Airplane Video Equipment Not Working

Maybe upgrade that ipod nano and get the ipod touch for that bigger screen. I use my iphone on flights because the movies are most often awful or the sound function bottoms out (happened to my last flight to Italy on Delta, nothing but static for everyone for the entire movie). Having your own movie medium is the best backup. the ipod touch or iphone is a great alternative.

I appreciate the suggestions. I quit taking books on long trips as I am tired of having to put on/take off the reading glasses and I don't need them to watch movies. I would like to know more about watching a movie on an ipod touch. Does anyone know if you can store several movies and is there enough battery power to sustain the device for a 9-10 hour flight? Are the movies expensive to download? My ipod use is fairly simple and I have only downloaded songs from my own CDs and a couple of times I downloaded audio tapes from the library but the tracks get scattered and will mix up with other things so it can be a big pain so I only load one audio book at a time. I could pay the pricey $28 or so for a new online audio book but it's alot of money for a 1 time use. I am also thinking about getting an ipad in a few months but not sure I want to lug it around when I only take one carryon bag for 2+ weeks and I have my other quirky stuff to pack. You know how that goes. LOL

Hi, Handbrake is a program (http://handbrake.fr/) that takes DVDs and makes them viewable on an iTouch/iPhone. I had a personal movie and did this to an iTouch. It wasn't a full length so I cannot speak to how long a video the battery will last watching a video. Ahem .. caveat: I did a movie I made myself in iMovie. Doing this with anything else could easily be against copyright. The iTouch can do well with audio because the screen goes blank (or it did with my iOS3, don't know about iTouch with iOS4), though music continues, so a possible option may be to do some video but do more of just listening with ear phones. I've looked at the iPad for traveling, but after a trip with an iTouch, the iPad .. for me .. is too heavy :-) Sigh, I'd take a 1/2 size iPad, though .. bigger than current iTouch, but easily put in purse.

No, your ipod Touch will not play 9-10 hours of movies. What you can do is get an external power pack that plugs into the ipod touch. They either take AA batteries or have internal batteries that you charge prior to the flight. Here are some examples: http://www.magellans.com/store/Electronics___iPod_iPad_iPhone_AccessoriesEA456?Args= Or either Fueltank Uno or Duo: http://www.callpod.com/power I have both fueltanks and they work very well. There are plenty of others and perhaps someone on the board can recommend a few.

If you are considering the new iPod Touch, it gives you up to 40 hours of music or up to 7 hours of video on a full charge. Very easy to download movies/television shows from iTunes. I also bring a small device that will completely recharge my iPod Touch three more times, even while using it.

The "handbrake" program that Betsy mentioned is the thing for movies on the iPod Touch. It takes some work, and some practice, and there are bugs to deal with, but we currently have almost 100 movies (that we already owned on DVD) converted to movie files for the iPods. Even the newest Touch won't give you 10 hours of video/battery. But if you adjust the screen brightness to about 1/2 (which is preferable anyway, on a dark airplane) you might get three full-length movies, or close to it. That's enough, I think. You downdoad the program (version 9.4 if I remember correctly), movie, open Handbrake, open file (choose the movie from the list), "scan" the file (which chooses the movie from among the all the extras and other junk on the DVD), choose a format ("iPod Touch"), choose a file size (about 700MB is the low end limit I usually choose - a larger size will, in theory, create a cleaner picture, but consume much more space on both your iPod and your computer) then hit "start". It takes around an hour for the process to run it's course. In the end, a new file will appear on your desktop - that is the movie. On my Mac, opening the file automatically opens iTunes and s the movie into the iTunes movie file. Then when you your iPod, you simply choose some movies (along with music and other stuff) from your iTunes library and "". I'll grant you, it could be simpler. You could "buy" movies from iTunes directly. I've never done that. Occasionally the transfer on Handbrake creates a movie in which the chapters are out of order (infuriating). This is not Handbrake's fault. Hollywood intentionally put a "bug" in the DVD to fool Handbrake and frustrate people like us. There is a simple way to solve this problem for most movies. You can PM me for the details if you need to.

Teri - Too bad we weren't on the same flight. I would have happily traded seats with you. I never watch movies on flights, as I always take a book or two to read.

Hubby and Ihave "cases", or maybe wraparound battery pack is a better word, for our iphones that give us about 10-12 hours of power. This is even with full use of internet, or graphic heavy games. We can charge the iphone and the "pack" at the same time- the phone never comes out of the "pack". It also provides a bit of protection for the phone if it is dropped. It does not add significant weight or size. I bet there are similar products for the ipod. These were not purchased through Apple. But I don't recall the name of the company right off hand (hubby is the techno geek here). He has over 300 music videos on his phone and many more songs, as well as lots of games. I would think movies would not be a problem.

You have all given me good ideas and I will explore some of these on the internet. One idea I had not really thought of is asking the flight attendant (or scouting out on my own) a person to switch seats with that might not need the video equipment. With that said, I know the movies are sometimes interrupted by the the captain or started late so I am going to see what I can come up with using my own device(s) so I can control the content and the quality.
Thanks guys.

"I am also thinking about getting an ipad in a few months but not sure I want to lug it around when I only take one carryon bag for 2+ weeks and I have my other quirky stuff to pack." Really not much heavier (and smaller) than many magazines. It would solve this problem which happened to me recently too. Had Ipad but I like seeing the map and travel info.

My brother and I came back from Frankfurt in 2009 and on the way over, my seat audio equipment was fine, on the return flight the seat I switched with my brother was bad, and he enjoyed his movies. I should have stayed put. Oh well, these things happen. So I just read a book, because I cannot sleep on any overnight flight. Of course, now their are many electronic items that can be taken with a person on a trip.

We had Lufthansa video equipment that wasn't working, either- it happened to one of our six seats on the way to Frankfurt and two of our six on the way back. I should complained, but I didn't think of it at the time. We had to switch with the kids and share screens- I feel your pain!