Apple’s release of the iPod w/video created a media buzz. Now you can download selected ABC-Disney network programing via the iTunes store for a moderate fee of $1.99 per episode. Apple is providing a way for the mainstream to capture and carry it anywhere and as simply as possible.

If you don’t own the latest and greatest iPod (or wish to fork over the download fees) there is another way! The first step is to record a TV program. VHS tape is so old tech. TiVo, SageTV, or BeyondTV are great PC TV enhancement PVR choices allowing you to save your show for later viewing at your convenience. Your recording is stored on your PC’s hard drive as a file. That file, as you might imagine, is huuuuuge. The second step then is to make it portable. You could burn it to a DVD… Better still, use a utility called DivX, which will reduce the size of that file using an compression codec (much like your music files are shrunk to mp3 format). An hour long television video at 1.9 Gigibytes can be reduced in size to 112 MB. This is small enough that you don’t need to burn it to a DVD or CD. It will fit on your keychain flash memory. Step 3: Transfer your file to your handheld PDA viewer. Use this utility called Core Pocket Media Player – TCPMP which recognizes the DivX format for viewing. Done! Enjoy the show.