I don't know why I'm telling you this, but I travel enough to have used and abused the Air Canada inflight entertainment options, and have even helped other passengers navigate the system. So if you ever casually fly AC, this might save you some time, and frustration. Not to mention they hide the really good stuff, and you don't want to miss an opportunity to forget you are boxed into a little seat for an hour or six.
I'm not trashing it, if you trapped in a cramped little seat for hours with nothing to do, this thing just might help you keep your sanity. Or push you over the edge If you don't know a few things going into this. The biggest is, it's slow and clunky. This is not your iPhone, take your time pressing the buttons, it takes time to respond to each press. You will notice a little arrow icon on the screen. You are not pressing buttons so much as moving that little mouse around and tapping to click. Rub your finger around on the screen, you will see the little arrow lag around the screen with you. And sometimes it is off a little, maybe up and a bit to the right from where your finger is. Don't get too hung up on fixing it, just use your finger position to drag that mouse around to the selection you want, It's just to get to the movies/shows/sports, etc. Who cares if it's a little off.
You want to get the system going as soon as you board. Yes, its that slow, and I'm talking as soon as the system becomes available. Sometimes it sits and teases you with this;
And won't respond or react to anything it does.
Upon entering your seat, if ready (you will see the touch anywhere to begin message)
touch the screen to start up the selection menu.
While taking your seat and getting settled, click through the menu and select a show(TV) or movie of your choosing.
Some people miss out that if you select the arrow below the first screen of TV selections, you get more options, including HBO shows which I find perfect for those shorter trips. So many people miss this the first time, and out of frustration of trying to find something they might like to watch in this slow, clunky system, they just select the first thing that comes up.
So by noticing that little more arrow at the bottom, you can also find this;
When you find something to you liking hit play immediately. Don't worry about headphones or being settled, just get it playing and leave the headphones disconnected for now. All shows start with advertisements that are blasting at full volume. I have seen many people rip headphones out of the ear in anguish at the painful volume the system inflicts on you. There is no volume control, or any control for that matter, during commercials. It's like they are committing you to watch, but with the opposite real effect.
Get settled for the flight and watch for when your selection actually starts playing. When it does, touch the screen and hit pause. If it is taking particularly long to board, you can jack in your headphones and watch a bit of your movie or show, but get ready since once the plane starts rolling they will interrupt your show, display the usual welcome aboard, here is the safety features demo, and then the in flight entertainment system will reset itself. Don't panic, we will get you right back into the show, once you sit through their instructional video. I have seen it enough times now I sometimes mockingly recite the words, including the French part, for the amusement of those around me. Or maybe they are not amused, either way this required watching is burned into my brain like a bad song that just won't go away. I'm just trying to get it out of my system so I can shed the mind numbing repetition.
Once it is up again, you will be in takeoff position and only allowed to use the in flight system with earbud headphones (you brought earbuds right?) so go ahead and go right back to your last selection you were watching before they so rudely interrupted you to share information that might save your life. Make sure it is the same show or movie you were watching, work your way through the menu to find your selection.
No fears of keeping your earbuds connected for the obnoxiously loud commercials now, the system will detect that you were already watching your selection and will offer to resume where you left off.
Go ahead and watch your show or movie until the seatbelt sign turns off. At this point keep watching if you like, or if you have seen most of the AC inflight entertainment options already, hit pause and switch to your preferred device. You can save the remaining time on the show for landing.
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