2. pc-audio
  3. 1051796284

Multi Media to Go, Please.

There have been several threads on traveling with music -- MP-3 files, Ipods, noise cancellation headphones etc but is anyone up to date on what can be done with movies?

Now that DVDs can be burned, does this mean that a movie can live on a hard drive, just like a WAV file, with "perfect" quality? How much memory does this require?

After that, is there compression software for a lesser quality but still decent movie that takes less space on the hard drive?

In my neverending quest to amuse myself on long airplane flights, it would be nice to have a couple of movies or so on the hard drive -- or compilations of favourite scenes -- without schlepping my external DVD drive, DVD discs etc.

And would the battery last longer?

Any info or ideas for "ripping" movies and multimedia laptops would be greatly appreciated.
cwlondon
sogood51
2,157 posts
 
doom9.net has all the free ripping tools and enough info to keep you reading for a few days.
sailor720
24 posts
 
divx has a free (adware) software that allows you to rip movies onto your harddrive in decent looking files that are about 700mb for 2 hours so they fit onto a cd. a decent harddrive will hold a big collection of these and they are easily viewed with divx player or winamp or wmp. www.divx.com
one_audiophile
21 posts
 
I agree with Sogood51 to check out doom9.net I like divx out of the avialable compressions. Note: It's a pain and takes several hours to do this...plus you want at least a 700Mhz processor to watch this on (something to consider if you have a laptop).
cwlondon OP
1,210 posts
 
After nearly 5 years since the beginning of this thread, perhaps many of you have new ideas for listening to music and watching movies on airplanes.

I have just returned from London and although Virgin Atlantic is usually on time, in this case we were delayed for 3 hours leaving Heathrow, and circled Newark for nearly an hour before landing. Brutal. Their tiny video screens are very reflective, and the audio and headphones are horrific.

Listening to my iPod through (I confess!) Bose noise cancellation headphones was far better, but still not very good.

Therefore, I am thinking about dusting off my old Grado headphone amp, upgrading to the Sennheiser 450 noise cancelling headphones ($$$ but seem well made?), and perhaps a new laptop, now that ripping WAV files and decent video is so easy.

Battery life, laptop screen size and quality and weight are still the tricky variables, so it would be great to hear from any of you who have ideas on this.

Dont know if anyone has tried Headroom, but they seem to have a USB DAC which looks small enough for travel?

Thank you.
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