Watch for deals on the Discovery Store website. I got season 1 for $20 and seasons 3 and 4 for $35 each, along with a number of individual disks for $5 each.
Mythbusters...ruining the illusion?
- Thread starter Warped9
- Start date
Watch for deals on the Discovery Store website. I got season 1 for $20 and seasons 3 and 4 for $35 each, along with a number of individual disks for $5 each.
Given how often Discovery reruns the episodes, I wonder if there's really any need to collect the DVDs. Unless they contain the full-length, uncut versions of the episodes or have other worthwhile features.
I like mythbusters, but I dont take it seriously. Just because THEY couldn't do something dont mean it is not possible. I actually tried one of their experiments.
I filled up my gas tank and drove back and forth to work, the same route for 5 days with the air conditioner on.
The next week I drove back and forth to work, the same route for 5 days with just the windows down.
I actually had MORE gas left in my tank running the air conditioner than I did with the windows down. On the show the car with the windows down lasted longer on a tank of gas than a car running the air conditioner.
I filled up my gas tank and drove back and forth to work, the same route for 5 days with the air conditioner on.
The next week I drove back and forth to work, the same route for 5 days with just the windows down.
I actually had MORE gas left in my tank running the air conditioner than I did with the windows down. On the show the car with the windows down lasted longer on a tank of gas than a car running the air conditioner.
The DVDs are uncut versions of the episodes and even include additional footage. Besides, I like having DVDs of even oft-ran shows so I can watch it on my time -anytime- without relying on whatever specific time the network runs them.
Gas milage is a compex issue with numerous variables, though. It's not something that can be all that easily tested. At least not as "easily" as the Myuthbusters tried, you tried, or even I try.
The Mythbusters revisited that one and found that the outcome depends on your speed. Below 50 MPH, it's more fuel-efficient to have the windows down, but above 50 MPH, the drag created by the windows is great enoughthat it's more efficient to use the A/C. The reason they got conflicting results the first time is because they did the first test (with the computer estimate) at 55 MPH and the second test (actually driving until they ran dry) at 45.
So the question for lookingglassman is, did you take the freeway to work?
So the question for lookingglassman is, did you take the freeway to work?
55 being the most efficent speed to drive at has been (more or less) known for years. It's part of the reason for lowering the national speed limit to it in the 70s.
The thing to remember about speed and fuel economy is that you fuel economy improves as your speed reaches 55 miles per hour and then drops sharply after that. Maintaining a consistant speed and not hard-accelerating are also factors.
IIRC the drag on your car quadruples for every 5mph over 55 so having your windows open at that speed just compounds the problem (as they break up the airflow around the car.) And as the Mythbusters also showed having a (solid) tailgate up helps economy for trucks as it doesn't produce drag but actualy lowers by, pretty much, creating a vortex in the bed which is pretty much a cushion of still air. Tailgate down, this vortex can't form and the air drags across the bed, and gate, of the truck.
Pretty much, fuel economy is a very complicated issue and you should really just find what works best for you with your available routes to destinations and driving habits. But, remember, it's always more fuel-efficent to drive on the highway than it is in the city. (Unless you have a hybrid.)
Unless you're a huge fan I wouldn't recommend the DVDs, they're very expensive unless you get them on sale like I did, they have no special features, and they usually cram 5 episodes on a disk, so that every time there's a lot of movement on screen it causes a pretty major amount of pixelation.
Even the DVD labels are pretty much just black with a list of episodes on the disk, and the box art for every single DVD case is exactly the same. If I didn't actually order them from the Discovery Channel store I would of thought they were bootlegs.
Yeah, Discovery really needs to figure out how to make good DVD sets.
But, again, many of the episodes do have new footage in them. I wonder if the later seasons (when they started putting additional scenes/myths on their website) will have these re-added into the episodes for the DVD?
Actually they showed that a cargo mesh was more fuel-efficient than the tailgate (so long as the tailgate is removed), because it still created the vortex but was more lightweight than the tailgate.
Really? Must've forgotten that bit.
But seems to me the weight difference of a tailgate is going to have on a 3,000lb truck isn't going to be signifigant. What's a tailgate weigh? 20 or 30lbs?
Every little bit helps.
Did Discovery team up with another company to produce the DVDs or are they releasing them on their own? (I haven't paid attention to the DVDs to notice) I can see Discovery using very generic artwork and designs for the packaging... it isn't exactly their expertise.
And I agree that it probably isn't worth buying the DVD sets unless they are on sale, or if they were loaded with special features. I'm sure the DVDs have the 43-min broadcast versions, right? Not the original, uncut versions? (For anyone who isn't aware, Mythbusters is produced as a 50-minute, seamless show; Discovery cuts it down into a 6-segment show that runs 43:30 so a fair amount of footage is lost).
Since there's scene in the episodes on DVD I didn't see in their original airing on Discovery I'd say it is their original, uncut, versions.
I don't watch the show, but what you're describing is the drawback of taking things apart to see how they work. Some things, I've liked enough that I made a decision not to see how they worked, so that I could continue to enjoy them.Since its beginning I've loved Mythbusters. It's essentially an educational science show dressed up as a sort of comedy with good characters. And what a cool job: getting paid to destroy things in the name of searching for the truth. (-:
But I gotta admit that movie watching is affected by a regular diet of Mythbusters. Now you can't see some stunts or speciel f/x without thinking, "There's no way in hell that can work like that."
It's fun, but it can undermine suspension of disbelief.
Indeed it was, and a very important safety tip/note to viewers.
Don't dick around with your water heater and get it checked by a professional annualy!
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