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Comment by FredPret | Hacker News Reader

I've pivoted to buying DVD box sets and then ripping and NAS-ing them. It takes time but: zero ads ever no matter what, cheaper in the long run, and my shows never get taken down or moved to a different company.

Why pay $20 per month to rewatch Friends/Seinfeld/whatever if the box set is $60?

I can even set up some sort of internet-facing NAS server that I can watch on the go.

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Doing that as well. And let's be clear, unripped DVDs contain ads (if I have to skip through previews and crap before I can watch the content, that's advertising.)

I have an app that plays this ripped content on a schedule very much like a TV channel (no pausing, rewinding, no way to choose what is on when — the schedule dictates). I love it. Even though I am creating the schedule with my own (local) content, there is still the serendipitous nature of walking by the TV and seeing a particular old Twilight Zone on.

Up your game and start getting the dvds from the library

Or better, if you are in the US chances are your library has collaboration with Kanopy so you can just stream for free using your library card.

Kanopy's great, but it's probably not gonna have Friends/Seinfeld or whatever the parent comment was ripping.

I did that too. Though i'm finding it difficult to get a lot of newer content on DVD these days. Ie most new streaming shows.. do they have box sets in your experience? My wife has been looking and so far i think we have .. well, none.

But we have quite a bit of content. Netflix (DVD), ironically, is a good source for this too. .. rules aside, i'm sure.

Can you name a few that you haven't been able to find?

Just asked her (she's been the one buying our collection haha) and sounds like fairly early on she had trouble with many of them and so eventually she just gave up looking. The only example she had off the top of her head was Stranger Things Seasons 3 and 4. A quick search on Amazon seems.. confusing haha.

On the flipside i'd be curious if you have had luck from any sources on buying boxsets for modern streaming shows. Any tips?

edit: She replied with additional items:

> Off the top of my head:

> None of the Marvel shows on Disney+ have physical

> None of the Amazon Prime shows have physical

> None of the AppleTV+ shows have physical

> The first 2 seasons of stranger things do but are out of print. Subsequent seasons and any other show from that time period on are not available.

> Star Trek streaming shows ARE available but insanely expensive (8-10 ep seasons for 50-70)

Thanks for the examples. Indeed, I would assume that finding physical media for $STREAMING_SERVICE exclusives/originals may be tricky.

I'll admit I'm totally an old fart when it comes to movies/TV shows. I like old stuff and don't like much of what's been done after the 2010's. I usually easily find physical media for what I like to watch. It is a very saddening trend if it is true that modern shows/movies do not end up on BR.

I usually follow the idea of letting new content (books, TV’s, movies) sit around for a decade or so and then going for the ones that are still well known.

Of course there are exceptions. Those ones are available for purchase on Apple TV or are showing in theatres. For the rest, there are box sets on Amazon/EBay

Yeah but for someone like me who rarely rewatches things it’s not really a solution.

I'm the same. I want new content. I very rarely go back and watch something I've already seen. (And I never need to see Seinfeld or Friends again! After long runs, they ran in syndication for years, and then were on streaming services that were ad-free for years. Really, they weren't that good to begin with!)

Yeah. I’ve even bought some DVD box sets. I find I watch some episodes here and there for nostalgic purposes and then they gather dust.

It is if he gives you a login to his NAS.

Haha, I should start a service. Fredflix

If it’s on DVD I’ve probably already seen the content at that point.

> Why pay $20 per month to rewatch Friends/Seinfeld/whatever if the box set is $60?

For technically inept people ... the convenience of not ripping or learning how to set up their own NAS.

I had a media PC from 2006-2012 and then a Plex server until 2020. I really got sick of dealing with it. I pay for convenience.

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