Pogoplug will automatically transcode common video formats to h.264 so they can be played over the web and iPhone, and the quality is set at a rate that most high-speed home internet connections can handle. Ultimately, however, the quality of the video will depend on your upload bandwidth. You can transcode to any quality and play them remotely (or share them) as long as your bandwidth permits. Are you on Cable, DSL, ...? Do you know what your upload speed is?

does anyone know if the transcode is real time, or an actual conversion. If one uploads video to the pgp, and then it transcodes, is the original video still intact? I would like to have the video available in original format for future download.

The second thing I seem to be seeing is, this transcode process takes a long time. If one tries to access a video either on iphone or web in ADVANCE of the transcode completing, then it times out and cannot be restarted again.

@tivoboy - the transcode process does take some time - it often runs at about 6-10 frames per second, depending on the video. It actually generates the transcode as a file in .cedata (hidden file on your hard drive).

@Norm - are you still having this problem? Definitely contact support if you are - that's not something I've heard of yet.

Where does the transcode take place? On the pogoplug's CPU?

If I were to upload a feature-film in DivX format I imagine that a transcode at 6fps could take a very long time.

Part of my work involves the production of HD video. We mostly create it in H264 by default. A 8 minute HD video will be about 250Mb. Would other pogoplug sharing partners be able to receive the exact same files as I store or would they get the transcoded smaller versions of the file?

Also, supposing I were to store a bunch of work videos on a Pogoplug at work. Would these videos become available on my home Pogoplug? Would I be able to view the shared video on my XBox 360?