ON THE RECORD

To transfer video from source to a storage device check out this little wonder

To transfer video from source to a storage device check out this little wonder

I love watching TV, especially after I switched over from cable to DTH. But given my tight schedule, there8217;s barely any time to do it. So recording programmes is a good option and I tried to achieve this a few days ago by making a Tivo Box work with my DTH system. But what if you wanted to record a programme to watch it on your iPod or any other video player? A simple answer would be to get a PC with Media Centre, but it makes the end-user8217;s life difficult. So here is an out-of-the-box solution to your video transferring problem. It8217;s called the Pinnacle Video Transfer.

It8217;s a small box that can easily fit in your palm and can record TV programmes to either an Apple iPod, a Sony PSP, a thumbdrive or an external hard disk. And you don8217;t need a PC to do the transferring; the box transfers content directly from the source on to the storage device. For those who have players other than the iPod or PSP will have to first record it to an external hard disk and then move it to the player.

All you need is to switch on the power using it8217;s supplied power adaptor, connect the video source, say the output of your DTH receiver, using the Composite or S-video, and RCA for audio. The RCA cable with the Composite video connector ships with the box, but if you want to use the S-video, you will have to buy the cable.

On the other side of the box are two USB connectors, one to connect either your PSP or your iPod, and the other to connect a thumbdrive or an external hard disk. Press the button on top and you can start recording. To stop, you press the same button. But if you are present to press the stop button, you may as well watch the programme. To record in your absence, you can use a 4GB thumbdrive for three hours of top quality video suitable for playing it on a 15-inch laptop or 11 hours of good quality video suitable for a 2.5-inch Portable Media Player like the iPod. You can then transfer the content to the PMP of your choice.

The device has it8217;s advantages: it8217;s small enough for your to be able to carry it on a trip, even record a programme in a hotel. And if your friend has DVDs that you want to copy to your thumbdrive, you can take it to his place.

The downside is that whatever source you are using DTH reciever, DVD player should have two outputs, so that you can insert one into the Pinnacle recorder, and the other in your TV to see what8217;s actually playing. Another poor feature is that it can8217;t change channels, so you can only record from one channel.