Season 1 of TDVDS is now available on iTunes for $27.99. I just downloaded it so I can take it with me on my iPod when I travel. I hope they make all of the seasons available. That would allow me to sell my DVDs on eBay. Hey, Steve, we sure have come along way from 7 years ago when we were waiting so anxiously for the season sets to come out! That seems so long ago!
I actually tried to download TDVDS on my computer using a program called "Handbrake" but there is a security feature on the TDVDS DVDs that doesn't allow that. I've downloaded movies from DVDs using that program, but not the TV shows. Just thought you all might like to know.

Lolac
:)

LOL that's funny the you tried Handbreak!! My dad does that for me and my mom. It worked for him. He can do anything on the computer, passing security features. That's why I'm not gonna buy them.

It probably didn't work because the discs are copy protected. You'd first have to run them through a program such as DVD Decryptor or DVD Shrink, then use Handbrake to convert the video to an Ipod compatible file. I've used DVD shrink in this manner with good results.

I only put a few episodes of some of my favorite shows on my Ipod when I'm traveling, then delete them because video takes up a lot of hard drive space. I don't know if you want to get rid of your DVDs, Lolac. Full screen Ipod video isn't the best quality, although with a B&W show it may not be as noticeable.

I wouldn't get rid of them. Along with the bad quality of an iPod screen, mp4s are not as good of quality as other video formats. It's probably the worst (and the worst to work with...) I have my favorite episodes of Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore on my iPod always, and rotate the episodes.

You're probably right about getting rid of the DVDs. However, I haven't found the picture quality to be bad on iTunes. I don't watch on my iPod screen. I plug it in to my TV and watch it and it's fine. Last night, I watched it on my macbook in bed with my headphones so I wouldn't disturb my husband. It was fine. The reason I would keep my DVDs is convenience for my kids and the extras. They don't have the extras on the iTunes version and I would miss that. I do like to watch the extras sometimes. So, I'll keep my DVDs and get the iTunes versions so I can take it with me when I travel and I will have the best of both worlds. BTW, how did you copy your episodes on to your computer with the copy protect feature on the DVDs? Lauranamesake said her father could bypass that. I'd like to know how to do that then I wouldn't have to pay for them again.

Lolac
:)

Lolac:
I couldn't tell you how he did it. For my next thing I will say, is that my dad puts all of the episodes (along with Mary Tyler Moore, I Love Lucy, Bob Newhart) onto his iTunes, and shares his library. My mom and I bothhave those little appleTVs in our bedrooms and in our living room hooked up to our TVs, so we can watch all of them, with no DVDs. Also, you can pick it up if you have iTunes on your computer. And Lolac, I must say I do the exact same thing! At night, I lay in bed with my MacBook and put on some headphones so I won't wake up my parents in the next room and watch The DVD Show mostly. Or Mary Tyler Moore, and every once in a while That Girl (I just got the 4th season!!) It's funny you do that because my parents think I'm crazy to do it!

BTW, how did you copy your episodes on to your computer with the copy protect feature on the DVDs? Lauranamesake said her father could bypass that. I'd like to know how to do that then I wouldn't have to pay for them again.

Lolac
:)

Lolac,

Download and install DVD Shrink. It's a free program you can get here: http://www.dvdshrink.org/ That program will strip copy protection and create a Video_TS folder with the DVD files in it that use can use with Handbrake to make the MPEG 4 videos for your Ipod.

It's pretty easy to use. Run the program, put your DVD in the computer's drive and select BACKUP. You then drag and drop individual episodes from the DVD into DVD Shrink to make each episode into its own DVD file. If you want you can also edit the beginning and ending of the episode, which is what I do to eliminate the opening and closing credits from my Ipod videos (I usually fast forward through them when I watch the DVDs).

Please post again if you try this out and have trouble catching on to how it works, and I'll try to write a step-by-step guide for you. Good luck and have fun!

Thank you, Larry Surrell. I will try that. I'll get back to you on how well it works!

Lolac
:wave: