Video Player Review

[zyxwv88]

I find it odd that the video player in the Pre seems to have had more thought put into it than the music player.

I have been pretty happy with the video player for the most part. It is limited to roughly the same formats that the iPhone is, although I wouldn't be surprised if we found support added for many other formats in the future.

The video player for the most part is quite good. You can use the same programs to convert video for your Pre as you can use for iPhone or the iPod Touch. You can then either copy the files into the Pre via the USB cable as a drive, or you can use iTunes to load it. iTunes is normally a good way to do it because it will let you know if you are trying to use a format that isn't supported.

Unlike the music player, the video player does keep track of where you were last at in your video. If you pause it and close it, or restart your phone, you can go back into your video and resume it from where you last left off.

All video is played in Landscape mode, so if you are wanting to watch anything in Portrait mode, you are out of luck. Although it isn't a big deal, sometimes it would be nice.

The slider bar on it is a bit disappointing. Although it's a reasonable size, it is very difficult to get any closer than 10-15 min of the location you want in a video. The slider bar isn't very accurate and it really should cover the entire width of the screen to help make up for the lack of precision in a touch screen.

The video quality is very good, and the audio quality is reasonably good as well. Audio is a touch lower than the iPhone or Touch, but not by very much. Although the screen is smaller than iPhone, you don't really notice because it isn't a big difference and the phone is more comfortable to hold while watching video anyways. It is just as sharp as iPhone as well.

Overall, I would rate the media player as above average. It doesn't have a lot of types of media it supports and the slider isn't as useful as it could be, but the bookmark feature and the base functionality is solid. It could use more bells and whistles to make it an outstanding media player, but it is still quite good.

[caj27]

I had someone email me a wmv file. I downloaded it and then tried to open it. I got an error: "Cannot find an application which can open this file."

I think a similar thing happened with a .docx file I was emailed.

[zyxwv88]

Yes, it doesn't currently support wmv. It's only h.264? Same format the iPod supports. I expect that to change some day.

[tri0xinn]

I have a friend with an iphone.. and he's got a ton of videos on it... can I connect to his Itunes and transfer just the vids to my pre? Or are there drm type stuff that won't let it copy ?

[jdale]

Originally Posted by zyxwv88

Yes, it doesn't currently support wmv. It's only h.264? Same format the iPod supports. I expect that to change some day.

You can use Handbrake to convert WMV and other videos to H.264. It's free.

[palmdoc2005]

Nice review. All the video format woes will be gone the moment VLC is ported to WebOS

[zyxwv88]

Originally Posted by tri0xinn

I have a friend with an iphone.. and he's got a ton of videos on it... can I connect to his Itunes and transfer just the vids to my pre? Or are there drm type stuff that won't let it copy ?

You could, but you have the same restrictions you do with any iPod. Basically if you sync your Pre to his iTunes, you won't be able to sync to your own iTunes.

Better to have him give you a copy of his vids and sync them yourself. (assuming they aren't DRM protected. Pre doesn't support the iTunes DRM)

[yoe]

VLC on web os.. now thats a dream.

[stevied3]

I just got my Pre and can't wait to sync some movies to it. My question is, what type of Ipod format/resolution is best for the Pre screen? Is it the Ipod Classic, Ipod Touch?? I know my software has different options to choose from when it converts .wmv files to .mp4 but didn't know if it mattered for the Pre?

[jwdv22]

Originally Posted by stevied3

I just got my Pre and can't wait to sync some movies to it. My question is, what type of Ipod format/resolution is best for the Pre screen? Is it the Ipod Classic, Ipod Touch?? I know my software has different options to choose from when it converts .wmv files to .mp4 but didn't know if it mattered for the Pre?

I use Handbrake software for Windows and the I-Phone "PRE"-set...

Look I know iphone blah blah blah, but it is just the easiest solution. If you have a huge problem with it being called iPhone, copy the settings to a new Preset called PreIsTheBomb.

[XTW]

Originally Posted by caj27

I had someone email me a wmv file. I downloaded it and then tried to open it. I got an error: "Cannot find an application which can open this file."

I think a similar thing happened with a .docx file I was emailed.

Has there been any progress on this issue? I am new to the Pre and love it except when people attach .wmv, .mpg, etc., it's frustrating not being able to open the attachments.

I have just downloaded and installed WebOSQuickinstall and downloaded some apps from Homebrew but did not find any that would seem to help my issue.

Any help would be appreciated.

Regards,

X