[mythtv-users] OT:Portable Media Player

[James Pifer]

On Tue, 2007-05-01 at 10:17 -0400, James Pifer wrote:
> We occasionally go on road trips so I've been looking for something that
> would allow me to take along my kids mythvideos and recordings and be
> able to play them on other monitors, like a TV in a minivan or at
> grandma's house. I found the following device. 
> 
> http://www.coolerexpress.com/by2pmptvoute.html	
> or with hard drive:
> http://www.coolerexpress.com/by2mipmppome.html
> 
> Before purchasing I thought I post and see if anyone has seen this or
> anything similar, or might have any suggestions. What are other people
> doing besides putting shows on DVDs?
> 
> Of course I have no idea what the interface will be like, but I thought
> I might give it a shot. I can transcode shows for my PDA so I assume I
> can transcode them to play on this device.
> 
> Thanks,
> James

Thought I'd give an update on this. I ended up having to return this
device and eat my 15% plus shipping. This device was not very forgiving
on video formats. It wouldn't even play my recorded MPEG2 files
correctly. The only thing I could get it to play correctly was
transcoded MPEG4 files. Also, it maxes at 160GB using 2.5 inch drives
and the remote sucked.

Instead I bought a Galaxy TVisto. It's a USB/Firewire 3.5 HD
enclosure/Media Player. It says it supports up to 500GB drives. Not sure
why it won't go up to 750GB since I think they can use the same
architecture, but I really don't know. 500GB are better deals right now
anyway. 

I've done some preliminary testing of the TVisto and so far it plays
everything I've tried. I've tested it using a power inverter in my van
and it works there too. The interface for playing videos is similar to
mythvideo, basically browse to the video and play it. I haven't done a
thorough testing, but so far it will fill my needs of a portable travel
media player and a backup of my mythbackend videos. 

James