Introduction

Nearly everyone today has got an iPod or iPhone can be used to watch film and video. However, many people are lost as to how they can transfer video files to their iPod. This is because the complicated procedure of converting video files again and again just looses some people. Luckily, X-OOM have created a new piece of software, ‘Movies on iPod 2’, which has the ability to convert movies from a number of formats straight to iPod format and even download legal TV programmes. Lets delve into this software release and see if it’s actually worth buying.

About X-OOM

X-OOM is a series of software products that empowers the users to enjoy their digital lifestyle without limits.
Aimed at both novice and advanced users, X-OOM offers a variety of tools that enable to edit and manage digital contents for further usage. A continuous cutting edge development effort ensures state-of-the-art products and excellent value for money.

About ‘Movies on iPod 2’

‘Movies on iPod 2’ is able to copy any non copy-righted films, TV programmes and video clips onto your media device so that you can watch them back-to-back. This piece of software converts many formats of video very quickly so adding your media collection to your iPod is a breeze.

Any web-TV show can also be recorded and transferred onto an iPod or iPhone – - to avoid missing favourite programmes.

With a new integrated media library, the software provides a helpful solution for collectively viewing all video files stored on a computer. To make life easier, the library includes customizable pre-defined settings, allowing straightforward transfer and modification of video clips.

Features and specifications

• Conversion of single or multiple files, such as movies, TV programmes and videos clips to an iPod or iPhone specific file format for ease of viewing.
• 5 file conversion settings to customise options such as file size, quality and compression, ensuring films can be effortlessly transferred.
• High speed encoder to enable quick conversion of movies
• Subtitle support
• Expert mode to quickly and automatically complete video cutting and processing.
• Can rip the audios from video files

Packaging

‘Movies on iPod 2’ arrives in an eye catching white box with graphics on the front of the various iPods and a girl listening to an iPod. Also dotted about on the front cover are some short features which the software entails.

Inside the main box there is another box – - brown cardboard box with a lid. Inside the next box is another box – - naaa I’m joking haha – - well actually an installation CD and instructions.

On the back of the box, there is information and screenshots of the product in action which enables the user to have a quick look at what to expect when they purchase this software.

This packaging was fairly suitable and robust meaning the disk will not be damaged or lost.

First Impressions

When I received this product and took a glimpse at its specifications and features, I was amazed by all the video files this can convert from, including ripping straight from DVD to iPod. However after installing the product, I was a little disappointed with its basic user interface – - I’ve seen better from free converters.

However, I’ve never used a converter which can download TV shows from the web and put them straight onto your generation of iPod.

As you can see, it organizes files very well by displaying them in order of name and how the files relate to each other. Also, it shows your computer’s media library and your iPod’s which is very useful as you can easily check to see if you already have a certain media file on your iPod.

Another feature I quite like is the ability to record web-TV and put it onto your media device. As you can see in the image, you can watch many channels from the UK, but there are more countries such as the USA, Spain and Russia that you can connect to and watch programs from. This is very useful as it enables you to watch a wider variety of TV shows. Also with this feature, there is an option to record just the audio from a TV show, however I’m sure most people would prefer watching a TV programme with the video – - so this option can be ignored for most people.

Installation

Installation was very simple – - just like most software – - you load the disk in and you are prompted with which language you would like to install the program in.

Afterwards, you just go through the necessary install options, such as where to install and if you want a desktop icon and a quick launch icon.

After that, you are prompted to finish the installation by clicking finish. That’s it!

Testing/Usage

The configuration of the computer I will be testing this software on is:

• CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+
• Motherboard: Asus M2N32-SLI deluxe
• Memory: 2GB Corsair XMS2 6400
• Storage: 320GB Seagate

My specifications are well above the minimum for this program, so it should handle it fine. However, the minimum specifications to run this software are:

• 700MHz CPU
• At least 800x 600 Resolution
• CD/DVD drive
• 150mb Disk Space

These minimum specifications are very small – - most people should be able to run the program fine.

The first task I gave ‘Movies on iPod 2’ was to convert a video file (about 35mb) to see how quick the job could be done. I also gave the same task to the free ‘Videora iPod converter’ – - for comparison. The results are as follows:

	Format	Quality (On video and audio)	Time Taken	Size after formatting
X-OOM	MPG4	Medium	33 seconds	27mb
Videora	MPG4	Medium	35 seconds	43mb
			2 second difference	16mb difference

As you can see, just by looking at the table you would think that X-OOM is by far the best, but after comparing both videos from the two converters, I can easily see why Videora took a little longer.Even though both were supposed to be the same quality, the X-OOM was blurry in places and the audio and video were not in sync with each other. To my eyes, I could not see a single out of sync part of Videora’s conversion. This was a slight let down as Videora’s software is free, whereas X-OOM’s costs £19.99.

Even if the converter is not the best, X-OOM still offers more than Videora in their software package. As ‘Movies on iPod 2’ allows you to download videos from the web and also rip straight from a DVD to your iPod. This is unlike other competitor video converters, and is a certain advantage in this software. When downloading a couple of clips from the web, I was surprised how quickly they were synced to my iPhone and the quality was outstanding.

Conclusion

X-OOM have tried their very best to make this converter the best available converter to the public and I have to say, they have done a very good job. There converter may not be the best quality but with the ability to download TV and sync it straight to your iPod, it is much more interesting that just an ordinary converter such as Videora.

With the product costing £19.99, it’s quite expensive, as Videora’s iPod converter is free, so you’re only paying for the couple of extra features which X-OOM’s software.

Pros:

• Supports many file formats
• Quick Conversion
• Converts to small file size
• Organised media library
• Syncs video straight to iTunes

Cons:

• Bad user interface
• Poor quality Video