Dreamsmademe Blog

Getting videos on the Treo is much much easier than you originally thought. Watching movies on the move is fun to kill the time.

The process of getting DVD content:

1. Step one would be ripping a DVD movie to your PC as VOB files that is easy and straight forward.

I use DVD Shrink for that and it will take 15/25 mins depending on the movie length.

2. Then resize it to Treo's 320X320 screen as AVI/ MPEG4 movies.

Using PocketDivxEncoder this will take another 20-40 mins

The resize process gives you an additional bonus of a full DVD movie being shrunken roughly to 250MB in size. So you can put a full movie even on a 256MB SD Card.

Then copy the movie to your SD Card, if you have a fast card reader that will help.

Bingo! now you are all set to watch your favorite movie, documentary in a cab or a train or a plane or in your favorite weekend hideout.

I use TCPMP Player to play movies on the Treo.

This is awesome. Actually getting a VCD done from a DVD to watch in a VCD player is more of a tedious process than this.

With merely just over two days of use I realized my lovely new Treo is more than what I bargained for. Cool!

With the exuberant exotic number of software titles from basic memo to barcode reader utilities available for Palm OS, such a compact device which is combined more processor power than my early old Celeron 300MHz Windows PC. It is truly an engineering feat.

Here's that best extracted from my Treo experience!

SMS has come to age! Email too!


SMS Chat Just like Yahoo! Chat.

MP3s,WMA and OGG playback is a whisk just like in Winamp.


Or if you prefer iTunes flavour instead.

Full length movies MPEG4, AVI or 3GP and H.263(HDTV) at your disposal.

(OK I agree it’s a shame to play DVDs in this tiny screen)
Still I can hype and wow my friends regardless. The screen’s physical size (4.5X4.5cm) is roughly the size of these images appear in a Windows 96DPI monitor but has double the resolution (320X320) where as these images are 160X160. So it is one of the crispiest, if not the best, LCD screens you can find these days.

Famous Palm PIM applications and a thousand add-ons.


Palm OS applications glore!

(With of cause additional Treo only utilities for a mobile.)

See the things that I can do with that tiny little blinking LED!


Basic but always ready digital still/ video camera, audio recorder and imaging apps.


Upto 2GB(yet) tiny-winy SD storage cards.


Tiny but very usable full function keyboard.


With full keyboard 70 combinations. QuickLaunch an application or number is snap.

Hot swappable battery just like any other mobile phone. But to your knowledge until this day Palm OS needed continuous flow of power to retain its memory, even on general computers as you know it, unless you save and shutdown after what you do. Palm users know a Palm OS is just like your ordinary TV set that you never have to wait until it boots-up or save anything. You always can pick up from where you left off. Plus, if you may, now you don't even have to HOTSYNC it. Its called some geek NVFS (None-Volatile File System) which retains wahtever you do even the power goes off. I am sure Windows will be made this way someday.

GPRS/EDGE enabled quad band global GSM phone plus a PDA. No more carrying two devices and their chargers and connectors along with you. Single beautiful solid unit. More over you can switch the GSM Radio ON/OFF regardless the PDA so it can easily be used in flights or near sensitive electronics.

So I am having fun with may new Handspring PalmOne Treo 650
Wow! Just as its long name Treo looks like the ultimate digital Nirvana I've been waiting for.

Excited? Want to have one? Yeah, I was once too :-)

Last week I truly felt like I was being upgraded.

I was upgraded from one time all the wonderful Sony CLIE-SJ33 PDA, Nokia 6610 mobile phone and Apple iPod to Palm Treo 650 Smartphone.

I have been waiting this baby to come for nearly 6 months. First I tried to get it down from US but various issues popped up. So I ordered it through the local vendor (more expensive though) then he too got stuck with his consignment for nearly over a month at the customs for it's being a communication device which never heard of by Sri Lankan customs.

Finally the long wait is over. Now the cool new Treo 650 is in my proud  possession.

Once its in my hand it almost felt like a phone, not a PDA or a mini computer which is more likely. The form factor is just right. Built for solidity, the capacities of the Palm OS, combined global GSM phone, it is practically an extension to the hand. A miniature laptop on the go.

From basic phone call functions to SMS,MMS,GPRS,EDGE to the Net, MP3,AVI,MPEG4 to all the capabilities of Palm OS software titles available to date.

I am truly wowed! Kudos to Palm Inc. for making such a wonderful piece of electronics brain when Nokia dominates for the smartphone throne.

Well, This is surely gonna keep me busy for the weeks to come. Learning and playing with it will surely distract my schedules. Yes! I love gadgets and this experience is heaven given.

Read more about Treo here. I've gotta go to play with it!

PC World magazine has published an article about the best technology stuff in year 2005. I am happy the choice 1 and 2 have been my choice too. Glad that Plam’s Treo 650 made it up to 10. Gmail and Firefox is one of the best things that happened to improve my web experience.

Read the article here.