Using PocketTV is definitely easier than the installation. However, before I could run the program, I had to have something to play. There are tons of sites on the Internet with a wide range of MPEG video content. I didn't have to look far for something to try since there are several samples on MpegTV's Web site. I downloaded an MPEG file containing the trailer for the Star Wars trilogy and copied it to a \My Documents subdirectory, which is where it has to go. After starting PocketTV, the Open File menu came up, as shown in Figure A, and it listed the MPEG files in all of the \My Documents subdirectories.

FIGURE A


The Open File menu lists all your MPEG files. Roll over picture for a larger image.

I double-tapped on the Star Wars file to load it, and it started automatically, as you can see in Figure B.

FIGURE B


A quick double-tap, and the Force was with me. Roll over picture for a larger image.

Customization
There are a handful of options that I found useful for tailoring PocketTV to my Cassiopeia. I played around with some of the settings to find what combination worked best for me. The list of options is shown in Figure C.

FIGURE C


Tailor PocketTV to your specifications with the Options menu. Roll over picture for a larger image.

Of course I wanted Stereo audio since the Cassiopeia has the capability, but I had trouble telling the difference between High and Medium Quality sound so I selected Medium. The screen size has the greatest effect on playback quality, and I found that letting the program select the size generally worked out best. As I tried to increase the screen size, the playback became choppy pretty quickly. Cutting back on Audio Quality really didn't help much, either. Other features include the ability to Loop, Play at Open, and show Status Bar.

Streaming media
Also included in PocketTV is the ability to stream MPEG video using a network connection to an FTP or HTTP server. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get this to work. According to the few instructions I found on MpegTV's Web site, simply connect to the network, select Open URL under the File menu, and enter the URL of the MPEG file. It's too bad I didn't have better luck, because I think streaming capability on a handheld device is particularly intriguing.

Impracticalities
There are several, small impracticalities to running video on Palm-sized PCs or Pocket PCs. Some of these are based on the fact that even compressed video files tend to be rather large. Most devices don't have a lot of storage space, and I've noticed that even my 64MB Compact Flash card gets quite crowded at times. Transferring data from the Internet can be tedious, as can the transfer from the computer to the device.

Of course there are many improvements of late that make these easier, but they aren't all that common yet. Most people seem to be upgrading their Internet connection speeds. USB connections and Compact Flash readers speed up the data transfer process as well, and storage space problems would be solved with larger and faster Compact Flash cards or an IBM micro-drive. Any of these improvements make the use of video on Windows CE-powered PDAs much more practical.