I think it will be much easier and much cheaper for you to just use a usb drive to watch movies on the ps3. I think the CF slot was put there for old cameras or something to that effect. You don't need it in any specific directory structure, if you go to video and hit triangle on the memory device, you can hit show all and you can browse the whole thing.
but yeah...I spose a thumb drive would be fine. the mempory on my PSP is a little small for what I want. never had a reason to shop for a thumb drive.
what's the limit for FAT32 ? I have read a process to get past it's usual size limits but it seemed complicated. heh...I could use a 500gb external hd.
found this
Windows 2000 Professional and XP Professional cannot FORMAT a volume larger than 32 GB in size
seems ok..but with that cf slot, cf cards primarily used for cameras ? any reason not to use it aside from the cost of the card ? I mean, I really like not having extra cords. I guess that leads back to a thumb.
But you're not running 2k or XP on the PS3. Can the PS3 format a FAT32 partition past 32GB? That's the real question.
The real problem with FAT32 is the size of individual files. I think it's 4GB that they can't surpass which might be a problem if we're talking about video files. Of course, you can always split files.
If you have a computer and your PS3 on the same network, then just use PS3 Media Server. That's what I use, it can even stream HD videos, and can run pretty much any format I think of. I've had it run .mkv (480p, 720p and 1080p) avis (all kinds of resolutions). It will run subtitles if they are present in the avi/mkv (you can select subtitle options from the triangle menu whilst watching the video).
I wouldn't bother faffing around with USB drives and what not. PS3 Media Server is the best way to go. Plus you can just copy the videos straight to your PS3's hard drive if you don't want to have your computer running all the time. Takes about 15 minutes to copy a HD film over via wireless-n (my computer and router is wireless-n and the PS3 is connected by ethernet before anyone asks).
PS3 Media Server is certainly handy for streaming videos and transcoding videos that aren't in a format the PS3 can read, but I find it can be a bit slow over a wireless network - personally I mostly use a 1 terabyte USB HDD and use the media server to stream anything over the 4gb limit and to transcode my anime mkv's :p
I tried to watch an asian movie with srt subtitles on a friends ps3 it was not possible. The cf is probably only used for photos, better get usb device because cf would limit you to only your pc and ps3 and usb can probably be read anywhere you go: friend's house, school, work, car stereo, so on.
If PS3 had srt subtitle and mkv support it would be an incredible media center, and I would be all over it. There are some bluray players and tvs now incorporating mkv playback, but sony is so stubborn just look at video format compatibility on psp.
niode my ps isn't on a network or on the net usually. I hook it up once a month or so doe demos and fw updates but I don't game online. PS3 media server is an app for my pc I use to create a database my PS3 can understand/access if I network them together ? thanks, I've herd of it but haven't looked into it.
I also have a 1 tb external but it's not FAT32 so I didn't think it'd be of use to the PS3 but with Media Server it sounds like it doesn't matter.
I guess I need to look into networking my comp to my ps. they are just 3 feet from each other so a wired connection is fine. just no clue how...I'll look into media server now.
thanks again all !
ok, heh, regarding faffing around w/ usb drives. i see your point...however reading some of the PMS info for newbs....I can see I'd spend a day or more just trying to figure out what it's talking about. so I spose one mans pfaf as another's quick and easy answer.
I have a router but I don't use it. I'm not shure it works. if it dose (got it used) obviously I don't know how it works. it's got 2 antennas and I was hoping my PSP would connect to the web with it. go ahead and laugh at me. it's fine anyway I just use the provided comcast modem wired to my pc. I have another wire connected to the ps3 and when I need demos and an fw update I hook up the ps3 and reset the modem. seems to work most of the time but I often need to reset the modem and test the connection more than once.
I get the feeling I need a known working router, I can't connect my ps3 directly to the pc as if the pc will work as a 'pass through' for the web to the ps3 and also 'stream' media directly.
