[shortspark]

I am thinking of buying the Archos AV500 PocketDish PVR for Christmas. However, this unit has been around for a couple years and I am wondering if Archos has any plans to upgrade it for HD recordings or other improvements. Anyone know?

 

[Kentstater]

Look at the 604.

 

[shortspark]

Look at the 604.

Thanks for the tip. I looked at the CNET reveiw and Amazon user reviews and they were generally very, very good. The 604 is suppose to be the successor to the AV500. The PocketDish is a converted AV500(e) which records directly from most Dish receivers DVRs. The difference is that the PocketDish has the ability to record saved programs at very fast speeds rather than recording in real time (which I believe the 604 must do). For me, it would be important to have the fast record speed from Dish receivers, even if I don't get HD capability.

 

[kmcnamara]

Curious why HD would matter. With a screen that small, SD and HD look the same.

 

[ssmith10pn]

I have the 7" model and the 622 receiver.

1 hour of SD is 1 gig
1 hour of HD is 7 gig

It will not allow you to transfer HD.
I found this out when my Locals converted to HD. Didn't know they would make the remapped channels the HD channels so I had to delete all of my schedules and redo them in the 8000s.

 

[P Smith]

Not before Archos will begin use 1280x720 screen.

 

[JohnL]

Curious why HD would matter. With a screen that small, SD and HD look the same.

kmcnamara,

Several reasons; 1) So you don't have record two version of the same programing on your 622, one for on your BIG screen, and one to travel with on your PocketDish
2) When programing is only available in HD you wouldn't be able to watch it or your PocketDish 3) Being able to get a MUCH higher quality if not HD picture on a TV you connect your PocketDish too when you travel with it.

We all know that Downrezzed HD is going to look much better than SD picture quality is on the Dish Delivered SD Channels, especially if you connect your PocketDish to a TV someplace else other than your Home, ie Hotel, Friends House etc...

John

 

[kmcnamara]

Yeah, didn't think about the connection to a TV issue so that makes sense. I still say that SD vs. HD isn't going to be noticeably different on a tiny screen.

 

[shortspark]

You guys are correct. I did want HD if possible for just the reason JohnL said - so I can hook it up to my brother's HDTV when I visit him. It is not crucial but it would be nice. What IS crucial is that I have the ability to record directly from my 622 in much faster than real time. I still don't know for sure if they will come out with a real 604 "PocketDish" that will do what the AV500 PocketDish will do.

 

[Stewart Vernon]

I think one of the things that currently will prevent PocketDish from supporting HD is the hard drive space required. It can be anywhere from 6-10 to 1 space requirements for HD over SD... so in order to keep the PocketDish small and affordable, there will likely be a lag in technology over more expensive/less portable equipment.

I don't know what size hard drives are in the PocketDish right now... but I suspect they are not large enough to hold very much HD content even just to use to display on a larger HDTV rather than the small screen on the unit itself.

Probably not a cost-effective thing to design them with larger capacity hard drives... even though hard drives for normal computers are dirt cheap for big drives... keeping them small for this tiny PocketDish usually is a lot more expensive.

Would be nice to see... but we may be too early in the design/feasibility/cost stages to see it happen anytime soon, and by "soon" I mean 1-2 years.

 

[ssmith10pn]

You guys are correct. I did want HD if possible for just the reason JohnL said - so I can hook it up to my brother's HDTV when I visit him. It is not crucial but it would be nice.

The output is only Composite on the pocket dish. No way that will come close to obtaining HD on the big screen.

 

[David_Levin]

I think one of the things that currently will prevent PocketDish from supporting HD is the hard drive space required. It can be anywhere from 6-10 to 1 space requirements for HD over SD... so in order to keep the PocketDish small and affordable, there will likely be a lag in technology over more expensive/less portable equipment.

If only the HDD was the only issue.

Pocket Dish just doesn't have the horsepower to deal with 1080 or 720p souce material. It's simply not within the capability of the internal scaler. Must be converted before going to the HDD (like real-time capture from SD source).

Also, don't get too excited about the 604. It's max source resolution is 720x480.

From the Owners Manual:
http://www.archos.com/products/video/archos_604/download.html?country=us&lang=en

MPEG-4 ASP (IPB) and stereo sound up to 720x480 @ 30 f/s (NTSC)

Spec sheet says "Up to DVD Resolution".
http://www.archos.com/products/video/archos_604/tech_specs.html?country=us&lang=en

 

[Paradox-sj]

I agree that with the size of the screen the source really doesnt matter. The point is for example...If I record Lost either OTA or MPEG4 HD....the older PD could not convert that to a formatdisplayable.

 

[chriscpmtmp]

It really would me nice to have something on my pocket dish without the dumb bars. A downrez of an HD recording would be great. I'm sure the 622 could do the processing. Chris

 

[shortspark]

It really would me nice to have something on my pocket dish without the dumb bars. A downrez of an HD recording would be great. I'm sure the 622 could do the processing. Chris

Are you saying that you can not "stretch" the picture to fill the Pocketdish screen?

 

[chriscpmtmp]

Are you saying that you can not "stretch" the picture to fill the Pocketdish screen?

So far I have not found a stretch. But even so, a stretch isn't the same as a 16x9 frame, regardless of the resolution.

 

[saltrek]

Just an FYI even though it isn't what you're looking for - there is an option to "fill the screen" while you are viewing a recorded event.