Gp2x Now Or Wait?

[invinciblegod]

Hello, I finally have enough free cash to buy a gp2x. Question is, should I buy now or wait a little. I remember reading a thread in which they say they are coming out with a gp2x 3rd edition (my name) that has a new joystick and 64 more mb for a total of 128mb. is this true? if so should I wait?

 

[nickspoon]

Nah. Nothing big is going to change. True, they're going to put a new NAND in because they can't stock the 64MB one any more, and there may be a new joystick cap. But you're not meant to store stuff on the NAND anyway (limited writes) and a DaveC cap is better than GPH could ever produce.

 

[iignotus]

It's only 64 more megabytes of NAND flash, not that important, and if you want a different joystick, get Dave's, they're almost definitely not going to replace the whole assembly. Buy now.

 

[Fishbong]

There isn´t a new version of the gp2x planned, the hardware will remain as it is, but some minor flaws (like some earphone jack problems) are hopefully to be fixed.

Maybe you got the GP2x mixed up with the XGP, which is only slightly related.

You should get a gp2x immediately, there´s already a wealth of cool software for it, but you should be experienced with computers or else you might experience sone annoying surprises.

 

[Epicenter]

But you're not meant to store stuff on the NAND anyway (limited writes)

I think all this talk of the NAND having 'limited writes' is blown way out of proportion. The flash in USB sticks, the iPod Shuffle, etc. have a theoretical maximum # of writes before they will stop working properly-- but do you know ANYONE who has ever hit such a limit? Same for the theoretical failure after a certain # of pushes of the GP2x's switch (the Stick).

 

[Flexinoodle]

Well if i hadn't bought the GP2X yet i would now wait to see if the XGP is vapour or not and then decided, Now i'll probably end up with all three.

 

[Alex.]

But you're not meant to store stuff on the NAND anyway (limited writes)

I think all this talk of the NAND having 'limited writes' is blown way out of proportion. The flash in USB sticks, the iPod Shuffle, etc. have a theoretical maximum # of writes before they will stop working properly-- but do you know ANYONE who has ever hit such a limit? Same for the theoretical failure after a certain # of pushes of the GP2x's switch (the Stick).

​

True that, all Flash memory has limited write cycles. I heard talk on these forums that SMC's for the GP32 last around two years, although I can't guarantee the truth of that. Anywho, enjoy the damn thing, who cares if it'll last you six years instead of seven? It's a piece of plastic, it's the community and its software that drives it.

- Alex

 

[Hanz™]

Nope this was all random speculation, Craig stated that GPH will have to switch parts when the old ones stop being produced and hence speculation of this sort.

 

[GeminiDomino]

I'll have to be the dissenting opinion here and vote "wait" depending on what you want to use the unit for.

Official firmware is still flakey at best. Now that part of the source is out, the homebrew firmwares are picking up, but I'm not sure if any of them are "production quality" yet.

Mainstream console emulation (NES/SNES/Genesis/Sony), which is what I'm in for, is still in the very beta stages (with the exception of Reesy's DrMD genesis emu). That's not to say it's not good and that Squidge, Zodttd and Fishybawb arent' busting their humps. They're doing great work (especially Fishy. His has to be the most frustrating since there are already two NES emulators that were apparently abandoned halfway).

Waiting a bit longer will let you get in on the next hardware revision (even if the specs don't change, the manufacturing process will improve), and give the homebrew firmware writers a chance to tighten up thier stuff. And if you want emulation, the longer you wait, the better it will get.

My .02, flames to /dev/null

 

[nickspoon]

There's also the problem that, with the NAND, if you fill it up too much, your GP2X will refuse to boot. NAND size doesn't really matter as it's better to use SD cards (actually getting stuff on the NAND requires one) as it's a pain to put stuff on the NAND, even over USB.

Get one now, you can always upgrade your firmware later.

 

[woogal]

True that, all Flash memory has limited write cycles. I heard talk on these forums that SMC's for the GP32 last around two years, although I can't guarantee the truth of that.

I can guarentee 2 years is not true

If you fill up any sort of nand with stuff you want then only write extra stuff every now and again (which most people usually do) I'd imagine you'll probably get the average lifespan out of the memory (which I think works out at around 30/40 years). I never understand why people panic about writing to nand when there are plenty of other things that will stop working much sooner. As long as you don't use nand memory as any sort of ram disk and write to it constantly it's incredibly unlikely you'll ever see it die from too many writes.

 

[Alex.]

True that, all Flash memory has limited write cycles. I heard talk on these forums that SMC's for the GP32 last around two years, although I can't guarantee the truth of that.

I can guarentee 2 years is not true

​

You made my day woogal

- Alex

 

[Talyz]

I can guarentee 2 years is not true

If you fill up any sort of nand with stuff you want then only write extra stuff every now and again (which most people usually do) I'd imagine you'll probably get the average lifespan out of the memory (which I think works out at around 30/40 years). I never understand why people panic about writing to nand when there are plenty of other things that will stop working much sooner. As long as you don't use nand memory as any sort of ram disk and write to it constantly it's incredibly unlikely you'll ever see it die from too many writes.

​

So that's why Kingston delivers liftime guarantees with all their SD cards (and probably all their products) .

 

[PokeParadox]

All this "limited writes" stuff is just companies covering there asses. To a certain extent it's like sell by/expiry dates.

 

[iignotus]

All this "limited writes" stuff is just companies covering there asses. To a certain extent it's like sell by/expiry dates.

​

So food never expires! Awesome! *chews milk*

 

[nickspoon]

*drinks cookie*

 

[Epicenter]

They put them there so they cannot be sued, say, 9 years down the line when an SD card fails to hold data anymore by claiming it should in theory have died long before-- it is, indeed, to cover their asses. The medium will probably never die during your actual use of it, and by the time it's rendered useless a superior format will have replaced it and will be in use for all devices of that time period.

If someone can show me flash memory they can provide proof positive died from an excess of writes, I'll gladly retract my point. But so far, I've seen absolutely 0 evidence to support that these projected failures have ever actually occurred for anyone under normal use conditions. Or ever, for that matter.

 

[Kojote]

Hello, I finally have enough free cash to buy a gp2x. Question is, should I buy now or wait a little. I remember reading a thread in which they say they are coming out with a gp2x 3rd edition (my name) that has a new joystick and 64 more mb for a total of 128mb. is this true? if so should I wait?

​

to be honest, wait till everything is fixed. even if it takes months. the gp2x is really nice and i like it, but the firmware is horrible and the joystick is horrible too. those 2 problems basicly destroyed my mood to use it. it might be not understandable to everyone but this is how i see it and yes i know there is an alternative joystick cap etc etc... still i think it's too early to get a gp2x, knowing there are several problems left to solve.

 

[EvilDragon]

Firmware? Well, since FW 1.4.0 it works nice (except for movie player freeze).

Though I prefer Art's U-Boot and Open2x. Compatible, nicer looking - and the gp2x is ready to use 7 seconds after I switch it on

 

[namco]

Hello, I finally have enough free cash to buy a gp2x. Question is, should I buy now or wait a little. I remember reading a thread in which they say they are coming out with a gp2x 3rd edition (my name) that has a new joystick and 64 more mb for a total of 128mb. is this true? if so should I wait?

bottom line is this:

if you are going to buy it for causal use then i'd wait. if you want to code/port stuff to it (as well as play games and can handle the joystick problems and lack of firmware allowing full functionality) then buy now.

My intention is to help the community in porting stuff - as i see a lot of potential in the device. And not only that it's a new dev boy's toy for me to play with!!