Gp32 Blu


kknd_cf

La vieille dame et les pigeons
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I'm hopefully getting a gp32 BLU for Christmas. But now I've heard a fair few things about not being able to see as well and also the select button turning on the light is annoying etc...
Is it true that you can barely see stuff in the day?
Does the screen get extremely scratched like the gp32 FLU (well mine anyway)
Is the select to turn the light on annoying in select dependant games, eg MD+SNES

Thank you very much in advance.
 
Yes u can see it in the day rather well and it is semi annoying when u press the select button to turn it off But I deal with it because it isn't that bad. the daylight is just about as good as when the light is on. :) so I think u should get it. :)
 
If you ever use your GP at night then go for it. It's worth it for that alone. The difference between a BLU and an FLU at night is staggering. Crisp clean colours and no light leakage. Mmmmm lovely.

Personally I've never had a problem with seeing my BLU screen but I don't play outside. Maybe in daylight it could be dull bu I wouldn't think it would be that bad.

As for the select button it's an annoyance but you get used to it. I used to turn off the light playing doom but now I've got in the habbit of changing weapons by pressing the select for each weapon rather than holding it down and cycling through weapons if you get my meaning. I don't even notice it now.
 
:) I'm sure it's possible with all the great coders/hackers out there.specificly in the gp32x community.
 
Shame about the select button being used for the light.

I'm getting a BLU soon, I hope it doesn't bother me much. I love backlit screens so that should more than make up for it.

I hope someone finds a way to change the select/light situation. Game Park should've gone the FLU route and added a light button on the back. Or maybe a small one of the front similar to the GBA SP.

Is it 100% confirmed not to be in the firmware? It's definitely a hardware thing? Maybe there's a wire that can be snipped... :rolleyes:
 
that light at the top of the gp32 should have been the button. that way it wouldn't be easy to turn of if you just put it on it's back and it would be simple for you turn the light on and off. :)
 
I would agree about the light being annoying (especially for Megadrive emu)

Does anyone know conclusively how the backlight switch works? Is it software or hardware? Either way someone will know how to disable it (i.e. perhaps cobbleware guy for hardware and mr spiv for firmware)
 
the light causes no problems with me, I havent played anything that has required the button to be held down long enough for the light to be deactivated so I think you'll be very happy with your new gp32 blu when u get it.
 
yeah the only problem would be gpdrive when you are sending something big to the gpmm file or something. :)
 
Shame about the select button being used for the light.

I'm getting a BLU soon, I hope it doesn't bother me much. I love backlit screens so that should more than make up for it.

I hope someone finds a way to change the select/light situation. Game Park should've gone the FLU route and added a light button on the back. Or maybe a small one of the front similar to the GBA SP.

Is it 100% confirmed not to be in the firmware? It's definitely a hardware thing? Maybe there's a wire that can be snipped...  :rolleyes:


It must be a hardware thing as when it is flashed to new FW it is unaffected. I would think there would be a trace somewhere that you could cut to disable it. Finding it is the trick. I suppose you could open a non-lit version and compare the circuit for differences.

I guess Gamepark didn't want to add the cost of another switch plus retooling the molds for it.
 
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Does the BLU have free launcher built-in? I thought I read that someplace.

How different is the BLU firmware from the old one? I used to have a FLU, and I had to install the free launcher myself. IIRC the link and mp3 programs were built-in.
 
I don't get bothered with it. It takes a few seconds to turn it off <_< I don't know why you would be holding it for that long in the frist place although I have turned it off a few times on accident <_< .

You can see perfectly, except in the sun. ALso its difficult to see without the backlight on.

www.gp32z.com
 
it doesn't have the mp3 built in but it does have the freelauncher built in. it comes with a disk to install the gpmanager and that has a mp3,gpcinema,image viewer, and a text veiwer that comes built in the manager. :) I have to disagree with u jrswiss. I can see it perfectly in the sun light with or without the light on. but I do have to agree that u can't see it at all when the light is off and you are indoors. :)
 
I've found it okay in sunlight, just tilt it at a certain angle and it's playable. Inside it's GORGEOUS.

The select button only occasionally becomes an issue, but there's always way around it (e.g. in Megadrive games, just change the button layout within the game itself). I agree it could have been handled better, but in the end it's not very noticeable.
 
Does the BLU have free launcher built-in? I thought I read that someplace.

How different is the BLU firmware from the old one? I used to have a FLU, and I had to install the free launcher myself. IIRC the link and mp3 programs were built-in.


It has one launcher which is basically an icon system laid out in a grid that is navigated with the stick. The launcher will launch both homebrew and commercial so no separate ones are needed. It is pretty intuitive and quick to use, I wouldn't bother with flashing personally. There are no cute animations to wait through either.

There are no programs like MP3 players built in but homebrew ones are better anyway. I have never had the need to use any of that PC link stuff (it is built in though) or register either as I just use a card reader for everything, it makes it so much easier and faster. I never bought any encrypted downloaded stuff though (I buy boxed only stuff) because I don't like DRM and I think I would have to register for that.
 
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Thank you very much for your kind replies. I've decided to get a BLU now but the problem is I don't want it badly scratched like my poor FLU. I use the smaller part of this case to house my gp32 when I'm not using it:
kit_bag_gba_big.jpg

I believe that the inside of this wasn't delicate enough for my gp32, could anyone advise anything really good? Is the offical case still impossible to get apart from on ebay?
Also does the BLU not let dust in the screen?

Thanks
 
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