Anyone order an Xcard yet?

[invisibler]

Hey Guys-
anyone order an Xcard yet...have you received it yet? It was supposed to be released a few weeks ago...apparently it's the first Hardware player that supports MPEG and DIVX...I orderd one a week ago to replace my realMagic card which only supports MPEG, but there is apparently a 2-3 week wait...is that because it has yet to actually be relased or because there is simply a back-log of orders? anyone know, anyone have one?...just curious!

http://www.buyrealmagic.com/realxcarwitr.html

[invisibler]

considering that this is obviously such a hot topic, I figured I'd update you all...I get my Xcard today...it took a little over 1 week from the day I ordered to the day taht I recieved it...it installed in a snap...it can output through composite, component, s-video or scart...it can output any type of MPEG file, VCD, DVD and can even output DIVX...it comes with a decent remote control...its somewhat oicky about what divx files it plays but what it will play it plays well and the software is only in the first revision so it should get better...it only plays DIVX 4 and beyond...no DIVX 3.11...it also does DVD progressive scan and can output at HDTV resolution....it does DD and DTS...

Most of you who are familiar with the Xcard probably know this stuff, but I thought I'd just tell you anyway...bye

[Baldrick]

is the player any good? the h+ dvd station really sucked...

[Baldrick]

and how about the divx quality? have you compared basic video card tv-out playing divx with the xcard?

[invisibler]

I was actually a big fan of the Hollywood Plus card, so my opinion may be colored by that fact...that card was always stable for me and it played every type of MPEG file of every size and dimension flawlessly...Now to be honest, the Xcard seems like a Hollywood Plus card that can also barely play some DIVX files....

I have a folder that at all times has about 20 movie files before I've burnt them to disc...I tested a bunch of DIVX files and LESS THAN HALF of them would play through the Xcard...thats because only DIVX 4 movies and beyond will play...and of those, only DIVX movies that were encoded using certain settings will play...

I don't quite get understand what those specific settings are, but I'll look into that...just like the Hollywood Plus, the Xcard plays ALL MPEG files that are thrown at it and the DVD playback is ver good too...the progressive scan and HDTV output are nice even though I'm sure it will eb awhile before I get an HDTV...

the files that do play, whether MPEG or DIVX play great on my system...in my opinion, if people could write software do make DIVX files play pretty well on hardware that was designed to only play MPEG files (HHplus and DivxPlus) then I am confident that whether through through updated drivers or 3rd-party coding, soon the Xcard will be much more compatible with many types of DIVX files...

So if you want the card just to play DIVX files, then don't expect too much, or wait awhile...if you want a hardware DVD/VCD/MPEG player that will aldo have good DIVX compatibility in the future then I totally recommend it...