GP2X Review by Fomit

GP2X review

I am currently spending a year teaching English in Korea. When I heard that the GP2X was coming out I knew I had to get one. I was lucky enough to get in on the Korean preorders and now own one of the first GP2Xs ever produced. Mine is number 328. My GP2X even has "First Edition" stamped on the front.

It has its problems. It was released with very buggy firmware as many of you are already aware. The battery life is terrible. The 2 AA batteries that came with my unit only played approximately 45 minutes worth of video. I have since purchased some 2500 mAh rechargeables in the hopes that this will take care of that problem. GPH has stated that the battery life will improve when newer firmaware is released. The other reported problem is the fact that 2Gb SD cards will not work. This is also an acknowledged problem and will be fixed when newer firmware is released.

Now that that's out of the way I have to say that I am very happy with my GP2X. Video quality is excellent and I have been enjoying watching videos on my very regular bus and subway trips around Seoul.

The user interface is simple and very easy to use. Left, Right, Down, and Up are used to move through the main screen (up is used as left and down is used as left). I wish up and down would be usable to move from one line of icons to the next instead of simply moving to the next icon. When B is clicked to start a program, listen to an mp3, watch a video, look at a picture, or read an e-book, the user is presented with a choice between accessing content from the internal NAND memory or from an inserted SD card. The user is then shown the contents that are applicable to that application. This is where my other complaint about the user interface comes in. Sometimes B is used to back out of a screen and into the previous screen. However, B is not used to back up to the main screen. You have to press start to get to that screen. These are very small problems and could be fixed in a firmware update. Who knows, maybe we will be able to set up our own controls.

Seeing as this is still brand new hardware, there is no software available for it. I am eagerly awaiting some of the already announced ports, especially Quake and Duke Nukem 3D. Overall I must say that I am very happy with my decision to be an early adopter of this product. If the GP32 is any indication, this thing has a great future ahead of it.

--fomit