Is there any change of getting an FMV module?

[alexh]

No games use FMV. All it enables you to do is play dubious quality / origin MPEG1 VCD films which you can do with almost any DVD player.

Save your money and get an SX1 or an SX32, or some more CD32 games.

[alexh]

marcfrick2112 wrote:
on the latest releases, the quality is almost equal to DVD. (Variable Bitrate)

My ARSE it is :-) No offense. Either you are going blind, you have a very small telly.

Maximum VCD resolution = 352x288 (PAL)
Maximum DVD resolution = 720x576 (PAL)

This means that NO VCD can get within 50% quality of DVD.

DVD = MPEG2
VCD = MPEG1

This means even if the DVD is half resolution 1:1 quality wise the VCD data will be much bigger.

DVD = Dolby DTS
VCD = Stereo

This means no surround effects :-(

VCD =  700 MBytes/disk
DVD = 9000 MBytes/disk

I think you can se where this is going cant you ;-)

marcfrick2112 wrote:
Second, most current DVD players will NOT play VCD's, just check any major electronic store, if they even mention it..... I had to hunt for a VCD-capable DVD player for my dad, it took weeks to find.

Where have you been for the last like 3 years?

The reason that early (or Ultra cheap) DVD players dont play VCD's is that they dont read ANY CD. You need a different laser to read the different disks. However the price of a dual laser diode is now the same, if not less than just a DVD laser diode.

Third, the FMV module for the CD32 is reported to offer the best quality playback of VCD's of any available player.

Heh heh. I think you must have been away for a while. Very early DEDICATED japanese VCD players didnt meet the MPEG spec and to save money had really crappy video encoders on the output. But todays DVD players all meet the MPEG spec (or they wouldnt be able to have the logo on them) and they all output RGB.

IMHO you should save the money you were going to spend on an FMV cartridge and get some decent hardware that will improve your Amiga experience. Which usually are (in this order)

RAM.
Hard drive.
WHDload license.
CD-Drive.
Accelerator.
More RAM.
Network Card.
Scandoubler.
Graphics Card.

But then that is just me.

[alexh]

He won't get XVID/VCD/DIVX/DVD player with PAL/NTSC/RGB/Component/Svideo output for 30 Euros at the supermarket.

They dont have them in USA?

I've been recommending these Umax Chili DVD-2400X they do absolutely everything and sell in UK supermarkets for about that price.

[alexh]

@leirbag28

1 game (which you can play anyhow without cut scenes) and a few movies, which play on most DVD players and which the DVD versions are better quality.

I think my point is made, the FMV cart for the CD32 is NOT worth the money so far as enhancing your Amiga experience goes.

[alexh]

As for expanding my Amiga, until I get a Zorro backplane, there is not much I can add to my A1200 Tower.

Getting a Zorro backplane for an A1200 is probably (again? :-)) the wrong upgrade for you IMHO.

A1200 Zorro backplanes are only Zorro II and they dont support DMA and only a small few have video slots + chipset adapters. This drastically limits what cards you can use.

My advice would be to get a PCI backplane. A GRex if you have a Blizzard 1260/PPC or Mediator otherwise.

This will give you access to all the cards you'll want (Graphics, Sound, Networking, USB).

I would still recommend a faster accelerator, more RAM, bigger hard drive (Using SFS) or a PCMCIA network card over a bus board. They will all be better for you in terms of value for money, and impact on your Amiga experience.