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Hello Friends!
What a great time to be in San Francisco! Last night, I left the SF OLLI building on Market Street after teaching my class (missing the Giants game unfortunately) and was welcomed by thousands of street revelers, electric and in a chorus of 60 year old (delayed and tortured) ecstasy! Go Giants! Pretty awesome.
Well, that has nothing to do with anything here. Just thought I would share. Also awesome is the Indian Summer we're having...
Read on for some really cool info about watching video on your computer...
Dave
Cable Schmable. With all the options available to us these days through our computer, who needs it? Twenty-four hour access, many more options, many free…it’s a no-brainer! This article will discuss (by a reader’s request) the many video options available to you on the web. I will break it down into three categories: Free, mostly free, and paid.
Let’s start with Free
YouTube. Everyone knows YouTube by now, but did you know that they have full length movies now. Most of them are not new, or even newish, but they’re there and there’s lot of them, and who knows, maybe you’re more of a classics kinda guy/gal. And they’re free, so who cares?!
http://www.youtube.com/movies
Project Free TV. I recently discovered this from a friend and have never looked back. I mean, WOW. Television shows, old and new. Movies, old and NEW, full length. The list is unlimited and growing everyday. Hint: I don’t have AMC, but have been watching all my Mad Men episodes on there. The quality is not DVD/HD quality, but it does the trick. And sometimes, you’ll have to wait a bit for the download depending on your internet speed. And there may be pop up advertisement in the beginning that you can click away from almost immediately and then watch your video right after, but not a big deal.
http://free-tv-video-online.info/
Tonight We Watch Movies. That’s actually the name of the website. Not bad, very similar to Project Free TV, but mostly movies (some TV), and free. Just do a search or check out their featured movies and you’ll be able to stream right from there. There is a short advertisement that you click away from and watch away! I just watched Shutter Island (fa nuttin’).
http://tonightwewatchmovies.com/
ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC. Just go to their websites and you can watch most of their shows for free, with some commercial interruptions. Very good quality for the most part and 24 hour access.
Fancast – See Hulu description below. They are almost exactly the same. Worth checking both of them out.
http://www.fancast.com/
Mostly Free
Hulu – Again, I don’t have cable, including Comedy Central, so this is where I get my Daily Show and Colbert Report fix (and Modern Family, 30 Rock, etc.). You can either search for what you’re looking for or browse through an impressive list of high quality television shows AND movies. Again, the movies are not new for the most part, but they have a huge library. TV shows are pretty impressive and up to date. Check it out for sure. This is listed under mostly free because they also offer a Hulu Plus for $9.99 which gives you a bit more, without any limitations.
http://www.hulu.com/
Podcasts. I would be remiss if I did not include this category. Podcasts are mostly free audio and video shows available through either iTunes, or any website that offers it as a download. They can range from how-to’s to comedy, to educational, to political, to news (NPR, included) to music, to tech…you get the picture. If you have iTunes, I would recommend an exploration. Plus, iTunes is a free download, so try it out! Note: Many are free, but some are not where noted.
http://www.apple.com/itunes/?cid=OAS-US-DOMAINS-itunes.com
Paid Services
Netflix – This is a monthly paid subscription mostly known for its delivery of DVD’s to your house. Not too long ago, they introduced their “Watch Instantly” movies that can be 'streamed' directly to your computer if you have an account with them. Pretty cool. Not all movies are available, but a pretty decent amount of stuff that is available on DVD is available for streaming anytime, right to your computer/TV (see below for more about TV stuff).
http://www.netflix.com/
Amazon Video on Demand. (VOD) is an Internet video on demand service, offered by Amazon.com which offers television shows and films for rental and purchase. The service became available on September 7, 2006 as Amazon Unbox. On September 4, 2008, the service was rebranded as "Amazon Video on Demand." (from wikipedia.com)
http://www.amazon.com/Video-On-Demand/b?ie=UTF8&node=16261631
Apple TV - digital media receiver made and sold by Apple Inc. It is designed to play media from the iTunes Store, Netflix, YouTube, Flickr, MobileMe or any Mac OS X or Windows computer running iTunesonto an enhanced-definition or high-definition widescreen television (from wikipedia definition). (from wikipedia.com)
www.apple.com/appletv/
Google TV!!! Coming soon...should be another amazing contribution by Google. Watch the video here:
www.google.com/tv/
This is all well and good for my tiny little laptop, but how do I get it on my big screen?
A few ways:
- If you have a laptop that has an HDMI port (many new ones do, but ask), you can easily connect your laptop to your HD TV, which has an HDMI connector in the back and will play video and sound through it. You'll need an HDMI cable - $3 on Amazon. $30 at Best Buy (I know).
- If you do not have an HDMI hookup, you can use a VGA connector, which most laptops have (Macs are an exception which will need an adapter). Not as good quality as HDMI and it does not transmit sound, but it does the trick.
- And finally, one can always purchase a Blu-Ray player with wireless capability that can be set up to connect to your Netflix, Hulu, YouTube and many other channels.
Pssst. And none of these are illegal or anything.
Enjoy!
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