How long does it take you to download TV Listings from Pocket TV?

[___]

So far, 56 channels for 1 day it has taken about 2 hours and is 40% complete. Is that normal or will it(hopefully) speed up the second time I do it.

[Anita]

I think my first download was longer, but not THAT long (on a 56K modem with a not-very-good connection speed, download speed running about 5000bps) -- as I recall it took about an hour and a half first time (1 week's listing, maybe about 25 channels). After that, about 45 minutes to an hour. And I was downloading full program details.

Just checked the size of my download today, looks like it's 83MB. That's a week for 30 channels now.

I'm not sure why the time got shorter since it always downloads however many days you specify, regardless of how many of those days you already have, far as I can see.

Sounds like maybe you connected at a bad time for that server. And if you've got channels you really don't care about that much, might trim them.

It's one of those download chores that make me really appreciate the fact that Cable Internet finally arrived in my small town!

Anita

[jimroad]

I have Second screen and Whats On....14 days, 20 channels takes about 4 minutes and Second Screen takes a few minutes for a week and 15 channels. The databases your downloading are huge. Must be a nice presentation. Both databases I download are about half a meg.

[Anita]

I LOVE Pocket TV Browser and even on dialup, the download time is worth it to me.

It includes detailed descriptions on almost all shows (even series not currently in production or running seasons behind), has an excellent search function (you could search for a particular actor, for example), ability to get all days/times for a specific show, and a two-tap function that adds a show -- and the description -- to the datebook.

You can view listings by date, by channel, by favorites, by movies, etc. etc. You can download your local channels or, if on the road, elsewhere.

You can also "rename" channel numbers (which I had to do recently when Mediacom changed its lineup). . .There is a separate companion program that will put it into a grid, but I actually prefer the text version -- which is high-res with small and tiny fonts.

When you open it at today/now, shows that are in progress are color coded, as well as shows that are repeats. You can tap on the channel number to bring up channel listing, or the program text to bring up program details.

And the PC component has a Palm emulator so that you can view it on the PC as well as the Palm.

It's just incredibly user-friendly.

It downloads from TVGuide, so its listings are as good as TV Guides. In my area, it fails to list two channels that I get (TBS and Movieplex), but neither does TV Guide online.

Anita