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Provides: Accelerated video conversion for iPod, iPhone, Apple TV and Sony PSP

Developer: Elgato Systems

Minimum Requirements: PowerPC G4/G5 or Intel Core processor, 512MB RAM, Mac OS X v10.4, built-in USB 2.0 port, QuickTime 7.1.5 and iTunes 7.1.1

Retail Price: $99.95

Availability: Out now

I love Elgato's Turbo.264, and I hate Elgato's Turbo.264. I love it for what it can do, and I hate it for what it doesn't even try to do. Mostly, though, I just love it. I can say this because I've come to terms with its limitations, and once you're willing to accept the Turbo.264 for what it is, you'll wonder how you ever got by without it.

I feel safe making that claim despite its niche audience because if you're reading this review, you probably have a need for it. Turbo.264's sole reason for being is to quickly#151;very quickly—format video for your iPod, iPhone, Apple TV or Sony PSP. The Turbo.264 hardware completely takes over the video compression to not only speed up the process by four to five times (although I found it mostly settled in at just above 50% faster), but to also completely free up your system resources for other tasks while it's doing its job. Want to work in Photoshop or play Tiberium Wars while you're formatting that two hour movie for your iPhone? Have at it.

But the Turbo.264 isn't just quick, it's easy. You see, if you don't have much experience compressing video, it can be a tricky business. There are many things to consider: aspect ratios, video codecs, audio formats, keyframes, frame rates...it's confusing, and there's rarely an easy solution. Those out there can cost anywhere from around $300 to over $1,000. Turbo.264 doesn't try to compete with these programs, because it doesn't bother you with video compression details. It asks you for what device your video is intended, and that's it. Done. Enjoy.

That screen capture above? That's all you need. No questions, no options, just very fast compression. Plug the device (a little larger than the 1st generation iPod shuffle) into an available USB 2.0 port, launch the program, drag your video file into the window and select your destination. You can choose to have the video dumped right into iTunes, into a specific folder or directly on your desktop. There's nothing else you need consider, and nothing else you need worry about.

Now, this kind of simplicity is great for some, but will seem crippling to others. For those, the latest version (1.1) of the Turbo.264 software does offer some options. You can customize the size of the video, the ratio, the frame rate, etc. You also now get some audio control, as shown in the screen capture below:

However, note that you still can't change the format of the audio and video. You get only H.264 for video compression, and only AAC for audio compression. Again, if your destination extends no further than the aforementioned products, this isn't an issue. Indeed, it's exactly the format your iPod wants. But if you want to convert your movie to a Flash Video or .AVI or anything other than .M4V, you're out of luck.

I would also be happier if it could read more file formats. It does handle any move that QuickTime plays ("through codecs that ship with QuickTime as well as codecs that are supplied by third-party components like Flip4Mac," as Elgato explains at their website), but it would be really great if Turbo.264 could read native iMovie and FinalCut files. That's probably wishful thinking, and yes, iMovie can export directly to iPod and iPhone already, but Turbo.264 just does it so much faster and hassle free.

It's important to note that Turbo.264 does require built-in USB 2.0, but that doesn't mean you can't use a powered USB 2.0 hub. I had no problem with that. If you don't have one handy, don't worry; you won't have to keep reaching behind your iMac to plug in the Turbo.264 as Elgato includes a handy USB extension cable. It's only a few inches long, but that's more than enough to allow easy easy behind your iMac and allow you to squeeze the device into computers with crowded USB ports.

So, just how useful is Turbo.264? That depends largely on two things. First, on how much video you need to convert for the supported output devices. If you're used to ripping movies from DVD (via programs such as HandBrake, Mac the Ripper or Popcorn 3), Turbo.264 will greatly ease and speed up the process of getting those movies on your iPod or iPhone. Where it really shines, though, is if you're using it as a companion to one of Elgato's cable/video capture devices, such as EyeTV 250 Plus or EyeTV Hybrid. Those devices will record your favorite TV shows in a few easy steps, and Turbo.264 will then format those shows for your portable device in even fewer steps. It's a 1, 2 punch that's so great to use you may find yourself giving up on the cable DVR.

Elgato's Turbo.264 isn't for everyone. That's too bad, because those who it is for are going to love it.