First We Had Portable Music Now Thanks To The Ipod We Can Take Videos With Us

Writen by Gregg Hall

The newest iPod models are video capable. Talk about never leaving a good thing alone. Apple decided to add video to the device's many features. You can now watch your favorite movie on your iPod video. However, you'll have to convert it to a form your iPod can understand. This is called encoding. This may not sound strange to those of you who have a PSP. This is because it uses the MPEG 4 format for its video files. There is nothing difficult about encoding. I'll walk you through the process so you can start watching those videos wherever you want.

You'll need QuickTime Pro 7 or a later version. With it you can encode your video to the MPEG 4 format that your iPod will understand and play. It is a pretty straightforward process. Download it if you don't have it or if you have a version older than 7. Once you're through with the installation, open it and click on File and Choose Open File. Export the video after you have selected the movie, home video or whichever video recording you intend to watch on your ipod. Now make sure you choose the 320 x 240 resolution. That's the resolution that your iPod can handle. The next step now is for you to simply click Save. You'll see how the encoding is going from a bar that comes on once you save.

Once the process is completed, you'll see the movie on your desktop or anywhere else you specified. You now need iTunes not older than version 6 to load it onto your iPod. All you have to do then is to make sure your iTune synchronizes with your computer. You can then play the movies of your choice with ease.

Take note of this: your encoding time will depend on the length of your video. Longer videos will take longer while shorter videos will take less time. The configuration of your computer will also determine the time this process takes. You don't expect a 1 gigabyte processor with a 256MB RAM to do the job as fast as your friend's 3 gigabyte duo processor with 2GB RAM.

You can take the whole iPod video thing to another level by watching it on your standard TV. For this you'll need an AV cable, then go to your iPod video's options screen from Video then Video Settings and choose how you want your iPod to play back your movies. You have several options: TV out, TV signal and Wide screen. Choose the TV out option and select Yes. If you choose otherwise you won't be able to watch the movie on your TV.

Now your movies can go with you wherever you go. Have a nice time but, please, never turn on the iPod video while driving for your safety and others.

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find more about this as well as high tech gadgets at http://www.shop4gadgetsplus.com.