Chinese-made gameboy 3 on ebay - does anybody have one?

[Chip]

People have been sticking Raspberry Pi zeros into gameboy shells for a while. There are custom PCBs that make the process a bit easier, but it still requires more than a little work - especially if you want additional buttons. Lately I've been seeing pre-made gameboy mods using a raspberry pi 3A+ (gameboy 3), and I'm wondering if they're worth it. I mean doing a GB3 build costs almost as much as they're asking just in parts - forget about all the soldering and case modifications.

Here's an example of the sort of GB3 I'm talking about. There are several Chinese sellers offering similar builds. I suspect they're using the tinkerboy AIO board, since that easily allows the 6 buttons and analog stick these feature. I also suspect they're using the "standard" composite-fed 320x480 display. If anybody could confirm or deny these assumptions, I'd appreciate it.

I'm also curious how well they're built and how long the battery lasts. They claim it's a 5000mAH pack, but it looks too small for that to be accurate. For under $250 shipped, these premade GB3s seem like a decent deal - but not if they're shoddily made and will fall apart in a few weeks or if the battery barely lasts 2 hours like a sega nomad. Can anybody who has one weigh in, preferably with which seller they bought from?

Thanks.

EDIT: I found this video review of a similar (but not identical) unit being sold by a Chinese modder. ETA Prime is pretty well versed in SBC modding and gaming, so I trust his observations.

 

[levi]

Ouch, that doesn't seem as cheap as it should especially given it's second hand (I'm referring to the ebay example you posted). If the thing as new is more than that then I'm out for sure.

 

[Chip]

They're all sold as "used", but really that's just because they're handmade. These aren't made in a factory or anything. If you look into building one of these for yourself (as I have), the price to buy all the parts ends up close to the $200 mark. The ebay price to buy one fully assembled definitely seems fair - assuming they're well built.

 

[spud42]

have you seen this? https://www.waveshare.com/game-hat.htm makes a Pi look like a PSP
link from this thread https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/handheld-consoles-for-homebrew-with-320x240-screen.83488/

 

[Chip]

I have, but that's not really a great setup. It's large, fragile, uncomfortable, and it uses microswitches instead of proper silicone membrane buttons and a thumbstick instead of a proper d-pad. The single 18650 battery it uses is unlikely to last for more than about an hour. It's the sort of thing that looks great on paper, but is effectively unusable for actually playing games.