How Watch Shows and Movies Anywhere, Even Without Wi-Fi

With so many streaming options, you can watch anything anytime. But not anyplace.

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By Gary Dell'Abate

Jun 22, 2016

Spencer Heyfron

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Years ago, when you flew you had to watch whatever crappy movie the plane was showing. Now we just bring our entertainment with us. Look around, and everybody is power-watching a show or movie on a tablet or laptop.

Problem is, most video services are streaming only, which is an issue for anyone who travels. We think that Wi-Fi is going be everywhere soon, but it's not. Trains, planes, hotels, and cars say they have Wi-Fi, and tablets and phones have data, but I don't trust any of it. Even when the Wi-Fi works, airlines make it clear: You can email, but forget about trying to stream movies, even if you pay extra for the faster connection. What B.S.

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Until streaming is fully integrated and strong Wi-Fi is everywhere, if I want to be sure I can watch something, I download. A friend brought this up the other day. Even though he could watch Peaky Blinders on Netflix, he bought episodes off iTunes. Why did he buy what he was already paying for? "I can't stream Netflix on a plane," he said. It's ridiculous that you have to pay for something twice just because you don't have Wi-Fi.

It's an annoying oversight, but there are solutions. For example, I kept meaning to see the Amy Winehouse documentary, Amy. It's a perfect plane movie. Before my last trip, I found it on Amazon Prime Video. I hit "Download" and had it on my iPad, ready to watch without a data connection. Prime Video is the only major streaming service that does this and it's gotten me to look at Amazon's content in a way that I never did before. One day a week I take the train to work, so I started watching The Man in the High Castle, one of Amazon's series. I'm only on my fourth episode, I watch it here and there, but it lives on my iPad, always ready. Now we just need Netflix and Hulu to follow Amazon's lead.

I also rely on DVDs, especially for work, where I get screeners of new movies or shows. Yes, DVDs. I have a library of stuff I've ripped, as in I converted the video from the disc to a digital file. There's a million ways to do it, but HandBrake is the most reliable software I've found for every video format. I put those movies onto an external hard drive, then sync that drive to my iTunes library. It sounds completely outdated, but it's the only way to always have what I want to watch. If I'm going to L.A., I sit down the night before I fly, connect my iPad mini, and plan my next day's entertainment.

Gary Dell'Abate has been the executive producer of The Howard Stern Show since 1984. He can be heard on Sirius XM.

*This article originally appeared in the July/August 2016 issue of Popular Mechanics.