Accessing movies / video in Ireland

Cynthia, I suspect that you may have to forego your after dinner movies while you're travelling, as commercial entities may be restricted in delivery to foreign countries. In addition, you'll be subject to differing internet connection speeds, and some may be far too slow to allow those types of applications. I've never tried it, so be sure to let us know how that works out. I find that I'm usually out touring well into the evenings, especially in Ireland as the Pubs are so much fun. There's no way I'd have time (or want to) watch movies while there. Happy travels!

As Ken says most US streaming sites like Netflix aren't allowed to stream to users outside North America, and even if they could most hotel WiFi speeds are too slow anyways. Since you're bringing a Netbook, simply "rip" a DVD/BluRay disc into it's hard drive with a program like this: http://www.pavtube.com/products/

In my experience in Europe you will have to use a proxy service to access netflix, not sure about amazon prime but I assume it's the same. has to do with licensing issues. if you're willing to pay, paid proxies work very well. This is how most US military personnel I know use netflix streaming while here in Germany.

A few years ago my husband bought me a mini-personal DVD player to use in bed while he was watching sports on TV. I now take it on the plane to Europe, and bring old-school DVDs! They work everywhere - nothing needed but electricity. No need to pay more for a proxy, worry about streaming, international permissions, etc. For now, until the entire planet is seamlessly hooked to the cloud, I find this relatively low-tech (by today's standards, that is!) workaround works great. That being said, I too would recommend you go down the pub instead of watching a movie that you could easily see at home.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I agree that pubs are more interesting than DVDs. However, some of our Band Bs are in rural locations; probably not a good idea to drive several miles after enjoying the Guinness. And all of the pubs are closed on Good Friday!

Hi! I'm a student at a large public university in Washington. As a student the IT department provides us with a VPN. It was easy to set up, and then when I wanted to use hulu or netflix abroad, I just had to connect to wifi, and connect to the university's network. This made the website think I was in the US and it worked great! If you are part of a university or major corporation that has an IT department, you might ask if they can set one up for you. My university just had me log in with my student ID number and follow some simple instructions in the control panel of my computer!

Proxys and VPN are an option but if the hotel's free wifi is slow it doesn't help in the end. As video streaming in all it's manifestations gets more popular, it really taxes the bandwidth hotels can provide. I have a Slingbox at home, but haven't been able to use it effectively in years, because the speeds aren't good enough. Best all round option is to store videos on the hard drive, or dowload stuff via Itunes before you leave on your trip.