[squash54]

Originally Posted by henry66

sorry, slightly off-topic, but i noticed ZML being discussed above. i might be to stupid for it: signed up for it,
paid, but now, trying to use it, i cannot anywhere find a sign-in button on their homepage!

and very often, just trying to get to their homepage, i get a server error 500. is this normal, a sign of overload?

anybody by any chance knows a good forum where ZML migh be discussed?

greets - henry -

Hi Henry ,

The top right hand corner of the ZML homepage has a box to enter your email address and password and then click "Login". You may have to scroll up to see them.

I have never received a server error or experienced the site being slow to load. What speed internet connection do you have, if you don't mind me asking?

Cheers,

Squash

[henry66]

squash, tks a lot. that box i was expecting, and sorry, but it plainly is not there. i tried
OPERA, FIREFOX and IE, always in the latest versions, nothing.

very very strange.

the connections i was trying were DSL and above 1.5MB/s, so this hardly cld be the reason.

any suggestions?

greets - henry

PS: well, at least for now, no suggestions needed: the boxes are there as expected. but i did NOT
dream this last night, had tried some 20 times over 4 hours, they must have had some trouble.
actually, i think they were re-designing their homepage, as the new one this morning looks totally
different from what i saw yesterday.

[squash54]

Originally Posted by henry66

squash, tks a lot. that box i was expecting, and sorry, but it plainly is not there. i tried
OPERA, FIREFOX and IE, always in the latest versions, nothing.

very very strange.

the connections i was trying were DSL and above 1.5MB/s, so this hardly cld be the reason.

any suggestions?

greets - henry

PS: well, at least for now, no suggestions needed: the boxes are there as expected. but i did NOT
dream this last night, had tried some 20 times over 4 hours, they must have had some trouble.
actually, i think they were re-designing their homepage, as the new one this morning looks totally
different from what i saw yesterday.

That's good news, Henry.

I recommend you DL the free VMC media player and DL manager from the site or the media player recommended by Solaris in an earlier post.

It would be good if you came back here after you have purchased and viewed a couple of movies and tell us what you think of the ease of use of the site and the sound and vision quality etc. of the movies.

Cheers,

Squash

[henry66]

i sure will report back here, squash, specially if it is good news. i am rather frustrated and dissapointed about the
general MP3 situation (payment etc), so any good news on a related field is like a light at the end of the tunnel.

re players, i have them all, and much prefer VLC anyhow.

greets - henry

PS: but still, if anybody could shed a light of what happened to ZML last night?

[archon.thelawgiver]

OK so I downloaded another movie last night (Empire Of The Sun) and it was in Russian. At least I think it was Russian but I can definitely say that the movie I purchased was not in English as specified on ZML's website.

I'm sure they'll give me a refund but I'm getting problems with every movie I buy. I admit that I haven't purchased many movies but with a zero satisfaction rate thus far I figure I'll stick with cable and the video store. Hell, even p2p is better than my success with ZML.

[rolly]

I figure I'll stick with cable and the video store

I just don't get it.Never did.
Why do people download movies off the internet?
Massive amounts of bandwidth,for what?
Most of the time it isn't even a dvd rip,just some compressed format.

I use a C-Band dish.
With Starz,HBO,Cinemax,tons and tons more,for a low yearly price,I just can't see the point of it at all.

[squash54]

Originally Posted by rolly

I just don't get it.Never did.
Why do people download movies off the internet?
Massive amounts of bandwidth,for what?
Most of the time it isn't even a dvd rip,just some compressed format.

I use a C-Band dish.
With Starz,HBO,Cinemax,tons and tons more,for a low yearly price,I just can't see the point of it at all.

Hi Rolly

Speaking personally:

1. Convenience - ZML(the only site I use) appears to release movies at the same time they become available on DVD in the USA. That can be months earlier than in Oz.
2. I don't like cinemas.
3. I know that what I want will be available (i.e. not all rented out).
4. If I DL it I don't have to watch it within 24 hours or pay a late fee.
5. I don't have to take it back to the video store.
6. I have it to keep and watch again, if it's really good.
7. Cable movies are not yet "on demand" in Oz (but that is on the way-with all kinds of limitations and restrictions).
8. Rental movies (particularly older stuff) were sometimes faulty - don't you love it when a movie freezes half way through
9. Bandwidth is not an issue - I never exceed my monthly high-speed allowance. As broadband gets cheaper and faster by the hour, this will become even less relevant.
10. Quality - I'm not as fussy with movies as I am with my music so DivX is fine with me - even played through a good Panasonic projector onto the big screen (I pretend I'm at the cinema ) Again, faster an cheaper broadband will inevitably lead to movies being readily available in very high quality formats.
11. Price - less than half it costs at the store to rent a new release. I get a $20 bonus on a $50 deposit.
12. ZML credits my account with 20% of any amount spent by someone I refer.


Cheers,

Squash

[henry66]

my first movie from ZML, just some quick notes:

- download slow, really slow - some 50-70 of the 700/Mbsec it could have been

- download manager did not speed up things much

- i did choose a movie in AVI format but of 2hrs 20min running time, and that
- packed into 800MB is a bit tight anyhow

- quality as expected, medium, sound ok and in sync, worth watching

- artifacts within limits, not annoying, no drops or similar

overall, only 5 points out of 10, mainly because of the lousy download speed. might have
been a bad day, will try again.

greets - henry

[archon.thelawgiver]

Hi Rolly,

If I've got spare bandwith in my monthly middleband (not even a megabyte per second) cable internet account then I might as well use it. As for the compressed movies and the like I tend to shy away from them because of the lack of quality. Ditto with music.

As for the music sites I'm sick of hearing empty promises. Iomoio with their bald statement of tracks being at 320kbps was a lie as there had been no change on their website. They have a few but not too many. My last hope is with Millisong. They've stated that they'll be bringing out more new music. Time will tell on that one as well. I'm giving them until the last week of June and if I don't see any change then I'll using cable television, video stores and other sources. Go figure!

Dear Squash54,

Most of the movies listed through ZML are released on dvd in Australia at the same time. I've never had a problem with a rented movie freezing in my dvd player, various iMacs including my new Intel Core 2 Duo iMac. Likewise I've had no problems with rented dvds on my dvd recorder.

However as far as ZML's collection is concerned I've had nothing but problems. The latest hiccup (as mentioned earlier) is Empire Of The Sun (dvd quality) is not in English and I'm still waiting for a reply from ZML over a 2 gig + wasted download as well as the wasted money outlay.

So here's the deal, good onya mate, you've had no problems with ZML. Myself as well as others have had problems. Maybe it's the luck of the draw, maybe it isn't. However, if you were in my shoes and you used a service that caused nothing but problems would you be as happy as Larry or would be p@&&ed. I'm in the latter situation and I won't be touching them with a barge pole.

The ironic part about this is that I could have downloaded Empire Of The Sun in full dvd quality via a p2p site but I wanted to do the right thing, and I couldn't get the movie from video stores. So what does ZML give me? A movie that is dubbed in Russian. Sweet…NOT!

And now a note to Solaris,

A special thanks to Solaris for all those interesting links. I'll follow them up when I get some time which I guess will be when I finish marking the mounds of student assessments.

As a postscript I still haven't heard anything from ZML over the non-English dialogue from my latest download. I'll keep you all posted.

[squash54]

Originally Posted by archon.thelawgiver

OK so I downloaded another movie last night (Empire Of The Sun) and it was in Russian. At least I think it was Russian but I can definitely say that the movie I purchased was not in English as specified on ZML's website.
I'm sure they'll give me a refund but I'm getting problems with every movie I buy. I admit that I haven't purchased many movies but with a zero satisfaction rate thus far I figure I'll stick with cable and the video store. Hell, even p2p is better than my success with ZML.

I DL'd Empire of thr Sun and the language is English in my copy (I have only played the first 10 minutes to check this, I will watch the whole movie on the weekend).

I don't know if this was the problem with you, but ZML recommends you do not use Windows Media Player as it has problems with the different languages embedded in the movie. They recommend you DL and use the free VLC media player instead.

Cheers,

Squash