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Watch your DVD recordings on your Pocket PC!
Imagine the possibilities! You can now record your favorite TV program with your DVD recorder, transfer it to your Pocket PC, then watch it later in the office, or on the beach! You can fit over 90 minutes of compressed DVD recording on a single 128Mb memory card, then take the recording on the road. Think of it as the ultimate in time shift TV - if you have a DVD recorder, and a Pocket PC, you can watch your favorite soap anywhere, when you have the time! If you have a 512Mb card, you could get up to 6 hours of TV onto your Pocket Pc - enough for even a transatlantic flight! Why was the software written? The author's wife is a big soap fan, and a bad traveler, so the Pocket DVD Wizard started life to allow the wife to watch the soaps while flying, or sitting in the car, while the author could get his PC back to carry on work! What do I need? You are going to need a few things to make the most of the Pocket DVD Wizard.
What is the minimum specification for my desktop pc? As long as you are running Windows XP you should have no problems. We recommend a minimum PC specification of a Pentium 500+mhz processor, 128Mb ram and 1Gb of free disk space. What about the Pocket Pc? The Pocket Pc needs to be using Windows Mobile 2003 software. For memory usage, allow about 1Mb per minute of video, so if you have a 30 minute recording, it should take up about 30Mb on your device, or smart card. Once the conversion has finished, you can transfer the file to your Pocket PC like any other file. Most users choose Active Sync. Which Pocket PC's work with files created by the Pocket DVD Wizard? Basically any Pocket PC running Windows Mobile 2003 or later. This includes Acer, Compaq, Dell Axim, HP iPAQ, Samsung and Toshiba palm devices and phones such as the O2 XDA II. What about battery life? Tests using a Toshiba e400 (a very slim line Pocket PC) showed on full volume, with full screen playback, the battery lasted just over 4 hours. Obviously this will vary from device to device, but it shows you can watch a lot of content before your Pocket PC runs flat. Can I transfer movies? If you can record the movie from TV with your DVD recorder, then the Pocket DVD Wizard will allow you to backup the file for personal use, and convert it to play on your Pocket PC. Your DVD recorder will be able to tell you if you can or cannot record the content, based on the macro vision or other input signal it is getting from the broadcaster. Please remember though that it is strictly prohibited to convert works that may be subject to copyright with the Pocket DVD Wizard. What about TV? Again, it is all about copyright. As a general rule, if you can record the broadcast on your DVD recorder, then you will be able, and allowed to back it up to view it on your Pocket PC. Some channels send macro vision 'do not record' messages to the DVD recorder and most DVD recorders will honour this. Generally speaking, if the DVD recorder says yes the content will not be encoded and you will be able to backup the DVD recording with the Pocket PC Wizard and watch it later. |
Pocket DVD Wizard ScreenshotsThe Pocket DVD Wizard has been designed to be easy to use by anyone, regardless of your ability. The following screen shots have been taken from the Pocket DVD Wizard Version 1.0. We have tried to describe the process of converting a DVD to a Pocket PC 2003 file using the screen shots. Application Start This is first screen you will see when you start the full version of the Pocket DVD Wizard. It is fairly self explanatory, all you need to do is insert the DVD you would like to transfer to your Pocket PC, then click the 'Select a DVD' button to choose a track from the DVD.
DVD playback and format selection Once you have selected a track, you will be given the option to select the output format, and preview the DVD playback. You can also select other options from the options menu, such as the quality level of the conversion, or the type of processor you have (it is possible on some Pc's to speed up the process by using specific features on the processor.)
DVD Content Capture Next, the content from the DVD is captured, ready for conversion
The content is then converted to the WMV file format, suitable for the Pocket PC 2003
Finished! When the Wizard has finished, it will display a screen like this...
When you have finished, all you need to do is copy the output to your Pocket PC and you can play your DVD content on your Pocket PC! |
The
Pocket DVD Wizard allows you to make backup copies of your personal DVD
recordings, and then play them on your Windows Mobile
Pocket PC.
