Video Playback

We tested 2 forms of media when checking video playback, animation and live action. Live action files played well on the DS with relatively clear picture quality. Audio was crisp and trouble free. Things were much better on the animation side of things with very good picture quality and again decent audio (both tested with stereo sound through headphones).

You can, as you would expect, fast forward pause and rewind playback as required, on the whole this worked as you would expect however rewinding wasn’t as quick to take effect as we would have liked.

Here are some examples of the video quality, there are two caveat though. The first is that when moving the images look better where as static screens highlight any quality issues with a particular frames. Also taking screenshots of a DS screen results in images which have lower quality that actually seeing the unit in action. Still, you should get an idea of the quality achievable from the following shots.

Audio Playback

Audio playback was something we initially had problems with, sound was more than a little hissy and there was some distortion on our first conversions. We found through experimentation that the input file quality really affects the output file. Therefore when converting the best thing to do is rip your music in as high a bit rate as possible then convert to GBA format. You may also want to run a test conversion to check the volume is ideal for your use.

With the teething trouble sorted out our results were good, certainly the quality doesn’t rival an expensive MP3 player or iPod however it was more than adequate for casual listening.

Conclusion

Overall the Movie advance GBA Movie Player is a very handy little device. It allows you to take your Gameboy Advance or Nintendo DS and turn it from purely a gaming device into a full portable multimedia device.

The supplied PC conversion software works well, it’s simple to use and provided you can live with the conversion times for video you’ll have no issues with the software. The software contained within the unit is also simple to use and again works well, just select your file and within seconds your up and running (or watching/listening).

So the big question I know a lot of you will be asking is “How does the quality compare to the PSP?” Overall it’s really no competition, the PSP video quality wins quite easily especially when watching converted Live Action High Def content (though the PSP images can be a little darker than I would like). In animation though it’s a much closer affair with the GBA movie player providing excellent quality output which can come close to the PSP.

So why would you consider this as a purchase when the PSP is the clear winner in terms of video quality? Well in my opinion it’s the price of the unit which makes it worth considering. We’ve seen units available on Ebay for as little as £15 and you can buy them from Lik-Sang for 28euros/$24 which is great value.

In summary, whilst the GBA Movie Player doesn’t provide top notch output it’s perfectly watchable in live action and near perfect for animation. Sound quality of the unit is also very good and for such a cheap price you really can’t go wrong.

For Further Information visit: www.movieadvance.com or to purchase visit this product page.