Microsoft Offers TV to Go

I?ve been testing the Creative Zen Portable Media Center over the past few days for a particularly important task: allowing me to watch the Simpsons on my long commute. This is the first product we?ve tested that uses the portable version of Microsoft?s Windows Media Center software, and my initial impressions are good.

The 320 by 240 resolution screen is bright in most lighting conditions and the audio sounds good (although there are some obvious compression artifacts in there: Marge?s voice sounds a little raspier than usual).

The Zen ties in with Microsoft?s new Media Player 10: to get video and audio onto the portable device, you just sync it with the PC through the new Media Player software, and it converts it to the portable format and resolution. However, this process can take a long time: on the HP Media Center PC that I am testing this with, it took around 20 minutes to convert and copy a 30 minute episode of the Simpsons onto the portable player. And the Zen Portable Media Center isn?t cheap: at $499, it is a lot to pay for a daily dose of Bart?

Comments

So I'll have to copy all the dvds i want to watch onto the pc, then have to convert those files to portable format for transfering to the zen pmc? Seems like a lot of hassle and wasted time...I'll pass

Anonymous

September 01, 2004

5:07 PM PT

If it takes almost as long to convert and transfer the files to the Media Player, why shouldn't I just watch them on the tube?

Anonymous

September 01, 2004

5:56 PM PT

Anonymous: because the TV is probably a bit big to carry with me every morning...

richard baguley

September 01, 2004

7:01 PM PT

Video conversions take just way too long now days... and DVD movies are a pain to rip. I'll pass.. but then again I live 5 minutes train ride from work, listen to about 2 songs on my ipod mini and I'm there already.

Brish

September 01, 2004

9:59 PM PT

The next gen is supposed to have a 720x480 display and--depending on the manufacturer--handle all sorts of formats like DivX, xvid, etc at 30fps. That means there should not be a need to reencode for a wimpy portable device if you've already got it encoded for playback on computer.
I'm just wondering if microsoft is going to hog the market or if we will see a linux-based versoin out soon.... This may determine whether or not the machines will play the other formats or not... (not whether they CAN)

anonyman

September 02, 2004

10:52 AM PT

Oh, and the nextgen will encode at near DVD quality realtime--via an RCA or svideo input--probably its most desirable feature. Essentially (supposedly) it will be like a portable DVR.
Odds are, however, that with the bigger display and added hardware, it'll cost quite a bit more too....

ananyman

September 02, 2004

10:57 AM PT

will it work with all in wonder 9800 pro 128 mb?

rick wiggins

September 09, 2004

9:10 AM PT