Got the Archos, what now ?

[dave_sch]

I've just bought the Archos AV320, now have a few questions

Are there any downloadable full versions of DVD to MP4 ripping programs. All the ones I've tried seem to be very restrictive, like only doing the first 5 minutes till registered ?

What resolution is best for reasonable display on the Archos while not taking too much disk ?

What is the difference between MP4 and DivX ?

Regards
Dave.

[Baldrick]

MP4 is a container format similiar to .avi and no video format while divx is a video codec ( or well there is a divx container also). So you can't compare mp4 against divx video as mp4 can contain different video codecs.

tried clonedvd mobile? 21 days trial.

or wont it play avi divx? then just use autogk or fairuse wizard and use low video frame size / resolution.

[dave_sch]

Thanks will try that one.

I don't understand what you mean by container and codec, could you please explain it in simple terms, thanks. Bottom line for me is which of the two I should use and why

Regards
Dave.

[Baldrick]

No I can't. Someone else probably can...

But if it supports avi divx just use autogk or fairuse wizard and use low video frame size / resolutions. The best dvd divx converters out there.

[jagabo]

Codecs are COmpression and DECompression standards for audio and video. There are many different codecs with differing abilities to compress audio and video. MPEG 1, MPEG 2, MPEG 4, DV, H.264, MP3, AC3, etc. are all codecs.

Containers are boxes you put things in. They are standardized arrangements of the audio and video data so that different programs can access it. AVI, MP4, MOV, MKV, etc. are all containers. The audio and video in a container may be compressed with any of a number of codecs.

Divx, the company, has created an MPEG 4 codec called Divx, and a modification of the AVI container with th extension .DIVX (to differentiate their files from "regular" AVI files).

I believe the Archos AV320 will play MPEG 4 encoded video (Divx, Xvid) and MP3 encoded audio in AVI and MP4 containers. You can create AVI files that match that spec AutoGK or Super which are reputed to be easy to use. VirtualDub, VirtualDubMPEG2, VirtualDubMod can also do that but are a little harder to learn.

[garryheather]

I've got an Archos AV400 and it handles DIVX just fine. Being lazy I use AutoGK to encode my videos at a target size of about 300Mb at the native resolution of this device (320x240, yours is the same). As I never play the encoded video on anything else (eg the TV out), so the low resolution isn't an issue. For some content I've been able to get down to considerably less than that size, say 150Mb for a whole movie and it's been perfectly acceptable.

PM me if you would like me to post a short sample for you to download to see if it works on your AV320 before you waste any time (or money) in messing about with it.