dvds

For long car rides with kids, nothing, but nothing, beats a portable DVD player. (OK, an iPad comes close, assuming you're willing and able to rip all your DVDs ahead of time--and pay $500+ for an iPad.)

If your minivan didn't come with a built-in player, try this: today only, 1 Sale A Day has the Haier PDVD9KIT portable DVD player for $59.99, plus $4.99 for shipping.

The player features a 9-inch wide screen that can swivel--which may not seem like a big deal, but believe me when I say it comes in handy--plus stereo speakers … Read more

Do you like pandas? Movies about pandas? Movies about pandas who do kung fu? That's great, but it's not important right now.

Starting today, Digiarty Software is offering WinX DVD Ripper Platinum Kung Fu Edition free of charge. It normally sells for $49.95.

What's the "kung fu" part all about? According to a Digiarty rep, this version of the program is "branded to hail the release of [the] long-awaited 'Kung Fu Panda 2' film. It is designed with [the] new addition of 'Kung Fu Panda' image on the interface--while [retaining] all the advanced … Read more

Audiophiles are, by definition, listeners, but we can also be watchers. I have a collection of around 100 concert DVDs and Blu-rays. And while a good number of them are in 5.1 channel surround, most also have 2.0 stereo mixes. I play both types over my two-channel home theater system. The best of these discs will test the limits of your system's stamina, pop one on, turn it up to "11," and you're there.

Tell us about your favorite concert/music discs in the Comments section.

"It Might Get Loud" is definitely … Read more

Want to stream a movie over the Internet that's not available for streaming on a service like Netflix or Amazon? Zediva can stream films that you can only get on physical DVDs--through a goofball workaround that actually has strong legal precedent.

Zediva rents you a DVD but keeps the DVD in a player in its own facility. You then control this player remotely from your computer, and the output is piped over the Net to you. Think of it as a wall of Slingboxes, available for rent. If you want to watch a movie online that's only available on disc because it's in the pre-streaming, DVD-sales-only "window," this will punch through that restriction.

Or will it? The service just launched today, and in my quick test, at about 5 p.m. PT, only 6 of the 49 "new releases" on the site's main movie selection screen were available for viewing. The marquee title, "The Fighter," was available, but "127 Hours," "Megamind," "Due Date," and most other titles were marked as "rented out." Unlike services such as Netflix, which can stream as many copies of a single video as it has bandwidth to support, Zediva only has so many copies of each DVD, and each lives in its own dedicated DVD player. When all the players holding a given movie are in use, nobody else can rent the film.

… Read more

Netflix has triggered a slew of customer complaints after revealing that it's taking away the ability to add titles to the DVD queue from streaming devices.

Announced in a blog post yesterday by Jamie Odell, director of product management, the move would mean that people will no longer be able to use the "Add to DVD Queue" feature from their smartphones, set-top boxes, game consoles, and other devices that stream Netflix content. Users will be able to add physical discs to their queue only by going directly to the Netflix Web site on a PC or presumably … Read more

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which we answer questions e-mailed from our readers. This week we have questions on RAM modules not working in one PowerBook RAM slot, options for viewing alternative region DVDs, and a Windows 7 taskbar "Preview" option in OS X. We continually answer e-mail questions, and though we present a few here, we certainly welcome alternative approaches and views from readers and encourage you to post your suggestions in the comments.

Question: RAM not working in one slot

MacFixIt reader Donald asks:

G4 Powerbook, 15", 1.67GHz, Early 2005. I have 2x1GB … Read more

Ready for one last sweet freebie before the year runs out? It might be something you already have (especially if you're a regular Cheapskate reader), but I can't not write about it.

From now until Dec. 27, iSkysoft's iMedia Converter (Win) is available free of charge, no strings attached. It normally sells for $49.

Update: To get the software, you must have a Facebook account.

The program offers two core functions. First, it rips DVDs (even protected ones) to just about any format: iPod, iPhone, Zune, etc. It can also rip just the audio from, say, a … Read more

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which we answer questions e-mailed from our readers. This week we have questions on hovering yellow text in Safari, viewing foreign DVDs, iMacs booting to black screens, and the loss of specific character function on keyboards. We continually answer e-mail questions and while we present a few here, we certainly welcome alternative approaches and views from readers and encourage you to post your suggestions in the comments.

Question: Hovering yellow text boxes in Safari

MacFixIt reader "Norman" asks:

Please tell me what I should do to stop the "hovering" when … Read more

The Chinese government is starting a new campaign to fight the free flow of counterfeit and pirated software and DVDs, according to the country's official news service.

Citing comments made at a State Council meeting at which Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao presided, the Xinhua News Agency reported this week that the goal is to clamp down on both the import and export of phony software, DVDs, publications, and other products that violate trademarks and patents.

Scheduled to start the end of October, the campaign will run for six months and will also target Internet piracy and fake goods sold … Read more