04-29-2005, 01:00 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Video Reviews? Yes, No?
A few days ago, I published a video review of an hp LightScribe DVD burner on Digital Media Thoughts. The product review wasn't anything special, but the delivery mechanism was a little different: I used Photo Story to create a review where I combined photos, music, and a voice over track. I'm pleased with how it turned out, and feedback on Digital Media Thoughts has been positive. I'd like to explore the possibility of starting to do similar reviews here on Pocket PC Thoughts for things that can be reviews through pictures: hardware accessories, cases, etc. That review style doesn't work very well for complex products (such as Pocket PCs), but I think for a lot of other items (perhaps even software) this would be a viable way to review a product.
I'm currently the only one that will be doing reviews in this manner, so there's no fear of us suddenly having no text-based reviews. In fact, this will mean we'll just end up with more review content overall, which I think is a good thing.
One of the issues I'd probably address for this site would be to create video formats compatible with a greater variety of mobile devices - Photo Story 3 uses the WMV9 Image Codec v2, which makes the output compatible only with devices that have WMP 10 Mobile. And given how poorly the OEMs have done at getting this software out to you, this means that the bulk of Pocket PC owners won't be able to watch the videos on their Pocket PCs. So I'd create WMV versions that are compatible with both VGA Pocket PCs with WMP 10 Mobile and QVGA Pocket PCs running WMP 9 Mobile.
Check out the LightScribe review and let me know if you'd like to see this sort of review here on Pocket PC Thoughts.
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04-29-2005, 02:37 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 104
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I like it!
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04-29-2005, 02:50 PM
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Theorist
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 267
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I think the review format is interesting and it was generally enjoyable to listen to and watch. However, I would have difficulty listening to reviews like this on a regular basis. I usually have music playing in the background on my PC, which I would have to turn off to listen to the review, while I could read a text based review with the music still playing. The same photos could be included in the text based review. I also usually have the sound off on my PPC, for the same reason I have my phone on vibrate -- I don't want to annoy those around me.
I'm concerned about the size of the file as well. 12-15 MB is a lot of video to download to a PPC. If it downloads to the Temporary Internet folder, it could quickly eat up the RAM in the PPC, unless the folder has been moved to a storage card.
Echoing Jonathon's comments at DMT, I often skim a written review, reading the parts which interest me. It is difficult to skim through a video and you would never know if you skipped over anything important. With written reviews, I can skip over sections which don't interest me or which don't apply to my situation. Since I skim the articles to come to that conclusion, though, I know what I am missing.
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04-29-2005, 04:28 PM
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Theorist
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 257
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I thought it was really good - I am more likley to listen / watch a review like this than read through pages of text.
Can we see more ?
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04-29-2005, 04:35 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 65
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Just finished watching this on my Dell X50v from a CF card - here's a couple of thoughts:
1) Audio is top notch - very clear, background music tastefully selected and overall very professional.
2) Photos were clear and detailed - although I would have preferred more of them.
3) On the X50v, as soon as I click on full screen mode the screen goes black and if I go back to the windowed mode it still stays black although the audio is present throughout. I have to restart the video in windowed mode only. This could be a firmware issue as I haven't upgraded to the latest firmware for this unit which DOES address some issues in WMP10.
I've made a few Photostory 3 videos for my axim and I'm able to switch between full screen and windowed all the time without any loss of the video. Photostory is an excellent (and easy) tool to make photos come alive without the HUGE overhead of video.
Overall Jason an excellent way of doing reviews - I (like others) am a visual/audio type learner so I'd rather take in reviews like this than reading through pages of text - well done!!!
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04-29-2005, 04:45 PM
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Theorist
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 298
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The review is great! Watched it on my desktop.
Question: it sounds like you still wrote out the review and narrated the photos, yes? If so, why can't you publish both the video AND the text reviews together?
I think that's the best route to take.
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04-29-2005, 05:27 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 102
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I can't really download and watch videos at work, and I suspect this isn't unusual.
Has there been a poll done on how many visitors primarily browse this site from their place of work?
If a transcript could be provided along with each video, that would be perfect. Also, isn't Google planning on indexing video files with full text searching capabilities? If that is the case then it might be worth investigating how they recommend publishers provide the transcript data.
/\dam
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04-29-2005, 05:48 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Apr 2002
Posts: 437
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Hmm... I think enough people disagree to where we might need a poll on this. It seems like opinions are evenly split so far.
I think these Photo Story reviews are great, but I'd actually like to see fully filmed video reviews like the ones www.justppc.com used to do.
Fully filmed video reviews are very good for complex items such as Pocket PCs, and they add a little more depth by making you feel like you're actually there interacting with thie item.
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04-29-2005, 06:05 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 65
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Your video review for the LightScribe DVD burner was great... I'm looking forward towards more PDA/gadget video reviews!
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04-29-2005, 06:10 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Apr 2002
Posts: 437
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Yeah, I just saw it too.
 Good stuff! :lol:
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Linear Mode
