[A question for GP2X owners]

[KenshinKajima]

I currently own a psp, which quite frankly is pissing me off. They cranked the security on it which means homebrew doesn't work when you upgrade (stupid pirates), but if you want to play their games, you gotta upgrade. Sadly, since the system isn't quite strong enough for homebrew, the emulators don't always work so hot ( i don't mean this to come across as disrespect for the coders though- you guys are awsome- the system just isn't made to support emulation) due to the system's lack in ram. The memory cards are expensive because they're unbelievably tiny. The little thumb nub thing is quite unwieldy and the screen scratches if you stare at it wrong.
But today, i ran across the wikipedia page for the GP2x (by chance). And this thing looks sweet. It SUPPORTS homebrew/emu's, Cheap memory cards, and looks like its pretty small. I then realized if i sell all my psp/games/memory sticks/accessories i SHOULD have enough to get a decent Gp2x setup. Is it worth it? I have some questions to judge this by:
1.Is it an import item? (seems like its made in UK)
2. Is it very portable? ( light-weight, small, thin). That doesn't mean pocket size or anything, but i don't want it to be Game Gear size either. Is it like PSP size? GBA size?
3. Do them emu's work well? The SNES and PS1 emus in particular.
4. What am going to need for the GP2x?

THX ahead of time for all answers

[Is'lan]

1.Is it an import item? (seems like its made in UK)
2. Is it very portable? ( light-weight, small, thin). That doesn't mean pocket size or anything, but i don't want it to be Game Gear size either. Is it like PSP size? GBA size?
3. Do them emu's work well? The SNES and PS1 emus in particular.
4. What am going to need for the GP2x?


1. I had mine imported from Hong Kong via Play-Asia.com

2. It is surprisingly light, and it's much smaller than the pics make it look. I'd say it's like the GBA only a little longer, and more acutely rectangular.

3. I personally have yet to get the SNES emus to work on it, but from what I've heard, they are quickly approaching near perfect. There is a chance that PS1 will one day work near perfect.

4. The accessories I recommend are a battery charger with batteries of at least 2500 NiMh (I hear everyone recommending Ansman batteries in particular for the best life), you will also need a screen cover to protect from scratches and such. I also find the carrying case quite useful. I'm not sure, but I believe the power cord that they sell for it is only useable in Europe. Also, you'll of course need a 1GB hard drive.

I should be posting up a very detailed review on this forum in the next week, so make sure to read it.

[yaustar]

Clearing up number 4, a 1 gig SD card (not Hardrive).
Reesy is working on Snes and the PSone is in 'quiet' but solid development.
I reccomend thorough research before buying the unit though since it doesn't sound like you will get on with it from your experience with the PSP.

[KenshinKajima]

Clearing up number 4, a 1 gig SD card (not Hardrive).
Reesy is working on Snes and the PSone is in 'quiet' but solid development.
I reccomend thorough research before buying the unit though since it doesn't sound like you will get on with it from your experience with the PSP.

You sprekin de' english? Lol jk. I don't totally get what you mean by sounding like i "won't get on with it from your psp experience." Do you mean i'll have trouble in working the thing or i just won't like it? The only thing i used my psp for was playing Burnout and Homebrew/Emu's. That was until the buttons started losing drastic sensitivity (having to slam buttons to get them to work). When i traded it in, they handed me a 2.01 psp. . . .DANG IT.

are the screen protectors a pain to put on? The psp ones wouln't ever go on without at least 2 bubbles and dirt/dust under it.

Research wise, i've been to the GP's offcial site, scouted the homebrew scene (and forums), and checked for best prices (play-asia has the best right now at $169). Anything else i should research?

[yaustar]

The screen protectors are the same as any other system. Use a credit card or something similar when you apply the protector and you shouldn't get any bubbles.

Your line "Sadly, since the system isn't quite strong enough for homebrew, the emulators don't always work so hot" is something that makes me jubious that the GP2X experience would be any better then your PSP (software wise). Research in how good the emulation actually is for the systems that you want to play. Other areas would be joystick issues, firmware upgrades and would you cope with installation/file setup of applications, games or emulators?

[Is'lan]

Clearing up number 4, a 1 gig SD card (not Hardrive).
Reesy is working on Snes and the PSone is in 'quiet' but solid development.
I reccomend thorough research before buying the unit though since it doesn't sound like you will get on with it from your experience with the PSP.

Woops, my bad! Thanks for clearing that up, Yaustar.

[KenshinKajima]

Thx for clearing up your post yauster. Actually, Gp is alot more powerful than a psp. Double the ram (and flash) plus two 222mhz processors which is a lot more powerful than psp's one 333mhz . I don't have a problem with installs or new firmware (you made it sound painful). I know that the homebrew on Gp isn't spectacular yet, but its pretty good (psx running at 10fps on ONE processor from what i've read). not to mention the system is young and the coders are (very) good. The thumbstick is no biggy (ill either get the cap or mod it to a d-pad : D). Thank you for your help btw.

Oh and. Are roms legal if you own the game? I was reading on the nintendo faqs and they say they're illegal regardless.. . .

[yaustar]

Massive grey area. As far as I know, copies of games are only legal if you made the backup yourself rather then downloading them. However Nintendo's TOC may be different and not permit duplicating their games regardless of ownership.

The GP2X has double the RAM but a good portion of it is 'locked' by the kernal (this may change in the future as the hackers continue progress). So far very few games (if any at all) are using both cores and 2 x 200mhz is only more powerful then 1 x 333mhz if the tasks can be ran in parrellel (double laned road at 50mph versus singe lane 70mph).

[Is'lan]

Someone was telling me on IRC that I should never expect the SNES to run perfectly on the GP2X, namely because of RAM limitation. Do you think it'll be possible though once they get around linux?

[yaustar]

I never heard of the RAM limitation for SNES. The main problem is transpency and emualting the custom hardware fast enough. However Reesy (the developer of DrMDx) is hacking away at the Squidge's source and Squidge was working on a work around for transparent layers.

[Is'lan]

Huzzah!

[NoidZ]

1. It's made in Korea (import via Lik-Sang)
2. It's extremely portable
3. There are a couple of working perfectly at the moment. The rest will follow very soon.
4. AC Adapter/2500NiMh+Charger, 1gig SD-Card

[pkostrze]

I currently own a psp, which quite frankly is pissing me off. They cranked the security on it which means homebrew doesn't work when you upgrade (stupid pirates), but if you want to play their games, you gotta upgrade. Sadly, since the system isn't quite strong enough for homebrew, the emulators don't always work so hot ( i don't mean this to come across as disrespect for the coders though- you guys are awsome- the system just isn't made to support emulation) due to the system's lack in ram. The memory cards are expensive because they're unbelievably tiny. The little thumb nub thing is quite unwieldy and the screen scratches if you stare at it wrong.
But today, i ran across the wikipedia page for the GP2x (by chance). And this thing looks sweet. It SUPPORTS homebrew/emu's, Cheap memory cards, and looks like its pretty small. I then realized if i sell all my psp/games/memory sticks/accessories i SHOULD have enough to get a decent Gp2x setup. Is it worth it? I have some questions to judge this by:
1.Is it an import item? (seems like its made in UK)
2. Is it very portable? ( light-weight, small, thin). That doesn't mean pocket size or anything, but i don't want it to be Game Gear size either. Is it like PSP size? GBA size?
3. Do them emu's work well? The SNES and PS1 emus in particular.
4. What am going to need for the GP2x?

THX ahead of time for all answers

1 - I purchased mine from http://www.gbax.com/ so it was an import from the UK to the US for me.

2 - Ultra portable, very light and fits in your pocket although not comfortably.

3 - The EMU state, in my opinion, as of right now is:
Megadrive = perfect
Game Gear = perfect
Master System = perfect
NeoGeo = perfect
NES = perfect
SNES = 85%
PS1 = 80%
And others which I don't mess with much but work such as Amiga, Atari ST, Atari 2600/5200/7800, Spectrum, Colecovision, Intellivision, Apple Macintosh, Commodore Vic-20/C64/c128/PET/CBM, and others I've forgotten.

4 - As large an SD card as you can afford... some 4GB cards have issues but I've heard the A-Data 150x 4GB card works well and is fast. I use a 1GB PNY for day-to-day and a 128MB card (forgot maker) for firmware upgrading. I'd recommend a case and rechargable 2500MaH batteries... the power adapter and TV out cable would be plusses but not really neccessary IMHO.

Hope this helps... I think my GP2X is the single greatest gadget I've ever purchased and have not regretted buying it once, enjoy yours when it comes!

[murak]

old topic I know but:

A 1-2gb SD card and some 2500 mAh batteries and you are good to go! If you travel some than get a case too.

Emus are getting better! Latest SSnes i a greate deal faster, many 60 fps, But chronotrigger is somethimes down to 25 fps, but it is still very playable!! Dont be afraid! As far as PSX goes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syKf2GQG5Jg Its comming and there seem to be some realy tallented and devoted developers for it!

The joystick is a sensetive thing, most ppl will get uset to it (me also) but some still cant get over tha fact that it isn a D-pad. Be aware that this can be a problem for u. Also, the gp2x is not a plug and play system, you should like to test and configurate and test again etc. If one is able to read readmes use google this will not be a problem though.

GL!

EDIT: The screen protector is not a problem, it is pre-mounted on the MK2

[n8archer_XI]

I'm in the same situation as the thread maker, with a dissapoiting PSP, and a desrire for a GP2X more than anything...