While there are many reviews about netbooks after a few days of use, you hardly find any indication on how the person continues to use it. We all know that new toys are cool in the beginning, but how do new toys affect our habits after a certain period of time?

Over the years, I’ve used numerous devices for different purposes. My first true gadget was a 3com Palm Personal, which I later upgraded to a Pro, so I could use it with my cell phone (infrared) and use the internet on the go. I ten went on to a Handspring Visor Platinum. It was not until I got an iPaq 2210 PocketPC when I started getting into portable video and software development, and after a while, I was forced to get a few devices people requested support for. When I got a PSP, the iPaq was the first gadget that ended up in the drawer next to the Handspring. Due to the bigger screen, as well as the better video format, the PSP became my gadget of choice to watch movies on the go. Bulkier than the iPaq, but it made up for it with the bigger screen. When Apple came out with the first Video iPod (5G) I needed one to make DVD Catalyst work with it (I love this job) and opted for the 60GB model. Eventhough the iPod had a smaller screen, it replaced the PSP due to the storage size. It was great to carry around 1 device filled with more video content than I could watch in a week of non-stop viewing. 10 seasons of Friends, Southpark, Futurama etc, and still have lots of music on there to boot.Next came the Microsoft Zune 30. The first Zune. While it features a slightly bigger screen, it never managed to replace my iPod. The colors looked bad and washed out, and the Zune desktop software was (still is in my opinion) a resource hog and a pain to navigate. I picked it up, made it work with DVD Catalyst, and then it went straight to the gadget drawer.

After the Zune came the Apple iPod Touch. If you have used DVD Catalyst for a while, and followed the website(s) you know how much I love my iPod Touch. While it’s only the 8GB first model, it has replaced all my portable devices with it’s capabilities. It even replaced my computer for answering support questions at nights. Bigger screen, better video quality, and while not as much room as my 60GB iPod, it still has room enough to fit a season of 24 on it with room for a few apps.

Unfortunately, the one thing that caused me to look into a replacement for it is due to some “google labs” options I use in Gmail for providing support. While I type all support questions by hand, there are a few things that are always the same, so I use something called “canned responses” for those whenever needed. Reset DVD Catalyst to it’s defaults, and a thank you note for a PayPal purchase with the link (paypal doesn’t send these out by itself, so I have to do that manually). Unfortunately, for some reason, this did not work in gmail/safari on the iPod Touch, so for sending out those emails, I always had to go back to my computer to answer.

So, because of the Gmail issue, and because I wanted one since they came out, I picked up an Asus eeePC.

I wrote a few articles already on the eeePC, please refer to those for initial impressions, and impressions after a few weeks.

2 Months later.

The eeePC has settled in nicely into my life.

It has replaced my gadgets for the most part. It plays video’s in whatever format I have, and because it runs a full webbrowser (firefox) I have no issues using it for work-emails. During the day, it sits next to my development system, and I use it for emails and non-work stuff, such as checking certain websites for news (slashdot for example). During software testing, when my development system is basically in use, I use it for minor development stuff, and at nights, when I turn off my workstation, I close the screen of the eeePC to put it in standby, and have it close by when watching TV. Once in while I pick it up to check for support emails, or look something up about what’s on TV and such.

When I go somewhere, I usually take it with me, depending on where I have to go and what I have to do. It allows me to keep myself entertained, or do work (if an internet connection is available).

While it has a few games on it, the most used application on the eee is Firefox. It’s always open, and even when the netbook wakes up from standby, it responds fast.

Essential upgrades:

The only issues I have with the eeePC is the out-of-the-box performance and battery life.

I picked up the cheapest 8.9″ harddrive-version of the eeePCs, the 900HD, so it came with the smaller battery. I replaced that with one I picked up from eBay. The replacement battery ($60 or so) is quite big, and sticks out at the back, which is a bit annoying, but the increased batterylife is well worth it. With the defalt battery, it was not capable of playing 1 full movie. The battery ran out near the end of a 2hour movie. The new battery enables me to watch about 4 hours of videos.

The hard drive, while decent in size, was quite slow. The seagate 160gb I replaced with a 320GB 7200rpm Western Digital, and the whole system is a lot more responsive. Especially with Firefox getting bigger and bigger, and a virus scanner running in the background, the difference in speed is phenomenal.

The memory. The eee came with 1GB of memory, which is plenty for Windows XP, however, with the video card taking a share, as well as a few startup programs such as a virus scanner, you will notice a slowdown when you have a few programs running (or firefox with 10 tabs open) I expanded this to 2GB, and everything feels a lot smoother. Switching between running programs is a breeze.

The size:

The 8.9″ eeePC is just the right size for me. The screen is big enough to show me information I need and use without having to scroll, and the physical size of the device is just small enough to make it easy to pick up.

All in all, I’m quite satisfied with my $250 netbook, now if only it had a dual-core processor and a better video card. I hope they come out with a 9″ ION based netbook.

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.

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.

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

My eeePC 900HD came equipped with a basic 3-cell battery, which, when I put it through it’s first movie, is not capable to play a 2 1/2 hour movie on a single charge. Because of this, I’ve been putting some thought on what affects batterylife during playback, and how the viewing experience can be enhanced.

*Brightness: One of the first, most logical things to keep in mind is the screen brightness. The brighter the screen is set, the more power it drains, and as a result, the battery drain is quite significant. Reducing the brightness will increase battery life significantly.

*Networking: a wireless networking connection takes power to establish and maintain a connection, and continiously puts strain on the battery as well. Turning it off while watching a movie will save battery life tremendously.

*Drive activity: the location of where you have the movie, or if there are programs running in the background. A harddrive or a cd/dvd drive all have moving parts, and when used for video playback they will be continuously be running to be able to run the movie. A Solid State disk, or even a flash card will reduce power useage due to the lack of moving parts.

The above is quite obvious, however, what many people do not realize is that the format of the video makes a huge impact as well.

H264/AVC Video is very processor-demanding. Some of the lower-end systems might even have issues playing video files in this format properly, and on all portable systems available at this time, the processor will need to run at full-speed to be able to keep a fluent playback. On portable devices, such as Apple’s iPod and iPhone devices, some newer Windows Mobile devices, and the upcoming Netbooks with Nvidia chips in them feature hardware acceleration for this video format, which reduces the strain on the processor enough to eliminate the need to run at full speed.

DIVX AVI is less processor demanding, but depending on the version used (DIVX5/DIVX6/DIVX7), there is a difference. DIVX6 and 7 include additional features to improve quality, which also increases processor demand. The DIVX codec options also include quality enhancement filters, such as “deblocking” and “deinterlace” which also put additional strain on the processor, keeping it running at full speed.

XVID AVI is a bit less straining on the processor than DIVX, but the Windows installer (Koepie’s version) does include various options for quality enhancement that are enabled by default.

MPEG1 MPEG2 is considerably less processor demanding than any of the other formats. Even very old computers (Pentium 1, 166Mhz) are capable  of playback of these files, but due to the bigger file size of these files, the hard drive speed comes in to play.

Windows Media WMV Depending on the format itself (VC1, WMV9, WMV8, WMV7) the processor requirements differ greatly. VC1 is used for HD video content, and while it offers great quality, the processor useage is quite high as well. WMV9, the non-HD variant of VC1 is less demanding on the processor, while maintaining a good quality. WMV8 uses less than WMV9, and WMV7 uses less than WMV8.

H263 3GP This format is specifically designed for Cellphones, and requires very little processor power, but results in terible quality on bigger screens.

The way the files are created plays a big difference in performance requirements. Due to its initial design for “portable” devices, DVD Catalyst does not use any real “advanced” options (cabac,quantisizers, degaus etc) for it’s normal conversions. While the “HQ” profiles do use some of them, the default profiles are optimized for sped and compatibility, resulting in faster conversions at good quality. For playback this also assists in battery-life. A basic rule that can be used is that the faster the conversion completes, the less battery-power it will use. This rule does not really apply to people who use the latest systems with the CoreI8 50Ghz 32-core processors, but for the average computer user it is a fairly safe indication.

Besides the compression format itself, the other difference between these is that to maintain the same quality the file-size is directly affected. The higher the processor requirement, the smaller the resulting file can be while maintaining the same visual quality. With the same screen size resolution settings, a H264/AVC video file can be about half the size of an XVID file of the same quality, and an MPEG2 file will be about 4x as big as an XVID file on the same visual quality.

While the file-size would theoretically be an additional battery drain, most video player applications actually “stream” the file from the harddrive. They continuously read from the file to direct it to the screen. So in most cases, it does not matter if the file is big or small, because the drive that actually contains the video file is still used during the whole time you are watching the movie. To eliminate this, a video player application would need to have a memorybuffer that would load a portion of the movie, and then stop accessing the drive until it hits a certain percentage in the buffer so it can load the new data again. In this case, the file size does make a difference, because the bigger the file, the more times the buffer needs to be filled. at a buffer of 64MB, if we have an MPEG2 movie of 4GB in size, or a 3GP movie of 120MB in size, the difference is considerably. The 3GP movie will only need to fill the buffer twice, once every hour if we are talking about a 2 hour movie, while the MPEG2 movie will have to fill the buffer 64 times, or about once every 2 minutes.

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.

eeePC 900HD Desktop Screenshot

In the past, I looked at the Toshiba Libretto series, but these were too limited in specifications, and also at the Sony UX series, but these were too expensive. When the eeePC’s were announced with the low price and still decent specifications, they have been on my wish-list ever since. So, a few weeks ago, I spend some time looking at the various models, and to get an idea of the sizes, I visited the local computer store. The 900HD was on special, so I picked that one.

The specs are quite limited, especially the processor (900Mhz Intel Celeron) , but with some tweaks, I managed to get it running smoothly.

So, why do I need it?

You never “need” another computer. With my work with DVD Catalyst, I always “need” new toys, and the eeePC is no different. Right now its sitting next to an 13” Macbook and a 17” Dell laptop, so why would I need 3 laptops? The Dell and the Macbook are both used for development and testing. Usually one is running conversions, while the other is used for the rest of the work. The Macbook runs Windows Vista Ultimate (bootcamp) which is my main development platform. The Dell runs Windows XP Media Center, and besides TV recording tests, DVD and video conversion test, it’s the only machine I have that is capable of running “Fallout 3”.

As for the eeePC, its main use for me is portability. A few years ago, I only had the 17” Dell, and when my wife was in the hospital for a procedure, it was quite annoying to carry it with me every day. I stayed overnight with her, but had to go back home to feed the cats, shower, laundry etc. When I got the Macbook, this became easier, but again it was a little bit to carry around. The eeePC, and especially the 900-series (the 1000-series would defeat the purpose because it would be close to the size of the Macbook), is a lot easier to carry around. It would actually fit in my coat-pocket.

So, after two weeks of eeePC, what have I used it for so far?

The main use has been to check emails while watching TV at night. I use GMAIL, and a few Google Labs additions to handle my email. When someone purchases DVD Catalyst through the Paypal button on the Tools4Movies website, I use something called “Canned Responses”. It basically allows me to send a draft email as a reply, and I can keep sending this response over and over. Before the eeePC I used my iPod Touch to check emails, but for some reason, Canned Responses does not work, so whenever I had to use it, I had to go to a laptop, and send the response from there. With the eeePC, I can do it right away.

Besides the email-use, I have used the eeePC to watch a movie, while the wife was watching her own shows. Again, I used to do this with the iPod Touch, but the bigger screen just makes it a bit more comfortable. The thing I did not like was that the battery of the 900HD is not big enough to handle a 2 ½ hour movie.

Ofcourse, I have installed my development tools on the eeePC as well. The main reason why I wanted a small PC was so I could work wherever I wanted, and while the screen size is a limitation, the eee has assisted me already in troubleshooting some bugs with DVD Catalyst. For giggles, I installed DVD Catalyst 3.80 on it when I got it out of the box, and right away I ran into a minor problem with the output folder. On my other machines I did not experience this issue, but on the eee, it allowed me to figure out what was happening, and what I needed to do to fix it. In addition, running conversions on it actually exceeded my expectations. It’s not something I would recommend, but in lack of better options, it is good to know it actually does have a little bit of power to do it.

So, what do I have running on it?

Delphi 7. The development application used for DVD Catalyst

iTunes. Because I converted most of my collection for my iPod Touch.

Mozilla Firefox. I use Firefox for all my internet browsing, and by copying my profile over, I have it setup the same on all my systems.

LocationFree Player. I have a Sony LocationFree base station connected to my TiVo, and with the software, I can watch my TiVo from any location with internet access. I did not expect this to work properly because the video format used (H264/AVC) for it is quite processor-demanding, but it actually works really good.

Pocket Tanks. Classic artillery game, the best of it’s kind, and highly addictive.

Plants vs Zombies. The new Bejeweled/Peggle game from Popcap. Again, highly addictive.

Of course there is a bunch of other stuff on there, but the above is the main part of it.

First thing I did when I got it was replacing the harddisk. I had a 200GB 7200RPM harddisk as a spare, and decided that the 160GB 5400RPM harddisk would make a better spare, and that the faster harddisk would be better. Honestly, I have not seen much of a performance difference. As a test, I used the harddisk from the eeePC in my Dell, and Fallout 3 runs nice from it.

I played around with upgrading the memory, but with more memory I did not notice much performance gain either. Because I make use of the Hibernate feature, which writes the memory to disk, 2GB would actually slow things down for me.

I did a clean restore from the Asus DVD, which unfortunately is a Ghost image, and not an actual Windows XP install, and removed almost all the extra software that was installed. An old version of Adobe Reader, Skype etc. Then I installed Office 2007 on it, and did all the Windows Updates (it comes with ServicePack 2). Stuck AVG Free on it, and installed my own software needs. Then I did some tweaks by disabling services, restore, and a couple of registry hacks to boost performance. Tweaked Firefox to use the memory instead of the harddisk for cache, and as a last trick, I installed the “XP Royale” theme to make it look a bit nicer. The Royale Theme is an official Microsoft Theme for Windows XP that resembles the one used in Media Center.

And this is about it for 2 weeks of eeePC ownership.

I’ve been eyeballing these since they were first released, but with the struggles the last year with the website and stuff, I never managed to get to it. Finally friday I picked one up at the local store for $250. Cheap, but it does the job.

It’s main use is for me to be able to quickly answer support emails when I am not working. I used to use my iPod Touch for this, but with some features I use with Gmail (“canned responses”, for people who purchase with Paypal) the browser on the iPod Touch just doesnt work. I tried numerous things, including running “desktop mode” but it is just not supported on the iPod.

So, with a PC, small, but still running a full-blown windows-version, I can do what I need to do.

I chose the 8.9″” version mainly or its size. I use a 13″ macbook for development, next to a 17″ dell e1705, and both are a bit too big to lug around for appointments. For longer use, the eeePC is a bit too small for typing comfortably, but for something quick, it works just great.

I’m not too happy about the processor, a celeron 900mhz, but I guess I just have to accept the fact that I will not be using the eee as aditional conversion machine. It does convert better than expected though.

Ofcourse I already tried a few things with it that it is not intended for, but I will go into that with a later post.

What is LocationFree?

Sony’s LocationFree system is often compared to Slingbox. Both systems work as a box that sits between your TV signal and the internet. It enables you to watch the content of the connected device, it being either a DVR (Tivo), a Satellite receiver or a DVD player, and control it over an internet connection.

A couple of years ago, when I still used a PSP for video playback on the go, I stumbled upon information about LocationFree. The PSP has this feature build-in, and after doing some research to find out what it was, I decided to see what it was all about, and ordered a Base Station from eBay. The hookup was fairly simple. The LFB-20, the base station I have, features 2 RCA input connections, enabling it to connect 2 devices at once, and includes ports for IR-Blaster for each of the connections to be able to provide access to the functions of the device.

How do I use it?

The setup changed a bit throughout the years, It had our 2 Tivo’s (Series2) connected to it for a while, but currently, it’s hooked to just 1 Tivo (mine). I have given a friend of mine, located overseas, full access to it, to watch certain Sports that he could otherwise not watch. With the Tivo connected to it, the timezone difference is a non-issue, and because I don’t use the Tivo myself that much when I am home, he can record and watch all the shows he wants. For me, I use it whenever I am “stuck” in a location for a while, and do not have anything else to do. When my wife was in the hospital, we used it to catch up on some shows we missed, and she was also quite happy in being able to watch her favorite channels that the hospital TV ystem did not have. It takes a little while to get used to the few seconds of lag when skipping through the commercials, but all in all, it has proven to be very useful. Once everything is setup, it just works. Quality of the video is great, thanks to the use of the AVC format, and with the capability to actually change channels, it provides a perfect viewing experience for any location where you have internet access.