MikeyMike

Hi all,

Just joined this forum having read many threads over the last few weeks.

I purchased a hx4700 when I was in Hong Kong 3 weeks ago. Something seemed to be wrong when I 'fired-it-up' after arriving back to the UK as the Start Menu just seemed to continuously cycle from top to bottom. It stopped when I conducted a soft reset. I then installed beta-player (Version 5, the stably one!) and for clips under 3MB, they ran fine but anything around 20MB runs at such a snails pace that it's impossible to watch. What I'm really trying to find out is a) Is it Betaplayer or b) My new hx4700 is dodgy? (Some of the posts that I have read suggest other users have no problems with Betaplayer).

By the way - Keep up the good work

LJ50

Betaplayer is the best software I've actually put on my iPaq IMO. PI is good, but the native PIM would "do". WMP however would not do at all. Betaplayer has not stumbled on a signle thing I've tried to play and I have not seen the "green tint" issue that many people report. I have only used the "unstable" versions though and they've been very stable indeed.

Sorry to say I think there is a problem with your iPaq. However the good people on these boards are fantastic and if the problem can be fixed by you then some-one on here will tell you how!

Good luck!

MikeyMike

Originally Posted by LJ50

Betaplayer is the best software I've actually put on my iPaq IMO. PI is good, but the native PIM would "do". WMP however would not do at all. Betaplayer has not stumbled on a signle thing I've tried to play and I have not seen the "green tint" issue that many people report. I have only used the "unstable" versions though and they've been very stable indeed. Sorry to say I think there is a problem with your iPaq. However the good people on these boards are fantastic and if the problem can be fixed by you then some-one on here will tell you how! Good luck!

What a quick response. I think you have hit the nail on the head because as I was waiting for a reply, I joined the HP support 'interactive chat'. Those gys had me do a number of resets, charging & Uninstalling apps. and suggested that I give HP Warranty support a call in the morning.
As an aside, I've used Ipaqs for at least 4 years and this is the first problem that I've had albeit with an excellent number of responses from people like yourself.

Cheers! MikeyMike

LJ50

No problem, just sorry I wasn't able to help!

This is my first iPaq, but I did buy my Mum one a year or so ago (she hadmore use for one at the time than me) and I'm in my wee room at home surrounded by HP stuff, none of which I've had any problems with at all.... well none I haven't caused myself! ;-)

Good luck with Tech Support.

Driftless

I've been playing 400MB files for a few months now...try buying a storage card and put your files on those then try betaplayer.

Have you done a complete hard reset? i know that you said HP had you do some resets, were any of them holding 2 buttons and pushing reset at the same time?

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Tinker2000

Beta player works well...DivX files get the 'Green Tint' bug, but its still watchable...Encode your dvd's as xVid and you get no issues. No idea why..

Playing a 2Gb from Hitachi microdrive works fine playing it without issues (Dont use the microdrive buffering mode though)

Driftless

On the hx4700,

If you go to setting for video, you can deselect ITA Imageon Decoder, and just select ITA Imageon...the green tint bug goes away with no drop in performance.

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XTOF

The latest unstable release has an option for "green tint" correction for the IMAGE RADEON decoder.

By the way, as an intense user of BetaPlayer on hx4700, I can tell you that the most stable version is... the latest unstable ...

On my hx4700, the latest stable is blocking the system and needs constant soft resets...

JohnGlock

I have just begun to use Betaplayer, despite the lack of instructions in installing it.
I followed a tutorial from an Axim site athat was in a "MyPDA" on this site, and they have us use DVD Shrink before using PocketDivX. Is this necessary? I never hear it mentioned on the 4700 forum, only refernces to DivX and Betaplayer. Can I get a 4700'er's input, please?

gazpilot

Beta player is also the only program I've found that supports the sharp G.726 codec, so if you have a Panasonic dvd/hd recorder or a DV camcorder you can know watch recordings on your PPC

Driftless

Originally Posted by JohnGlock

I have just begun to use Betaplayer, despite the lack of instructions in installing it. I followed a tutorial from an Axim site athat was in a "MyPDA" on this site, and they have us use DVD Shrink before using PocketDivX. Is this necessary? I never hear it mentioned on the 4700 forum, only refernces to DivX and Betaplayer. Can I get a 4700'er's input, please?

Use Fairuse LE and betaplayer. Fairuse lets you rip and encode at the same time to either DiVX or XVid. and it's free!

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LJ50

Originally Posted by JohnGlock

I have just begun to use Betaplayer, despite the lack of instructions in installing it. I followed a tutorial from an Axim site athat was in a "MyPDA" on this site, and they have us use DVD Shrink before using PocketDivX. Is this necessary? I never hear it mentioned on the 4700 forum, only refernces to DivX and Betaplayer. Can I get a 4700'er's input, please?

John, DVD Shrink is the bit of software which extracts the video from the DVD.

It is also used by people to extract the files from a DVD which is copy protected, in order to create a back-up. So you only need DVDShrink if it's a copy protected DVD you are trying to encode.

Personally most of what I watch on the iPaq is recorded TV, which I then reencode using Pocket DivX Encoder.

Good Luck!

JohnGlock

Thank you both, glad to skip that step. Is this always such a slow process? It has taken acouple of hours for a 90 minute TV show. Am I missing out on some settings to make this faster?
Thanks again,
John

LJ50

No mate, I'm afraid that's just how long it takes. I think all the programs are that slow. Personally for other files (for the DivX player) I use VirtualDubMod and it takes just as long. I use Pocket DivX Encoder for iPaq files purely for the simplicity of the setup.

I usually do 2 or 3 files at a time (select add to list) and run it overnight with "Shutdown when finished" selected.

JohnGlock

Yeah, I thought that "Shutdown when finished" was a cue.
Thanks.
Oh, I'm trying to put some of my grandchilds DVD's on my 4705 before we fly off to Florida on Sunday; what is the best way to do this job?

Thank you, again,
John