A Smarter Bob

[Blah]

I was thinking about the commercial BOB and the thought occurred to me. GPH if they release the commercial BOB will probably include the wrong features and make it prohibitively expensive. So I wondered, what do we really want in a BOB?

I figured that the demand would be highest for a dock that simply includes power, tv out, and usb plugs for game pads. Maybe if we were extra nice to Santa a Ethernet card (all the features of usb networking without the hassle of the computer, Ethernet is everywhere, computers aren't).

Whats good about this you wonder? Well it would be something cool for your friends. Wanna play a game? I'll just plug my GP2X into the TV, heres the controller. Wham! Instant "Gamecube" (especially if theres a Ethernet card). It would only be cool though if it didn't cost a lot (in the realm of $30, rather than $50). Tiny USB Ethernet sticks cost only $10, Netgear sells a WIFI version for $15.

I was actually thinking about emailing GPH before they make the mistake of making a BOB that nobody wants.

What do you guys think? This was previously discussed as GP2X as a home console, but it got way overambitious (built in hard drive? pfft. this isn't an XBOX).

 

[Squidge]

So, whats wrong with the BoB that already exists?

http://gp2x.co.uk/gp2xbreakoutboard.html

 

[Blah]

Too big, too many plugs, and too expensive.

 

[Squidge]

So what would you prefer? You'd still need the gp2x connector, power socket, tv out and usb, so the only things you would lose would be the serial and jtag connectors. Removing those would probably save about £1 from the cost price.

 

[woogal]

There's nothing wrong with the bob price, who cares how big it is when you'll only ever be using it at home, and if you want less plugs there's nothing stopping you snapping some off.

 

[kardasan]

Personally I would take it with me on every vacation (assuming that I'd have electricity there). Imagine...gp2x + BoB + 2 usb pads + 8-10' LCD...lovely

 

[thumpgun]

i would like the bob to clip on to the gp2x so that you could open and close it in a laptop sort of way, protecting the screen when closed

 

[PokeParadox]

I'd like a sort of "home docking" bob... which activates TV out automatically when docked.(and you can over ride that behaviour if needed...)

 

[abertalia]

i would like the bob to clip on to the gp2x so that you could open and close it in a laptop sort of way, protecting the screen when closed

Haha! That is a good idea.

 

[TJHooker]

It's missing an ASIC solution to cut it's PCB size down, and a cool looking injection molded case.

I was confused for a while to whether it, or the USB 2.0 interface didn't have the +5V because of the wiki documentation. I suggested a inline battery pack in any case. A non standard ~5V NiMH cell from radio shack would keep it the size of a molded inductor.

I just use mine for WIFI, and doing research on stream, and block driver development for USB, and SDIO for the ARM kernel, so I can't really think of anything practical for the BOB( barker .)

 

[abertalia]

Hey, I was reading the Breakout Board Interface Document and it was saying that I should only be plugging 1 hdd usb drive in at a time or it will break the thing. Is this true?

 

[Anhaedra]

I really don't see how that could be true, but I am in no way an expert on the workings of USB...