Does anyone know whether the Neuros MPEG4 Plus Recorder works and works easily to record programming for playback on the 770? It lookslike it might record directly to a MMC card to plug in for playback. Does it work and work that easily?
It doesn't appear the Neuros supports SDHC cards, which would be a fatal flaw for me, since it would limit you to 2gb cards or maybe the 4gb non-SDHC cards. When it comes to video, that isn't much space. There is a similar device from SanDisk that does support SDHC but, from the reviews, it sounds like the video quality isn't as good as the Neuros.
I have asked that same question before and got no answer. From the seat of my pants: Given the spectrum of decoders on the OSD and the availability of settings, I would be surprized if it couldn't be tweaked to produce Itablet-ready video.
Me, I'm now using my Archos PMA430 as a poor man's OSD (ironic, as the PMA new cost more than the Neuros OSD, but it has the advantage of an on-board 30GB hdd). However, I rarely record directly to a N800-friendly format; my recordings go on my hard disc/media server for TV playback and I always transcode for the N800.
Also, the PMA is a lot less user-friendly than the OSD: No card slot means that I have to unplug the PMA from its base station and hook it up to my PC or media hdd (that's the advantage of having a USB host port on a portable device) to transfer and/or edit recordings (VirtualDub is great for editing out commercials and stuff).
My media hdd is now a 500 GB CiBox. Still not enough room for everything, but it'll do until prices for 5 TB drives come down and I can bung a new one in.
Sidenote: It's amazing how quickly media recording and playback have evolved in our house; five years ago all we had was a crummy VCR and a cabinet full of slowly crumbling magnetic tape. In those five years I've gone through a DVD-recorder (which burned down!), a PVR with DVD-recorder and hdd and now, with the PMA, I've gone completely off DVDs. Later this year, fortune permitting, I can see a Neuros OSD (always go for the Open solutions!) beckoning. DVDs are nice because, if stored properly, they can last a decent amount of years, but I see no further use for them other than as backup medium.
I've did a few short recording using a Sandisk V-mate (with default low res Nokia phone output settings) and it works fine with a friends OS2007 N800 media player. I've not tried it with high res/bitrates (or with mplayer). It is VERY easy to use, just like a simple VCR. And is supports PAL and NTSC.
I've did a few short recording using a Sandisk V-mate (with default low res Nokia phone output settings) and it works fine with a friends OS2007 N800 media player. I've not tried it with high res/bitrates (or with mplayer). It is VERY easy to use, just like a simple VCR. And is supports PAL and NTSC.
The Sandisk V-Mate is indeed nice, and very easy to use. It's also a lot cheaper than a Neuros OSD, but I'd still go for the Neuros; the openness of its architecture has already generated many community-driven gems.
Still, if OSS wasn't an issue for me, I'd probably go for the V-Mate. So there.
However as Karel points out, I'd doubt one would record directly there.
It sorta is an issue for me, because I believe SDHC-compatibility is adamant these days. Then again, when the OSD came out, SDHC was still in it's (commercial) infancy and with the plethora of ports on the OSD, plugging in a USB SDHC card stick is a very viable alternative.
I just got this Neuros MP4 recorder.
I haven't tried using an SDHC card yet. I don't think I will since I have so many 1GB and 2GB cards lying about.
The UI sucks and the manual is near useless.
The video quality is superb on my N800.
4:3 video is really good. Played back fine on my N82 as well.
It has a PSP (368x208) setting for widescreen video.
The problem is that it cuts that picture out from a 4:3 feed.
I had to mess with my DVR to output a letterboxed 4:3 picture so nothing gets cut.
I'm quite happy with my purchase. I spent $80 on it. I would not pay the $170 price tag I saw on Amazon, though.
