I'm All New To This...

[Bronze]

Hello everyone - I love retro gaming and have little interest in the new handhelds from Sony and Nintendo and stumbled across the GP32 in a magazine article a little while back.

Well I'm now going to take the plunge, but first I was hoping for some honest advise. Is the GP32 the best handheld to go for, for my emulation cravings? I've had somebody recommend the Zodiac to me, but I was hoping you guys would argue some for/against points.

Also, I've been looking for an ideal place to purchase my GP32 and found this:
http://www.gbax.com/new/gp32.html

Is there a better place I should be purchasing my GP32 from, if I decide its the best handheld for me?

 

[consolelou]

B) Hello Bronze, i purchased my Front Light Unit about a year ago brand new,sealed on ebay for a good price and it was in the U.S. where i am from.ebay is a good place to look but just be careful about some dishonest sellers on there. liksang.com would be my next choice because my brother purchased something on there and was really satisfied with the way the transaction was handled. I cant tell you how good the Zodiac is because ive yet to own one but i can tell you that the GP32 is a very well made little handheld that i am happy with overall.(make sure to get a Front or Back lit version if you decide to buy one because you are able to play it anywhere that is not well lit) The only drawbacks i can tell you about are its crackly sound even in the official games made for it and it takes a little bit of reading these forums to know how and where to create folders and place the different game and multimedia files but it becomes so easy once you find out how to. Hope this helps

 

[johncross85]

Hello everyone - I love retro gaming and have little interest in the new handhelds from Sony and Nintendo and stumbled across the GP32 in a magazine article a little while back.

Well I'm now going to take the plunge, but first I was hoping for some honest advise.  Is the GP32 the best handheld to go for, for my emulation cravings?  I've had somebody recommend the Zodiac to me, but I was hoping you guys would argue some for/against points.

Also, I've been looking for an ideal place to purchase my GP32 and found this:
http://www.gbax.com/new/gp32.html

Is there a better place I should be purchasing my GP32 from, if I decide its the best handheld for me?

​

The GP32 is VERY good for emulation but whether it is good for you depends a lot on what you want to see emulated - any systems in particular?

From what I hear the Zodiac is also pretty good for emulation but suffers because of it's analogue stick (not ideal when playing games designed for a digital gamepad). It's real bonus is the PDA functions - if you want a PDA then the Zodiac is the obvious choice but otherwise you would be just as well served with a GP32.

As for where to buy, GBAX is pretty much the best place for UK GP32 buyers. If you do decide to go for a Zodiac, PCWorld are doing them stupidly cheap at the minute - Link Here

Hope that helps!

J(ohn)


EDIT : You might want to look at this thread for more thoughts on the quality of emus.

 

[redcup]

If you do decide to go for a Zodiac, PCWorld are doing them stupidly cheap at the minute

And www.morgancomputers.co.uk are doing them even cheaper (£117 for a Zodiac 2, about £80 for a Zodiac 1), although the Z1 has just gone out of stock.

I'm toying with the idea of a Z1 simply because of the better screen (i have a non-lit GP32) and the higher capacity memory cards which make it a better proposition as a media player.

From what I can see - GP32 is still the way to go for emulation though.

 

[BobBorakovitz]

ok, I own both Systems and like both of them for different reasons.

You were asking about emulation, though. The GP32 (while slightly slower) is a better system to play roms on due to the digital direction stick. Also, the emulators are much better quality especially with DrMD and GPMAME now. Just don't expect to emulate the SNES at full speed with sound, it's not gonna happen. And realize that GPMAME will play older games fine, but it's not gonna play something like Metal Slug or Mortal Kombat. Sega Genesis (DrMD) works pretty much perfectly on about 85% of the games. Nintendo (LittleJohn) works perfect, Gameboy (fGB32) works perfect for gb mono games but gb color games are a tad slow. TG16/PC Engine works great, SMS/GG works great... I think that covers the main ones... then we have CaSTaway which is very fun and works very well. Doom, Wolfenstein, Rise of the Triad, Quake, many EXCELLENT homebrew games.

The Zodiac is a great system for media and they have some (arguably) really good games, also the PDA functions are nice and the Wifi card is nice, but the analog stick pretty much sucks compared to a digital stick/pad for most emulators. CaSTaway on the Zodiac has really good joystick emulation via the zods analog stick, but it just feels right. Play nintendo or something else with LJZ and the analog stick feels off or a bit slow. Also a LOT of things on the Zodiac you have to buy, including the good PC Engine emulator and SMS/GG emulator (never had luck with the free one).

If I had to buy only one, I'd buy the GP32 in a heartbeat. I like my Zodiac, but the GP32 is my favorite handheld EVER, & I've owned many! Get yourself a good set of rechargable batteries and a couple of 128MB Smart Media Cards and you'll be set. For me it'd be an easy decision.

-BobBorakovitz

 

[spaceboygp32x]

If you do decide to go for a Zodiac, PCWorld are doing them stupidly cheap at the minute

And www.morgancomputers.co.uk are doing them even cheaper (£117 for a Zodiac 2, about £80 for a Zodiac 1), although the Z1 has just gone out of stock.

I'm toying with the idea of a Z1 simply because of the better screen (i have a non-lit GP32) and the higher capacity memory cards which make it a better proposition as a media player.

From what I can see - GP32 is still the way to go for emulation though.

​

buy one - well look after you...

erm and emulator wise - its good - full speed with sound megadrive and the new MAMe port especially good!! - homebrew scene is excellent to with Beats of rage, crocodingus, king of fighters, and much much more...

no other handheld boasts such a well supported scene!

negatives to read up on are the compatibility problems accociated with the BLU+ unit and some of the older software... news stuff runs fine

and if you can make sure it can get up to 166mhz! youl find out why!

sPaCe h34r:

 

[johncross85]

To be honest, if I were coming at it completely fresh I'd be hard pushed to choose between:

- The cheapest GP32 on GBAX £124.77 inc VAT & postage
- A Zodiac 2 on MorganComputers £126.30 inc VAT & postage

...and if you go for a 166mhz guaranteed GP32 from GBAX it would actually be £20 more expensive than a Zodiac 2. Glad I don't have to make that choice - the Zodiac was £299 when I got my GP32!

However as other people have already said, purely for emulation then the GP32 is your better bet.

J(ohn)

 

[spaceboygp32x]

To be honest, if I were coming at it completely fresh I'd be hard pushed to choose between:

- The cheapest GP32 on GBAX £124.77 inc VAT & postage
- A Zodiac 2 on MorganComputers £126.30 inc VAT & postage

...and if you go for a 166mhz guaranteed GP32 from GBAX it would actually be £20 more expensive than a Zodiac 2. Glad I don't have to make that choice - the Zodiac was £299 when I got my GP32!

However as other people have already said, purely for emulation then the GP32 is your better bet.

J(ohn)

​

ah... but youll get a good GP second user for about £80

 

[Reesy]

How much is the Zodiac?....Oh no the pull of it's force is strong :blink: I can't believe how cheap they are, that amazing. I must admit if I had the choice now between a Zodiac and GP32 I would probably choose the Zodiac.

 

[spaceboygp32x]

How much is the Zodiac?....Oh no the pull of it's force is strong :blink: I can't believe how cheap they are, that amazing. I must admit if I had the choice now between a Zodiac and GP32 I would probably choose the Zodiac.

​

but theres no DrMD for the Zodiac Reesy!

silly billy - thats the reason we all love the GP B)

 

[johncross85]

How much is the Zodiac?....Oh no the pull of it's force is strong :blink: I can't believe how cheap they are, that amazing. I must admit if I had the choice now between a Zodiac and GP32 I would probably choose the Zodiac.

​

Oh shit! I wish I hadn't said anything now!

J(ohn)

 

[Squidge]

Wouldn't take him long to port it as all his asm code should port straight over. You still have direct-ish access to the screen if required (rather than assuming, just say "where's the screen?"). I think it'll be welcomed too

Saying that though, I still think the GP32 is the best machine to run it on, as you have far more control.

 

[DaveC]

  How much is the Zodiac?....Oh no the pull of it's force is strong  :blink:   I can't believe how cheap they are, that amazing.  I must admit if I had the choice now between a Zodiac and GP32 I would probably choose the Zodiac.

​

Why?

That analog stick on the thing is crap for playing emulated games. It may be nice to look at but actually playing stuff is dodgy, I had one. Then there is the NON user replaceable battery, so when it stops taking a charge you will send to the US to have it replaced, If Tapwave is still around. Those Z prices are because they are closing them out. How will you get it fixed or the batery replaced? There is the annoying DRM to where you muct have big brother sign every app before anyone can use it. They sometimes even refuse to sign stuff (some emus) which means you will have to take out Z stuff and make it plain palm. Then you will need to be sure to make all code "play nice" with palm os. If you don't handle memory just right you will crash on exit, which can wipe out the users RAM. Just another layer of crap to deal with. And for what? a few more Mhz at 193? A shitty controller? Buttons that have a clicky cheap feel like an old TI-30 calculator? I don't think it is worth it in my opinion.

 

[Bronze]

Wow, well congratualtions to you all for convincing me this is the best community I have ever seen in one single thread!

I think I'm going to go for the GP32 on the basis that looking around on the web, there isn't much support for it software-wise and your comments about the stick have put me off it a lot

I'll buy from that link - but I'm a little concerned about it being a BLU+... are there compatibility issues with it then?

Or worse still, is there a new model in the pipeline soon?

 

[DaveC]

To be honest, if I were coming at it completely fresh I'd be hard pushed to choose between:

  - The cheapest GP32 on GBAX        £124.77 inc VAT & postage
  - A Zodiac 2 on MorganComputers  £126.30 inc VAT & postage

...and if you go for a 166mhz guaranteed GP32 from GBAX it would actually be £20 more expensive than a Zodiac 2. Glad I don't have to make that choice - the Zodiac was £299 when I got my GP32!

However as other people have already said, purely for emulation then the GP32 is your better bet.

J(ohn)

​

Good one John, open mouth insert foot <_<

 

[johncross85]

Good one John, open mouth insert foot <_<

​

I know, I know, I know... I was just shocked that the price had dropped so much! Sorry folks...

J(ohn)

 

[Reesy]

heh, John "The Destroyer".

 

[johncross85]

heh at John "The Destroyer".

​

...and in the distance you can hear the community gearing up for a good old fashioned lynchin'.

J(ohn)

 

[spaceboygp32x]

BLU+ issues....

have just posted this to another thread still

OK - its not really a fault, its caused by gamepark changing the specification of the machine/screen so that programs need to be written differently - its just a minor problem which mainly effects older applications that havnt been updated! All new BLU units are BLU+ (a name created by ths community to identify the latest batch with diffent screens!)

I chose to get a FLU unit because of this (front lit like GBA) - but others have found that the BLU+ is worth buying regardless of the compatability mainly because the screen is sooo damn nice!

most of all new programs are fine with the new BLU+!

the choice is yours - ebay is always a good stop, uncert BLU+ are going for bout £80 new! but the Clock speed will be pot luck! (and you really need to be up there at 166mhz IMO)

here: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...ssPageName=WDVW

Hope this explains it a bit better

sPaCe h34r:

p.s. searching internet for Zodiac horror stories ala PSP to steer REESY homeward!! will post here soon! he will not turn to the darkside!

 

[sensible GP32]

your banned john Banned!


reesy! say no to the evil that is the zodiac