Buying A Gp2x

[Jester]

Hi i haven't posted on these boards in ages, don't know y really i suppose i don't use my GP32 as much as i did wen i was at college, still play on it from time to time tho. Anyways i'm now looking for a full time job and will be faced with long commuting to and from work (i live out in the sticks but thankfully we get good transport links) so ive been thinking about investing in a GP2X to while away the dull hour and a bit journey, however ive heard a few horror stories about the new system and would like to ask a few questions i have googled these btw and looked around these boards but didn't find much tht answerd my questions so here goes:

1. Battery usage. I have found estimations ranging from 8 hours to 3 hours and am just wondering how long a decent set of rechargeable 2100 mAh Ni-Mh batteries would last.

2. Dodgy headphones plug. This would really affect me as i would use my GP2X as an MP3 player as well as a gaming device, so how bad is it does it only affect the first edition units or is it an ongoing problem?

3. Dodgy Firmwares. Read lots about this so whats the deal and whats the best 1 to use, i would be ordering mine from gp2x.co.uk and i kno they flash there units with the latest firmwares but is the latest 1 the best?

4. Faulty USB Cables. Is this still a problem or have the cables been improved? Basically am i going to have 2 buy myself an SD Card Reader?

Thanks.

 

[mat_basset]

1.)2700 mAh are decent, but i still use 2000 mAh

2.)easy to fix, and if getting from gbax, i managed to send mine back

3.)im using first! low batterys failing during process of firmware updating can leed to bricking!!

4.)best bet to get a card

 

[fomit]

1.)2700 mAh are decent, but i still use 2000 mAh

2.)easy to fix, and if getting from gbax, i managed to send mine back

3.)im using first! low batterys failing during process of firmware updating can leed to bricking!!

4.)best bet to get a card

​

I would recommend 2500 mAh as a minimum. This lasts me for about a week of commuting give or take. I always have another pair with me just in case and then recharge either at home or at work.

I would recommend the simplicity of using a card reader over writing everything to SD through the GP2X. First off it wastes battery life.

Firmware upgrading is generally a good thing. For the most part I have seen more things fixed than broken. Then again, I have been playing Landstalker on my commute and not watching videos. Apparently (I have not confirmed this) DivX was broken in the the 1.2.x firmware updates.

Mine was one of the first 500 GP2X. My headphone jack actually fell inside the unit from poor soldering and so they fixed it as part of the recall that GPH did of the first 500 units. As far as I can tell everything is now fine.

 

[taras]

1- I use 2300 mAh Uniross ones (silver with a black top) - they're great + long lasting. Can't tell you how long because I don't use my 2X all the time, one charge lasts me about a week though.

2- Headphone socket depends on the type of plug used, I've found. My Sennheiser in-ear headphones work perfectly; my headphone jack-to-RCA cable doesn't.

3- I still use 1.0.1. Haven't seen any reason to upgrade yet.

4- Definitely get a card reader.

 

[Jester]

Thx for all the help very much appreciated. Think i may dip into the savings for my GP2X now thn and i just won an ebay auction for an SD card reader £5 inc delivery w00t!! B)

 

[cbox]

I upgraded to 1.1 firmware because of the xvid support, I prefer xvid to divx and don't like to re-encode. Didn't update to 1.2 or 1.2.1 because none of the features really were must-have.