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Building a Disc-Free DVD Library With Drive-in
By Dave Peterson | July 21, 2008
When the Apple TV first hit the market, a lot of people asked, “Why not just buy a Mac Mini?” It was completely reasonably question, as a Mac Mini could fulfill the same role, and bring full computer functionality as well. The reasonable answer, of course, was price, as Mac Minis are at least a couple hundred dollars more than an Apple TV. For the past year plus, I’ve been quite happy with the Apple TV, and have had no great desire for any extended functionality in what I consider an iTunes video playback unit. Then I started to consider the possibilities presented by the Drive-in application from Flip4Mac.
Drive-in is software for Macs that makes a full image of a DVD, complete with bonus features and menus. When you play back the image, it’s just like watching the disc. It even preserves the disc copy protection, sidestepping potential legal issues. The images will play on any computer associated with the one where the image was made, but you can’t give it to someone else. One more advantage is the speed at which the image is created. Although this varies by system speed, a Drive-in image can generally be made in 15 to 30 minutes as compared to a high quality DVD rip which can take several hours. This makes it much more feasible to load a large number of movies into the system.
I’ve ordered a Mac Mini (80 GB, 1.83 GHz processor) to use as a dedicated video server based around Drive-in. I plan to store the video on a Drobo. The Mac Mini comes very bare bones; no keyboard, mouse, or monitor. The display will be the HDTV, and I’ve already got an Apple wireless keyboard and have ordered a wireless mouse. As a complement to Drive-in, I’ll be running iTunes, for podcasts and any other miscellaneous content I want to get from the iTunes store.
I like the idea of being able to load in all my DVDs for ease of access, and still have all the features built into the disc. It seems like the best of both worlds. I’ll check back in here with a progress report once I have a sense of how this project is turning out.
Note: For anyone considering a Drobo for this or any other storage needs, entering my friend Cali Lewis’ promo code “CALI” at checkout will save you $25. I don’t know how long this will last, but as of today (September 20, 2008), it’s still good.
Topics: Video |
July 22nd, 2008 at 7:16 am
Great idea with the Mini and Drive In. I’ve been using it with my Powerbook. Saves on heat and battery to have my movies onboard. I gotta get a set up like you’re doing…could probably add a 1 TB external drive and have room for a LOT of flicks.
August 25th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
[...] Murphy from Mac News Weekly has been following my Drive-in server project, and brought an interesting iPhone/iPod Touch app to my attention. The app is pearPad, and it [...]
August 28th, 2008 at 8:26 am
Hi Dave,
Just wanted to let you know that we will be releasing Drive-in any day now. I am sure you have registered as a beta user, but if not do it quick as we are giving a great deal on the release version to all registered beta users. Thanks for the post on the pearpad, I am going to give a look right now!
Kevin
September 3rd, 2008 at 10:37 pm
need printer to work, thanks.
September 8th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
[...] Dave Peterson’s article, Building a Disc-Free DVD Library With Drive-in which appears on GadgetyTech.com, he says of Drive-in, “I like the idea of being able to load in [...]
October 3rd, 2008 at 7:46 am
[...] - bookmarked by 1 members originally found by ilanpeer on 2008-09-19 Building a Disc-Free DVD Library With Drive-in http://www.gadgetytech.com/2008/07/21/building-a-disc-free-dvd-library-with-drive-in/ - bookmarked [...]
January 14th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
[...] few months ago, I wrote a couple of posts about my efforts to build a media server based on a Mac Mini. It’s been serving me [...]