Couple Of Questions To Confirm Purchase

[Jetsetwilly]

Hi, my first post although I have lurked for a *wee* while.

Fairly decided on purchasing a GP2X but had a couple of questions first, if I may ask them. They are subjective so probably not covered by the faq.

1) What's the quality of movie playback from an uncompressed file - say a divx? I watch films on the morning train commute via pocket pc / sd and they have to be compressed highly to their detriment. I quite like the idea of watching a film on the GP2X and then continuing the film, in full res, on the tv when I get home. Does the GP2X do a good job of resizing on the fly?

2) Does the GP2X have a input for a DC mains adaptor?

3) What's MAME like so far then? Skimming the forums it seems to be pretty good, and this is probably the main attraction for me getting a GP2X....

4) As this handheld is mostly dependent on fan coders etc- how would one contribute if not a coder? I'd hate to buy into such a cool device/scene and feel like a freeloader but I'm no coder, sadly.

Thanks for reading! Birthday early next month so hoping to use it as leverage to get a GPX2......some testimonies from owners will help convince me (and er indoors too!).

Cheers.

 

[skate2live92]

Welcome to the forums!
1)Im not quite sure (sorry)
2)Yes(Im pretty sure)
3)MAME is awesome, ive only played 3 games but they are all very close to fullspeed with and without sound.
4)Im not quite sure, i guess you could make a skin or something like that.

 

[barnesy]

1) I don't use the movie player so have no idea
2) yes
3) I think it's excellent at the moment, it's improving with each update, and the updates are coming fast. Over 1000 ROMs are currently supported and very playable.
4) The most obvious way is to bung money towards the developers working on the things you like. So Franxis would be an obvious one as you're interested in MAME.

 

[DaveC]

You don't have to do anything. The stuff is just available for download here. The author don't even know you download after they release it.

You can donate for stuff you like though to help out but it is optional.

 

[cbox]

1) great! I download videos of my favorite tv shows in full 640 x 480 format (or widescreen hdtv rips even) and they play fine just dragging and dropping them onto a sd card (as long as it has enough space of course)

2) yes, there is even an official ac adapter you can purchase from some of the gp2x providers, but it's much cheaper to get a $10-$20 universal adapter from your local hardware store (supposed to need 1 amp minimum but I use a 800 ma one fine)

3) over 1000 games supported and a vast majority of them run really well, probably over 80% of the ones I've tried have been playable

4) support your devs by donating money, a few dollars here and there can really help.

 

[gaterooze]

You can also beta-test/bug-find for new programs, or write reviews of software and games for the community (this will become more important as the available software expands -- which it is doing at an exponential rate).

 

[Hokutoy]

4) You can try to make skins for some emus/firms, a Beats of Rage MOD (No code skills needed), apply for betatester, make/contribute a game compatibility list for some emulators, try to code something in Fenix (very easy programing language), write some reveiews, help the newbes, give some bucks here and there, and for sure, have fun.

Byes

 

[Jetsetwilly]

Thanks for the excellent replies chaps, pretty much what I hoped to hear.

Just the thought of playing MAME out and about...ooh!

And the movie playback sounds so much better than I get on my pocket_pc.

Time to flog off my pocket pc, I think, and jump aboard. gp32_console

Thanks again. B)

 

[Alpha2]

Indeed I have a few disks full of downloaded anime fansubs and I've been catching up with the episodes on the trian myself. the only thing is that with the speed atwhich it burns batteries you might want to have 2 or 3 of sets of rechargables ready for when it cuts out on you in the middle of a scene after a while. I tend to get through 2 half hour shows before loosign power maybe by the near end of the 3rd or middle of the 4th.

MAME is great and getting better, My only gripe would be that you have to use older Roms sets some times. (I'm not sure what I'm doing with the CLRmame thing so I stay clear of it rather than risk screwing up the collection I have on HD.) usually I just dump a bunch of roms on and see what works, if it does, it stays.

As a fellow non-coder I suggest the following, Occasional donations, reveiws, bug test reporting to the community, helping out other new "recruits" with info rather than "RTFM" posts or useless "USE SEARCH!" posts and finally just continue to be as pleasant a person as you've have been already so far .

 

[skate2live92]

Ya, for number 4 i guess you could be nice to people in the community, try fenix, help with bug testing and compatibility testing (EX:GP2PSX wiki), make a skin, donate $, and say your thank yous.

As for #1:Before i wasnt quite sure what you meant, but ive dragged and dropped an ATHF .avi right over, no conversions or anything, and it played great. Ive also used Virtual Dub, AVISYNTH and some Xvid stuff to convert dvds (ive done 2 and they work great!).
Good luck on getting a GP2X, if youre in the states order from gp32z.com.

 

[WrongEyedJesus]

4) Other than donating as mentioned, being an active, helpful and constructive member of the community is always a good start.

Welcome aboard.

 

[GeminiDomino]

1) What's the quality of movie playback from an uncompressed file - say a divx? I watch films on the morning train commute via pocket pc / sd and they have to be compressed highly to their detriment. I quite like the idea of watching a film on the GP2X and then continuing the film, in full res, on the tv when I get home. Does the GP2X do a good job of resizing on the fly?

DivX *is* compression (that's how a 4 gig DVD becomes a 600MB divX) but if it's got a high enough bitrate, they look absolutely gorgeous. If it looks good on the PC, it will probably look good on the 2X.

2) Does the GP2X have a input for a DC mains adaptor?

Yes.

4) As this handheld is mostly dependent on fan coders etc- how would one contribute if not a coder? I'd hate to buy into such a cool device/scene and feel like a freeloader but I'm no coder, sadly.

Lots of ways. Donate cash/kit/women to those who are coders. Write documentation. Stuff like that.

 

[Muncher666]

Indeed I have a few disks full of downloaded anime fansubs and I've been catching up with the episodes on the trian myself. the only thing is that with the speed atwhich it burns batteries you might want to have 2 or 3 of sets of rechargables ready for when it cuts out on you in the middle of a scene after a while. I tend to get through 2 half hour shows before loosign power maybe by the near end of the 3rd or middle of the 4th.

​

Jesus, dude! What sort of batteries are you using? I can get a usual solid 3 and a half to 4 hours out of a charge on my 2500 Energizers.

Allan.

 

[OmarNawaz]

same here

i had a lost marathon the other besides from the odd freeze here and there i was able to watch 3 episodes full hd wide screen rips.

 

[Jetsetwilly]

DivX *is* compression (that's how a 4 gig DVD becomes a 600MB divX) but if it's got a high enough bitrate, they look absolutely gorgeous. If it looks good on the PC, it will probably look good on the 2X.

Whoops, yep that's a good point. I've found divX/Xvid to be satisfactory in playback - as long as they ain't blown up to 60" or something - not gonna be a problem on a handheld screen, lol.

Lots of ways. Donate cash/kit/women to those who are coders. Write documentation. Stuff like that.

​

As the brilliant Andy Kaufman once said, 'take my wife........please, take her'. (Showing my age now!)