Did You Get Your Retail Wiz? Post About It Here!

[thetooth]

ffffuuuuuu-

I ordered my Wiz a week ago and it took less than 6hrs for it to be packaged and in the air to my country... the rest of that time its been sitting in customs or being returned to the agency because the "city" i live in is classified as a "remote region" meaning it could take another week before it gets here

i'll post my findings when it finally shows up(if it ever dose >.>).

 

[liveevil]

I ordered my Wiz yesterday from GBAX.com, it's says they're in stock ready for 24hour delivery so I ordered one. 30 Hours later and I still haven't received it. Not happy. (I live in the UK).
Apparently they've only just sent it, so i've just been cheated on paying for 24Hour delivery. Thanks for the great service GBAX and hopefully it will turn up tomorrow.

 

[Dave18]

Had my Wiz about 1 1/2 weeks now and I have to say I'm pretty pleased with it.

Ordered it late in the afternoon on a Wednesday from GBAX, it was dispatched on the Thursday and arrived nice and early on the Friday. Excellent service throughout.

The emulators run really well, especially impressed with gpSp. Mame is a bit strange in that some of the newer games run really well (obviously those that use 68000 and z80 processors have a nice speed boost due to Cyclone and DrZ80), but some games run surprisingly badly. Original Space Invaders crawls along which is quite bizarre and Double Dragon (arcade not Neo Geo) runs badly with sound yet Double Dragon 2 run perfectly. I can only assume some processors (sound ones in particular) are not very efficiently emulated.

The unit stopped booting on its first day, but after checking the forums a quick (well 15 min) firmware flash solved the problem. This does seem to mean that you end up having to keep a 700mb firmware on your SD card just in case it happens again which is quite a lot of space to use up.

Another strange and somewhat annoying issue is that my ohBoy files appear to have been deleted by the Wiz. I was playing on it, turned it off and now the entire OhBoy directory is empty although the directory itself still exists. I did turn the unit off by the switch when the emulator was running but it was not accessing the SD Card and the card hasn't been removed from the device at all. Anyone else experiences this problem?

These are minor gripes though (assuming it doesn't make a habit of deleting stuff) and overall I'm really pleased with it. It reminds me of when I first got my GP32 and how much I enjoyed playing with that (still do in fact). The GP2X was hardly used due to crappy controls but I find the ones on the Wiz perfectly usable, even if the D-Pad is a little on the loose side.

Off on holiday soon so looking forward to giving it a real test.

Cheers

Dave

 

[NEIL L]

Mame is a bit strange in that some of the newer games run really well (obviously those that use 68000 and z80 processors have a nice speed boost due to Cyclone and DrZ80), but some games run surprisingly badly. Original Space Invaders crawls along which is quite bizarre and Double Dragon (arcade not Neo Geo) runs badly with sound yet Double Dragon 2 run perfectly. I can only assume some processors (sound ones in particular) are not very efficiently emulated.

Hi Dave,
To get Space Invaders to run properly turn on the Vsync in the options, this also slows down Ms. Pac Man, which normally runs at 100 MPH!
(You could try turning this on/off with the other games you've mentioned, it might help)
Cheers, Neil

 

[Dave18]

Neil

Thanks, that has gained a speed increase in quite a few games. I also got me playing around with some of the options, turns out the only way to get Space Invaders running at full speed is the change the screen depth to 16bit although this does make the colour bars (the red, white and green strips) visible.

Dave

 

[rsuryase]

Just got the Wiz, bought it on ebay for around $130, i saved around $40 from retail price, tax. Got it because my GP2X broke, I'm surprisingly satisfied with it, though I hope handhelds dont get any smaller than this. I think Dingoo is about same size. However Im surprised it's still not fast enough for some emus like SNES. I tried overclock to 800 but sometimes it crashed during gameplay, so I reduced to 750. I like it better than the GP2X but honestly it does basically the same thing as GP2X just a little bit faster. You dont really need it if you already have the GP2X. The emus are more refined on the GP2X than the Wiz but maybe in future it'll get a lot better on the Wiz. Though GPH is coming out with a new model in a year.

Edit: I'm been playing my Wiz more than the GP2X, ready to sell the GP2X on ebay but gonna wait until emulators are more refined on Wiz.

 

[Tonka]

OK - I've been playing with my Wiz (hehehe) for a few days now - thought I'd get some decent playing time before I made a post.

The good: As an ex GP2X F100 owner (decent one too, with very high overclock and an Evil Dragon joypad mod), I am happy to say that the Wiz is still in a totally different class. From the solid build, extra speed, fantastic D-pad and buttons (yes - you heard right and I've used 'em all from the original Gameboy to the PSP. I prefer the Wiz D-pad to any of them, so there). Oh, and it looks very cute - all black and red. Mmmmmm... Was waiting (like most, I suspect) for the Pandora to surface, but decided to 'make do' with the Wiz in the meantime. Big mistake - wish I had got it much sooner and TBH, I'm not even sure I'll be wanting that Pandora now.

The bad: Most emulators could do with further optimization them rather than having to overclock so much (and so wasting precious battery life), bit this is obviously not a fault of the Wiz. Also, I was underwhelmed with the screen after what I had heard here. DOES look great on Mame and Picodrive, etc, but also looks quite grainy on solid colour 8-bit stuff. The darker the background colours, the better it looks but on white/blue backgrounds - really not that impressive (see the C64 startup screen as an example - looks loke a badly compressed jpg image)! Also wish the shoulder buttons protruded more and were 'spongey' rather than 'clicky' - little bit cramp inducing after a while.

That said, none of the bad points really detract from the amount of sheer fun to be had with this baby. I love it.

So say what you like about GPH, they have listened to the criticisms we so very kindly poured upon the (at one time) only decent open handheld available and then came back with something much, much better. And (unlike some other handhelds we could mention) you can actually, well, hold it in your hand. Now. Today. Beat that... ;oD

 

[BlackJackuk]

I got my wiz yesterday via ebay. Aside what looks like a screen burn on the light colours (blue for example) that shows the USB connected picture. which is barely noticable to me anyway its a fanstastic upgrade to the GP2X F100 I had a while back.

It's a fantastic bit of tech and I had running mame and x-men in mere minutes very impressive! Had other emu's running on it and such.

Just what I need for my holidays!

 

[bogeto]

I bought mine from console source about a year ago. After about two weeks, the screen crapped out. (pixels started turning black) However, I sent it in and they sent me a brand new wiz that has worked for at least a year, and the only problem I've had with it was that I had to re-flash it twice. I was very impressed with consolesource. Also console source has $5 shipping to US and Canada, which is nice.

 

[Mega5657]

Got Mine from ebay today and I have to admit it is a pretty nifty handheld. Plus boomshine2x is pretty fun

 

[pete1061]

Hi, new here..
I just got my WIZ as a b-day present on apr 13th.
I've only begun checking out what it can do. So far, I like it.
The OLED screen is nice, so much better than an LCD.
Just finished upgrading the firmware to 1.2.1

 

[trabitboy]

I had my wiz for 3 weeks, I just use it every day !

The level of the homebrews/ports on this system is astonishing,
I play : Gianas Return, Noiz2sa, and Her Knights at the moment.

The dpad is ASTONISHING:
I like the psp2000 d-pad, but this one is as good as the DS tank d-pad,
even if it's a little softer.
Playing the toaplan games bundle from game park was extremely enjoyable,
and these games really push digital controls.

The screen is very good for gaming, but very grainy,
not so good as I wanted to port a paint app on it

From a dev point of view the linux build chain is cool,
and compiling the nehe examples is not too hard once you get hold of the files;
I still have to try to push the gfx side.

A problem I have with this system, is that it lacks the "instant stand by" mode
of the psp, which makes me look forward to the pandora

Overall, GREAT SYSTEM, I just miss the "instant stand by" mode.


EDIT:
after 3 weeks of moderate to solid use, I got the burn in mentioned a few posts up;
I'm much much less enthusiastic as a result
it's hardly usable now.

 

[Wycked]

Just got my Wiz from Thinkgeek about a week ago, and so far I'm impressed. Being able to fire up a well-running copy of Quake (1 and 2), Descent, Doom (all of 'em), or my emulators is pretty slick. The built-in games are pretty well done, as are most of them on OpenHandhelds.

No real issues with the hardware... I wish the SD card slot sat in a bit deeper, I often feel like I might accidentally pop it out. This has actually happened once, resulting in the need to reformat and reload my 8 gig SD.

I find the choice of the 24-pin connector a strange one. Why not the standard mini-USB? It would certainly eliminate the confusion over buying an AC adaptor for it. I took a stab in the dark and went with a Just Wireless LG phone charger from Wal-Mart. It seems to charge just fine, though the%

EDIT: Hm... seems my post was cut short. I think I was saying that the charger seems to work just fine, though I think the battery gauge in the default frontend seems to be out of whack. Using Win2X now though, everything seems to be fine.

I haven't touched my PSP since getting my Wiz!

 

[u9i]

Welcome Wycked. I use my iPhone charger. The cable is pluggable so i can plug my Wiz cable right into it.

@trabitboy, maybe complain to the After Sales Center. Search for the info

 

[Dran]

Hey guys! I got my wiz about a month ago and I have to say that I'm absolutely loving it.

One problem I'm having though is with the unit not staying powered on.

For some reason, it doesn't power up unless the usb cord is plugged in. Once it's plugged in - it will power up and play just fine. As soon as I unplug the charging cord while playing - it will shut off.

Also I noticed sound is only coming out of the left speaker.

This problem only started about 4 or 5 days ago. Before that - I wasn't having ANY problems with the unit.

I've never dropped it and I take good care to look after it. I'm not sure what to do now. Should I send it back to be repaired? I really want to get this fixed so I can use it away from my computer or a wall plug. It's good to know that the unit still works and isn't totally broken - but I sure do miss using it when I'm away from home.

Any ideas?

 

[klikklak]

Just send it back, at least I can't think of any quick fix.

 

[ryaxnb]

I just got my wiz and i like it alot. It emulates all the games really well, the emulators were easy to install and the system seems to be the ideal retrogamers toy.
it seems very fun to use, the screen is bright, the dpad is ideal, etc.

 

[ryaxnb]

After further review... i still love it just as much .
But heres some extended commentary.
NES Emulation - Fine, works great, no tearing.
SNES Emulation - Surprisesd how poor handheld SNES emulation is in general, and how inconsistent- my DS can play some SNES games, but the Wiz can still not play certain high-powered titles 100% despite being 10 times more powerful. Nevertheless, more games play on Wiz then any other handheld, and the emulator is awesome. Titles that are hard to achieve, like Super Mario RPG, Mario Kart, and Super Mario World 2 play acceptably. Almost every game works.
PSX emulation- havent tried yet. Mostly, i want wipeout, ridge racer, castlevania, and hydro thunder and from what i understand many of those titles may work or may work soon.
MAME - I was surprised at how few titles it can emulate - until you realize how bloated mame is. It nevertheless flawlessly plays hundreds of games. The variety ranges from primitive 8-bit titles like Super Breakout to incredibly stunning 16-bit titles like NBA Jam and Mortal Kombat.
Genesis - Ah, perfection. Thats all that needs to be said
Master System - Works well
Game Boy - I find the OhBoy emulator is awesome for GBC and GB titles and gpSP does a good job with Game Boy Advance.
Sega CD - Works Well
Sega 32X - Many titles are playable if you underclock the 32-bit cpus. Nice. Not much is interesting though, aside from knuckles chaotix, nba jam and mortal kombat. Two interesting titles, Virtua Racing, and Virtua Fighter, are too slow to play.
Atari 2600 - Surprisingly this is a tough one to do (the NDS couldnt pull it off - it was too slow), but the wiz passes easily.
Atari 7800, Coleco, MSX, Intellivision,- Works fine.
Neo Geo - This is the most Impressive IMHO. Works great.
Commodore 64 - Does not work all that well
Apple II - nonexistent

Game Datafile runners:
PrBoom/Doom - Works fairly well, fast, could have better UI. No cheats except warp. Controls are good.
Wolf4sdl/Wolfenstein 3d - Fast, works well, no cheats. Controls are awesome.
Quake Series - havent tested.
Tile World/Chips Challenge - Works great, is a gp2x program, runs through GINGE.
SokobanGp2x/Sokoban/Boxxle - Works Great. Is A GP2X Program, runs through GINGE.
CloneKeen/CommanderKeen - Havent tried it, supposedly is awesome.
ScummVM/Adventure Games - Havent tried it, supposedly is awesome.

Actual games:
Not many So far ive stuck to emulators and datafile runners.

Device:
Screen: Awesome.
DPad; Good.
Buttons: slightly Akward.
Triggers L/R : Awesome
Size: Small perfect.

 

[traylorpark]

I saw this on Facebook, some other user's experience. Had a good laugh at GPH's response :rolleyes:

 

[darklight1138]

I wanted a Dingoo (because of TV-Out) but my fam couldn't find one and ended up getting me a Wiz through ThinkGeek because they were offering it at a discount since the Dingoo was sold out.

First impressions are that I am very happy with it. Good graphics, some cool features, and an overall comfortable and stylish feel.

BUT...my unit will NOT play SNES emulation, which makes me very sad. Also I really want a TV-out feature. I can't say the touchscreen really adds to anything so far, but I only use the thing for games so far.

I have read that others are having similar issues with the SNES emulation, and they too got their units the same way and from the same place as I. So hopefully this serious issue can be resolved.

But I love the little thing so far!