View Full Version : new lad on the block
Hi to you all, [biggrin]
This is my first post so please excuse me if my questions are a bit amateurish.
I am looking for PMP the A3 seems to fit the bill the only drawback I can see is the question of time the player will operate for on a fully charged battery, can this possible be fixed in a firmware upgrade?
Before taking the plunge and parting with my money can you help me with the following?
Ripped DVD’s (.vob files)
I know that I can drag & drop these files direct onto the A3 but this would fill up the hard drive and take a long time to transfer 10 x 4.35gb films.
Does the A3 show wide screen films with no black lines?
I have tried a few different software packages to convert .vob files none have been satisfactory taking a very long time. I would like to know if you can recommend a simple converter that will convert the whole DVD in one go. What are the best settings to use in a conversion program? I am not interested in HD just a watchable image I would settle for a medium quality conversion the faster the better. How long does it take to transfer 1gb of data via USB 2 to the A3? I have a PC with 2.8ghz Pentium 4 chip and 1.5gb of ram.
Thanks for your help in advance. [thumbsup]
Welcome to the boards!
You might want to look into Fair Use Wizard. It's probably as close as you'll get to a one-shot ripper/convertor. Be advised that circumventing copy protection, which you'll almost certainly end up doing if/when you rip most DVD's (this would apply to pretty much any movie DVD in the US) is still on dubious legal grounds.
I've never paid much attention to the conversion settings beyond under 2 hours = 700 megs, over 2 hours = 1400 megs. Been very satisfied using my A2 with movies converted using that guideline.
...
Does the A3 show wide screen films with no black lines?
Are you asking if if crops off the side content (so you miss stuff) so you don't have black lines at the top and bottom? I'm not convinced you truly know what you are asking for. If (and I'm not sure) the aspect ratio of the A3's screen is 16:9, then movies shot in that ratio should fill the screen. However a lot of more popular movies are shot in 2.35:1 aspect ratio... so back to the black bars.
Doniago:
Thanks for the information on conversion I guess I'll have to try & see how I go on at different settings with different programs what would you say is the best pixel size and output file type to set in the conversion programs.
cjcox:
I am in the UK and the local Cowon site has info on the screen ratio as 4:3 but looking at the photos of the A3 I thought it looked more like 16:9 so if a film is 16:9 it fills the screen and 2.35:1 will have bars top and bottom and the old 4:3 bars at the side. Is there an option to fill the screen and lose some of the picture?
How long does it take to transfer say 1gb via the USB lead in drag & drop mode?
Is there any way of adjusting the angle you view the screen at if you don't wish to hold the player some type of stand or leg system?
What about a cover to protect the player any recommendations?
I think I will buy my player over here in the UK from the main importers it is a lot more expensive than buying from USA but I am worried as regards the returning of faulty players as there seem to have been a few in the forum that have had to be sent back for exchange.[blush]
Just a thought if I used the A3 as a video recorder with say a DVD player as the input unit I would assume that a two hour film would only take two hours to record onto the A3's hard drive is this correct? and if so what file type and size would a two hour film take up on the hard drive.
cjcox:
I am in the UK and the local Cowon site has info on the screen ratio as 4:3 but looking at the photos of the A3 I thought it looked more like 16:9 so if a film is 16:9 it fills the screen and 2.35:1 will have bars top and bottom and the old 4:3 bars at the side. Is there an option to fill the screen and lose some of the picture?
Yes...Cowon SAYS 16:9, but not sure, 800x480 isn't as 16:9 as 480x272 (like the A2).
There is a zoom (I don't have an A3) that will allow you to zoom to about 130-140% which should fill the screen for a 2.35:1 movie and I suppose you could zoom with a 4:3, but you'll lose A LOT.
Is there any way of adjusting the angle you view the screen at if you don't wish to hold the player some type of stand or leg system?
What about a cover to protect the player any recommendations?
Sadly, the answer to both is a case like the A2 came with. The A3 doesn't have such a case. An A2 case should fit the A3 (at least
in the 30GB version).
Kylearan
12-26-2007, 23:15
An A2 case should fit the A3 (at least in the 30GB version).
The 30GB and 60GB models of the A3 are the same size, so all the A2 cases will work just as well on either model.
The A3 will automatically try to fill up the screen. If there are black bars on the sides or the top and bottom, you can adjust the video settings to stretch it and fill it up.
I've done it with widescreen and 4:3 on the A3, and output to a HD TV with a 4:3 source and a 16:9 source. A3 will stretch it for you.
I have not done any VOB files yet, although I have some. I will say that the A3 has no problem with 941kbps 5.1 channel flacs, and it's chewed up most of what I've thrown at it, although it doesn't like embeded subtitles for some reason, but embedded audio tracks seem to work fine.
Ho Ho Ho, Decided to take the plunge and order the A3 [thumbsup] only to find out that the company was closed for the holidays until next Wednesday [cursing] well all good things come to those who wait.
I have tried about 6 conversion programs up to now and found DVDFab Platinum to be about the quickest up to now.
Are USB transfer speeds quicker to the A3's hard drive as apposed to a flash player?
I cant find any info about the transfer speed of data via the USB cable to the A3.
The.Yield
12-28-2007, 15:30
I would imagine that it would have similar transfer speeds as any other 4200rpm 1.8inch drive (ie not exactly lightning quick).
Transfer rates to flash mediums highly depends on the specs of that devices flash memory.
Those speeds can ranged from crappy-ish 20Mbits per second all the way to the most expensive SSD's money can buy which can wright close to 100 Mbits per second (faster than practically any platter based medium today).
And, of course, flash memory has virtually no seek times. Unlike platter drives which must spend some number of milliseconds per seek to find things.
EDIT: I just ordered my A3 as well (plus remote and leather case). If I read correctly there is a chance that the order could be processed by close of business tonight (Friday the 28th).
Did note know they did a remote for the A3 can't understand why you would require one. My flash based players take quite a long time to load data onto, but as I remember I had an old jukebox hard disk player that was quicker.
I have tried to phone my supplier in the UK but no answer from them, it's next Wednesday for me and delivery Thursday.
Do you think it is quicker to get films onto the A3 using it as a video recorder rather than converting them first on the PC then loading them onto the A3?
It's probably faster, but the quality will suffer.
About 53Mb/s.
I copied files to my A3 several times to test. I got something like 1.4GB (a pair of 700MB files, realistic test if you want to copy converted movies) transferred during about 3.5 minutes, which was closely repeatable for several different USB connections and computers.
Not sure how much they can do for the transfer speed, but for the record this was with the 1.15 firmware version.
It's not very fast, but not very slow either. If you copy an individual movie you just coded then it shouldn't be so slow as to make you hear crickets while waiting.
As for your question on processing the video on the computer vs doing it with the A3, are you talking about something you want to take from the air/TV, or something you already have on the computer or a DVD?
Recording on the A3 from TV (recording on anything from the TV) will happen pretty much in real-time. If you want to record a movie which is an hour long, it will take an hour. That's the same as it would take to record it from TV on the computer, so obviously then you'd lose a few minutes copying it to the A3.
But if you already have a file with it (e.g. a DVD), then it would be faster (assuming a modern computer), and better quality, to rip/encode on the computer and then copy the files to the A3. The files could also be much smaller, since the A3 is really not efficient when you record in relative high quality.
The.Yield
12-30-2007, 15:26
Did note know they did a remote for the A3 can't understand why you would require one.
Ya they definitely make a wired remote (same one as was used for the A2).
One main thing I'm going to be doing with my A3 is having it sit just under my PC monitor acting as a mini-TV; hopefully (If I remember correctly the player will display the TV signal as long as you are not recording it, so basically act like a little TV).
And when I want to record something or change a setting etc, I don't wanna have to crane over the desk to pick the player up and change something. This remote I can have sitting next to my mouse pad for the easy grab[laugh].
BTW: last night I was able to rip a blu-ray disc using my PS3's BD-Rom and linux (The linux is installed on the PS3). Then send it over to my PC where I broke it open and extracted the video/audio contents. This will allow me to have some VERY nice source material for some bleeding edge quality encodes. I might post some examples once I get some testing done.
YARON
Many for the fine info you have answered my questions,[thumbsup] I was thinking of loading ripped DVD's to the A3 direct as apposed to converting then loading them onto the A3, it looks like it is better to record them direct from a DVD player. It saves the conversion process. As regards the time it takes to load stuff on the A3 well I guess there is not a lot I can do about that unless I want to buy a new computer. [rofl] Bit like my Wife she buys a pair of shoes the has to buy a handbag & dress to go with them.
The.Yeld
Just thought a remote would come in handy when I am in the bath LOL
I was thinking of loading ripped DVD's to the A3 direct as apposed to converting then loading them onto the A3, it looks like it is better to record them direct from a DVD player. It saves the conversion process.
If they're already ripped you can just copy the files to the A3 as-are. That would definitely be the fastest, would save you the conversion process, and the A3 should be able to play them.
If you don't copy the files, but play them on a DVD Player and then record, it will take longer (real play time), and you will lose quality.
Bit like my Wife she buys a pair of shoes the has to buy a handbag & dress to go with them.
Your wife is taking advantage of your ignorance. The handbag has to go with the shoes. But the dress just has to generally match them, or generally contrast with them, which gives you a wide range. You could probably skip half those dresses she says she needs for the shoes, without it being a problem. And then buy a new computer with the money you saved.
Problem solved. Glad I could help. [wink]
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