New Pocketdish soon?

[mrhoni]

I remember Scott had made a comment some time in the past that we might be seeing new Pocketdishes by now.

Need the feature to select HD content and reformat it to the Pocketdish since so many things I record are in HD.

 

[BigSkyGuy]

I hope it's one we can view without a microscope.

 

[steve4810]

The new models were introduced on the last Tech Talk.

1. There are 2 models. One is out now and the other will be out just after the holidays.

2. They are Archos branded and can be bought anywhere including Dish dealers.

3. They just need a software plugin that you download from the Archos web site.

4. No HD, no how, no way on either. The speculators were wrong.

5. I'm totally bummed.

 

[steve4810]

I hope it's one we can view without a microscope.

You know both have screens bigger than the Ipod Video or the Iphone or any other cellphone that shows video. And they both are as big as 90% of the portable CD players being sold today. And they have an external video jack so you can watch the recordings on any regular TV with a video in jack.

But I know what you mean about the microscope. Us old farts don't long enough arms to focus the picture. And if we did it would resemble a postage stamp. I think you'll have to give up soon and buy cheaters at Walgreens.

Getting old isn't for sissies!

 

[shortspark]

I downloaded "Borat" on my PD just before leaving Texas for a hunting trip to upstate NY. I had the Wedding Crashers and a number of similar, neat and fun movies already downloaded. Four of us were gathered around the camp trailer's tv and I took out the PD to play Borat on the 19" screen. Of course everyone laughed their butts off at the movie.

They asked me to explain the Archos device I had and after I did they became Dish converts (well, nearly so). To say the least they were very impressed with what all you could do with the PD. The picture on the tv screen was flawless and they were also impressed with the great picture direct from the Archos 500e's 4.5 inch screen. The PD, in what ever form, is a necessary add-on to anyone who travels and has a compatible Dish receiver. HD would be nice but not really necessary for me and the lack of it sure would not stop me from buyng a PD in the future.

 

[Sean Mota]

I have my 700e version. Yes it is old and do not compare to gen5 but I do not leave home without it. It is such a convenience.

 

[harshness]

4. No HD, no how, no way on either. The speculators were wrong.

Why waste the space when you've only got at most an 800x480 matrix?

 

[steve4810]

Why waste the space when you've only got at most an 800x480 matrix?

Are you purposely missing the point?

PD's only work with these USB receivers: The 522, 622, and the 722 (so far). The 522 is SD only so everything you record can be sent to the PD but it is USB1.1 so it takes ~40 minutes to transfer an hour of TV. And it won't make HD recordings for big flat panels.

The receivers that work best are the 622 and 722 USB 2.0 receivers that can transfer an hour of SD TV in ~8 minutes. the PD works GREAT with these receivers.

But, now follow me closely here harshness, they are HD recievers that 99.9999% of the world uses to record, when possible, HD versions of TV programs for big flat HDTV screens. This includes me. And day by day more and more of my shows are available in HD.

Now stay with me here. THESE HD RECORDINGS CAN"T BE CHANGED TO SD TO BE PUT ON THE PD. NOR CAN THEY BE SENT AS THEY ARE TO THE PD.

THERE FOR, PRACTICALLY NONE of the shows I record to watch at another time can travel with me in my PD.

No one. No one. I say again, no one gives a rat's ass about the resolution of the PD screen or the resolution of the recordings that are kept on the PD.

If resolution is that important to you when you travel, every town with a population over 1,000 has at least one bar with 40" or larger plasma TVs that show HD pictures from opening till closing. And for a few bucks more that Motel 6 charges for a room a growing number of hotels have rooms that have good sized HDTVs that will let you watch pretty HD pictures anytime you travel.

For myself, I want to watch the shows I record and Dish has made the PD into a cruel joke for most of us. This is not to say it is not a cool gadget. It's just mostly useless to most folks most of the time. And grows more so every day.

But this misery could all be ended if Dish made a receiver or PD that could convert these HD recordings to SD so they can be taken on the road, or camping or whatever.

The resolution of a 7 or less inch screen is irrelevant.

 

[TheKrell]

PD's only work with these USB receivers: The 522, 622, and the 722 (so far).

According to this, the 625 and 942 will also transfer recorded programs via USB.

 

[harshness]

Now stay with me here. THESE HD RECORDINGS CAN"T BE CHANGED TO SD TO BE PUT ON THE PD. NOR CAN THEY BE SENT AS THEY ARE TO THE PD.

But they can be recorded in real time off of any of the SD ports of any HD DISH Network receiver. You can even set timers to do it for you.

Don't you feel ignorant.

 

[steve4810]

But they can be recorded in real time off of any of the SD ports of any HD DISH Network receiver. You can even set timers to do it for you.

Any video recording device can record in real time off of any of the SD ports of anything.

Don't you feel ignorant.

No.

 

[harshness]

Any video recording device can record in real time off of any of the SD ports of anything.

I could have sworn you said that the PD would only work with three DISH receivers (you omitted the 625 and 942). In fact they will work with almost any DISH receiver.

As you point out, some faster than others.

 

[denier]

It would be nice if the new archos 605 would accept an hd transfer from the dish network receiver. however, this really is not a big deal. if i recorded everything that i wanted to watch in hd, i would run out of hard drive space in a short time, even with an external hd. i have simply broken my viewing into two segments. some shows are recorded in hd and watched within a week or two so i can clear out my hard drive. others that are not timely i record in sd and am able to let them accumulate and then transfer to my pocketdish and viewed when i travel. so far this has worked out pretty good.

 

[steve4810]

It would be nice if the new archos 605 would accept an hd transfer from the dish network receiver. however, this really is not a big deal. if i recorded everything that i wanted to watch in hd, i would run out of hard drive space in a short time, even with an external hd. i have simply broken my viewing into two segments. some shows are recorded in hd and watched within a week or two so i can clear out my hard drive. others that are not timely i record in sd and am able to let them accumulate and then transfer to my pocketdish and viewed when i travel. so far this has worked out pretty good.

Not a bad strategy. Have you yet wanted to watch a show at home then been bummed when you saw it was saved as SD?

Before I got my second HDTV I only went to the den to see visually great HD programs or sporting events. But now with HD in the bedroom I'm afraid I'm becoming an HD snob; folks who I have always disparaged as being silly. I believed "the program's the thing!" to paraphrase Billy S. But now it's "the program's the thing but it is a bit of a bummer when the the picture on the flat screen shrinks to a fuzzy patch in the middle".

I think the hardest part would be pulling the trigger on an SD timer on a show I'd seen in HD. I'd keep thinking "What if I don't go anywhere for a long time and end up watching a bunch of "SD"ized shows.

Still, every time I sit at my desk and see the AV700E sitting there I start fuming about the money I spent on it so I should figure something useful to do with it besides using it as a very expensive drink coaster.

 

[murky]

I'm also becoming and HD snob, and I also don't need HD resolution on my Archos or PocketDish.

I had the 500e but it disappeared on my last trip to Singapore, so I've been looking for a replacement and decided to hold out for the new offerings from Archos. I'll believe it when I see it, I won't be ordering anything until the appropriate FW has been released and verified.

With my PocketDish, I had taken to either recording certain shows in standard definition, or actually recording them both HD and standard intending to choose whichever I hadn't watched to upload to the portable player right before leaving on my trip.

I've come to accept that compromise as I understand that its a whole nother level of technicla challenge to somehow downconvert or process the HD program before or during the transfer.

My biggest gripe is that the timer functions in the Dish DVRs really suck. They're a big step back from what was available on the older Dishplayers. Not only is the interface clunky, it is often difficult to guess what the DVR will do. The manner in which it resolves conflicts and otherwise decides what to do isn't at all intuitive to me.

At this point I would be happy if it were possible to have it record BOTH HD and standard versions of the shows I'm interested. Unfortunately in the record setting I believe that it doesn't distinguish HD from standard for purposes of determining if the show has already been recorded.

In other words, if it already has a copy of episode 39 in standard definition, it will skip the HD version as a duplicate.

 

[steve4810]

Well, NBC did me a solid. They limited this season's Law & Order Criminal Intent to only the USA channel and only in SD so I'll eventually have a whole season of it.

Whoopee on the road with hour after hour, night after night of L & O CI!

I've got five so far.

Let's keep our fingers crossed USA doesn't fall into the HD hysteria that's running wild among TV networks nowadays. Of course we can count of charlie dragging his feet with a HD feed of USA

Upon further review: Kill me now. Please.

Excuse me, I have to go freshen my bourbon rocks (which is sitting on my AV700e so as not to leave a ring on my night stand).

 

[madison]

New Firmware for Archos 605 Wifi

Just noticed Archos released new firmware for 605 wifi on 11/28, is this the one to work with VIP622. If not, does anybody know when such firmware will be available. It is already in Dec.

 

[moooog]

622 and 722 now recognize Archos 605 but....

Both my DVR's now recognize my 605 and 705 as USB devices - but when I try to manage or send content, the receivers menus lock up, and the receiver reboots after 15 seconds. Has anyone out there had any luck? I had to disconnect my external Seagate drive as well, as I received a message indicating the receiver could not support two external devices simultaneously. Pretty excited about this, especially if this means I will not have to pay Archos a plugin fee - but as of now, I cannot get the feature to work.