# iPod Video now available!



## ibglowin (Sep 10, 2002)

Well Apple has found yet another way to make me poorer!

In case you missed the news yesterday they released 2 new updated iPods that are capable of displaying video. They can ecncode MPEG4 in real time. The screen has been enlarged to 2.5 inches and the screen resolution is now 320 x 240 pixels. Apple has signed an agreement with ABC to have shows of Lost, Desperate Housewives and several other current series available for immediate download the morning after the show airs. Episodes are available for $1.99 each and have NO commercials. They have been sized for perfect display on the iPod but will also play on your computer. You can double the size of the screen display on your computer with only a slight loss in video quality.

1000's of Music videos are also now available for download at the same $1.99 each

2 models are available. A 30GB for $299 and a $60GB for $399.

If you rip a personal copy of a DVD you own to your hard drive with some of the free available software you can then resize it to fit your iPod and convert it to MPEG 4 using another piece of shareware and import the movie into your iTunes library. I converted the new Robots movie to MPEG4 and imported it into my iTunes. The file went from aroung 4.5GB down to 600MB in around 20 minutes. Playback was perfect with no stuttering or loss of sync in audio etc.

This should compete against the new Pocket Dish nicely. The era of the PVD (Personal Video Device) is upon us! 

http://www.apple.com/ipod/ipod.html


----------



## dpd146 (Oct 1, 2005)

Sounds like a great product. Wish I would have known.....Got the 60gb photo 2 weeks ago.


----------



## ibglowin (Sep 10, 2002)

I just received my 60GB Black iPod video today! The screen resolution is great. Playback is excellent. No stuttering at all. I just imported Batman Begins on to it and it looks great as well.

This should be fun!


----------



## Bogy (Mar 23, 2002)

He who dies with the most toys...still dies.


----------



## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

Just what I _don't_ need -- watching video I've already seen on a 2" screen. No thanks.

:nono2:


----------



## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

As much as I extremely hate Apple and the iPod, I have to speak to their defense Nick. My iPaq has a 3.5" TFT LCD and it's surprising pretty good for travel video. Small screen doesn’t necessarily mean poor video. I've downloaded a few TV shows in low rez, even have the Paris Hilton video on an SD card some where for....uh....ahem....'private viewing'


----------



## TechnoCat (Sep 4, 2005)

The iPod Video is cool, but the primary thing it has over the PocketDish AV500e (that's the middle one) is that it actually exists.

Yes, you read me right, the PocketDish AV500e isn't available. I've tried everybody, even got a "sales chat" with Dish Networks. The transcription was, as emailed me by Dish:
[Powered by SightMax (www.SightMax.com)]

Welcome to Dish TV. Moises will be right with you.

Moises:
Welcome to Dish Network, my name is Moises how can I assist you?

me:
No local retailers have the PocketDish AV500e. Radio Shack doesn't plan to carry it. How do I buy it?

Moises:
Please give me one moment while I look that information up for you.

me:
OK

[Moises left the chat.]

[Moises has terminated the chat session.]​In other words, he hung up on me! Nobody has it.

So to the topic of the actual players... I built a spreadsheet to help me decide which one I wanted. The iPod advantages are that it is least expensive (of the two decent PocketDish, the Creative Zen Video and the iPod), is the smallest and has the most storage. But...


It has the fewest pixels of all four
It supports the fewest codecs (fewest videos) of all four
It has the fewest features of all four
It cannot quickly download video from a Dish PVR

On the flip side, the big AV700e flunked the spreadsheet too...

The case volume (size) is more than double the next largest, about about 4 times that of the iPod
It has the lowest pixel density, about 25% fewer pixels-per-inch than the iPod and only about 1/8th as many as the Zen. 
It's very pricey and has little storage.
So the (non-existent) AV500e and the Zen Video won the spreadsheet, the AV500e because it has good size, features and data transfer with a good screen, and the Zen Video because the screen has extremely high resolution, it has wide codec support, it's decent sized (same size as the AV500e) but at a low price.

If only I could figure out a way to actually _get_ an AV500e. But remember, Archos delivered their AV700 about four _months_ later than initially promised. Dish may miss the Christmas season if Archos holds true to form.


----------



## CoriBright (May 30, 2002)

I'm still happy with my Pocket PC as my MP3/Video player when I travel. It recently did 5.5 hours without recharging! And the screen is bigger than the iPod's one.


----------



## DonLandis (Dec 17, 2003)

CoriBright said:


> I'm still happy with my Pocket PC as my MP3/Video player when I travel. It recently did 5.5 hours without recharging! And the screen is bigger than the iPod's one.


The best thing that Steve Jobs is doing is marketing! The iPAQ aka PDA was out long before the ipod and yet hp didn't know how to market it. The Palm - same deal. Nothing that Apple offers in this technology is anything I can't do with my iPAQ and more. What Apple did was make the ipods super easy to operate. It takes a more tech saavy person to do these things with a PDA but they can be done. IPODS are just easier but more expensive to own and use.

Recently, I discovered the podcast phenomena or paradigm. I'll give Apple credit for that as well. However, I found that loading a $12 software on my IPAQ and dedicating a 1G SD card to podcasts I can have enough entertainment and educational talk radio to keep me satisfied for long airline flights. MY large iPAQ battery powers my PDA for 16 hours of podcasting. About 7 hours when the screen is on. That is enough for 3 movies that take about 175mb of SD storage. I have the DVD2PDA software on my laptop and it takes about 6 hours to compress a 2 hour movie for PDA display with stereo audio. I now prefer this to my laptop on an airplane trip. 
BUT, with Apple's fantastic marketing of movies now, the idea will become mainstream. That will allow me to do more with my iPAQ because the concept of personal entertainment will be more common. More and more special interests are doing podcasts now because of Apple. 
While I like what Apple is doing for the technology, I find that a one does all device is not the Apple hardware. Rather the most versatile is the basic PDA with SD memory cards. AS these become more and more popular, the developments will become more and more mature. 
On the downside- it gives more for authorities to inflict their power over you with. While waiting in line Saturday to go through customs, there was this fat uniformed armed Federal officer yelling at us to put away our cell phones. Threatened us all with confiscation of any cell phone that was a camera phone, and then forced a young girl behind me in line to put away her ipod. I wondered what the purpose of that rule was? Not wanting to be placed under arrest, I made sure my ipaq was hidden out of his sight. On American Airlines, it was announced that after we were on the ground, you could use your cellphones but "IPODS must remain off until you left the plane" I wonder if ipods will be soon banned in Post Offices like cell phones are now. Locally the Postal workers get down right nasty about having a cell phone turned on inside the post office building.


----------



## n8dagr8 (Aug 14, 2004)

DonLandis said:


> MY large iPAQ battery powers my PDA for 16 hours of podcasting. About 7 hours when the screen is on.


Which battery are you using (I assume you got a new one)? I've never tried running something continuously but I don't think I could get 16 hrs.


----------



## DonLandis (Dec 17, 2003)

n8- The ipaq6315 only has two sizes batteries. I have the fat one for long day travel and I use the standard one for normal use where I will be away nolonger than 7hours.

To get 16 hours, I set the ipaq up for 30 seconds screen off time and the ipaq must not have the BT and wifi active to achieve the 16 hour mode. It seems that the wifi transceiver uses the most battery, the screen, next followed by the BT transceiver for consumption. The phone shut down has marginal battery consumption except when talking. 


BTW- I'm listening to Leo Laporte tech talk live on podcast now. He and his gang are lots more free speech now that they are on podcasts as opposed to the screen savers.


----------

