Maybe this one won’t be a shocker to you guys. It’s possible everyone’s been doing this for awhile and as techy as I claim to be, I’ve been missing the boat.
So I review a lot of new release movies and DVDs on this site. I’m fortunate enough to get review copies of these DVDs ahead of time. 10 years of blogging, lots of kids movies, well you guys can imagine we have a heck of a lot of movies in this house. Only, we really don’t do DVDs all that much anymore. Pretty much the only time we actually pop the actual DVD disc into a player is when we’re in the minivan going on a big road trip. Which is what, a couple of times a year?
If we’re flying, we’re all about the iPads and digital movies. I’ve spent a lot of money over the years on renting and buying movies off iTunes. I’ve known that I had a “digital copy” DVDs but hadn’t ever done anything with them.
By the time you guys see this review, I’ll be in California and at Disneyland! Because I’ve been packing all week, I decided to look into actually transferring some of these movies that I own onto iPads and computers.
First off, I love iCloud. I was able to digitally download about 8 movies and they are all connected via my iCloud account which is connected to my iPad, my boys iPad and my computer. It works well because my boys have 16GB iPads – they will only store 2-3 movies before they run out of space. (my iPad can hold up to 128 GB so we obviously stuff a lot more on there when we’re traveling)
If you buy a DVD movie that has a Digital Copy included, you get a little flier inside of the DVD like this one:
It gives you your own special code that you can use on iTunes to download your movies! I found that the recent ones will work directly on iTunes, I don’t need a DVD Digital Copy or anything but the code but movies older than a year come with an actual DVD that you need to pop into your computer. You follow the on screen instructions and can then click over to iTunes to put the code in and download.
Such a great deal. I still want the hard copies of many DVDs for when we do road trip but I’m finding more than more that we watch movies on the go on tablets and computers so I want the digital version as well.
Here’s an example of the price difference on a movie that’s about to be released, the Nut Job. You can get the Nut Job DVD for $19.96 on Amazon but for $22.99 you can get the Nut Job Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital Download combo pack. We don’t have a Blu-Ray but it still pays to get this package because it’s just a few bucks more and then you have digital access on all of your devices!
Anyway, like I said, I may be the last one to catch wind of the awesomeness of buying the DVD Combo pack but I’m glad I finally figured it out!
Lastly, here’s a pict of the instructions on how to get the digital copy onto your iTunes account (and then your iPad/computer, etc.)
Also DISNEY MOVIE REWARDS are awesome! Those codes to activate the digital copy also give you points – – and for 1250 points you can usually cash in for a free $10 starbucks gift card (or other kids rewards – – but i think i deserve the Starbucks) Points add up fast – – you can also get points from your movie ticket stubs when you see a Disney movie in the theater! I have already redeemed for $10 disney store gift cards and $10 starbucks gifts cards – – for only a little work of entering the codes!
PS – they don’t offer the gift cards all the time, but every few months they add them to the rewards choices so i make sure i redeem when they are offered.