Question about AVI and DivX

johnp

(it's very possible this is in the wrong forum!)

Can someone explain what these are?

I am about to purchase a External Media Player, but the reviews say it won't play DivX 6. But it does play AVI, and up to DivX 5.
All the videos I have are in AVI format.

Will I be OK?

Creamy Goodness

divx is a compression technique whereas avi is the actual file extension.

most avi's are compressed using divx or xvid.

what is the player in question, maybe someone here has one and can give you a first hand experience on whether what files work and what files don't work.

johnp

Cheers for the info.

Here's the player:

http://www.pixmania.com/ie/uk/638610/art/iomega/screenplay-500-gb-usb-2-0.html

TarfHead

AVIs are generally referred to as containers. This is to say the file extension .AVI does not mean the same method has been used to format the content.

for example, I have some content (.AVI) formatted using DivX codecs. When I tried to put same on the kid's CREATIVE V Plus it would not work and I had to reformat the content to a Motion JPEG format. Both files are .AVI but the underlying content is materially different.

keith_d99

Was thinking of getting the same drive

Did a google for reviews - they are few and far between!

Looking to move all media from my laptop - this looks like a potential solution! Was thinking of the xbmc - but cannot sync iTunes if mp3s are on the xbox

johnp

keith_d99 wrote: »

Was thinking of getting the same drive

Did a google for reviews - they are few and far between!

Looking to move all media from my laptop - this looks like a potential solution! Was thinking of the xbmc - but cannot sync iTunes if mp3s are on the xbox

Yeah, there's only a handful of reviews out there. Actually, the ones you see on Amazon are pretty much copy/pasted to other sites!
One review complains about the Divx6 issue.
One gives it rave reviews.
One give out about no-subtitles (not that I care).

I decided to bit the bullet and put in the order. All I'll be using it for is my music and videos.
If I get a chance I'll give my thoughts.

keith_d99

Do please John!
Will be interesting to get a decent review

I have seen something about applying a firmware update - from another manufacturer I think - that will allow Divx6

johnp wrote: »

Yeah, there's only a handful of reviews out there. Actually, the ones you see on Amazon are pretty much copy/pasted to other sites!
One review complains about the Divx6 issue.
One gives it rave reviews.
One give out about no-subtitles (not that I care).

I decided to bit the bullet and put in the order. All I'll be using it for is my music and videos.
If I get a chance I'll give my thoughts.

johnp

keith_d99 wrote: »

Do please John!
Will be interesting to get a decent review

I have seen something about applying a firmware update - from another manufacturer I think - that will allow Divx6

I'll do my best. I won't be getting it for a few more days, so reply here in a week or so (I've subscribed to the thread) to remind me to write something!

A firmware upgrade would be perfect. I'll check out the machine first, and if necessary, I'll do some googling for the patch.

keith_d99

Try the iomeaga forums John - it may only be relevant for the Pro version

keith_d99

John any update on the Iomega?

johnp

keith_d99 wrote: »

John any update on the Iomega?

Got the machine last Friday.
First things first, it's extremely small, very compact and is very quiet (in my experience anways!). The remote is very slim and there is a handy place to hold the remote under the drive when not in use. Actually the remote seems kinda flimsy, I can see myself sitting on the and breaking it.

I use Linux in work and because the drive is formatted using NTFS Linux can read it, but can't write to it by default. Luckily I use OpenSuse and they just released some drivers to allow you do this (in December). Alternatively it was suggested that I reformat to FAT32, but I didn't fancy this and I've no idea if the drive has a seperate partition to run the Playback Tv function thingy and maybe I'd overwrite that.
If you have XP you'll have no issues with this at all, as Xp can read/write to NTFS.
So I copied a bunch of stuff to it and brought it home. I confirmed this on a 2nd PC in work

It took a few buttons presses to get it running on the TV (I think the key is pressing the Standby on the remote). You get a splash screen, then a screen kinda like Windows Explorer, but much more basic. Basically it shows folders. You use the Up/Down on the remote and the Play button to select. Very simple. If there is a song/video in the folder you select it will autoplay it, so IMO the best thing to do is ensure everything is in it's own folder.

Now the issues. I've had a couple of crashes, where I've had to reboot. I'm pretty sure that it's because of the file type I have. In saying that I've not got around to checking which ones are OK and which it doesn't like. That'll take a little time and trial and error I think.

And the bigger issue (but nothing to do with the Iomega). My old drive is knackered. I'm gonna have to pay someone to retrieve the data

keith_d99

Good man John - thanks for that!

So an overall thumbs up?

Also, is navigation through that "windows explorer" thingy quick?

Also is movie playback quality good?

johnp wrote: »

Got the machine last Friday.
First things first, it's extremely small, very compact and is very quiet (in my experience anways!). The remote is very slim and there is a handy place to hold the remote under the drive when not in use. Actually the remote seems kinda flimsy, I can see myself sitting on the and breaking it.

I use Linux in work and because the drive is formatted using NTFS Linux can read it, but can't write to it by default. Luckily I use OpenSuse and they just released some drivers to allow you do this (in December). Alternatively it was suggested that I reformat to FAT32, but I didn't fancy this and I've no idea if the drive has a seperate partition to run the Playback Tv function thingy and maybe I'd overwrite that.
If you have XP you'll have no issues with this at all, as Xp can read/write to NTFS.
So I copied a bunch of stuff to it and brought it home. I confirmed this on a 2nd PC in work

It took a few buttons presses to get it running on the TV (I think the key is pressing the Standby on the remote). You get a splash screen, then a screen kinda like Windows Explorer, but much more basic. Basically it shows folders. You use the Up/Down on the remote and the Play button to select. Very simple. If there is a song/video in the folder you select it will autoplay it, so IMO the best thing to do is ensure everything is in it's own folder.

Now the issues. I've had a couple of crashes, where I've had to reboot. I'm pretty sure that it's because of the file type I have. In saying that I've not got around to checking which ones are OK and which it doesn't like. That'll take a little time and trial and error I think.

And the bigger issue (but nothing to do with the Iomega). My old drive is knackered. I'm gonna have to pay someone to retrieve the data

johnp

keith_d99 wrote: »

Good man John - thanks for that!

So an overall thumbs up?

Also, is navigation through that "windows explorer" thingy quick?

Also is movie playback quality good?

Yeah, I like it, apart from the crashing, but I should be able to sort that out.

Navigation isn't lightening quick. Actually I think it gets slower if the contents of the folder are large.

Playback is only as good as the quality of the video! I have some movies and they seemed fine. We're not talking HD quality, but fine to watch.