[opendtv] Re: From Microsoft, a First Take
- From: Kon Wilms <kon@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 03 Sep 2004 20:12:44 -0700
Monty Solomon wrote:
> IF you're trying to figure out if somebody is a gadget freak, try
> this simple test: work the phrase "video iPod" into a sentence. If
> the subject hyperventilates, salivates or passes out, you'll know.
Except for the fact that it is not an iPod and has none of the iPod's
finesse or elegance of design.
> After all, surely the only thing more divine than a shiny,
> pocket-size trinket that plays music (like the iPod and its brethren)
> would be a shiny, pocket-size trinket that also plays TV and movies.
Last time I checked even the smallest ones were too big to fit in my
pocket. Then again this reporter would probably use the term pocket
sized trinket for a VHS tape.
> Microsoft is confident that the Portable Media Center (PMC) is just
> what the world has been waiting for. After all, look at the success
> of personal DVD players, whose five- to nine-inch screens illuminate
> passengers' faces in thousands of planes, trains and automobiles each
> day. Who wouldn't find a PMC even more attractive? It's more compact;
> its built-in hard drive eliminates the need to carry around a bunch
> of DVD discs; and it can play any video you like, not just
> prerecorded movies.
As long as you have a Microsoft OS and use Microsoft codecs, and don't
mind waiting a long time for non-Microsoft formatted media to be
*converted* before you can use it.
Funny, the non-Microsoft Portable Media Players (Archos AV400, etc.)
support more media formats and can be used with any OS.
To anyone considering one of these I would say consider the Archos AV4xx
and 5xx *very* closely. For the same price you get more features, no
vendor OS lock-in, hard drive storage capability, and the ability to
record video from the cradle without the need for a $2000 Microsoft
Media Center PC or PC host with manual conversion of content.
There are a number of portable media center reviews floating about. What
strikes me is the sheer amount of data that these reviewers have. One of
the Microsoft MVPs stated a figure of 23,000 tracks in his MP3
collection. I've seen screenshots with track totals in the 5,000 mark.
At my guestimate it takes about $6,400 of purchases to fill a 20Gb iPod.
(roughly 4Mb per song, 12 tracks per album, 15 bucks an album). Using
this estimate (conservative?, you decide), some of the reviewers of
these devices own over $30,000 worth of LPs and CDs. I find that hard to
believe...
> On the other hand, video players will never be as popular as music
> players. They'll always be bigger and bulkier, for one thing, because
> of the larger screen. (The Creative Labs version, the Zen Portable
> Media Center, weighs 12 ounces, versus 3.6 for an iPod Mini.) Video
> players will always have much shorter battery life, too, because they
> have to play video and audio simultaneously.
Rubbish. Even in audio only mode they top out at around 10 hours. An
iPod and other audio players can go 2x as long.
And they won't be as popular because of their size, but because people
don't watch movies over and over again like they listen to music. Nor do
they watch video content while jogging, or other activities.
If you want iPod size with video the Archos GMini blows the portable
media center half-brick devices away. And it plays games too. In the
form factor of an iPod, not a VHS tape.
I've tried the Archos under Linux and it works like a champ, minus the
fact that it defaults to write-caching mode and hotplug removal corrupts
its fat partition (annoying). I'll be trying the Creative Zen next - I
hear it does not work under Linux, we will see.
Cheers
Kon
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