****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
Does not playback on Linux due to Bad Blocks/Sectors Copyright Protection. (ie. Possibly ARccOS Protection) (Now resolved as of 2015.08.05! See update footnotes below. Playback via MPlayer and Xine is now problem free!)I think I've found a (rather tedious) workaround. Use either dvdbackup or vlc to first make a copy of the DVD, and only then can you play back the video on Linux. Disc one is the only disc so far without the inaccessible (ARccOS) protection. Maybe they omitted disc one having (ARccOS) protection, to get the product through quality control? Why else would somebody omit such a restrictive copyright protection scheme on the first disc, as I've heard some DVD players do not accept such restrictive copyright protection schemes.Most times I just want to watch DVD movies and toss them back into their cases. Other times, such as these long TV series, I prefer to temporarily cache to hard drive for watching each show sequentially at night without having to (again) insert each DVD repetitively more than 100 times. (Similar to having to enter a combination to a safe, when you know you're going to be inside the safe five minutes later.) I hate it when people force the innocent to jump hurdles just to enjoy a product they've purchased. Almost like buying a product with foreign instructions, but you need to read the foreign instructions each time you try to use the product!Pros:1) A great TV Series2) Has Barbara Feldon interesting facts preceding each show.3) Additional literature inside each series.4) If you love packaging gimmicks, then this one deserves an A+.5) The TV series deserves an A+ for showing off 1960-1970's suit styles. Look no further than Maxwell Smart for how to dress appropriately!6) Includes lots of additional video material from Emmys, birthday parties, and interviews.Cons:1) DVD recording studio used an incompatible DRM protection or likely something called ARccOS Protection, preventing Linux users from enjoying the recorded material. Forget simply using a software player such as MPlayer or Xine. You'll first likely be required to copy the material to hard drive first using dvdbackup or VLC. (Hopefully by the time you're reading this comment, ARccOS or the copyright protection used for these DVDs will be added to MPlayer and Xine.) (Now resolved as of 2015.08.05! See update footnotes below. Playback via MPlayer and Xine is now problem free!)2) Due to how the multiple DVD's are packaged laying atop of one another within the plastic trays, the DVD's are easily scratched. I was able to call Amazon.com customer service and they sent another boxed DVD set out for replacing the scratched DVD's and then returning the bad DVD's. However Season 4 Disc 2 was also scratched within the boxed set as well. Since this is the only remaining scratched DVD, I opted to buy the Season 4 DVD, and also noticed the individually packaged DVD series now have fixed DVD packaging trays entirely averting overlapping and scratching.As they say, at least be thankful there is a workaround, since the idiot thieves are spoiling the products for the hard workers and manufacturers want to exploit the most restrictive copyright protection possible. Brings to mind, maybe the manufacturers and publishers should really try to get smart?UPDATE 2015.07.08: After watching the first season, I'm really enjoying this DVD bundle. Toward the end of the first season, they've added many (unfinished) clippings or anything that could be construed as valuable to the fans of the Get Smart show. A good sign they left nothing out of this bundle! (ie. Some publishers get itchy when they see unfinished material; but in the eyes of fans, the unfinished bits of material appear as real gems!) As far as getting around the DVD protection on Linux based computer systems for viewing or enjoying the material (one time), I'm finding I have a solution using dvdbackup (ie. http://dvdbackup.sourceforge.net/) and this maybe because somebody with a higher power might just want me to copy the entire DVD bundle to hard drive. Albeit, I've never had a need to copy any other DVD material in the past to a hard drive, unless the content were musical or audio content. Cheers fans of Get Smart! Hopefully you're enjoying the DVD bundle as I am!UPDATE 2015.08.04: After watching the entire first and second season DVDs, I cannot stand giving only four stars due to inaccessible copyright protection. I've added full five stars. I still say the (ARccOS?) copyright is a bit over the top, as how many locks do you need on a CD/DVD to prove copyright protection was circumvented? Anyways, I'm not thoroughly "loving it" or loving the DVD series. It's such a wonderful work of art, aside from the (ARccOS?) copyright protection scheme. (Whomever watched added the copyright protection obviously never watched the Get Smart TV series!) Added several more Pros and clarified Con, as well as increasing to five stars.UPDATE 2015.08.05: After rebuilding some libraries as of Sunday (ie. libdvdread-5.0.3, libdvdnav-5.0.3, mplayer-1.2_pre2015073, ...) I'm now finally able to view the DVDs without apparent problems of copyright protection. However at the same time, I now found a huge scratch/knick in several of the center placed DVDs of the season folders. Thankfully, Amazon.com readily is sending a replacement. Since it's impossible to watch or verify every DVD within several days, I'll continue with the previous method I've already been using for enjoying the DVDs, and only took a few hours. So as of now, the copyright protection method I previously reported now appears completely resolved within MPlayer and Xine!UPDATE 2015.09.05: Noted multiple scratched DVD's within the original boxed set. Also noted the individually packaged series DVD's now contain fixed packaging averting overlapping and preventing scratching.
