Clearing Up Some Rumours...

[garykerr06]

As you undoubtedly are aware, there are many reviews for the GP2X on the web, but many of them are over a year old and almost always consider the F-100. I am considering ordering an F-200 from the official UK retailer, but i have a few questions perhaps you could clear up for me:

• Are firmware update failures common?
• Do all current 2D emulators, such as the Mega Drive and Neo Geo, run at full speed?
• Do you have to be a linux sage to get the most from GP2X?
• Is there a playable Saturn/PSX emulator?
• Is there any guarantee on the device?

I appreciate any help offered, and i hope you can convince me to purchase the machine!

Cheers,
Darth Gazak

 

[mrsnature]

* Are firmware update failures common?
No, it's just you only hear about the failures... anyway, shouldn't really be a need to update. And its not a disaster generally if it does mess up.

* Do all current 2D emulators, such as the Mega Drive and Neo Geo, run at full speed?
Most console emulators yes. Some more recent MAME may not. SNES, Megadrive etc full speed.

* Do you have to be a linux sage to get the most from GP2X?
No, only if you want to tinker around a bit... no linux knowledge needed to play games etc.

* Is there a playable Saturn/PSX emulator?
Not really, though a couple of games on PSX emulator are apparently quite playable.

* Is there any guarantee on the device?
I expect so, check with the retailer. A good reason to buy in your own country though.

 

[Manjuu]

1. There is always risk when flashing firmware on any device. The F-200's FW doesn't need to be touched at the moment, since there are no other official FW versions compatible to it. (Downgrading it would likely just brick it.)

2. Most 2D emulators are "full speed" (Some may require frameskip & overclocking to further increase their performance). The more recent the system or game is, the more likely it runs slower. (Mega Drive is full speed, while NeoGeo is pretty much also full speed, but experience some hiccups from time to time.)

3. No. (Unless you want to develop for it or mod it.) Just read the Readme files that come with programs, and use the search functions (in this forum or Google). You will find answers to most of your questions. If you still can't find an answer, you could always ask here in the forums.

4. No Saturn emulator, but there is a PSX emulator. It is not that playable though. (There are a few games that are almost full speed; mostly 2D games.)

5. I believe there is, (1 year I think) just check it on the online store you plan to buy on to be sure.

 

[garykerr06]

Cheers for answering some of my queries guys, and i'm glad to announce i will be commencing my purchase of a GP2X F-200. I plan to do a computer oriented course at university in the future and fell the GP2X would be a valuable tool for learning how to program, never mind all the excellent emulation options available.

However, i'm considering purchasing a PSP second hand from a friend. You have probably been asked this a thousand times, but which one does emulation better?

Thank you

 

[yaustar]

QUOTE
GP2X would be a valuable tool for learning how to program

Not really as generally it is only C or C++ with SDL which you can do on a PC.

 

[Megagun]

Cheers for answering some of my queries guys, and i'm glad to announce i will be commencing my purchase of a GP2X F-200. I plan to do a computer oriented course at university in the future and fell the GP2X would be a valuable tool for learning how to program, never mind all the excellent emulation options available.

However, i'm considering purchasing a PSP second hand from a friend. You have probably been asked this a thousand times, but which one does emulation better?

Thank you

The GP2x is better at emulation, if you disregard PSX (obviously) and GBA.

What might be notable, though, is that trying to run anything on a PSP is a gazillion times more difficult than trying to run things on a GP2x. With the GP2x, it's mostly like with old games or freeware titles nowadays: you just stuff the files somewhere in a random directory, run the .exe (on the GP2x: GPE or GPU) and it'll work. With the PSP, you'll have to extract it somewhere specific and hope it'll run on your firmware with the settings you use.

In general, emulators for the PSP aren't as finished and done as those made for the GP2x are. The PSP knows many emulators or applications that have been developed and never ever maintained after initial release (there are ofcourse exceptions ).

If you want fullspeed PSX emulation or some commercial games, get a PSP.
Otherwise, I'd recommend the GP2x. It's much more user-friendly than homebrew--enabled PSPs are.

 

[xcen]

GP2X also supports python =)

 

[iCeD00D]

Just my 3c ..... .I got the F200 for Christmas and let me tell you, I'm still playing it and being a hard core MMO player, that says a lot for me... also look at it this way...

GP2X - Open source
PSP - Sony (need I say more )

Plus IMO its easier to buy accessories for it. I just bought a 120GB WD Passport and hooked it to my cradle... and man I'm impressed..... but if you have the $$ get a PSP and GP2X...

 

[ZXC3CD]

Just my 3c ..... .I got the F200 for Christmas and let me tell you, I'm still playing it and being a hard core MMO player, that says a lot for me... also look at it this way...

GP2X - Open source
PSP - Sony (need I say more )

Plus IMO its easier to buy accessories for it. I just bought a 120GB WD Passport and hooked it to my cradle... and man I'm impressed..... but if you have the $$ get a PSP and GP2X...

Does snes support games with that required chips yet? (super mario rpg, kirby superstar, starfox, others)

 

[DaveC]

Cheers for answering some of my queries guys, and i'm glad to announce i will be commencing my purchase of a GP2X F-200. I plan to do a computer oriented course at university in the future and fell the GP2X would be a valuable tool for learning how to program, never mind all the excellent emulation options available.

However, i'm considering purchasing a PSP second hand from a friend. You have probably been asked this a thousand times, but which one does emulation better?

Thank you

The GP2X has a much higher l337 g33|< factor than a PSP. The PSP is just so so mainstream that screams I am a conformist drone

Well really they both do emulation well. The screen on the GP2X matches better ( how many emulated systems use a 16:9 screen? zero maybe) but PSX is much better on the PSP.

 

[karmaKid]

Well, I own a GP2X, PSP and DS...

The GP2X is really excellent. To play stuff on the PSP you have to downgrade the firmware to the point where it won't play any UMD games.

Overall, I've been really impressed with the GP2X f200.

 

[Exophase]

The GP2X is really excellent. To play stuff on the PSP you have to downgrade the firmware to the point where it won't play any UMD games.

It isn't like this anymore, since the advent of custom firmwares you just install one of those after downgrading and you can play UMD games fine since they see firmware that is compatible with the official counterpart. Custom firmwares are usually a version or two behind their official counterparts, but it takes games a while to require the latest firmware.

 

[Alex.]

But don't you need a cracked PSP to crack a new PSP to begin with? Or is that just for the battery trick.

 

[rokdcasbah]

But don't you need a cracked PSP to crack a new PSP to begin with? Or is that just for the battery trick.

i downgraded mine with an older copy of gta liberty city stories, which shipped with an installer for firmware 2.0. i don't know if the situation's changed since then but at the time i did it, that was the best you could do if your firmware was too recent.

this chart tells you what the cutoff is, and if you're past it, you might need gta (an older release, "ebay edition" i guess).

like i said, things may have changed, i haven't kept up with the firmware race. the battery trick was not fully developed at the time i did mine, and anyway, that's more of a hardware mod, though from the looks of it, not that difficult to do. i don't know about needing a second psp...i thought you just needed a spare memory stick, could be wrong though.

 

[XorA]

But don't you need a cracked PSP to crack a new PSP to begin with? Or is that just for the battery trick.

You can buy the magic batteries on the internet for 10-15 quid. Then you can crack the PSP without having to have access to another PSP to make the battery.

 

[xcen]

random thought: why fight a war against sony when you can just be happy having encouraged hoebrew on the 2x?

I hate sony so much! good hardware, shitty policies =(

 

[trooper]

random thought: why fight a war against sony when you can just be happy having encouraged hoebrew on the 2x?

I hate sony so much! good hardware, shitty policies =(

And constantly shoving their proprietary crap down our throats.

Trooper