GBAMP V2 review, special thanks go to me ;)
Introduction
- This is my review of the GBAMP V2.
I've started writing this to make it easier to choose the correct device for you, if you are new to the DS homebrew scene.
But if your are an experienced veteran when it comes to using/making homebrew for the DS I hope this is usefull for you too.
The GBAMP V2 is this device:
Both pictures are a GBAMP V2, but notice the (dis)placement of the sticker. This is how you can see that there are different batches of the GBAMP.
The one on the right is mine :).
Also, I only talk about the CF version of the GBAMP V2, the SD version is not yet fully supported (at the time of writing) by the NDS homebew scene.
I do not know how far development for the SD version is in the area of homebew.
If you want to see more pictures of the GBAMP, see my GBAMP pictures site here.
The GBAMP V2 is now mostly used for Nintendo DS homebrew.
But the GBAMP V2 also has GBA functionality (for which it was originally made), you also buy that bit so I will also cover those options.
Something I was worried about was how much the GBAMP V2 would stick out of my devices.
So I've made a small picture with all the sizes put in, the bit that isn't thicker is the same size as a normal GBA card (only less wide):
All pictures are scaled down or up, put their url in you url bar to see the full sized ones.
You can see their url by righ clicking, then selecting image properties.
The review
- Looking at the packaging.
- The GBAMP V2, this is the device you ordered (there seems to be a few diffent batches of the device that do not vary much, mainly the sticker is on different locations).
- Software CD, this CD has the original conversion software on it that you can also download from the GBAMP website; http://www.movieadvance.com/
- The Manual, not all that interesting, mostly things you can figure out yourself quite easely
- Mine also came with a Demo-CD, I do not know if this is always shipped together with the GBAMP V2, but the content is not very interesting. It is fun to have something extra of cource :).
The GBAMP V2 comes in quite nice/professional box.
It is bigger then the normal GBA packaging box.
My GBAMP V2 came with a nice plastic housing around the box itself (see the picture above), it makes a very nice display item, and maybe it will be usefull when the GBAMP V2 is shipped.
But because my GBAMP V2 came in a very nice big cartboard box together with lots of foam that wasn't really an issue for me.
A few things that are clear though is that this product has its originens in China.
The box has the known incorrect English expressions, like: “Play FC game, watch movie, read E-book, listen to the music and view image on your GBA/GBA SP”.
Content of the package:
- Now the difference comes with using it with GBA hardware and DS hardware.
- General:
- You can use the GBAMP for playing movies, listening to music, watching images, reading yourself an E-book, and playing games (that are smaller then the onboard RAM of the GBA or that understand that they need to read things from the GBAMPs CF-card).
Playing movies, listening to music and viewing images require specifically converted file formats.
The software that comes with the GBAMP V2 (or can be downloaded) lets you convert a bunch of file formats; AVI/WMV/ASF/MPG/MPEG/WAV/MP3/WMA/MOV/RM/RMVB/VOB, BMP/DIB/RLE/PCX/DCX/JPEG/PNG/DXF/IMG/GIF/WPG/TGA/WMF/EPS (I have not tested all formats. These are just on the box). - Watching movies:
- Okay so you can watch movies with the GBAMP V2 on your GBA, how?
Something that makes the GBAMP V2 so cheap is the fact that it really isn't anything expensive.
It's a small flashchip (housing the firmware) and a chip that is used to update the firmware.
You can see pictures of the insides of the GBAMP V2 on my other webpage here.
Because it is only composed out of those components, it doesn't do any real work itself.
It uses the GBA to decode your video's.
Because of this it cannot make the movie very complex (the GBA is not powerfull enough to decode high quality video and audio), and the video must be recoded to a specific format.
This format cannot be played on anything but the GBAMP (V2) (and the M3, the decendant of the GBAMP V2).
The software is fairly easy to use, however to make good use of it you need to be somewhat experienced with it.
You want your files to be small and still of such quality that you can enjoy watching video with it.
It took me quite a while to get the settings right (and you need to do this for almost any video seperatly).
It is also best to try and convert it in chunks.
When you try to convert more then 20~25 minutes it looses lipsync which can be very annoying.
All in all it is quite a neat trick, especially since it lets the GBA do all the work.
The video quality is also not really bad. - Listening Music:
-
This is something the GBAMP V2 doesn't do a very good job.
The software that recompiles your MP3's to the gbs format can only recompile it to a fairly low quality (the GBA probably doesn't like working with better).
So if you listen to the music and don't want to hear it at any quality less then your MP3 player, it's not really that great.
I personally felt that this was one of the least good things about the GBAMP (V2). - Reading an E-book:
- It work rather nice surprizingly.
The E-book is placed on the CF in the .txt format and is easely readable.
Also the auto page-turnen function is very nice.
Something the website promotes is lsitening to music while reading an E-book.
I do not like this because of the fact that the GBA is already busy with playing the music file.
It becomes incredably slow and you do not want to try and turn your own pages if you have music turned on at the same time. - Watching images:
- This was the worst.
Maybe it is usefull to you, but it sure wasn't for me.
If you have a very small picture you want to take with you everywhere (I don't know, somekind of anime picture or something), then maybe.
But it doesn't handle pictures well (they need to be converted first just like with any other thing the GBAMP V2 does). - “Play FC game”:
- This does have it's advantages.
You can boot GBA homebrew with the GBAMP V2 (if, like stated above, it is either small enough for the GBA's ram or understands it is in the GBAMP V2).
That way you can run your NES games for example on your GBA.
One of the better functions of the GBAMP V2 in GBA mode. - Movie functionality, work great and is nice, but does require some time getting use to and isn't perfect -> 8/10
- Music functionality, well it works, but I didn't like listening to it, the quality just gets to low for me -> 5/10
- E-book functionality, works nicely and is a nice addition to the GBAMP V2's options, it is a damn small screen though -> 9/10
- FC game, is quite nice but it has the GBA ram size limit. When homebrew is booted that understands that it is in the GBAMP V2 it's really great.
BUT things like pocketness become slow. -> 9/10
Not the original GBA menu, but it comes close :).
GBA functionality:
NDS functionality:
-
The normal way applies to booting the GBAMP V2 on your NDS/NDS lite.
For more information about that see my BGTDSHB.
Something I need to note: To use the GBAMP V2 in NDS mode you need to flash your GBAMP V2 (just like updating the normal firmware) with special firmware.
This firmware allows your GBAMP to boot up NDS code.
This does void your warrenty, but who cares? Sending it back to China will cost you more anyhow :).
The NDS functionality is endless.
It is only held back by software.
It runs all homebrew games that are in .nds format (that do not have a gba header).
Most homebrew is also compiled with “drivers” for the GBAMP V2.
This means that tings like ScummVM-DS knows how to work with the GBAMP V2 (read the games, and how to write the save files).
You can also watch movies, play MP3, other audio formats and read .txt files with your hacked GBAMP V2 via (for example) Moonshell.
This works better then the original GBAMP V2 software in GBA mode.
The only thing the GBAMP V2 does not understand is .nds.gba files (files that do have a GBA header).
Most homebrew is made with a .nds file so that is not really a problem.
Games like DEheretic and DShexen however are not, the GBAMP V2 is not fast enough to run those games.
For more information on the firmware and the installing of the firmware go to this page.
NDS score (for as far as possible of course) 8/10 (this is a comparison score)
This score has been given because it is so widely supported and works with such great ease.
Conclusion: The GBAMP V2 is nice for use with GBA/GBA-SP/GB-micro, not everything works great, but you get what you pay for.
Movie functionality is good, but audio is bad.
I found that the GBAMP V2 is a very good device for running NDS homebrew.
Nearly all developers support it which is a great thing.
I hope you all enjoyed my review and found it useful.
-Simon van de Berg
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