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May 24, 2007
Shifting time, shifting files
We've been asked for some more information on the Sarotech aBigs, so, here's the original column ...
Bleeding Edge didn't quite realise, when we embraced the concept oftime-shifting with such enthusiasm, quite how much time we'd actually be shifting, and more the point, what we'd be shifting where.
Time-shifting, you may be aware, is what happens when you record television programs to a PC or Mac, a Personal Video Recorder or DVD, and watch them when it suits you, rather than when it suits the
broadcaster's bank account.
While you gain a certain amount of time and enhance the experience, in our opinion, by being able to eliminate all the commercials, you trade that off with the time you spend with the Green Guide deciding what shows you're going to record, although - as we've reported several times - you can save some of that with ICE TV's electronic program guide.
A more extreme form of time-shifting is when you use a broadband Internet connection and a BitTorrent eer-to-peer file-distribution client, including our personal favourite, uTorrent, to download overseas TV programs. BitTorrent distributes the bandwidth among many users, dramatically reducing the download time. But again, there’s a trade-off. What you find yourself doing, to support your time-shifting, is file-shifting.
Take our particular situation. We have two broadband connections - one in the Bleeding Edge cave, and the other at home - on which we schedule various BitTorrent downloads. We've got a Loewe Aconda wide-screen TV set, and an amplifier sitting in another room. In order to get the video files we’ve downloaded from both PCs on to the screen, we've been burning DVDs, and playing them on a DVD player which recognises the DivX MPEG-4 video compression codec.
Although we've saved a lot of time by using Nero to burn them as data files, rather than converting them to DVD video format, even on a fast burner it takes more than half an hour to produce and label each disc. And the cost of blank optical media starts to add up.
After several months juggling polycarbonate platters, we knew we’d have to find an alternative. What we’ve come up with is the Sarotech abigs DVP-570HD, distributed by hipgizmos.com. Essentially, it’s an elegantly-designed aluminium case, roughly the size of a hardback book, with the ability to output video, audio and digital photographs via an impressive selection of connectors; a small LCD screen; and a remote control. Insert a 3.5-inch IDE hard drive, and you’ve got a relatively portable digital multimedia player, which shifts these time transactions
firmly back in your favour.
Once you’ve got one of these things, you can forget about DVDs. You transfer the video files from your PC via USB 2.0 – at about a minute per gigabyte - and play them through a TV, using a remote control. Hook up an Ethernet cable, and you can stream files directly from a PC via an Ethernet connection (although unfortunately it doesn’t have Wi-Fi capabilities).
The unit handles digital audio and photograph files too, with a handy slide-show function – it even copes with eBook .txt files - and the fact that it includes USB 2.0 Host mode, allows you to transfer files directly from a digital camera, USB flash memory or MP3 player.
It can handle a comprehensive selection of formats, including DivX, Xvid, AVI, MPEG 1, 2 and 4, ISO video, JPEG, and BMP, and AAC, WMA, M3U playlist and MP3 files. Aside from component, composite and S-Video
connections and optical links, a DVI output allows you to play high-definition video at up to 1920x1080i resolution. The unit ships with a useful collection of cables, but not DVI or an optical link. We’ve been impressed in the past with Sarotech enclosures, so we weren’t surprised to find that the DVP-570HD worked flawlessly. It installs
automatically under Windows XP, and includes a software CD to adapt to Mac OS X, or Windows 98/SE.
Connect it directly to your TV or via an amplifier, and you’re presented with a simple, well-designed menu that allows you to negotiate the various options with the remote control, which includes some thoughtful
features, including the ability to pivot the LCD read-out to portrait or landscape, depending on whether you run the unit vertically in the supplied stand, or horizontally. There’s also a bookmark feature which takes you back to that point in the video where you turned everything off and went to bed.
The unit comes in red or black, and features include FM broadcasting, which allows you to play audio files through your car’s speakers. You can buy a car kit, with cigarette lighter power supply and smaller remote for $49. The unit costs $469RRP, but we’ve seen it for less on the Internet. It’s a definite shift in the right direction.
Posted by cw at May 24, 2007 10:27 AM
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