dfboy40
01-10-2004, 11:34 PM
A novel DVD/DivX player which includes a twin slot card reader - 6 formats, SD/MMC, Memory Stick, Compact Flash, XD and Smart Media. Only problem is memory sticks have to be placed in this flimsy acrylic adapter before sliding in the slot. This will surely get lost, warped or broken. Good thing is the menu gives a direct readout of the folders and files on the card so you can select the start file for playback.
As for DivX playback it supports v3, 4 & 5 but not any with Quarter Pixel (QPEL) or Global Motion Compensation (GMC) processing. I've tried a stack of different DivX & Xvid avi's and it plays most, including those with AC3 sound (although manual says only MPEG AUdio Layer2 and layer 3 is supported). There are occaisonal glitches with DivX avi's but analysing the files in AVIcodec shows this is mainly limited to those with high bit rates and quality ratings of 70 - 80% ie. the ones that won't fit on a CD-R anyway.
Best of all it plays back MPEG4 .asf files provided they are no greater than 640x480 @4Mbps. All my 320x240 @384kbps MPEG4 vids play back flawlessly and you can ZOOM X2 to fill the screen.
There have been complaints that it doesn't playback mpegs but I say if you want to play these on a set top player then convert them to VCD or SVCD for MPEG2's and it will play them perfectly. If you can't be bothered converting them then stick to watching your poxy mpeg's on your PC. It plays files from DVD-R and DVD-RW and CD-R so it means there aren't too many people with burners who are going to be disappointed.
Oh and did I mention it also plays DVD video? Playback via component output is very clean and 625p playback of DVD's from film sources is exceptionally detailed.
Comparison with an older (3+ years) Sony S336 player shows that some advance has been made with the 'Digital Direct progressive Scan' output but don't expect to notice any stunning differences, after all DVD video is DVD video is ...
I bought this because I was sick of playing (streaming) DivX files to a media center and the PC taking a huge hit in CPU performance for a couple of hours at a time. It's worth the $270 price tag (Harvey Normal's discount from $329 rrp) over the other name brand DivX player - Pioneer 676A at $220 because it has the card reader.
I accept this is purely a convenience add-on as most people will not buy a DVD player to watch JPEG's on TV.
But to be able to watch DivX files this way is fantastic! Just check the drive tray opens before you leave the store. The first one would not budge for love nor money - an excellent player pity you can't put a disc in it! HN gladly exchanged it for one that would open. :D
As for DivX playback it supports v3, 4 & 5 but not any with Quarter Pixel (QPEL) or Global Motion Compensation (GMC) processing. I've tried a stack of different DivX & Xvid avi's and it plays most, including those with AC3 sound (although manual says only MPEG AUdio Layer2 and layer 3 is supported). There are occaisonal glitches with DivX avi's but analysing the files in AVIcodec shows this is mainly limited to those with high bit rates and quality ratings of 70 - 80% ie. the ones that won't fit on a CD-R anyway.
Best of all it plays back MPEG4 .asf files provided they are no greater than 640x480 @4Mbps. All my 320x240 @384kbps MPEG4 vids play back flawlessly and you can ZOOM X2 to fill the screen.
There have been complaints that it doesn't playback mpegs but I say if you want to play these on a set top player then convert them to VCD or SVCD for MPEG2's and it will play them perfectly. If you can't be bothered converting them then stick to watching your poxy mpeg's on your PC. It plays files from DVD-R and DVD-RW and CD-R so it means there aren't too many people with burners who are going to be disappointed.
Oh and did I mention it also plays DVD video? Playback via component output is very clean and 625p playback of DVD's from film sources is exceptionally detailed.
Comparison with an older (3+ years) Sony S336 player shows that some advance has been made with the 'Digital Direct progressive Scan' output but don't expect to notice any stunning differences, after all DVD video is DVD video is ...
I bought this because I was sick of playing (streaming) DivX files to a media center and the PC taking a huge hit in CPU performance for a couple of hours at a time. It's worth the $270 price tag (Harvey Normal's discount from $329 rrp) over the other name brand DivX player - Pioneer 676A at $220 because it has the card reader.
I accept this is purely a convenience add-on as most people will not buy a DVD player to watch JPEG's on TV.
But to be able to watch DivX files this way is fantastic! Just check the drive tray opens before you leave the store. The first one would not budge for love nor money - an excellent player pity you can't put a disc in it! HN gladly exchanged it for one that would open. :D