For the rest of you who just live your life off a laptop, here are is the same process, modified.
DISCLAIMER: This setup involves pirating. If you would prefer to pay for every single movie/song you ever watch, you can basically ignore this entire blog post and just buy an AppleTV. Use the iTunes store on it for renting and purchasing movies/music/etc. For TV shows, if you don't want to pay for CableTV, the AppleTV has an app called "HuluPlus" on it that costs $8/mo. Problem solved.
BUT, if you're not a millionaire and still want access to all the media in the world, read on.
DISCLAIMER: This setup involves pirating. If you would prefer to pay for every single movie/song you ever watch, you can basically ignore this entire blog post and just buy an AppleTV. Use the iTunes store on it for renting and purchasing movies/music/etc. For TV shows, if you don't want to pay for CableTV, the AppleTV has an app called "HuluPlus" on it that costs $8/mo. Problem solved.
BUT, if you're not a millionaire and still want access to all the media in the world, read on.
BENEFITS:
- IT'S EASY
The process for set up below appears to be "involved". But trust me, it's simpler than it looks, and most of the steps are things you only have to do ONCE. After it's set up, getting the movies/media you want is very easy. Let's just say that my wife downloads movies all the time.
- NO MORE DISCS
I never have to go to a Redbox, in fact, we haven't watched a single DVD/Blu-ray for over a year.
- THE VIDEO QUALITY IS AWESOME
Newsflash: DVDs are actually recorded in 480p resolution. Chances are, your TV does 1080p. This means that if you're still a DVD-watcher, you've been watching mediocre-quality stuff this whole time. Nooooo!
- NO MORE TV SCHEDULES
My wife and I watch little/no live TV, yet are still pretty caught up on shows we enjoy watching (Walking Dead, Parks & Recreation, etc.)
- NO MORE MOVING FILES / SYNCING
I never have to copy/move files from one device to another (let's just say i haven't sync'd my iPhone in about 2 years).
- IT'S CHEAP
The monthly costs for all of this is very very low, and I can pick and choose what I want, unlike Cable TV service which basically forces you to have every channel (I have no CableTV service).
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WHAT YOU NEED:
- Your laptop: It doesn't have to be a great laptop.
- An internet connection: Preferably a good one
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GET PLEX HOME THEATER
1a. Organize your media
Create a "movies" folder and a separate "TV Shows" folder on your external hard drive. You may also want to create an "Other Videos" folder. If you already possess some video files, throw them in there.
2a. Install Plex Home Theater (get it here)
This software presents your computer's stored media in a way that's "TV-friendly". When it's originally set up, it will ask you where the folders are (from step 1a). You will see an option to add a "Home Movies" section in Plex. I use the "Other Videos" folder for that. (There are specific reasons for this, and you will soon see why).
NOTE: Plex has an option for adding a "Music" section. I would advise against this since it just doesn't work very well. It does have an option for adding an iTunes "channel". In my experience, it works beautifully.
3a. Set up your computer to never sleep (optional)
May be annoying to watch a movie and then the laptop falls asleep.
May be annoying to watch a movie and then the laptop falls asleep.
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ACQUIRE YOUR MOVIES/TV SHOWS
1b. Install a torrent client on your computer
Mac users should use Transmission. Windows users, i suggest qBittorrent.
2b. Get your movies/TV shows
My go-to source is http://www.thePirateBay.org . You simply make a search, click the "SE" column in the search results to sort by Seed, and click the little magnets when you see what you like. "Seeds" are sources of the file you want. The more "Seeds", the faster the download.
3b. Pay close attention to download destinations
When you click on the little magnets from step 2b, your torrent client will automatically open up and begin the download. Make sure that you download to the appropriate folders from step 2a.
PIRATEBAY PRO-TIPS
- Add "720p" or "1080p" to your searches, and pay close attention to the file size listed for each search result. Usually the best quality is between 1GB-3GB. Anything more than 3GB is usually very high-quality, but often not enough of a difference to be noticeable. However, the really big files, (≥4GB 1080p) often have awesome 5.1 surround sound. For movies like Star Wars, it's worth the wait. NOTE: HD TV shows are pretty much always 720p.
- Avoid search results that say "TS", "HDTS", "Telesync" or "CAM". This means that it's recorded in the movie theater with some dude's camcorder. Like those DVDs u buy in Chinatown. It's not worth it. Just wait for the date the movie is released for rental. On that day, PirateBay will have delicious 720p/1080p versions of the movies you want.
- Add the year to the movie you're searching for. Sometimes it makes life easier. Example: Searching for "Batman 1995" will get you Batman Forever. "Batman 1992" would be Batman Returns. Don't know the year? Wikipedia.
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WATCH YOUR MOVIE/TV SHOW
1c. Open Plex Home Theater
2c. ENJOY
To get new movies/TV shows, just repeat steps 2b + 3b.
Don't know what to watch? Check these lists:
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