Cheapest PDA that plays XviDs well?

[adamp]

Hi guys! I'm new here...

I've been looking around for a viable portable video solution for a while. I've highly considered buying a PSP but I don't like the fact that storage is expensive and I need to transcode every single one of my movies into Sony's format.

I'm taking a look at PDAs as a viable option due to the extreme software flexibilty and the fact that I can throw the movies onto my 6GB microdrive.

I was just wondering what would be the cheapest PDA that will play MPEG4 movies without dropping frames?
Would I need to recode down?

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm trying to keep the cost ~$300 +/- 100CAD.

[Menneisyys]

Hi guys! I'm new here...

I've been looking around for a viable portable video solution for a while. I've highly considered buying a PSP but I don't like the fact that storage is expensive and I need to transcode every single one of my movies into Sony's format.

I'm taking a look at PDAs as a viable option due to the extreme software flexibilty and the fact that I can throw the movies onto my 6GB microdrive.

I was just wondering what would be the cheapest PDA that will play MPEG4 movies without dropping frames?
Would I need to recode down?

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm trying to keep the cost ~$300 +/- 100CAD.

Well, if you want a screen that is comparable (this doesn't mean they are as good as that of PSP - most user opinions about the PSP were praising it and, even directly compared to these two Pocket PC's) to that of the PSP, you will need to buy either the iPAQ hx4700 or the Pocket Loox 720. In Canada, neither of them are particularly cheap. Probably the Dell Axim x50v could be mentioned as a good video player, but its screen is not as contrasty as those of the two above-mentioned devices. The same stands for the Toshiba e830. (You may want to see this (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=35630) on screen quality).

Unfortunately, other PDA's have screens that are substantially less contrasty (and most of them are 3.5" QVGA-only).

So, what I say is get a PSP if you can't afford the above-mentioned three PDA's if you really into portable video players.

[adamp]

Well it's not like I can't afford them but I don't really think I would use it for much more than portable video viewing.

At ~500CAD the Dell Axim x50v looks OK.

Would I have to reencode these movies or could I just throw the 700MB or 1400MB XviD at it?

How would a standard 2D accelerated PDA cope with such a video file?

[Menneisyys]

Well it's not like I can't afford them but I don't really think I would use it for much more than portable video viewing.

At ~500CAD the Dell Axim x50v looks OK.

Would I have to reencode these movies or could I just throw the 700MB or 1400MB XviD at it?

How would a standard 2D accelerated PDA cope with such a video file?

Current VGA PDA's can play even full-rate XviD/DivX videos, particularly the x50v, which has the best SD driver, performance-wise (More info on this here (http://www.firstloox.org/forums/showpost.php?p=17840&postcount=14)). So, you won't need to re-encode your movies at all. AC3 sound (instead of MP3) may be a bit tricky, however; but, as far as I know, BetaPlayer supports it too.

[surur]

This post over at aximsite seems to indicate that high bitrate video is not a problem

Yes the x50v can play DivX and Xvid files. You just need to download a player to do so. The latest unstable build of BetaPlayer is the best available. It can take advantage of the x50v's built in 3D accelerator to greatly improve video playback. It's also free, which is great.

It can also handle high bit-rate videos without problems. It can play my 1 GB+ XviD movies with 5 channel AC3 audio better than my girlfriends iBook. There is no need to re-encode any video for this PocketPC. Unless storage space is an issue.

http://www.aximsite.com/boards/showthread.php?t=85689&highlight=xvid+video

Surur

[adamp]

So it is my understanding at the moment that QVGA handhelds will have some issues playing full rate video?

[Menneisyys]

So it is my understanding at the moment that QVGA handhelds will have some issues playing full rate video?

Well, not any more with the latest BetaPlayer's, I'd say. That is, a, say, a 400+ MHz QVGA device won't have any problems with full-rate (which is around 700-900 kbps) videos.

It's just that their screens are far less spectacular/contrasty than that of the PSP or the hx4700/PL720.

[Fishie]

Hi guys! I'm new here...

I've been looking around for a viable portable video solution for a while. I've highly considered buying a PSP but I don't like the fact that storage is expensive and I need to transcode every single one of my movies into Sony's format.

I'm taking a look at PDAs as a viable option due to the extreme software flexibilty and the fact that I can throw the movies onto my 6GB microdrive.

I was just wondering what would be the cheapest PDA that will play MPEG4 movies without dropping frames?
Would I need to recode down?

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm trying to keep the cost ~$300 +/- 100CAD.

Well, if you want a screen that is comparable (this doesn't mean they are as good as that of PSP - most user opinions about the PSP were praising it and, even directly compared to these two Pocket PC's) to that of the PSP, you will need to buy either the iPAQ hx4700 or the Pocket Loox 720. In Canada, neither of them are particularly cheap. Probably the Dell Axim x50v could be mentioned as a good video player, but its screen is not as contrasty as those of the two above-mentioned devices. The same stands for the Toshiba e830. (You may want to see this (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=35630) on screen quality).

Unfortunately, other PDA's have screens that are substantially less contrasty (and most of them are 3.5" QVGA-only).

So, what I say is get a PSP if you can't afford the above-mentioned three PDA's if you really into portable video players.

The PSP is quite crappy for movies from memory stick, the screen is overrated and not that good and the size of movies cant exceed QVGA.

[Fishie]

For portable movie viewing nothing beats my Sigmarion3.
With betaplayer it handles 2000kbps movies just fine in WVGA res(800by480).

[Menneisyys]

Hi guys! I'm new here...

I've been looking around for a viable portable video solution for a while. I've highly considered buying a PSP but I don't like the fact that storage is expensive and I need to transcode every single one of my movies into Sony's format.

I'm taking a look at PDAs as a viable option due to the extreme software flexibilty and the fact that I can throw the movies onto my 6GB microdrive.

I was just wondering what would be the cheapest PDA that will play MPEG4 movies without dropping frames?
Would I need to recode down?

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm trying to keep the cost ~$300 +/- 100CAD.

Well, if you want a screen that is comparable (this doesn't mean they are as good as that of PSP - most user opinions about the PSP were praising it and, even directly compared to these two Pocket PC's) to that of the PSP, you will need to buy either the iPAQ hx4700 or the Pocket Loox 720. In Canada, neither of them are particularly cheap. Probably the Dell Axim x50v could be mentioned as a good video player, but its screen is not as contrasty as those of the two above-mentioned devices. The same stands for the Toshiba e830. (You may want to see this (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=35630) on screen quality).

Unfortunately, other PDA's have screens that are substantially less contrasty (and most of them are 3.5" QVGA-only).

So, what I say is get a PSP if you can't afford the above-mentioned three PDA's if you really into portable video players.

The PSP is quite crappy for movies from memory stick, the screen is overrated and not that good and the size of movies cant exceed QVGA.

There is a thread over at Brighthand that compares the PSP to the hx4700. See http://discussion.brighthand.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=117478 and http://discussion.brighthand.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=117577 on this question.

Here at PPCT the thread at http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=38736 is also worth reading, regarding this subject.

[adamp]

Guys, I think I'm just gonna splurge and buy an Axim x50v. To me it seems like the best value since right now it's going for $550CAD.

What do you think about this idea?

[surur]

From a performance POV its a good idea, but definitely get a second battery or extended battery, as this is the Axim's one major weak point.

Surur

[Fishie]

Thanks for the links Menneisyys

[adamp]

Ok... I think I am fully settled.

From an entertainment point of view the Dell x50v can't be beat? Correct?

I can overlook the less contrasty screen and I am planning on buying extra batteries anyway.

Is there any other things I should know before I put my purchase in tommrow? The usual Pros? Cons?

[Menneisyys]

Ok... I think I am fully settled.

From an entertainment point of view the Dell x50v can't be beat? Correct?

I can overlook the less contrasty screen and I am planning on buying extra batteries anyway.

Is there any other things I should know before I put my purchase in tommrow? The usual Pros? Cons?

Except for the bad battery life and the not-very-good screen, the x50v is a great device with prolly the best price/performance ratio among VGA devices outside Europe.

[adamp]

How is the battery life if I clock the CPU down a lot when playing movies?What kind of a gain can I get by upgrading to the battery with the largest charge capacity?

Lastly, to my understanding the screen is not very contrasty. Is that the only issue? Viewing angle is fine? Sunlight viewing is fine? You think that contrast can be fixed by using software to increase the saturation of various colors?

These next three points are somewhat off topic...
-Are there FTP clients out for the PDAs?
-Lastly, Say the XviD is encoded at like 720*480... will the device need the video file to be resized to the native resolution of the x50v? My goal is to just dump the raw XviD on the disk and play as it (no transcoding).
-Running movies off of micro disks... will I have issues with dropping frames as opposed to using flash disks? I have like 5 512MB flash cards but I use that for photography. I need at least 700MB for an XviD anyway so I'm looking at the following:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=48526&item=7526295566&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
These seem to be noname brand type cards but they are dirt cheap as they go for ~$30 on eBay.



You guys have been very helpful, sorry for asking so many questions but I am a n00b at these PDAs at the moment and I'd like to have the most advice before going ahead and buying a $600 device.

[surur]

I think this post answers some of your questions:

I'm using a Seagate 5GB Microdrive in my X50V. I can watch a full movie in Betaplayer (e.g. Beyond the Sunset) and still have 30% battery life left. Good thing about the X50v is you can throttle the CPU speed to Max power-saving (208MHz) and still get no dropped frames in movies. The 30% quoted above was achieved with power mode under Auto. Using max settings would leave me about 40-50% power left, depending on the length of the movie.

http://www.aximsite.com/boards/showthread.php?t=87905

I understand that transcoding is not necessary on the Axim x50v, due to the 16Mb video accelerator (remember about 2 years ago when this was standard for desktops?).

Look here http://www.firstloox.org/forums/showpost.php?p=18291&postcount=14 for some actual comparative pictures of the various screens. Most people who have axims find them quite satisfactory (if they don't stare too long at the Loox 720 or Hp 4705 though). Some people even prefer the lighter screen, as it make dark passages in movies easier to see.

Lastly regarding FTP clients, there are many available, some free, some commercial, some even built into normal file managers like total commander.

If you have settled on an Axim you may want to try registering on Aximsite.com where they can give you information from the perspective of an actual owner.

Surur

[Menneisyys]

Lastly, to my understanding the screen is not very contrasty. Is that the only issue? Viewing angle is fine? Sunlight viewing is fine? You think that contrast can be fixed by using software to increase the saturation of various colors?


System-wide, no. You can adjust the contrast of the x50v’s screen with a hidden settings applet, but, actually, only decrease it. You can, however, pre-touch images (if you plan to use your PDA as a digital image wallet) and raise the level of reds. You can’t do the same with videos though.



-Are there FTP clients out for the PDAs?


Yes, there’re. I recommend either Total Commander 2.0 (http://pocketpcmag.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=16568) or vxFtp if you plan to download straight into memory cards. Please read the above thread on comparative benchmarks.



-Lastly, Say the XviD is encoded at like 720*480... will the device need the video file to be resized to the native resolution of the x50v? My goal is to just dump the raw XviD on the disk and play as it (no transcoding).


You won’t need transcoding with the x50v.



-Running movies off of micro disks... will I have issues with dropping frames as opposed to using flash disks? I have like 5 512MB flash cards but I use that for photography. I need at least 700MB for an XviD anyway so I'm looking at the following:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...ssPageName=WDVW
These seem to be noname brand type cards but they are dirt cheap as they go for ~$30 on eBay.


See Surur’ s link.

[Scarpad]

My old HP2215even plays xvid's with betaplayer ,ok. I get a couple of stutters but overall ok. Right now i'm using a Dell Axim 30 H. I rarely get a stutter. If youwant a sceen that competes get a Vga Pda. Maybe an Axim 50v, or HP4700.

I have a PSP it looks great on High priced Umd's, but on the stick, the lower res, suffers from color blotching and fast motion artifacting.
I made quite a few encodes, but have gone back to xvid.

They are working to get xvids playable on the psp. until then i'm waiting on the 100GB Avros 700.

[Darius Wey]

My old HP2215even plays xvid's with betaplayer ,ok. I get a couple of stutters but overall ok. Right now i'm using a Dell Axim 30 H. I rarely get a stutter. If youwant a sceen that competes get a Vga Pda. Maybe an Axim 50v, or HP4700.

It depends on the encoded bitrate and dimensions of the file. If it's astronomically high, devices like the h2215 can lag a tiny bit. If encoded right, you'll find no lags at all. Back when I was using an old h1940 with a S3C2410 266MHz processor, I'd experience no stutters after punching my files through PocketDivXEncoder and encoding them at a mid-to-high range bitrate. Of course, I'd keep them at 240x320 as well. If you have your files sitting at 480x640 and decide to play them on a QVGA device, lags are expected.

Having said all that, BetaPlayer on my X50v is perfect. Playback is smooth (thanks to the 2700G), and the quality is great! :)