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Purchase DVD Catalyst 3

Mitch — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:14:59 +0000

DVD Catalyst 3

Faster, easier and more features than ever before

Watch a DVD on your iPod, iPhone, Pocket PC, Zen, Zune or any other video-capable device with one click.

DVD Catalyst 3 is the most advanced, feature-rich DVD conversion tool on the market today, and besides the standard features found in similar products, it offers numerous industry-first features to make it as easy to use as possible.

$19.95 $9.95

Convert DVD to your iPod, your iPhone, Pocket PC, Zen, Zune and more in a breeze. DVD Catalyst is the most advanced, feature-rich DVD conversion tool on the market today, and besides the standard features found in similar products, it offers numerous inductry-unique features to make it as easy to use as possible.

DVD Catalyst enables you to convert your own DVD collection to a format that can be played on a video-capable device that does not normally play DVDs. It creates video files from DVDs that are compatible with many different devices, including Apple’s iPod and iPhone devices, Blackberry, Pocket PC, PSP, XBOX 360, PS3, Zen and Zune.

Besides converting DVDs, it can also convert video files from and to a variety of different video formats, without the need to install codecs. No additional software is required for DVD Catalyst to do it’s thing.

Features

Multi-Award Winning, DVD Catalyst has won major awards for every major version released.
Works without the need to install additional software. (for some devices (PocketPC, Android) a decent (free) video player applicationmight need to be installed.
Converts recorded DVD, as well as commercial Movie and TV show DVDs.
Converts DVDs using a “track” system, which displays all the video content on the DVD, including special features, trailers and easter-egg tracks.
Supports subtitles, language selection and Closed Captions
Converts ‘on-the-fly’, no huge storage space is needed, only the filesize estimated for the created video files.
Supports ‘batching, multiple DVD drives, multiple video files, or a mix thereof are all converted in order. Add as many as you want, and let DVD Catalyst run overnight.
Supports ‘profiles’, create your own custom settings, and save them as profiles for quick access.
Supports ‘multi-device’, only DVD Catalyst enables you to queue up multiple different devices. Everything will be converted for all selected devices.
Automatic DVD, DVD Catalyst detects new DVDs on insert, and ejects them when done.
Folder monitor, DVD Catalyst can scan selected folders for new files, and select them for conversion.
Automation options, most of DVD Catalyst’s options can be set to automatically perform certain tasks, such as language/subtitle selection and black bar removal.
0-Click. DVD Catalyst can be configured to run completely without any clicks. Insert a DVD, and it will convert it, new files found in a folder will be converted, subtitles, languages etc, all can be set automatically.
Proven to be stable and fast and does not require additional software.
Includes profiles for ALL the common devices (190+), and new ones are added on a regular basis.

System Requirements

IBM-compatible PC with a minimum 500 MHz Pentium-class microprocessor and 128 MB RAM
Windows 2000/XP/XP64/VISTA/VISTA64/7
40 MB hard-disk space + space for the created files

DVD Catalyst 3 supported formats

Mitch — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:39:23 +0000

Because DVD Catalyst uses the opensource mplayer/mencoder tools for it’s conversion engine it can read and create a huge number of video formats.

DVD Catalyst can read (convert) the following video files and formats:

DVD: Recorded as well as commercial (rental/store bought) DVDs.

DVD ISO: ISO files in a variety of different file formats. (usually backups of DVDs created using other software).

DVD FOLDER: Folders containing VOB and IFO files. (usually backups of DVDs created using other software).

SVCD/VCD: Commonly used in Asia, or backups created from DVD using other software.

MKV: Anime / BRrips etc.

DIVX/XVID/AVI: DVD rips (DVD backups), internet downloads etc.

MPEG1/M1V/MPEG2/M2V/VOB: Recordings (Camera/TV Card), DVD backups etc.

WMV / DVR-MS / VC-1: Windows Media formatted files, Media Center recordings etc.

AVCHD / MTS / M2TS / MT / TS / TP / M2T / M2P/ TRP : HD Camera recordings. Some formats work already, however, better support will be added in 3.82.

OGM : Open-source video format (Anime).

MOD : MPEG2-based video camera recordings.

FLV : Flash Video, video from websites like YouTube.

3GP / 3G2 / AMR / H263 : Cellphone camera recording format.

M4V / MP4 / MPEG4 SP : MPEG 4 Simple Profile, used for some camera recordings.

MOV / MP4 / MPEG4 AVC / H264 / x264 : MPEG4 Advanced Coding Profile, HD video format used in BluRay(rips), HD TV recordings, iPod/PSP optimized files.

And more (most of the ones listed here)

If for some reason DVD Catalyst ignores the files you add, you can use the “Add file(s)” button which lets you bypass the file-extension check. DVD Catalyst will try and access the file as a video file, and if it can do something with it, it will enable it for conversion.

DVD Catalyst can write (create) video files using the following formats:

H264 MP4 : The best-quality video format at this time. Used for all HD content, including Apple iTunes video and BluRay.

h264_ipod : DVD Catalyst h264 format, with specific settings for compatibility with Apple’s devices. It is also the most compatible H264 format, and is playable on most devices that can play H264 video.

h264_ipod_hq : DVD Catalyst h264 format, settings optimized for quality, while retaining compatibility with most devices.

h264_appletv : DVD Catalyst h264 format with specific settings for AppleTV, outdated, use h264_ipod instead.

h264_appletv_hq : DVD Catalyst h264 format with specific settings for AppleTV, outdated, use h264_ipod_hq instead.

h264_5.1 : DVD Catalyst h264 format with 5.1 audio. only for PC playback, not compatible with any known device. (.mov)

h264_5.1_hq : DVD Catalyst h264 format with 5.1 audio. only for PC playback, not compatible with any known device. (.mov)

h264_5.1_mp4 : DVD Catalyst h264 format with 5.1 audio. only for PC playback, not compatible with any known device. (.mp4)

h264_5.1_hq_mp4 : DVD Catalyst h264 format with 5.1 audio. only for PC playback, not compatible with any known device. (.mp4)

h264_xbox : DVD Catalyst h264 format specifically for XBOX360, not compatible with any other device. (.avi)

h264_xbox_hq : DVD Catalyst h264 format specifically for XBOX360, not compatible with any other device. (.avi)

h264_ps3 : DVD Catalyst h264 format specifically for Sony PS3, not compatible with any other device. (.avi)

h264_ps3_hq : DVD Catalyst h264 format specifically for Sony PS3, not compatible with any other device. (.avi)

h264_psp : DVD Catalyst h264 format specifically for Sony PSP, not compatible with any other device. (firmware 3.10+)

h264_psp_hq : DVD Catalyst h264 format specifically for Sony PSP, not compatible with any other device. (firmware 3.10+)

h264_psp2 : DVD Catalyst h264 format specifically for Sony PSP, not compatible with any other device. (firmware 2.00+) This format is very picky in file naming, folder location on the PSP, and is not recommended for use at all. Upgrade your PSP, and use the other format for better quality.

MPEG4 SP : Less demanding video format (older devices)

mpeg4_ipod : Most compatible MPEG4 SP format, compatible with most devices that can handle MPEG4-SP. Used in “Fast” profiles for Apple iPod / iPhone / Apple TV due to better performance on older computers. Less quality though.

mpeg4_psp : DVD Catalyst MPEG4 format specifically for Sony PSP, not compatible with any other device. (firmware 1.00+) This format is very picky in file naming, folder location on the PSP, and is not recommended for use at all. Upgrade your PSP, and use the other format for better quality.

amv_mp2 : specific video format for cheap Asian mp4 video players. (.amv)

Audio MP3 : Converts any DVD or video file to an MP3 audio file. (.mp3)

flv_mp3 : Creates video files in Flash Video format, compatible with internet websites and flv players.

H263 / 3GP / 3GP2 : Low quality video format for processor-limited devices (cellphones)

3gp1_aac: basic 3gp video file, compatible with most cellphones such as Nokia and Motorola (.3gp)

3gp1_aac_mp4: 3gp video file with .mp4 file extension used for Sansa Connect.

3gp1_amr-nb: basic 3gp video file, most compatible with anything that can play 3gp files (.3gp)

3gp1_amr-wb: variation of the above, using slightly modified settings, not used.

3gp2_aac: 3gp2 video file format(.3g2), not used.

AVI / MPEG4 ASP

msmpeg4_mp3 : basic AVI video file, requires no codec install on computers that have Windows Media Player 7 or higher installed. Used by DVD Catalyst for inbetween file for some video formats.

divx_mp3 : divx encoded avi file, optimized for Nokia Internet Tablets

divx4_mp3 : divx4 video file format, used for some older Epson, Blackberry and Creative Zen models.

divx4_copy : divx4 video format with the original audio left untouched. Not used.

divx5_mp3 : divx5 video file format, compatible with any device capable of (Certified) DIVX playback.

divx5_copy : divx5 video format with the original audio left untouched. Used for some HQ profiles.

divx5_mp3_cam : special conversion format, recommended to be used for low quality conversions, such as cellphone recordings to another format. Using any other format with these kinds of files might fail conversions.

divx5_mp3_palm : special conversion format specifically intended for use with older PalmOS devices.

xvid_mp3 : opensource version of DIVX, compareable to divx5_mp3.

xvid_mp3_sansa : xvid format with specific settings for the Sansa Fuse.

xvid_mp2 : xvid video format with mp2 audio, usable for some older devices. Not used by DVD Catalyst at this time.

xvid_copy : xvid video format with the original audio left untouched. Used for some HQ profiles.

MPEG / MPG

mpeg2_mp2 : Standard MPEG2 video format with MP2 audio

mpeg2_mp2_hq : Standard MPEG2 video format with MP2 audio with additional quality settings enabled

mpeg2_copy : Standard MPEG2 video format with original source audio

mpeg2_mp2_hq : Standard MPEG2 video format with original source audio with additional quality settings enabled

and more

Archos 9 TabletPC

Mitch — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:46:02 +0000

The fully-tactile MiniPC

After going through my daily news website collection, I stumbled upon an announcement from Archos (the PMP company, not the Sony DVD protection)

http://www.archos.com/products/nb/archos_9/index.html

It’s running Windows 7, (which means it will be a little while before release) which makes it quite interesting already, but the estimated pricing of around $500-600 makes it a perfect little device to work on the go.

What better innovation for a MiniPC than to get rid of keyboards?

ARCHOS once again is leading the way in innovation, with the introduction of the MiniPC of the future, the ARCHOS 9PCtablet. The ARCHOS design team has coupled groundbreaking design with the most advanced technologies, by leveraging their expertise from the design of the Internet Media Tablets. The new PC combines the performance of a high end PC with breathtaking aesthetics, excellent ergonomics and a tactile interface that ARCHOS has built their reputation on. Pure lines, extreme thinness (0.63”), less than 800g and a stunning black finish, the ARCHOS 9 pushes the boundaries of elegance and simplicity on a MiniPC, fulfilling all expectations of the most mobile users.
Intuitive and easy to use, the ARCHOS 9 delivers an unrivalled user experience, and is set to replace the traditional computer. Without a physical keyboard, it provides a virtual keyboard, very easy to use on the the resistive touchscreen, and has an optical trackpoint to let you surf the web, communicate, work and entertain anywhere.

The ARCHOS 9 incorporates the new Intel® ATOM™ Z515 processor, an 80 GB¹ hard disk, Bluetooth to tether wireless accessories, and 2 antennas to receive DVBT TV with diversity reception.

And what’s more, the ARCHOS 9 is running Microsoft® Windows 7, the latest version of the most commonly used operating system in the world.

The ARCHOS 9 provides all the power and comfort needed for daily usage.
It combines an impressive performance and a rich multimedia experience to deliver the most advanced PC in the world. Be ready to discover it.