n_maher Posted January 25, 2011 Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 Get a client that can play H.264 mkv's natively. e.g. http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=320 There are many others iPeople may want to install http://www.perian.org/ (http://www.perian.org/#detail) I don't really want another device/remote/thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grahame Posted January 25, 2011 Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 I don't really want another device/remote/thing. Isn't partial convergence wonderful? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherwood Posted January 26, 2011 Report Share Posted January 26, 2011 My computer is kind enough to go out and find Top Gear for me, download it, name it properly and tick a little box for me that it's here and I've not yet watched it. All that without logging my IP, and at an average DL speed of 1.5 MB/s. I do it the same way Grahame does it: Usenet (try the handy search string "Top Gear" (and optionally "720p" if thats your fancy) at places like binsearch.info or nzbclub.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwood Posted January 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2011 (edited) I gave up on trying to stream, convert, transcode, etc to anything like a WDTV Live, Xbox 360, PS3, etc a long time ago. (although the WDTV Live worked quite well, it's the slow and awkward UI that I didn't like) Ended up building a dedicated HTPC for under $200 with buying the cheapeast new mobo, cpu, and video card (emphasis on the video card) that could handle full 1080P h.264 and VC1 codecs. The rest was whatever spare PC parts I could scrounge up. No more headaches of playback, using Media Player Classic - Home Cinema, it plays back 99.9% of what I want it to perfectly. Yeah, it's nice to have a video game system like XBox 360 or PS3 do more than just play games, but it's just too much of a hassle with a limited user interface that you have to fight with anyways. Edited January 29, 2011 by Edwood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwood Posted January 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2011 I've been using handbrake to do the conversion but it's been unreliable at best, any suggestions? And it's slow as frack as well even on seemingly powerful compys. Which version of Handbrake are you using? v 0.9.5 for Windows 7 (x64) works great for me. I was having a lot of crashes with Handbrake before, but turned out that one of my CPU cores was degraded too much for the undervolt level I had. So I had to crank up the vCore a bit and it's all good now. Handbrake pretty much uses 100% cpu and cores. Will fully stress the system, so if there's anything not working 100% in your system, Handbrake can and will often fail as a result. Had to run Prime95 and Memtest to figure out which part was failing. My aged E8400 C2D at 3.6GHz takes about 2.75 - 3 hrs to downconvert a 2hour 1080P h.264 file to a 720P x.264 file. That's with maxing out 2 cores. When I get my dead Core i7-920 @4GHz sysyem back up and running I'd like to see how much faster it will do the same conversion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n_maher Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 Which version of Handbrake are you using? v 0.9.5 for Windows 7 (x64) works great for me.Same. It's mostly been fine but the last transcode that I did had audio issues mid-way through which truly sucked to find while trying to watch the show. My aged E8400 C2D at 3.6GHz takes about 2.75 - 3 hrs to downconvert a 2hour 1080P h.264 file to a 720P x.264 file. That's with maxing out 2 cores. I can do a 720p mkv to mp4 trans in about 2 hours or so, which is just too damn slow even if it is reasonable. Finally today I tracked down the right software to do what Jacob suggested which is to simply unpack the mkv to mp4 without altering the video stream. Even if I have to change the audio stream this seems to take less than 10 minutes for a 2hr movie which is just awesome. No more crappy DVD-sized rips of Top Gear for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n_maher Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 I also found a program to split large mp4s to make them ps3 friendly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwood Posted January 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 (edited) I love it when a plan gets together. <cue the music> I'm kind of pissed because the overpriced paperweight of my i7-920 system is a complete dead end either way (stupid socket 1366). I've been eyeing a fancy new i5-2500K system... I'm curious as to how much faster it would encode video. Edited January 30, 2011 by Edwood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grahame Posted January 31, 2011 Report Share Posted January 31, 2011 Well, yes, it is slightly turbocharged Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emelius Posted January 31, 2011 Report Share Posted January 31, 2011 I really wanted to see that Caterham Superlight used in a challenge, but still really enjoyed the episode... thought they were going to have a high roller to drive that Ferrari...someone who could afford the insurance:)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Sawyers Posted January 31, 2011 Report Share Posted January 31, 2011 that was a pretty awesome Transit van. Jeez yes. That was a Jaguar XJ220 engine. 3.5 litre V6, twin Garrett turbos, 540 bhp and 475 lbft torque. Must have come out of a wrecked XJ220. Only 280 ever made, a fair number must have ended up wrapped round a tree in the last 17 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manaox2 Posted January 31, 2011 Report Share Posted January 31, 2011 I'm kind of pissed because the overpriced paperweight of my i7-920 system is a complete dead end either way (stupid socket 1366). I've been eyeing a fancy new i5-2500K system... I'm curious as to how much faster it would encode video. What was the problem with it? I don't have much of an urge to upgrade from the i7 920 for a while, its pretty smoking fast overclocked fully stable and cool to 3.2Ghz with hyper-threading still on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Sawyers Posted January 31, 2011 Report Share Posted January 31, 2011 thought they were going to have a high roller to drive that Ferrari...someone who could afford the insurance:)... Last series Chris Evans, a British radio DJ was on as the star in a reasonably priced car. He's stupidly wealthy having bought a company from Richard Branson and then sold it for a massive sum of money. Although he looks like a real plonker, he's a very savvy businessman. He went to a car memorabilia auction a few years ago intending to buy a signed photograph of some famous racing driver - but could not resist the temptation of buying James Coburn's 250GTO for a hammer price of £12m. Now that is serious folding money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emelius Posted February 6, 2011 Report Share Posted February 6, 2011 saw this over on reddit... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grahame Posted February 7, 2011 Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 (edited) ^ Edited February 7, 2011 by Grahame Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emelius Posted February 12, 2011 Report Share Posted February 12, 2011 last week, during one of their stints showing unedited versions, bbc america hd showed the very recent episode where the comedian from liverpool got top spot...they were giving the episodes 120-140 minute time slots...now, of course, they're back to their usual antics... anyuways, they did mention that seasons 14 & 15 will be available for purchase on dvd & blu-ray (yes!) february 15th...my brother will probably buy some for himself...& a lotta my friends still don't even have blu-ray players...get 'em for my dad...myself...five copies for my mother... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwood Posted February 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2011 What was the problem with it? I don't have much of an urge to upgrade from the i7 920 for a while, its pretty smoking fast overclocked fully stable and cool to 3.2Ghz with hyper-threading still on. Dead motherboard in that sytem. I've got the 17-920 up to 3.8GHz stable now. I think 4GHz was a little to ambititious. Of course now that I swapped the mobo, Windows 7 activation is giving me the middle finger and won't let me reactivate despite it being a RETAIL upgrade verion. I'll be returning the middle to M$hit by installing a non-genuine version that works with no problems, unlike the ones I've actually paid real money for. Oh, and Top Gear rulz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cankin Posted February 12, 2011 Report Share Posted February 12, 2011 Of course now that I swapped the mobo, Windows 7 activation is giving me the middle finger and won't let me reactivate despite it being a RETAIL upgrade verion. I'll be returning the middle to M$hit by installing a non-genuine version that works with no problems, unlike the ones I've actually paid real money for. Oh, and Top Gear rulz. Did you install Win7 UPGRADE to a brand new HDD? If so, the trick is to NOT enter your product key during installation. After installing for the first time, reboot and reinstall again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wmcmanus Posted February 12, 2011 Report Share Posted February 12, 2011 I'd advise against calling an Ariel a go kart should Wayne come 'round. Hadn't seen that episode until I was in Mayberry. Really nice for Ariel in terms of publicity. The guys at the Atom Club are all excited about it because it seems to have created a lot of interest in Atoms in general, so their "residuals" are looking better (UK talk for resale value). Not that I'll ever sell mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwood Posted February 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2011 Did you install Win7 UPGRADE to a brand new HDD? If so, the trick is to NOT enter your product key during installation. After installing for the first time, reboot and reinstall again. Yeah, I did the usual double tango install initially. I managed to call Microsoft and get it reactivated. But needless to say, next time I reinstall or build a new PC, I won't be using my legit keys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Sawyers Posted February 13, 2011 Report Share Posted February 13, 2011 I was just talking to my brother-in-law Steve about the Clarkson/Mexico international incident, and Clarkson's beautiful not-apology. We got onto insults of the same sort - like the "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" by Groundskeeper Willie about the French that was in the Simpsons back in '95. Anyway, Steve pointed out that you get an interesting result is you type "Famous French Victories" into Google and then hit "I'm feeling lucky". Enjoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emelius Posted February 13, 2011 Report Share Posted February 13, 2011 can't wait for Simon Pegg/Nick Frost...getting antsy... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emelius Posted February 14, 2011 Report Share Posted February 14, 2011 kinda let down really...still glad I didn't watch the emmys... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emelius Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 meh... don't blame the guys really...much like when i was disappointed two episodes ago by them not finding the subaru/cosworth offering to be all that, i was let down tonight by their take on the rs5... nothing wrong with amber heard...but, watching her lap, there didn't seem to be much wrong with her driving either...all this about fast looks slow is kinda crap...pretty obvious you have to take risks on that track... hitting the car was great:)...but then guy being lit on fire ruined it...don't need to be reminded of staged accidents... all in all, though, i got my eye candy & they didn't waste a buncha time with tallying scores... hope they have a glorious special soon:)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwood Posted March 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 Oy, lame ending for this season. WTF happened to that monster SUV thing crashing through a wall in the "here's what's in store for this season" intro? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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