DivX review

Burn and watch from one device to another

9 February 2007 14:42 GMT / By Stuart Miles

The Sony HandyCam with its record, burn and watch mentality is great, why shouldn't we have the ability to record something and then watch it on something else other than the small screen on the device in front of us.

DivX is offers the same functionality, but without the need to burn anything on a DVD disk.

For those not in the know, DivX is widely known as the MP3 of video, allowing you to shrink digital video – DVDs and home videos – without compromising their visual quality.

DivX software gives you everything you need to backup your personal DVDs and convert your videos to DivX. Simply convert, burn to a disc and play videos in your DivX Certified product. You can fit up to eight DivX movies on one DVD.

Today, over 50 million DivX Certified products have been sold, with lots of manufacturers now offering DivX ready devices from portable DVD players to digital cameras we tested played with the DivX compatible Pentax Optio A20 and the Toshiba SD-P1410 portable DVD player.

Record a movie, slip the SD Card out of the camera, slot it into the player and press play it's as easy as that.

Because both devices have been DivX certified both understand the format automatically and there is no need to transfer the file to a computer, output it to a certain format and then transfer it back onto the card before you play.

If only the iPod or PSP supported DivX then you wouldn't have to worry about doing what's described above every time.

Of course if you do want to load it on to your computer you can and the company offers a free DivX player, which is downloadable from its site.

There is also a converter application that allows you to convert files to the DivX format by dragging and dropping them on to the application and it's very easy to do. There's even a web player so you can view other DivX videos on webpages.

There are of course problems - if you’re a QuickTime user you'll have to download the DivX codec if you want to play the file format in your QuickTime player and not all DVD players, be it portable or under the TV, support the format.

Verdict

DivX has over the past couple of years grown to be a format of choice of the tech arena to a format that would make a good choice for all users.

For most of us we don't care what format stuff records in, only is it compatible with what we want to do with it. If you are looking to record and then watch straight away it's worth checking out the DivX eco-system. Because it really is straight forward.

Score

Review Recap

Price as reviewed: £free
The good: Allows you to record and then play straight away, small files sizes, watch video full screen on your computer
The bad: Only works with certain devices
Quick verdict: If you are looking to record and then watch straight away it's worth checking out the DivX eco-system
Score