Hi, I am a new member here and have been browsing the forums the last few days and have found a lot of neat stuff. I have notices that most people are trading DVD's of the varoius shows. I was wondering what format people collect. Personally all the episodes and series I have collected over the years has been in High quality XVID files from Hight def sources when available. To me the quality is great. Over the years i have put my collections to data dvds. These files can be played with windows media player and fed to a tv and look GREAT! This is how I have been able to get my collection over the years. Does any one esle do that here? and are people opposed to trading for this format? I wasnt sure when people say that a show takes "x" amount of discs if they are talking about data disc or actuall dvds that play in a dvd player.

Your insights would be much appreciated. thanks!

I would say for the most part people are trading dvds that will play in thier personal dvd players. The Xvid or Avi files are easily downloadable but to take the time to convert and encode a set requires some time and effort.

I personally have never traded for a data disc unless it was a set I was looking to convert myself. I would expect you will find most people here trade for complete dvd discs of series and not data files but you may find the odd few who may want some files you have.

Cheers and Welcome

Most (all?) people on this board trade in VOB format. I belong to another group that strictly trades in AVI/MPG format and I have to admit, it's really neat to get an entire series on 1-5 (normally, depending upon the length & number of shows) discs and still have excellent quality. :)

On this site, your probalby going to find great hestiation or opposition for that format.

But you can always be candid and see-

The best advice I can say is when you amke your trade list- be very descriptive of the format, quality, source and so on-

Type up as descript a list as you can ,put it on the forum, such as HAVE and WANT list-
and peopel will read it, and decide to trade for it-

Some things, no matter the format people will take them if its rare enough.
But most people like pop and play- from machines, not PCS.

But again thats some, not all. Never hurts to ask.

i prefer to have straight from tv to video or straight from tv to dvd. i dont like really having dvds that are tv to vhs to avi then back to dvd. looks very grainy. should only be transfered to the computer in vob format to add to menus. There are so many avi transfered cartoons to dvd going around and they almost all look like crap.. xvid is good quality and all but for the computer only. it does not compare to and SP tape or a dvd..

There are so many avi transfered cartoons to dvd going around and they almost all look like crap.. xvid is good quality and all but for the computer only. it does not compare to and SP tape or a dvd..

Not true, if it's done correctly. I almost always convert the avis/mpgs to VOB format so we can watch on stand alone DVD players. The source avis/mpgs I've received are excellent quality, when converted & played on a tv.

im gonna have to disagree with you again. i know how to make xvid and divx very well. It might be good. but its not as good as when it was on the dvd or dvr or vhs tape before it went to the computer to become avi/divx/xvid/mpg. unless its a straight mpg2 m2v extract. lets say you record something from tv. if its straight to dvd or straight to video in sp mode.it looks good. but once its it goes to the computer in avi/mpg format it gets downgraded. unless your making 1.5 gb each episode. which nobody makes. most people change format to about 175 to 400mb if its hdtv source. each episode thats 30min long. first the audio is downgraded some what. then the bits/pixel frames are downgraded to make a smaller file. then the Width x Height are changed to make a smaller file. now all that stuff when viewed on on fullscreen are pixlated. i can see little blocks. especially when there there is parts that the screen turns all black. the quality might be good. but i can still tell the diference. Now changing avi's that you download or whatever into dvd is another story. because thats now making the size bigger then it was. so it isnt really gonna change at all the quality. im only talking about the change from dvd/dvr/vhs sp to avi/divx/xvid/mpg. not the other way around. do this get a dvd that comes from retail source. original store bought dvd. make an avi out of it and make it a size that most people would make then put it back to dvd and then tell me that it looks just like the first one and there is no frame/pixel loss in it. ive traded stuff that was from avi mpg source but i would much rather have something and trade something that didnt come from an avi/mpg source. id rather get the true quality. it probably wont happen for a lot of cartoons i want. so i will just have to settle for what i can get. Nobody has to agree with me. Im sure a lot dont give a crap what the source as long as it looks good to them. im only saying this stuff for me.

i dont know, or even care about all the technical jargon

all i know for sure is the divx and avi things i have seen, are just plain poor

thats why on my web site home page, i flat out choose not to get anymore

we can argue all day long that you or the next person is the king, well perhaps, but i have had lots of discs from the court jester then, since mine sucked out loud

i do have a avi or divx player, i havent the need to convert anything

the philips 642 handles that disc format, in case anyones interested