – for the first time. mp3 format, no problem, I have a player.)
Yes, that was my first thought also. The by-now infamous second paragraph was phrased courteously and not leaping to the conclusion that OP was a raving sociopath.