Question on 500E and DIVX Files

[lmtorres]

I hope that everyone had a great holiday and wish you all a Happy New Year. I usually lurk in the forums, gathering information and insights from those members with more experience than I (I'm pretty new to Dish), but now I have a new toy and could use some help.

I got the 500E for Christmas and am really enjoying it. Some of the interface is a bit clumsy (e.g., creating play lists on the device itself) and the user manual can be cryptic (e.g., playing non-DVR compatible files), but overall the unit is really great and will be well used during my many business flights. I find the picture great (as long as the screen is tilted properly), the sound clear w/headphones and the overall ease of use very good.

I read that the unit will also play DivX MPEG4 files and thought that might be a way for me to take some of my DVD collection on the road with me. I don't have much experience "ripping" DVD's so I did a Google on the subject and couldn't believe the amount of programs available. Because of my inexperience I'm really confused as to the best way to accomplish this. In addition, I've read that files synched to the 500E via WMP will automatically be converted to a compatible format. My questions are?

o Is there a good and fast program that will allow me to rip my DVD's to DivX so I can load them into the unit?

o Does anyone have experience with WMP and video file synching to the 500E? If so, can this program be used to move my DVD movies to the unit (I would only be interested in the main movie and not all the extra material)?

o In the 500E user guide I read that some movies (downloaded from my 942) may appear as more than one file because of the 500E's FAT32 file format file size limitation. It doesn't say what the file size limit is though. Does anyone know this information?

Since I'm a newbie I appreciate any advice you may have.

Thanks in advance,
Lou

 

[jbcheshire]

Not an expert but here is what I know....

o Is there a good and fast program that will allow me to rip my DVD's to DivX so I can load them into the unit?

No experience with this myself either... I have the program but haven't had a chance to play with it yet...

o Does anyone have experience with WMP and video file synching to the 500E? If so, can this program be used to move my DVD movies to the unit (I would only be interested in the main movie and not all the extra material)?

If all else fails you can connect the 500E to your DVD player and record the movies in real time.

o In the 500E user guide I read that some movies (downloaded from my 942) may appear as more than one file because of the 500E's FAT32 file format file size limitation. It doesn't say what the file size limit is though. Does anyone know this information?

I have the 700 and on mine it will split the files once they have reached 2gb in size. Which is about 2 hours of recoding time on the lower recording settings... You will have to play around to determine what looks best for you.

 

[lmtorres]

Thanks JBCheshire. I didn't even realize that I could connect directly to my DVD player. Even recording in real-time seems a lot better than some of the times required for ripping DVD's (according to what I've read). I'll give this a try.

Lou

 

[sullivbt]

lmtorres;

Best ripping SW, hands down, is DVD Decrypter. Google it to find a mirror.

Converting to MPEG4 can be done many differnet ways - you can use either the "DivX" codec (get the DivX Creator package from divX.com) or the XviD codec. Auto Gordian Knot is a slick, easy to use (but a little slow, however) program for transcoding to MPEG4 that allows you to use either of the above codecs.

Finally, if you are really interested in ripping, video formats and transcoding, then check out doom9.net and afterdawn. com - these are the two best resources on the intarweb for these topics.

 

[dfergie]

lmtorres;

Best ripping SW, hands down, is DVD Decrypter. Google it to find a mirror.

When you download it and install be sure it is set up not to check for new versions!

 

[jbcheshire]

If anyone finds a link for DVD Decrypter that still allows you to download it, can you please post here? Thanks!!

 

[dfergie]

There is a new program, Dvd Fab Decrypter, I have downloaded but not tried yet...(doom9.net)

 

[sullivbt]

jbcheshire

I keep an archived copy of the last released version of DVD Decrypter (3.5.4.0) on a thumb drive (for the obvious reason ). PM me w/ your email and I'll shoot you a copy (its a small file, less than a meg).