Forum - View topicNEWS: Amazon Unbox Service Offering Some Free Anime Episodes
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jhuhn
 Posts: 147 |
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I posted those clips on my anime web pages as well only a couple of weeks ago.
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stevek504
 Posts: 216 |
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To use this service you will need to set up an account with Amazon, enable their 1-Click payment service, and agree to the terms. Register your device / Download Amazon Unbox Video Player for PCs running Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista. Or, you can register a Series2 or Series3 TiVo box.
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SoloButterfly
 Posts: 239 Location: Masaki Residence |
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I'm in the process of downloading most of those free videos right now
 . The internet knows anime fans can't hardly say no to free anime. Downloading the Unbox program was pretty quick and easy, especially since I already had an amazon account.
I know at least some of the episodes are dub only, which may turn some people off, but hey, it's free. |
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Dargonxtc
 Posts: 4463 Location: Nc5xd7+ スターダストの海洋 |
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I must say that the email notice that they sent out got me pretty good.
Subject: 100% Discounts on Anime only at Amazon! Yeah, got me really good 
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kokuryu
 Posts: 915 |
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Yeah I got the same notice as well. I just dont like having proprietary file formats and being forced to use a proprietary player for video. It's fine if I am just renting it, but when I am buying it I want some assurances that I will be able to use it not only today but 20 years from now as well - and proprietary players does not allow for that. I got burned already buying anime and other videos in a proprietary format, only to have the offerer give up and go away - and now I have a bunch of files that NOTHING will play them back, so I just wasted a few hundred bucks - I am NOT happy about that - so I refuse to buy anything proprietary. I will consider it if the have a BURN TO DVD feature built in, but they do not at this time.
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SoloButterfly
Posts: 239 Location: Masaki Residence |
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I'm watching the episodes I downloaded with winamp. I'm not being required to watch it with the Unbox program. The Unbox is really mostly installed as a downloading manager from what I can tell. Though it also has a player, which is giving me troubles at the moment, but as I'd rather watch it with winamp or windows media player anyway...it's just an annoyance I'm trying to get support for right now.
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perpetual159
 Posts: 32 Location: Washington D.C., United States |
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Hmm... well, maybe it's just me, but why pay for something like that when you have free fansubs? (Free fansubs that can be played in several media players, for that matter!) Well, I'm personally not too familiar with any of this stuff--never heard of it until this article was posted. Furthermore, proprietary file formats are annoying. If you pay to download and watch something that can only be played in ONE player, what's the point? It's like saying I bought a movie made by Sony Pictures that can only be played in a Sony DVD player... it totally defeats the purpose.
In any case, I like to both download and buy anime. If I like an anime enough, I just go to Best Buy or Amazon or some other random anime dvd website--the ones with the best deals, of course. I don't enjoy bootlegs--however cheaper they may be. I firmly believe in letting the anime creators make a living, unlike a lot of people who boycott the industry. I know out there there are a lot of people who don't enjoy fansubs, but really, a lot of times that's what gives an anime exposure, and oftentimes, the fansubs do a better job in helping the viewer understand what is going on with provided "footnotes"--even if they are actually located at the top of the screen. But then again, I suppose it's a matter of preference and convenience. If I'm going to pay to download something, I might as well pay for the actual DVD. But that's just me. |
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stevek504
Posts: 216 |
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kokuryu is right on target. I don't have an answer; I leave that up to the people in the industry. I want to be able to download a movie or music, play it on anything I own, and keep it forever. Right now my only option is to purchase a DVD or a CD. When this problem is fixed we should see prices go down and more variety (and quantity) available. It would change the way all this is sold! No need to stock inventory, and ready for you 24x7.
In an alternate universe, this problem would be solved by having our chip implanted at birth... 
I could not get the Amazon Unbox Video Player to work for me - so I had to uninstall it. I did want to see these because they are all series I have not seen before - but it was not made to be as easy as watching Netflix titles online so I will wait for them in the mail. |
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Shaika-Dzari
Posts: 12 |
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I quote a blog I saw:
Sorry but they need to do better than this... |
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Mohawk52
 Posts: 8202 Location: England, UK |
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Well the previews work just fine for me even on this side of the duck pond. Now if they set up a service in Stirling, I'll be using it as I already have an account with them for rentals.
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Mr. sickVisionz
 Posts: 2173 |
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You make light of the fact that like 90% of the hundreds of milions of PCs are running Windows. Its not hard to hook up a computer to a TV. All HDTVs come with VGA inputs or DVI, and if you're on crapd, I mean SD your graphics card likely has s-video out or you can buy one on ebay for like $10. Or if you have an X-Box 360, PS3 or anyhting that supports media streaming, you can watch it on your TV using that. The only real limitation is that you can't bootleg movies easily. For some people thats a deal breaker, but I have to wonder if you're so interested in bootlegging are you really buying that many DVDs to being with? |
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edzieba
Posts: 704 |
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Also, 'bootleggers' as you call them (wrong term, but I'll leave that as an exercise to the reader) will easily bypass any DRM, or simply get a better quality version from another source (e.g. HDTV rips far surpass DRMed downloads, and even many DVD releases). The only users that DRM causes problems for are the legitimate users. |
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Xanas
Posts: 2058 |
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I'm not interested in bootlegging, but I am interested in personally backing up media, and I do use linux. All these make things like Amazon unbox a huge load of crap that isn't worth a dime, much less the current costs which are in many cases twice what the show costs on a DVD. It's garbage. I like Amazon overall, but unbox is just the lamest thing ever to come from there. Free unboxed video is a "good idea" for windows users I guess, but it sucks for those of us who are not. Yes, we might be a smaller number, but we may not always be. It's unwise to tie their product to a single vendor (microsoft) regardless of how powerful or big they are at the moment.
Currently I buy a lot of DVDs and I back those up using Matroska, x264 & vorbis. I have no plans to switch or use blue-ray (though I do have a 1080p capable TV) until it's DRM is thoroughly smashed into the ground the way DVD was. I'd probably not be buying any DVDs at all (since I play them on my PC) if it hadn't been for decss and it's successor libdvdcss. |
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kokuryu
Posts: 915 |
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Bah - they are all in English, no subtitled versions there at all - definitely not worth it if I am going to be buying it...
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Lanisatu
 Posts: 65 Location: Vaughan, Ontario, Canada |
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It seems many of you are forgetting the fact that unbox also works with Tivo (which does have Linux based programming, and is connected to a television). If you have a compatible Tivo on your home network (via ethernet or a wireless adapter) with Tivo ToGo and any additional software you might need (e.g. Toast for macs) -- I suspect it wouldn't be too difficult to put copies of unbox videos on your computer/ ipod through Tivo desktop.
Also, if you have a Tivo that has a DVD recorder (e.g. the series two one that Humax offers); you could record from the Tivo to DVD. I find it odd that there seem to be rather loud complaints about unbox when the news story is about what they're offering for free. What difference does the format make if you have access to the content for free? If you can't use the service at all, I can understand complaints. But why do you need to backup free content that you're likely just going to preview once? |
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