#CD32 FMV Module here
21 messages in this thread
Saw the CD32 in a local Auckland Amiga dealer, with the Full Motion
Video module attached and playing the movie CD "Black Rain" with
Michael watsis name…you know from the San Francisco cop show….
Brilliant sound and picture (ON a CBM 1084S monitor). They had "Star
Trek VI, a Polygramme one on Andrew LLoyd Webber shows, and another I
cannot recall. The price is NZD 549.00 and NZD 849.00 for the CD32.
They had 23 CD32 titles for sale on the shelves. The module appears
to just plug into the CD32 underneath it making a very compact unit
overall, one which is MUCH smaller than the Laserdick players I have
seen.
Wish they were available for the Amiga computers as slot in type CD
player as it will be perfect for Multimedia applications. Especially
if you can access individual frames etc……
The whole thing looks right too…..the kids can play games on it and the
adults can collect and watch videos.
CBM has done very well here, I believe.
Laurie Carroll AKL NZ
Longdistance Autopilot
Laurie,
It is Michael Douglas!
Juergen (via AutoPilot from Germany)
Laurie,
WHile not officially released here in the States, yet — the store I
work at has had an FMV module for to months now. There is a full
range of titles available (about 20 – 30) for right around $40 U.S.
The good part is that the FMV module not only plays the industry
standard digital movies, but CD-I's proprietary "transgression" from
the white book standard. (I'm a bit surprised that Black Rain was
showing — to violent and foul mouthed for common display with lots
of kids around.)
FMV is great. U.S. price (we have one extra module) is $269 (from
our store) and should get cheaper with the "official" release. CD32
is a wonder. It constantly blows the doors off of Sega CD and CD-I
— customers are amazed at it.
-Chas
Charles,
So, maybe if you bought about 10 of them, and say, two sets of all the
movies, then went to the local video store with a "get aquainted" rental
deal on CD32 and movies, (say like throw in the use of some hot CD32 game
free) then people would want to buy one! And if the rental came with a
coupon for, say 10% off or a free game/movie with the CD32 purchase from
your store… well! Just need a nice big cardboard cut-out of a scene
from one of the movies available with a CD32 sitting on it and a sign that
says something like "rent a CD32 and a movie, get a free game rental and
discount coupon for purchase of CD32 from (you store name here). Then
make sure they have a CD32 hooked up and running showing one of the
movies.
(CBM should be providing incentives and kits to dealers that are willing
to do this type of marketting at the local level for them. It could be a
win-win all around.)
wmc – via Autopilot!
Hey, I like that idea! Need to forward that to CBM at Commodore Sales Dep…
hey, who's left at Commodore's marketing department?
Sincerely,
John Chang
Technical Support Manager
Scala, Inc.
John,
Yeah, I like it too. What's the Tel/Ans/Fax-number/snail-address of the CBM
sales department? And while I'm at it, does CBM have an email address too?
Another idea is to video tape this display up and running and send the tape to
Commodore sales dept. Kinda like a how-to or show-me tape.
Andy
We have the CD32 FMV module in house, and it works flawlessly. We hope to
control the CD32 via a serial port and use it as a video playback device. I'll
keep you posted.
Sincerely,
John Chang
Technical Support Manager
Scala. Inc.
Geodesic designs of Georgia has a touch screen adaptor for the CD32 that plugs
into the mouse port and stores the default info in CD32 nv-RAM. Looks nice.
CD32 as a kiosk with CDXL playback or possibly intermixed MPEG is a real nice
thought.
-Chas
You aren't going to just drop that little bombshell on us without giving
contact info for Geodesic Designs, are you? Too cruel.
-Jerry Thompson
Uhhh…the info (for GeoDesic) is at the store…I can't remember off the top
of my head. 🙂 They're in AC's Guide for touchscreens. I'll look today and
get their address/phone.
-Chas
Geodesic gave me a call to tell me about some of their new products. For
single use, its excellent. However, more connectivity is going to be required
(e.g. multiple serial ports for modem or printer, etc.)
Warmest Regards,
John Chang
Technical Support Manager
Scala, Inc.
Amiga Computers is advertising multiple serial ports via PCMCIA. There is a
serial port on the CD32 (the keyboard connector is serial).
-Chas
Indeed, I've heard of multi-serial port PCMCIA cards, but I have yet
to see any documentation on it. I suspect our UK office is looking
into it. Yes, I am aware of the serial port for the keyboard, but
for a more robust, high performance delivery platform, it will be
necessary to add more memory, faster CPU, etc.
John-
Could you clear up something for me? Why the 020 in the first
place? Isn't the 030 only about $10 more expensive? I DON'T GET IT!
$10 in parts cost = $30 in end user cost.
Also, There might be $10 difference in small lots today, but Motorola
may offer a much sweeter deal for a million 020s than for a million
030s. Or there may have been much more difference with CD32 started
on the drawing board. Finally, you wouldn't notice all that much
difference without fast RAM anyway.
It's not just a question of the cost of the chip. The 030 has a few more
connections, calling for a more complex board. I don't have the electrical
data on hand, but it's also likely that the 030 runs hotter than the 020, and
needs more attention to heat dissipation. So the cost differential might have
been greater than just that of the (marked-up) chip price.
–Jim
Oh – that could be it, I hadn't thought of that.
Paul
Sorry about this, but are these messages about the new rumored faster Amiga
1200 with the `030, are they going to make one. Or have I got the wrong end of
the stick totally?
—-Richard Daniel.