Considering A Caanoo

[ulgurstasta]

Hi!

I'm considering getting a Caanoo for the emulation options, but from the reviews I could find of it (most of them 6 months old) seemed the emulators needed a bit more work. So I'm wondering how it looks now? Are most games on Nes/Snes/Genesis/GBA supported?

Another thing, I have no experience with Linux, how hard is it to get started?

-Ulgur

 

[dnlgreenwood]

Hi!

I'm considering getting a Caanoo for the emulation options, but from the reviews I could find of it (most of them 6 months old) seemed the emulators needed a bit more work. So I'm wondering how it looks now? Are most games on Nes/Snes/Genesis/GBA supported?

Another thing, I have no experience with Linux, how hard is it to get started?

-Ulgur

A couple of emulators may need some work, but now most of them are near-perfect. Picodrive (genesis), DRSMS (SMS/GG/SG-1000), GPSP (GBA), GPFCE and NESGP2X (NES), DrPocketsnes and SNES9X4C (SNES), for example run quite well. I have had some problems with NESGP2X and DrPocketsnes, though. NESGP2X is slow and/or glitchy with many of the games I play, like Solstice. DrPocketsnes works well for the most part, but won't run some games. There are also Amiga and C64 emulators available now, though I've only tried the Amiga emulator; it was a little slow, but I haven't had the time to mess with the settings.

It's really easy to get started; you don't really need any experience with Linux to use the Caanoo. Just copy your games/emu folders and .ini files to your game folder and copy over your roms. I had moderate experience with Linux when I started using it, and it helped a lot when trying to set up USB networking, but that's about it.

I think the Caanoo is an excellent choice for emulation. You should also look at the Vectrex, MAME, TurboGrafx-16, and GameBoy emulators and the ScummVM interpreter. There are also Atari ST, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Colecovision, and Atari 7800, as well as emulators for quite a few old computers.

 

[Berserk]

Hi!

I'm considering getting a Caanoo for the emulation options, but from the reviews I could find of it (most of them 6 months old) seemed the emulators needed a bit more work. So I'm wondering how it looks now? Are most games on Nes/Snes/Genesis/GBA supported?

Another thing, I have no experience with Linux, how hard is it to get started?

-Ulgur

If you require full speed GBA\SNES emulation with superior compatibility, the Caanoo isn't for you. If you require an accurate controller to play shmups like DoDonPachi or even 4 direction games as simple as Pac Man, the Caanoo isn't for you.

Example of controller issues here (fast forward to Pac Man segment):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a1fRCsibYw

The Caanoo's other negatives include:

- Several lines of the LCD screen are hidden under the front bezel
- Annoying volume control that needs constant attention or tape
- Speakers located on the back, which get muffled whenever fingers change position
- Many reports of the joystick nub losing calibration. Warranty includes a potential 90+ day wait for replacement
- Weak\Glitchy video player
- Overall emulation is still behind the Wiz

If none of this scares you off, then you should thoroughly enjoy the Caanoo. The white model shows the least fingerprints.

 

[hi-ban]

-The current SNES emulator runs all the games i've tried. About GBA, yes, it's not the best GBA emulating device, but it does the job.

-The analog stick works surprisingly well. i've had no problems playing shmups, beat'emups, platformers or fighting games.

-The 5 upper lines are hidden, but the scaling of most emulators is adjusted to that, so i forgot about that issue after the 1st day.

-The volume control is not the best, but works for quickly adjusting sound volume without going into menus.

-The sound is good. it sounds 100 times better than the dingoo.


Advantages of the Caanoo over the Wiz/Dingoo:

-The Caanoo has an excellent build quality. it really feels like a gaming console, and not like a cheap gadget.

-The Caanoo is very comfortable to use and has a very good size and shape. you can easily press the shoulder buttons and your hands don't hurt after 30 minutes of gaming.

-The Caanoo doesn't suffer from diagonal line issues, unlike the Wiz or the Dingoo.

-The Caanoo has a full sized USB port, allowing you to use Wifi dongles, USB memorys, and USB gamepads. You can play 2-player games with MAME.

 

[dnlgreenwood]

If you require full speed GBA\SNES emulation with superior compatibility, the Caanoo isn't for you. If you require an accurate controller to play shmups like DoDonPachi or even 4 direction games as simple as Pac Man, the Caanoo isn't for you.

Example of controller issues here (fast forward to Pac Man segment):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a1fRCsibYw

The Caanoo's other negatives include:

- Several lines of the LCD screen are hidden under the front bezel
- Annoying volume control that needs constant attention or tape
- Speakers located on the back, which get muffled whenever fingers change position
- Many reports of the joystick nub losing calibration. Warranty includes a potential 90+ day wait for replacement
- Weak\Glitchy video player
- Overall emulation is still behind the Wiz

If none of this scares you off, then you should thoroughly enjoy the Caanoo. The white model shows the least fingerprints.

I don't have any trouble with controlling Pac-Man with the joystick at all... it's probably just me.
I've had my Caanoo for a while, and the volume control and screen bezel don't bother me one bit. The speakers aren't a problem unless I'm playing something REALLY intense, like SORR.