I Am Scared To Preorder..

[SlackwareLinux]

I am almost ready to preorder the GP2x, but I am afraid of a few things.

I am afraid that the Joystick on the GP2x will be slippery and unresponsive, and that the buttons will be mushy. GamePark released the GP32 with a broken joystick and I don't want to spend money for a broken console.

I am afraid that the GP2x will not be able to emulate the SNES to playable levels.

I am afraid that GamePark will release a second generation GP2x, which will be superior.

I am afraid that battery life will be worse then the PSP's while doing emulation.

Somebody, please tell me that I am crazy and paranoid... I really want to preorder so I can get the first batch, but if it is going to be bad..

Oh, and go ahead and flame me to death

 

[Alpha2]

You're crazy and paranoid.

 

[TelcoLou]

"GamePark released the GP32 with a broken joystick and I don't want to spend money for a broken console."

Oh did they, now? Mine works just fine ... it's a bit 'clicky' but still, it did not arrive broken ...

"I am afraid that the GP2x will not be able to emulate the SNES to playable levels."

Do you actually own a GP32? And have you played the lates SNES emu on it? Many games are quite playable, with sound. Depends on how pickey you are The GP2X is much more powerful than the GP32, so if developers decide to make/port an SNES emu, I'm sure it will be better than the one we have on the GP32 currently.

"I am afraid that GamePark will release a second generation GP2x, which will be superior."

Well, many consider the GP2X a "2nd gen. GP32" so, you may as well stop buying any consoles for fear of an improved model coming out every few years ...

"I am afraid that battery life will be worse then the PSP's while doing emulation."

Why? The GP2X has mo movin parts (i.e. a UMD drive) to eat up precious volts ... besides, ever hear of rechargeables? I've got 8 or so and just swap 'em out when they get low ...

You seem paranoid and undecided. No need to be ... just pre-order one and enjoy the ride with the rest of us

Edit'd to bold your paranoid remarks

 

[iignotus]

Well, you wont be able to preorder for much longer, just plain ol' order.

The battery life has been proven to be about 5:30 on 2 AA batteries (it was playing videos and music), and has been reported to go as high as 12:00.

It will emulate SNES fine as long as work is put into the emulator. If full advantage of the hardware is taken, 100% speed is almost completely assured.

GamePark Holdings will very likely not make a second generation of GP2Xs until 2007 at earliest. It would be a bad move otherwise, and quite honestly I don't know that they even have the plans set in mind.

Hardware has been reported as fine by all that have used the finished device. No problems with the buttons, screen, stick, speakers, etc.

All of this could've been found by searching, but there it is in a more concise and helpful format.

 

[SlackwareLinux]

Ok, thanks for the quick helpful replies. I am going to preorder off of gp32z

 

[PiratSS]

I am almost ready to preorder the GP2x, but I am afraid of a few things.

I am afraid that the Joystick on the GP2x will be slippery and unresponsive, and that the buttons will be mushy. GamePark released the GP32 with a broken joystick and I don't want to spend money for a broken console.

Of course it will be..... Just take a look at it, it will easily break if you try to bend it a bit.

I am afraid that the GP2x will not be able to emulate the SNES to playable levels.
Don't think it can, people told me that it can do NES however.

I am afraid that GamePark will release a second generation GP2x, which will be superior.
It's already in planning, comes with lithium battery and a few more things

I am afraid that battery life will be worse then the PSP's while doing emulation.
2x AA just won't cut it, you'll get 10 minutes of playtime with full brightness and audio.
Somebody, please tell me that I am crazy and paranoid... I really want to preorder so I can get the first batch, but if it is going to be bad..

Oh, and go ahead and flame me to death

 

[iignotus]

Don't try to confuse the poor young man/woman, PiratSS.

 

[SlackwareLinux]

No, it is fine. I think I can sort out which posts are insightful and which ones are funny. (I apply the slashdot moderation system to everything).

Anyways, thanks for the replies. I was just scared because I got a Zaurus SL-C1000 awhile ago, and I have been a little dissapointed.

 

[Blah]

Yeah, menwomen are a rare breed

 

[reaper79]

Yeah, menwomen are a rare breed

​

Yes, but when found, are quite delectible, and make for good eats.

 

[iignotus]

No, it is fine. I think I can sort out which posts are insightful and which ones are funny. (I apply the slashdot moderation system to everything).

Anyways, thanks for the replies. I was just scared because I got a Zaurus SL-C1000 awhile ago, and I have been a little dissapointed.

​

Any intentions of selling said Zaurus??

 

[DaveC]

I am almost ready to preorder the GP2x, but I am afraid of a few things.

I am afraid that the Joystick on the GP2x will be slippery and unresponsive, and that the buttons will be mushy. GamePark released the GP32 with a broken joystick and I don't want to spend money for a broken console.

I am afraid that the GP2x will not be able to emulate the SNES to playable levels.

I am afraid that GamePark will release a second generation GP2x, which will be superior.

I am afraid that battery life will be worse then the PSP's while doing emulation.

Somebody, please tell me that I am crazy and paranoid... I really want to preorder so I can get the first batch, but if it is going to be bad..

Oh, and go ahead and flame me to death

​

You could always wait a week. By then many of us will be getting our units. Then you can read the comments and make a decision.

 

[SlackwareLinux]

Nope, I will not sell my Zaurus

It still makes a great web tablet, it is just a little underpowered and is to weak to play movies. (Although it runs Quake 1 at full speed....)

I am keeping my Zaurus becuase it and the GP2x should make a great pair, as they both can take SD cards .

One can be used for movies and games, and they other for browsing and VNC/SSH/FTP.

 

[aQwaBlaz3]

shit...ya know what, I was thinking that, and I was like "screw it". Im sure GP knows to debug and fix crap (*hint* *hint* delays) Im never bought a gamepark product ever before, but A lot of people here bought the GP32 when it came out and probabaly had no problems...

 

[x68000]

it may not be a major mass produced handheld, but where has that got sony with the psp? The most unreliable handheld for one reason or another in living memory.

 

[Mark1970]

I am almost ready to preorder the GP2x, but I am afraid of a few things.

I am afraid that the Joystick on the GP2x will be slippery and unresponsive, and that the buttons will be mushy. GamePark released the GP32 with a broken joystick and I don't want to spend money for a broken console.

I am afraid that the GP2x will not be able to emulate the SNES to playable levels.

I am afraid that GamePark will release a second generation GP2x, which will be superior.

I am afraid that battery life will be worse then the PSP's while doing emulation.

Somebody, please tell me that I am crazy and paranoid... I really want to preorder so I can get the first batch, but if it is going to be bad..

Oh, and go ahead and flame me to death 

​

My gp32's have no broken joysticks. They are actually quite similar to Suzo Arcade Joysticks with microswitches. They bring back c64 gaming memories, especially when running the excellent Frodo emulator.

Snes emulation is progressing very nicely on the gp32, of course it ain't perfect yet. But it took people a long time to emulate it on PC too. Just give it time. Else play the games on your real snes in the meantime like I do.

There will always be newer and better devices, look at the pc marketplace or the old home computers from the 80's and 90's. You can wait forever and wait for something to appear in the future, I say you live now and can enjoy stuff now and if waiting is something that feels good then please wait. If you feel curiousity and want to experience the power of the handheld gp2x go for it now!

As for battery life, I am pretty sure it will top the PSP when it comes to emulation. Besides it's pretty easy to get good rechargable batteries, that AA format is pretty darn universal and better ones are coming out regularly. I wouldn't be surprised if battery producing companies came up with form and voltage compatible alternatives to the NiCd etc AA batteries. The fuel cell technology is progressing rapidly nowadays.

I ordered my gp32 from Lik-Sang the moment it came out, that was the original NLU with the Korean firmware that needed the Freelauncher to run freeware / homebrew software. I managed to register on the Korean website and download my device specific freelauncher from there. I was brave enough the flash the firmware with Aquafish'es multifirmware and have been using it ever since albiet overclocking it only works upto 156Mhz. There was a time where people tought overclocking the device would actually damage the LCD screen. Now we know that overclocking a gp32 is relatively safe.
But when the BLU came out and Craig from GBAX was able to offer it 166Mhz certified I thought on it a little while and decided to order that one too. So now I am fortunate enough to have two gp32's.

The gp2x might have some issues that will become appearant but I really don't mind, that's the risk of being an early adopter. I will be perfectly happy if the device just playes my movies, homebrew stuff will definitely come out for sure. I am getting the grips on developing for the gp32 myself on my MacOSX machine and will probably get my hands dirty on developing for the gp2x too. It's fun, it reminds me of the good old c64 days where developing software for your computer was doable without having to invest hundreds of dollars in a programming language etc. The fun thing about coding for the gp2x will be that you'll be able to get your programs running on a Linux or even OSX too. So cross platform programs will definitely show up!