How To Watch DVD on the Go

[Sponsor]

<a href="http://www.clickgamer.com"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/sponsorimages/sponsoredarticles/clickgamer3/clickapps_logo.gif" /></a><br /><br /><span><b>Introduction</b></span><br />When I first saw Portable video players (PVPs) in an airport duty free shop about a year ago, I thought of how cool it would be if my Pocket PC could do something similar. After all, it is small and portable (I bought it originally to <a href="'http://www.clickgamer.com'">play games</a>), and there is a decent media player built in. But alas, how could it fit? How would the formats be compatible? Have I got time to look into this? Nah! Good idea but it is waaaay too time consuming and difficult...! Case closed... Turn forward the clock to the present day, and that cool thought is now a commercial reality ...<br /><br /><span><b>Top 3 DVD to Pocket PC Products</b></span><br />The following 3 applications allow anybody to watch DVDs on their Pocket PCs ... (note - no ranking implied by way of ordering)<br /><br /><b>Makayama's</b> <a href="'http://www.clickapps.com/moreinfo.htm?pid=1255'">DVD to Pocket PC</a><br /><a href="'http://www.clickapps.com/moreinfo.htm?pid=1255'"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/sponsorimages/sponsoredarticles/clickgamer3/makayama_dvd_to_pocketpc.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><b>Coding Workshop's</b> <a href="'http://www.clickapps.com/moreinfo.htm?pid=1386'">Pocket DVD Wizard</a> <br /><a href="'http://www.clickapps.com/moreinfo.htm?pid=1386'"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/sponsorimages/sponsoredarticles/clickgamer3/codingworkshop_pocket_dvd_wizard.jpg" /></a><br /><br />... and last (but by no means least) <b>PQDVD's</b> <a href="'http://www.clickapps.com/moreinfo.htm?pid=1275'">Pocket DVD Studio</a> <br /><a href="'http://www.clickapps.com/moreinfo.htm?pid=1275'"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/sponsorimages/sponsoredarticles/clickgamer3/pqdvd_PocketDVDStudio.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span><b>The Ole' Days</b></span><br />In order to appreciate exactly how cool these products are, one has to look back on how this technically complex feat was achieved in the days before these software applications were made available. There were a few solutions made public on the internet, which involved using a number of freely available programs, in some sequence which ultimately resulted in the data stored on the DVD magically converted to WMV/DIVX format - capable of being played on the Pocket PC. <br /><br />I personally have not experienced this, but I remember observing a friend spending a whole day assembling all these programs together and squeezing a movie onto his 128 MB SD card. I remember being totally freaked out when I saw the movie running on his IPAQ 3970 at the time. Very cool indeed! However, I found out later - that day of experience was a result of a few more days before hand of getting it wrong! I was quickly convinced that the task was not suited for a computer layman like myself :) <br /><br /><span><b>DVD - As Easy as 1,2,3...</b></span><br />Then, in come the forementioned products. Quite literally, these products let you do what took hours or days of aggravation into a one or two click process. Choose your favourite DVD, put it in your computer DVD drive, turn on the program, click a few buttons, and wait for the goods! The only drag is this depends on how fast your computer is - you might have to wait a few hours (I personally put the DVD in before I go to bed, and it would be done when I wake up in the morning :-) ) Once completed, your movie is converted into a file that fits on a 128MB or 256MB memory card. Not bad for about 25 to 30 sheets worth of software. I am also pleased to say that (for a limited time) <a href="'http://www.clickapps.com'">www.clickapps.com</a> has managed to get exclusive discounts for the products courtesy of <a href="'http://www.clickapps.com/gamepartner.htm?code=MAKAYAMA'">Makayama</a> (20% discount), the <a href="'http://www.clickapps.com/gamepartner.htm?code=CODINGWKS'">Coding Workshop</a> (25% discount) and <a href="'http://www.clickapps.com/gamepartner.htm?code=PQDVD'">PQDVD</a> (25% discount).<br /><br /><span><b>Is it lawful?</b></span><br />There are some legal questions surrounding the use of these products - centered around copyright laws. As a result, there is a disclaimer that comes with the purchase of these products, along the lines of "You can only use this software to convert personally owned DVDs". However, this disclaimer is still not sufficient for some countries, where it is a violation of copyright law for the software to physically decrypt the content scrambling system and macrovision protection on DVDs. However, I am aware that new versions of the above mentioned software will no longer decrypt DVD content as a result of the The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) which legally allows authorized equipment and software to unlock this DVD encryption. In the case of the windows environment, the Windows Media Player has the job of unlocking the disc's encryption, and the conversion software simply extracts the unlocked content and compresses it into a file that you can use on your Pocket PC.<br /><br /><span><b>Conclusion</b></span><br />As an avid Pocket PC user, and frequent traveller, I think that these are <a href="'http://www.clickapps.com/pocketpc_main.htm'">killer apps for my Pocket PC</a>. I can now watch my favourite DVDs when I am out and about - how cool is that?<br /><br />- - - - - - - - - - <br /><span>The above article is a paid advertisement for Clickapps.com and does not necessarily represent the views of Pocket PC Thoughts.</span>

[foebea]

Here's one better.

http://divx.ppccool.com/

Pocket Divx Encoder is Freeware, it will convert many formats to avi, including VOB right off the dvd.

On the opening screen you select the picture of the device the movie will be played on and it makes the settings for you. (raise audio quality to the max though, unless you like heavily compressed audio)

It supports 2 pass encoding and works with xvid, it supports b-frames (very cool) and is geared to work with another free program, Betaplayer (the only ppc media player to support bframes)

I converted 10 divx movies (700 meg) through this to about 250-340 megs per movie in about 4 hours.

If you are considering checking out a dvd solution, i highly recommend this.

[tourdewolf]

haaa... beat me to it :)

I too, highly recommend Pocketdivixencoder. I have used for hundreds of movies, all flawless. Love the batch encode.
TD

[Birdman]

Do all / any of these products allow you to FF through a movie and/or contain a "resume" feature?
For example, if I am watching a movie on my PPC, I may only be able to watch 30 minutes of it, but then when I come back to it, I want to pick up where I left off. Unless they have a resume feature, or the ability to FF through the first 30 minutes, this could be a real pain.
Any comments?

[jpf]

This would be a function of the player rather than the encoder. I don't believe betaplayer has this ability, short of pausing playback and not closing the app itself.

[jlp]

That's for the "resume" feature answer; what about FF?

[jlp]

Since Pocket Divx Encoder is Freeware and because this article is a paid advertisement, it's not being part of the article.

Too bad because as usual money is more important than truth :evil:.

[jeffmd]

after all.. the best stuff is allways the pay stuff! Video compressors.. no..wait..vdub. Codecs! no.. no..divx. Players! Wait.. nah zoom and media player classic. dvd rippers and shrinkers! hmm not that either, dvd decrypter and dvd shrink.

Aside from the all mighty adobe, freeware owns the video editing market. Most comerical video editors and compressors are using common moduals, free easy to get code, and generaly rely on windows built in features, librarys, and the codecs to do the majority of the work still.

[serpico]

I use Pocket Divx Encoder and Betaplayer on my HP4150 and love it. Works great in the car using my tape adapter for sound through the car speakers. I got the PPC sitting on my dash in front of the speedometer and it works great on those long commutes back home from work.

Ya, the eyes stay on the road, the commute is slow, so I'm not going to hit anyone in front ! :lol:

[jlp]

If your eyes stay on the road, how can you watch your ipaq?! 8O

[tourdewolf]

That's for the "resume" feature answer; what about FF?

Betaplayer has a ff with the stylus or on my 4355 I can use the joypad to ff or rr to next chapter as well as up or down for volume and pressing for pause /resume. You can customize the buttons to your liking. Also the video can be "scrolled" by dragging the indicator across the timeline. Betaplayer will aslo resume if it is paused before the ipaq is shut off. Highly recommend it.

[serpico]

If your eyes stay on the road, how can you watch your ipaq?! 8O

My dash is not set too low, so it's in my sight with the road. Hard to explain, but I was surprised at how it works so well. I thought of building some type of holder to place on top of the dash, so it sits higher. When you're driving so slow, it really doesn't get in the way just helps the commute time pass by better.

[serpa4]

Big point here:
Pocket Divx encoder also does batches. Shuts down the computer when doneSet to do 5 movies, hit the rack and wake up to great intertainment for your trip.

[wocket]

I would never of believed it about five years ago when got my first winCE device it had 16mb and another 16mb of CF storage. Now i've got around 6GB of storage and if I use USB hosting even more storage and with VGA to boot what more could I ask for. Now with Pocket Divx Encoder and the excellent Betaplayer Oh how times have changed.

[tourdewolf]

I am trying to decide on a new vga PPC, how does the video look compared to qvga?

[Lday]

Betaplayer resumes- just pause the movie & close the player. When you open the application, it picks up right where you left off. Picard (the author) also has an "unstable" version (which is anything but unstable) that will play wmv, asf, and mpeg via plug-ins. I put it on a friend's E805 running WM2003SE, he was jazzed that wmv files play full screen instead of quarter-screen as they did in Media Player.

Betaplayer rocks!

[Animaster]

Here´s another nice Solution:

www.autogk.net - The Software is Freeware and originally made for DVD2Divx Conversion on the PC. It´s mainly a frontend for some Freeware Tools.

But since you can define the width in Pixel for the final DivX or XVid Movie you can make DivX-Movies from your DVDs no matter if you have a VGA Device or a QVGA Display.

And the Software has a good Automatic-Mode for Resolution and Audio Quality. You just have to define the Target-FileSize and the Software will automatically find the Resolution with the best Picture Quality etc.

Especially for me in Germany very interesting: You can define 2 Audio Streams for the Final Video (so you can switch between German / Englisch Language or between Englisch and Directors Commentary anytime you want)!! These 2 Audio Streams work perfect with Betaplayer on my LOOX 720. And the Software can integrate "Forced Subtitles" in the Final movie (e.g. if some Alien-Language etc. that is only used sometimes in the Movie)

All you need is a ripped DVD (www.dvddecrypter.com) and about 30 Seconds for the Conversion-Setup. You can even automate the conversion of sveral DVDs and the Software will even Shut down the PC automatically after the Conversion is finished.

[backpackerx]

Here's another vote for PocketDivX encoder and Beta Player. Both work phenomonally for PPC 2002 and WM2003 and are FREE.

As far as the paid article goes I think it's fine as long as it doesn't mislead by declaring a comercial app superior to a freeware app (this would be fine to do by someone not selling the apps).

I look at it like a paid advertising that goes a step further by highlighting and mini-reviewing the apps strengths. I see it as only helping me make an informed decision as long as the results aren't fabricated and it is clear that it is an ad.

[bookemdano]

Just wondering what people are using for storage of these movies. Is there anything better than the 4GB Hitatchi or 5GB Seagate? I would really love to just buy a portable 80GB harddrive and use that. Maybe linked with bluetooth or 802.11?

[backpackerx]

I use a 512Mb Compact Flash card and i can get 6 good quality (500kbs) bitrate, 30min Simpson's episodes on the card no problem. This is also fine for toting around 1 or 2 full length movies.

As far as CF or Microdrive, I'd just look at the max you want to spend and then see which of the current deals on Microdrive or CF give you the best cost per Mb. I know there are some great prices now on 1 and 2 Gb Compact Flash cards out there.

[serpico]

I use a 256mb SD CARD and hold 1 good quality movie. I'll be getting a 512mb card soon and use it for only movies. I use the current card to transfer work files home and back, which means I delete the movie off it quite often.

[amnon]

Can anyone tell me if Windows Media Encoder (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/9series/encoder/default.aspx) can be used to take DVDs and turn them into 320x240 WMVs for PPC?

[Darius Wey]

Can anyone tell me if Windows Media Encoder (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/9series/encoder/default.aspx) can be used to take DVDs and turn them into 320x240 WMVs for PPC?

No. WME can only encode pre-encoded clips. If you want to convert a DVD to a video file, you need a piece of software usually dubbed as a "ripper", and possibly something called a "decrypter" to decrypt any encryption that may be present; but remember that there are legality issues involved in doing this, so you must be aware of what the rights of ownership are before you go ahead with any of this.

[CarryDVD]

Here's a better one still

http://www.carrydvd.com/CDVDINSTALL22.EXE

[CarryDVD]

http://www.carrydvd.com/product.JPG

[backpackerx]

Not completely sure but I don't think comercial posts are welcome on the forums. This does apply to the topic but forums can quickly become overrun by ads.

[Darius Wey]

Not completely sure but I don't think comercial posts are welcome on the forums. This does apply to the topic but forums can quickly become overrun by ads.

Commercial posts are welcome, but only in the Announcements forum.

I'll leave the above two posts as it is for now since it does relate to the topic, but if it does become overrun by advertisements, we'll be doing something about it. ;)

CarryDVD, please check your PMs.