TV a Go-Go

HAND-HELD PACKAGES

It’s hard to know just what kind of devices we have anymore, at least in the hand-held variety. The lines have been blurred between music, video, phone, personal assistant, internet, games and GPS.

If you’ve made your purchase of a new hand-held device recently, then it’s likely your new toy can do many, if not all the same functions available on most any devices nowadays. In the case of the Sony PSP (Playstation Portable) this gaming platform has been made to support VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol). The hand-held gaming market has sought to enhance their products with alternate uses for their technology. This has been a repeated motif in technology; to the extent that it is hard to tell what you have access to anymore.

Portable GPS (Global Positioning System) units often times support music and video playback.

INDISPENSABLE DEVICES

I often find myself on the road, and it was on one of these trips that I began to wonder just how much access I have to video playback?

I have three basic tools I never leave the house without. Music playback, cell phone, and my hand-held gaming console. On each device, when I thought about their features, I had access to video playback.

My hand-held gaming console seems obvious to want to playback video on. Yet, while we do seem to have access to media beyond our greatest imagination, not all these devices are created equally.

Sure, they can all play video, but it’s not as easy as you’d think. Why? Well, video playback requires that the file types be compatible with the player that you are using. Each of these individual hand-held devices often come with their own proprietary programs. This can make transferring information between these systems very difficult.

DECIDING FACTORS

One of the most common file types for movies is .avi, while they are a multitude of others this is the current format that I try to keep my media in.

If you want to be able to watch Family Guy on the go, then you want to know that you will have access when you need it most. File type will have a direct relationship to the amount of memory space used by that file type. In the same way battery life of your device is affected by how much information it is expected to load into memory.

My hand-held gaming system has the best screen, but it can not support the file types I prefer, nor can it handle prolonged playback.

In the moments when travel is getting me down, knowing that my music playback device also can handle ten episodes of my favorite half hour comedy keeps me happy.