My Hat's Off

[DoTheFandango]

1.) They have encoders for whatever kinda file you have
2.) No
3.) Depends on which ones, but you are usually better off with a stereo hookup and/or some computer speakers.

[K2Grey]

Well, it's not as if there's anything wrong with the iPod. It's just that like za gophar might say (or think), often people overrate Apple and believe it's the unquestioned king of mp3 players or whatever because it looks the coolest and has the greatest market share everywhere except Korea.

Edit: Yes, definitely go with the normal speakers. These iPod speakers seem like big gimmicks to me which are purchased not because they are good, but because they seem to go with the iPod, even though theere are probably multitudes of choices out there which are better and work just as well.

[Sarien]

1.) Do the movies all have to be in quicktime format?

320x240 H.264 encoded and 480x480 Mpeg-4. Supports m4v, mp4, and mov. None of that garbage wmv nonsense, thankfully.
.m4v is music store videos
.mp4 is mpeg-4 video open for all to enjoy
.mov is quicktime video

And there are plenty of good reasons for delivering that set of video. It's a player, not a mini PC, so things need to have a consistent rate. It can't think on its own, it's simply playing the content. So there is an Apple HD next generation video (H.264), and an open easily encoded standard (Mpeg-4), and a Music Store standard for purchased content.

As for H.264 just say it gives the best quality for the filesize that you can get and is built around delivering HD quality video. A great codec, a million times better than that wmv and wmv-HD nonsense.

And DoTheFandango is right, there are encoders for everything except the must store video with fairplay encryption.

[Galleleo]

But WHY would you wanna watch movies on an Ipod?!

Sure, when I am on the road I wanna listen to music, but to stare at a screen on the road.. if I wanna watch movies I'll use my comp or tv at home.

Edit: I want this one:

[Fit of Rage]

Sarien, do me a favor?

I spent all last night looking for a video converter that will do mpg/avi to mp4 or mov and all the programs I tried from download.com were a fluke. Which one do you use and is there a trial for it.

[+/-]

14 hours battery life is pretty good for what it gives, in my opinion. I sure would watch videos on it if I had one at my job, instead of just sitting arround and eating all the candies I can. I still have the 4th gen ipod, and its battery lasts like... 5 hours. I installed a linux firmware on it, so I could watch videos in monochrome, it sucks real bad.

[Kolar]

Sarien, do me a favor?

I spent all last night looking for a video converter that will do mpg/avi to mp4 or mov and all the programs I tried from download.com were a fluke. Which one do you use and is there a trial for it.

try Videora iPod or PSP Video 9. I don't have an iPod though but both programs are pretty good quility.


Edit: I think i'm gonna get an iPod video next year since PSP memeory is too expensive. I haven't found a use for it besides watching small videos anyways with games costing too much or are shit in quility and you basicly have to upgrade the damn thing to do anything with games or wireless which kills your ability to use homebrew apps and downloaded games. The battery life is no where near 14 hours on PSP anyways. Unless you want to do gaming and you know more then a couple games you want on the PSP don't buy one.

[Galleleo]

Quality?

[PaulOakenfold]

i scratched my screen in three places the 3rd day i had it

i rule

Cut your nails

[Hydride]

haha, wait until a week or so and you'll come back ranting on how easily it scratches.

mine had a scratch resistant translucent sheet or something.. i kept it on >.<

[Sarien]

Sarien, do me a favor?

I spent all last night looking for a video converter that will do mpg/avi to mp4 or mov and all the programs I tried from download.com were a fluke. Which one do you use and is there a trial for it.

Get the very very tip top newest version of Quicktime. That's step one. Step B: Buy or "acquire" a Quicktime Pro license ($29.99 for a real key)
Open your videos in Quicktime, choose export, save as "ipod video" or 320x240 H.264, or 480x480 Mpeg-4s. Then for the audio choose to encode it as AAC (should do all this automagically if you can find "ipod video" selection) and save.

You could also use ffmpeg, but without a doubt using Quicktime is the absolute easiest way to encode videos for play that I know of.

[Jeenyuss]

I just bought a video iPod and am stoked, 30 gig. za gophar i am downloading 311 discography as we speak bye.

[DoTheFandango]

If you had a Mac I could help you guys out so easily, but alas.

[za gophar]

I just bought a video iPod and am stoked, 30 gig. za gophar i am downloading 311 discography as we speak bye.

nice, nice... thats a big download haha

[Mr. Peanuts]

My mate's Zen Micro broke so I told him to go get an iPod video, you can get them around $220 here, and he bought his Zen for like £180, its not a massive gap for the incredible range of features you get with it.

I'd get one but I'm saving up for a Gibson SG <3