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Android on Tablets - downloading films


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Old 11-11-2011, 09:47
thedrewser
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My father in law has bought my 4 year old daughter a cheap Tabtronics Android tablet for her birthday later this month.

I've never used Android, being an Apple man, but, I assume that Android Market permits purchase and download of films in the same way that I can on my Apple devices via iTunes.

Could someone confirm that this is right otherwise this is probably not going to be much use.

Thanks.
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Old 11-11-2011, 11:43
paul2307
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There are films avaiable for download from the market but Android also supports Flash which menas you can access the streaming movie websites which of course are unavailable to you with Apple products due to its lack of Flash
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Old 11-11-2011, 13:03
c4rv
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yes and no, there is no equivalent of itunes but depending on the device you should be able to play back mp4 files. Also streaming from flash sites should work but its not guaranteed to be 100% compatible on the cheap tablets.

Of course you can use a utility like 'freemake video convertor' to convert any DVD or movies they have on the computer to mp4 format.
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Old 11-11-2011, 13:12
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Old 11-11-2011, 13:45
thedrewser
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I don't really want streaming. My daughter likes her Disney DVDs but doesn't watch a whole film at a time so I'd like to just download and keep and then it's there wherever she is (especially in the car).
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Old 11-11-2011, 14:11
paul2307
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I don't really want streaming. My daughter likes her Disney DVDs but doesn't watch a whole film at a time so I'd like to just download and keep and then it's there wherever she is (especially in the car).
The alternative would be to acquire the movie from whatever source , or even rip them yourself if you have the DVD and transfer them to her tablet , its not a dig at Apple but Android supports more formats and doesn't have copyright or copy protection problems that you may find with i-Tunes and its quite easy to transfer files she may even have a slot for SD or Micro SD cards on her tablet or evem a USB or micro USB
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Old 11-11-2011, 14:34
c4rv
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I don't really want streaming. My daughter likes her Disney DVDs but doesn't watch a whole film at a time so I'd like to just download and keep and then it's there wherever she is (especially in the car).
Your best bet is to get a copy on your PC and convert it using this to something like MP4 format. You can then transfer to the tablet using USB memory stick or SD card (whatever the tablet supports). You should be able to compress the movie to around 300MB without too much loss of quality that you would notice on a tablet.

http://www.freemake.com/free_video_converter/
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Old 11-11-2011, 14:37
thedrewser
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All sounds a bit complicated. Is there not a legitimate site I can go to, download a film, and keep it on the Tablet?

I really don't like fiddling with the computer as it's a laptop and it's already bursting at the seems memorywise.
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Old 11-11-2011, 14:42
c4rv
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All sounds a bit complicated. Is there not a legitimate site I can go to, download a film, and keep it on the Tablet?

I really don't like fiddling with the computer as it's a laptop and it's already bursting at the seems memorywise.
Do you have films that you want already on DVD ? The conversion process is very simple, only takes a few clicks.

Also I noticed the tablet only has 2GB of memory so will only be able to story a couple of films at a time.


I noticed that lovefilms have an android client but this may be a stream only service maybe.
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Old 11-11-2011, 17:44
paul2307
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Also I noticed the tablet only has 2GB of memory so will only be able to story a couple of films at a time.

.
Looks like it has SD card support and USB drive so you can expand it by 16Gb quite cheaply
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Old 11-11-2011, 21:40
grumpyoldbat
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All sounds a bit complicated. Is there not a legitimate site I can go to, download a film, and keep it on the Tablet?

I really don't like fiddling with the computer as it's a laptop and it's already bursting at the seems memorywise.
To answer your question, as I think from your original post you're hoping for an Android flavoured iTunes equivalent: right now there isn't one that's like iTunes where you just buy it, download it, and sync it across (or download direct on the device). They are coming. Amazon are almost certainly going to have one when the Kindle Fire turns up in the UK. There have been rumblings that Google is launching a full on music/movies service in the UK which will have the ease of purchase and use of iTunes, but for now, as others have said, your best bet is to get her favourite movies on DVD, rip them and transfer them across.
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Old 12-11-2011, 05:42
paulbrock
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right now there isn't one that's like iTunes where you just buy it, download it, and sync it across (or download direct on the device). .....There have been rumblings that Google is launching a full on music/movies service in the UK which will have the ease of purchase and use of iTunes,
In fact, movies have been available on Android Market in the UK for a few weeks. Its linked to youtube movies, so whether you purchase on your phone or pc, you can watch it back on either.

More info:

http://crave.cnet.co.uk/mobiles/andr...e-uk-50005756/

http://youtube-global.blogspot.com/2...ies-in-uk.html
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Old 12-11-2011, 07:58
Esot-eric
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All sounds a bit complicated. Is there not a legitimate site I can go to, download a film, and keep it on the Tablet?
As others have stated there are, but the selection is even more limited than iTunes poor offering.

Ripping from DVDs is always the best option since you can then play the originals in DVD players and should you ever want a better quality copy on your portable devices you can rerip with better settings.

I really don't like fiddling with the computer as it's a laptop and it's already bursting at the seems memorywise.
If it's a Mac system then it's straightforward enough. Download and install VLC then Handbrake. Stick a disc in the drive, select a pre-set in Handbrake (use one of the ones targeted at an Apple device so you can use it on any of your devices. Android will have no problem playing it back either) and away you go.

I believe there's a version of Handbrake for Windows but have never used it.

Do your daughter a favour and buy her some Studio Ghibli films; they blow away anything Disney has ever done. For age four i recommend "My Neighbour Totoro", "Kiki's Delivery Service" and "Ponyo". Amazon sells the DVDs for about £6 each.
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Old 12-04-2012, 10:50
imarsh
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One question on films purchased from the Android market.

If you look at the films they are priced at for example £3.49 rental. What does this mean? Does the copy expire after a certain amount of time/number of plays?
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Old 12-04-2012, 11:08
c4rv
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One question on films purchased from the Android market.

If you look at the films they are priced at for example £3.49 rental. What does this mean? Does the copy expire after a certain amount of time/number of plays?
if its rental then they will come with time limited protection so you won't be able to watch them after a certain period. it should be listed on the site you are renting them from.
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Old 12-04-2012, 11:12
c4rv
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Seeing as its been a while since the last update, netflix is now available in the UK with an android app option. Also google play also has an expanded range of movies available.
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Old 12-04-2012, 13:31
paulbrock
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If you look at the films they are priced at for example £3.49 rental. What does this mean? Does the copy expire after a certain amount of time/number of plays?
yep, similar to e.g. Sky Box Office.

so, for example, the Thing
https://play.google.com/store/movies...F9uOUJ0NVpjIl0.

has on the right hand side - Rental Grant Period - 30 days, Rental Active Period - 48 hours.

That means you have 30 days from purchase to start watching it, and once you start watching it, you have 48 hours to finish watching it. (or watch it up to around 30 times I guess)
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Old 12-04-2012, 17:21
imarsh
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thanks, that's the information I couldn't find when looking on my tablet last night.
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Old 17-04-2012, 07:06
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Works perfectly!
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Old 17-04-2012, 08:16
alanwarwic
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It is Tabtronics so will not do very much at all.

I think there is a universal Uberoid firmware you an install to make it useful.
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