One of the results of this trend towards miniaturization is the popularity of various kinds of portable entertainment devices. They started out as MP3 players that provided a way to carry around hundreds of songs to listen to anywhere in units much smaller than the old fashioned walk man. Then, more recently, somebody decided to add color LCD screens, larger hard drives, and extra software to these devices to enable them to play video as well as audio files. As a result of this new blend of technology, people were suddenly able to take their entertainment with them wherever they wanted to go. These portable video devices as they're now called are home entertainment centers in miniature. Most can also display digital photos and show their visual media on a normal full sized TV screen. Some can also play their audio over a car's sound system and some can even serve as video gaming platforms.



One thing is missing from many of these devices though: an easy to use way to get video. Most of the video available for these devices is on the Internet and can be downloaded for a small fee. Though this seems like a perfectly reasonable way to get video, it does have some drawbacks. For one thing, the on line video stores are somewhat limited in their selection and sometimes require that you download their proprietary software. Some on line video stores also only download to certain brands of devices. Even if compatibility isn't an issue, users of these devices still have to get the video onto the devices from their computers. Over all it can be a frustratingly technical experience.

PocketDishes also have another feature which is mostly lacking among other portable video devices. That feature is built in digital video recording capability. With digital video recording capability, the PocketDish can be connected to almost any device with the right video out jacks in order to record video from that device. That makes VCR's, DVD players, cable boxes, satellite boxes, computers, and camcorders all sources of video for the PocketDish. All of the video that's recorded this way will also be stored in MPEG-4 format which greatly increases the amount of it that can fit on the PocketDish's hard drive beyond the amount that can fit in the MPEG-2 format that's downloaded from Dish Network digital video recorders. These features make PocketDish even more functional as a home entertainment center in miniature.