New PPC user question regarding MP3/Video on Axim's

[fackert]

I am looking at picking up an Axim to consolidate some of what I wanted to buy individually - a good quality MP3 (and possibly video) player, a NAV for my vehicles that I can move back & forth, and then for the standard PPC apps. Just need a bit of wisdom from you PPC experts....

I have read good reviews on how NAVs worth pretty well with the Axims, and how the new Axim is (mostly) a step forward with the new M/S OS, but have never really been able to get a grasp on how the multi-media works within the Axim as far as capacity & capability.

As for movies, apparently you can convert movies to work on the Axims, but exactly how does that work with copy-protection schemes, and how much space does it take up on your Axim when doing this.

What about the Axim's MP3 capability? How many MP3's do you normally get to put in it & what do you consider the quality of the output? (I know the size is based on rate, but consider 160 a decent rate).

Does everything go onto the memory cards & nothing on the Axim itself? If so then I assume that the SD speed is very important...like on my digital camera.

The questions are probably pretty basic, but have to start somewhere....:)




thanks,


Forrest

[kaitanium]

for some reason i cant download my licenses from buy.com for my music i purchased for my pc onto my dell x50v so i cant play those protected files i bought on the net. it just doesnt connect even if im online already with my axim. i dunno what trouble youll find doing movies, although there are programs out there that do dvd to ppc format, but youll need a extra memory card to do that since they take up about 128mb(?) minium depending on quality and program.

usually when people want to play music/videos, they keep all of it on a separate memory card and use the system memory for programs. memory card speed really doesnt have a noticeable difference in playing music (i guess for videos too. im not a video guy though and dont use my axim for videos), my kingston slow 4x sd card is perfect.

[roboedar]

how big do these SD cards get?

[Darius Wey]

how big do these SD cards get?

Generally, you'll see 1-2GB in the market, though 3-4GB are available here and there (you have to look really hard). ;) They say cards sporting the SD/MMC form factor will hit 2TB soon, though I'm guessing it'll be many years before we see that happen.

[OneAngryDwarf]

Here's the low-down... a PPC is basically a computer. If you can do it on the desktop you can probably do it in some fashion on a Pocket PC.

GPS - awesome... use it all the time. Just got an x51v and using iGuidance 2 and it is beautiful on that screen.

MP3's/music - If they are unprotected, they play just like they would on the computer and unless your an audiophile (or maybe even if you are - i'm not so I don't know) the sound is perfect w/ headphones.

Video - this is where things can get a bit tricky w/ a balance between legality, your desires and patience.
Windows Media Player is built in and can play video which can be taken from a Windows Media Center (recorded contend - tivo'd), or even a TiVo connected to your network and using TiVo-To-Go (which I believe is free). In terms of DVD's, you would need to use program such as Pocket-DVD Studio to "rip" your dvd to your computer. The newer programs allow you to rip to WMV for use in Windows Media Player or divx or xvid which can be played on a free video program called The Core Player (TCPMP). This is also nice if you already have divx/xvid files. In this case you can simply drag and drop them onto your memory card to play the files on your Pocket PC. The video storage requirements really vary depending on how picky you are. Before handhelds w/ VGA screens and dedicated graphics processors/memory this was less of an issue because the Pocket PC's could not handle a high quality file thus a movie really couldn't be over 450MB and still be playable. W/ the introduction of the x50v and its competitors, everything has changed. Now the Pocket PC can basically play any wmv or avi (divx, xvid, etc...) that your desktop can. So now you are only limited by storage. So the option is up to you, do you want a few hours of high quality video or numerous hours of reduced quality video.

In terms of storage, the axim can hold an SD and a CF card. Fairly sizable options of each are available. To my knowledge in the consumer world the highest reasonably priced options are 4GB for each which is going to run around $200-250 a piece. That would give you 8GB of storage which is quite a bit of space for video and music in my opinion. Of course it would be cheaper to get a couple 2GB ones or a couple of 1GB but you know your price better than I.

Third neat option with all this is a site/program called orb (http://www.orb.com). It allows you to access your videos, music and pictures through the internet. So if you have high speed net access on your handheld or laptop for that matter you can access your content located on your desktop computer. It streams the music and video to Windows Media Player. If you have a compatible tv tuner card on your desktop/server then you can even watch live tv streamed to your handheld or laptop.

In terms of getting the files onto the handheld, it depends on how your getting your files and such. A pocket pc creates an icon for itself in My Computer. From there you can navigate it just like it were a hard drive or floppy disk including the storage cards built in. Alternatively you can take the SD or CF card out of the handheld and pop it into a card reader and transfer the files onto them that way (this is the fastest method). If you are using Windows Media Player's built in Video sync conversion then the cards must accessed through the connected Pocket PC. Audio sync'ing w/ WMP10 can be done w/ a card reader though (however you don't have to do anything w/ the audio if you don't want to and could transfer it directly by card reader or through the connected Pocket PC. Technically you could transfer them over a Wi-Fi network but that is probably impractical for most people and normal usage.

Message me if you have any more questions. While current storage solutions are lacking comparitively to iPods, an Axim x51v will kick its butt in every other way. It is essentially like walking around with a computer in your pocket. I'd highly recommend reading books on it too, years ago I was very skeptical of the practicality of doing so but have since found that I will often forego reading a book if i can't read it on my handheld. If your eyes can handle it (I've met some people who's it can't), then reading on it is a blast.

[fackert]

That is just the information I was looking for, thanks a bunch!


Forrest