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Cheap DivX Solution For Your Entertainment Center

Posted by timothy on from the so-lotr-extended-can-fit-on-one dept.

joemite writes "I-O DATA recently announced the release of their LinkPlayer, which can decode DivX files from DVDs, CDs, USB thumb drives, and network file shares. At $249 suggested retail, I know what I'm wishing for this Christmas!" For simpler (no network shares, no thumb drives) and even cheaper set-ups, a few standalone DVD players -- the Philips DVP642 is one -- will play DivX files from recordable CDs andd DVDs.

13 of 275 comments (clear)

  1. MythTV by dorward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Cute, but I still plan to build my own around MythTV. That will work both ways (allowing me to record TV and then view it over the network) as well as dealing with DVDs and MAME.

    1. Re:MythTV by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Let us know when u r done

  2. What buy an Xbox. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Xbox and Modchip costs less than that. Plus it can do alot more than just play divx files.

  3. I WANT! by shaneFalco · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Seems quite interesting. What would be really nice would be the option of connecting to a network wirelessly in order to access video files stored on other computers in the house. Maybe even a file browser akin to Konquorer for the computer illeterate in my house. I want one!

  4. Standalones are cheap by phozz+bare · · Score: 2, Insightful
    They sell standalone DVD players capable of playing DivX, Mp4, Mp3, Jpg, Photo CD, etc etc for about $90 (incl. delivery) here in Israel. These are Chinese players pretending to be German, but they do the job. Please, find something better to do with your $249.

    phozz

  5. Xbox, cheaper, more effective by Oz0ne · · Score: 4, Insightful

    a modded xbox

    New Xbox $150
    Mod Chip $30-60
    40 Gig HD $40

    Total: $220-250

    Will play DVDs region free, divx, xvid, quicktime, wmv, mpeg, avi, dv, mp3, view photos/slideshow, stream mp3 from internet radio stations, get the weather... etc.

    Only true geeks will want the hardware mentioned in the article... and true geeks can do much better, cheaper, and have more fun doing it themselves.

  6. Re:Not that great of a value.... by Acidic_Diarrhea · · Score: 0, Insightful
    What you mean is that you're stealing from MS and other companies that publish games for the XBox when you download and burn games. Contrary to what you may have heard, just because you don't like a particular company does not mean that you have the right to pirate their products or services.

    --
    I hate liberals. If you are a liberal, do not reply.
  7. Re:But does it support Xvid? by tepples · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I wish there's some kind of video/dvd player that has small harddrive where we can install the latest codecs/plugins

    There is. It's called an Xbox. And even if you live in an area with anti-modchip laws and strict enforcement thereof, there's always Mini-ITX boxes.

  8. Re:What's wrong with laptops? by tomstdenis · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Because buying a 1500$ [what they cost new around Ottawa] laptop to play DivX files is stupid?

    A cheaper 400$ mini-ITX setup will do the job too and the extra 1100$ can be used to say rent a lot of videos to rip ;-)

    Tom

    --
    Someday, I'll have a real sig.
  9. Re:Philips DVP642 player mentioned by Danny+Rathjens · · Score: 2, Insightful
    I have a similar problem playing files on the dvp642 even without hdtv resolutions. I am going to try a lower bitrate, as someone else suggested. Here is the way I record from regular cable now:

    mencoder -tv driver=v4l:width=640:height=480:norm=NTSC:chanlist =us-cable -vf crop=625:478:8:2,pp=de/lb -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg4:vbitrate=2000 -oac mp3lame -lameopts cbr:br=64 -o /home/dkr/vid/tv.avi tv://

    With that method, the dvp642 just plays the sound. Too bad it doesn't have an error console to say exactly why it isn't playing something. :)

  10. Re:What's wrong with laptops? by prostoalex · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Why? Can you elaborate on that? A DivX is a DivX whether played from the dedicated player or laptop. What am I losing on S-Video?

  11. Is this really news? There's tons of these. by bigtallmofo · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'm surprised that someone submitted a story about a device that can play video files of all sorts from your computer on your TV. There's got to be a dozen of these things, some of them have been around for a few years now. Linksys has one, Gateway has one, PRISMIQ has one, Hauppage has one, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a Skippy Peanut Butter brand media center that could do this at this point. The fact it can play DivX and XVid is old news too. My PRISMIQ unit could do that for the last 18 months, and to top it off it's an open source box running on Linux that I can even telnet to. Oh, and the price isn't $249 like it used to be - I think they're having closeout prices currently for $149. A wireless keyboard for it is an additional $29. And the recording (think PVR) version of it comes out 4Q. That's the good news on these things. The bad news is that they hardly ever work as advertised. I've tried several of them and they all have their good points and bad points.

    --
    I'm a big tall mofo.
  12. Re:But does it support Xvid? by deltaromeo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Divx and Xvid offer very good results, but IMO it's almost never good enough - even spread out over 1400MB (2 CD's). Dark scenes come out poorly with a lot of obvious grey banding. Fast motion and camera pans turn out jerky and in my opinion it detracts from the overall viewing experience. If you watch the original source side by side with the compressed version the differences are blatant.

    The $249 would be better spent on a DVD Writer (especially since they are so affordable these days), several hundred blank DVDs and a copy of DVD Shrink.