Discover, Download, and Watch the Best of TED

Whether it's about passing the time, broadening your horizons, or keeping up with your favorite topics, TED's library of videos is an invaluable tool for anyone who has access to a decent Internet connection. With the sheer amount of videos available to watch, with talks on everything from science and technology to human nature and poetry, there's something in there for everyone.

But with that very same sheer amount of videos, it becomes hard to keep up with all that TED has to offer. We've put together some lists ourselves in the past, including TED's most watched videos, 6 mind-blowing TED talks about psychology and human behaviour, and the best TED talks to make use of social media. But if you want to find some videos for yourselves, you can take advantage of these tips and resources.

Find Interesting Videos

The TED website really makes it easy to find great videos to watch. You can browse by talks or speakers, and filter the results down by topics: technology, entertainment, design, business, science or global issues. You can also further narrow down your results on how videos have been rated: persuasive, courageous, ingenious, fascinating, inspiring, beautiful, funny or informative. You can also browse videos by event or length.

With sites like Quora and Reddit, and social networks like Twitter and Google+, people are constantly sharing their recommendations for just about everything under the sun. TED videos are certainly no exception. A search for TED Talks recommendations on Quora turns up over 90 results, with users requesting suggestions on specific topics. Reddit has an entire sub-channel dedicated to TED videos, as well as separate threads with recommendations.

Aside from searching for interesting TED recommendations on social networks, you can also follow some TED specific accounts to keep up with the latest as it happens. The official TED Talks Twitter account shares the new videos posted on the site, while TED News will keep you up to date with all things TED-related. You can also keep up with TED on Facebook.

TED Playlists

A relatively recent feature, TED playlists are a great way to discover interesting videos based on a certain theme, based on recommendations from guest curators and more. There are lists curated by Dave Eggers, Tim O'Reilly and Bono, in addition to a list of videos curated by TED, revolving around certain topics - how to tell a story, our digital lives, and how to live with robots.

The playlists are a great way to find recommended videos if you're in the mood to broaden your horizons, or find out what other people are watching on TED.

Save for Offline Viewing

While it's all good and well to watch TED videos when you have access to an Internet connection, but what about taking TED videos with you on the go regardless of where you are? There are lots of ways you can save TED videos for offline viewing. If you want to save them to your laptop or desktop computer, there are two easy ways to do that. The first is to save the videos directly from the TED website itself.

Clicking on the download button beneath any video will give you the option to save just the audio as an MP3, or as a video in MP4 format. You can also save it with subtitles if you want, and choose the video quality.

The second option is to use a desktop app to download the videos in bulk. Windows users can take advantage of the free desktop app TED Talks Downloader or the TEDinator. With the free iOS and Android apps you can download TED videos (or just the audio files depending on your preference) to your iPhone, iPad or iPod or Android device.

Another great way to watch TED Talks videos on your TV while you're kicking back at home is either on Netflix or with the awesome little gadget we've recommended in the past, the Roku.

Do you have any recommendations on how to discover interesting TED videos? Let us know in the comments.