Makayama versus MobilNova for playing videos/movies

[Internetpilot]

I purchased Makayama Media Studio for TomTom mid-Summer of this year when it first came out. Basically, it allowed the older GO models to convert, transfer, and play videos/movies on their TomTom GO. It is a very nice application and worked quite well.

However, in a final response to multiple emails that I've sent to Makayama support, I received the following:

"...we have decided not to make our player compatible with the 700 on 6.15 software versions. The reasons for this are company confidential and have to do with development cost vs. return on investment. I can offer you a refund, so that you may purchase the Mobilnova player if you wish."

The problem I was having was that Makayama v2.0 now supports v6.11 of the TomTom software on the X10 series, but does not support v6.15 of the TomTom software on the X00 (older Go's) series. Part of the installation process of Makayama will downgrade your older GO to v5.2X of the TomTom software!

I am not sure why it is so different/difficult to support v6.XX for all TomToms, but apparently it is. I also think that Makayama doesn't realize how many of the older GO models are out there right now versus the new X10 series, but that's their business choice. Note that this rather significant limiation is not stated on their website, so buyer beware!

Has anyone purchased/tried the MobilNova solution yet? The description on the MobilNova website says that it will only run on v6 of the TomTom software, and does support all GO models. Apparently, MobilNova was able to do what Makayama could not (or would not). However, MobileNova is almost double the price of Makayama, so I wanted to see if anyone has puchased it yet, and what their opinion of it is.

 

[nicegsxr]

I am envious of those of you with a hugh HD that can actually take advantage of these cool addons.. my 1GB SD card is basically now full and just isnt really gonna fly if I try to put anything else on it.. even with the new 4 GB card its just so not worth doing for those of us with SD cards.. I am way jealous of you guys hehe.

 

[Pedro2NR]

I'm am interested of getting one of these softwares. I have a 910 but haven't decide which one. I can't complain because I do have several movies on my IPod Video.

 

[Internetpilot]

I am envious of those of you with a hugh HD that can actually take advantage of these cool addons.. my 1GB SD card is basically now full and just isnt really gonna fly if I try to put anything else on it.. even with the new 4 GB card its just so not worth doing for those of us with SD cards.. I am way jealous of you guys hehe.

There's nothing wrong with going the 1GB card route. One empty 1GB card can hold two 2-hour movies recorded at very nice quality for that size of display. You could fit three 2-hour movies on there if you're not too picky about the quality.

Need 1GB cards? Try here (fast -- they will sell out):
http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=202922442&adid=17070&dcaid=17070

I already own one of this Kingston cards for my Palm device, and I just bought two more in last weeks Buy.com rebate deal ($12.95 each). They work fine in my digital camera (even for video) and my Palm, which is the main reason why I bought them (for watching movies on my Palm). I'm sure they'd do fine for the TomTom. Remember, for watching movies on the TomTom you don't need a "fast" SD card -- they all read at the same speed. A slower card like this Kingston one will take about twice as long to copy a movie over to it, but we're talking about like an extra 2 minutes. Again, read times will be the same regardless of how fast the write speeds are, and since you're reading the movie in your TomTom, you should do fine. I watch movies at 320x240x30fps on my Palm Tungsten|C (400 mhz processor) on this card all the time, without issue.

I don't have a huge hard drive with the GO700, but it does have an extra 1.5gb left on the 2.5gb hard drive, which allows me to store three really nice quality movies on there easily. I bought the Makayama software because, in my opinion, you can never have enough portable video options! In my family we have two Video iPods, two Palm devices, one Creative Zen Portable Media Center, and one TomTom. This doesn't include the DVD players in both cars...haha. We're in the car a LOT, so entertainment is a must.

 

[Internetpilot]

I'm am interested of getting one of these softwares. I have a 910 but haven't decide which one. I can't complain because I do have several movies on my IPod Video.

If I wasn't feeling so burned by Makayama not supporting the older GO's running v6.XX, I could without hesitation recommend the Makayama software. It is very fast, very nice quality, easy interface, and nice output. However, it does bother me how quickly they dropped support for the older software. This product just came out Summer 2006, and they're already dropping support for a lot of current customers? That doesn't sound like a product with much of a future.

I'm probably going to try the MobilNova product, but I've read on other forums that it's not completely stable yet, so I might wait to buy it and just keep watching movies, TV, etc. on my Palm or Creative Zen.

 

[Pedro2NR]

Looks like I'll wait too.

 

[pmjoen]

Mobil Nova on GO910

After testing both, I have purchased the mobil nova software and it takes about 1.5 hours to convert a DVD (Troy) to the avi file it will play. some videos you have to convert twice before it will actually play on the go though.. I really like it, but my one real gripe I have not gotten a solution to yet is that when the GO is docked in the car the sound turns off on the movie once undocked the sound turns back on???? I have a support email in with them. I tried the makayama version and had a problem with the volume of the video to be very quiet even if I set to have better sound quality then video quality.

 

[Pedro2NR]

The makayama trail version has the volume low.

 

[digital-flex]

I'm happy with the MobilNova software but I haven't tried this one yet. Gonna see how this goes.

 

[Darin]

reference to spam removed - moderator

How is this relevant to TomTom media players?
*edit* Nevermind! Registered today and you already posted 25 times with the same link.

Have any of you tried TomPlayer? I use it on my 730 and I am very pleased with it. Not to mention it is free.