Playing DVDs on laptop without DVD drive...

[AleisterCrowley]

I don't have a TV, and I don't watch many films, but I have a small DVD collection.
The rare occasions I fancy watching one I use my trusty HP EliteBook, which is fine.
Sadly I've now been 'upgraded' to a thin, whizzy, and worryingly flexible Lenovo ThinkPad T470S
-which doesn't have a DVD drive (or optical drive, or whatever they are called)

I don't want a stand alone DVD player, as the ThinkPad's screen is remarkably good
What do I need ? The StinkPad has a number of sockets in addition to the usual power/phones/USB
The wee one has a lightning flash symbol, and the larger is 'HDMI' which is probably good (?)

Thanks
Aleister Luddite Crowley

[Itsallaguess]

I don't have a TV, and I don't watch many films, but I have a small DVD collection.

The rare occasions I fancy watching one I use my trusty HP EliteBook, which is fine.

Sadly I've now been 'upgraded' to a thin, whizzy, and worryingly flexible Lenovo ThinkPad T470S - which doesn't have a DVD drive (or optical drive, or whatever they are called)

I don't want a stand alone DVD player, as the ThinkPad's screen is remarkably good

What do I need ?

The StinkPad has a number of sockets in addition to the usual power/phones/USB

The wee one has a lightning flash symbol, and the larger is 'HDMI' which is probably good (?)

You can convert your DVD collection into MKV files really simply, and really cheapy (free!) using MakeMKV -

https://tinyurl.com/y724dtxw

Keep an eye on the free beta key (it's been a free beta key for as many years as I've been using the tool -

https://tinyurl.com/y8hkotn2

You can then play them on your laptop using VLC Player -

https://tinyurl.com/nez6w8f

The conversion process is really quite simple, and it should get you where you want to be. Worth giving a go with a favourite film, just to understand the round-trip process.

Let me know if you have any issues, and I'll try to help out.

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[GeoffF100]

This article should help:

https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/the-b ... dvd-ripper

[Infrasonic]

The StinkPad has a number of sockets in addition to the usual power/phones/USB
The wee one has a lightning flash symbol, and the larger is 'HDMI' which is probably good (?)

The lightning flash is Thunderbolt on a type 'C' socket probably, a very fast connection potentially up to 40Gbps if Thunderbolt 3 with all 4 PCIe lanes utilised...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbolt_(interface)
Make sure you read all the way from the top to the bottom on the wiki link as it is absolutely fascinating...

HDMI is a connection for Monitors/TV's/Projectors et al.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI

[AleisterCrowley]

I don't have a TV,rhubarb rhubarb(?)

You can convert your DVD collection into MKV files really simply, and really cheapy (free!) using MakeMKV -

https://tinyurl.com/y724dtxw
...
Let me know if you have any issues, and I'll try to help out.

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

Cheers - but of course i'd have to do the conversion on my EliteBook, which is bound for the IT knacker's yard shortly..
I have hung on to it too long already (apparently) but hey you get used to laptops. The new plastic effort has the ctrl key one in (after Fn key), which catches me out when doing ctrl-alt-del

[AleisterCrowley]

I should clarify a bit, apologies
Having just moved, most of my DVDs are in storage, or deep in boxes in the new place.
My HP EliteBook will be dust before I can get all the DVDs back together
Soo.. I really need a 'box' I can plug in to the ThinkPad to play them.

[mc2fool]

I should clarify a bit, apologies
Having just moved, most of my DVDs are in storage, or deep in boxes in the new place.
My HP EliteBook will be dust before I can get all the DVDs back together
Soo.. I really need a 'box' I can plug in to the ThinkPad to play them.

Yep, an external USB DVD drive. Something like this one (just an example, not a recommendation).

[AleisterCrowley]

Crikey, that's cheap. I've paid more than that for interconnecting cables..
Anyone here recommend a good one ?

[Breelander]

Crikey, that's cheap...

Not really, PC World don't ask much more...

https://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/search-k ... teria.html