I used to have a PDA as my portable media/gaming machine. I ditched it in favor of the GP2X. The improvements were great, but I miss some things I left behind. If I could design a "perfect" handheld gaming machine, it would be based on the GP2X, but I would add in just a few of the things that I lost.
Touch Screen. I don't know what it would cost to use a touchscreen lcd instead of what we have now, but it can't be too much considering there are <$150 PDAs with touch screens. If it cost less than $40 to add then I would be willing to pay for it, it opens up SO many opportunities. Playing RTS games with a joypad cursor is a pain, ditto for navigating almost any sort of unorganized gui (read: web sites).
CF Slot. Would cost under $10 to add. Controller chip is dirt cheap, additional hardware fabrication isnt expensive. It could fit above the battery bay, making the bulge on the back of the unit cover the full height, but not increasing the total dimensions of the unit at all. CF storage is cheaper than SD, and you can get a wide range of non-storage devices in a CF card form factor (wifi, gps, camera, etc).
USB Host without the BoB. Cost is negligible since we know we already have USB Host via EXT. With just one host port we could hook up a keyboard+mouse, or a gamepad for some 2-player action.
Bluetooth. Chipset costs under $10. Would allow us to use mice and keyboards without a BoB. Could also allow sync and transfer with phones and such.
IR. $10 for the chipset and hardware. An IRDA port would allow the system to be controlled by remote when it is being used as a TV-out media player, and would allow the unit itself to be used as a universal remote.
Total increase in cost, assuming $40 for the LCD change, is going to be around $65. Would you pay $245 instead of $180 to get a "GP3X" with those features?
I am hoping to spur some serious debate here. Some of these ideas can be implemented by the really good hardware modders. But what would be nice is to provide GPH (or maybe even GP) with ideas for their next console. Who knows, we might see it in a year or two.
Touch Screen. I don't know what it would cost to use a touchscreen lcd instead of what we have now, but it can't be too much considering there are <$150 PDAs with touch screens. If it cost less than $40 to add then I would be willing to pay for it, it opens up SO many opportunities. Playing RTS games with a joypad cursor is a pain, ditto for navigating almost any sort of unorganized gui (read: web sites).
CF Slot. Would cost under $10 to add. Controller chip is dirt cheap, additional hardware fabrication isnt expensive. It could fit above the battery bay, making the bulge on the back of the unit cover the full height, but not increasing the total dimensions of the unit at all. CF storage is cheaper than SD, and you can get a wide range of non-storage devices in a CF card form factor (wifi, gps, camera, etc).
USB Host without the BoB. Cost is negligible since we know we already have USB Host via EXT. With just one host port we could hook up a keyboard+mouse, or a gamepad for some 2-player action.
Bluetooth. Chipset costs under $10. Would allow us to use mice and keyboards without a BoB. Could also allow sync and transfer with phones and such.
IR. $10 for the chipset and hardware. An IRDA port would allow the system to be controlled by remote when it is being used as a TV-out media player, and would allow the unit itself to be used as a universal remote.
Total increase in cost, assuming $40 for the LCD change, is going to be around $65. Would you pay $245 instead of $180 to get a "GP3X" with those features?
I am hoping to spur some serious debate here. Some of these ideas can be implemented by the really good hardware modders. But what would be nice is to provide GPH (or maybe even GP) with ideas for their next console. Who knows, we might see it in a year or two.
, I haven't had any problems myself, but many people seem to have had a wide range of bad experiences... So, build quality first, upgrades later.
