Is It Worth It Yet?

[danny404]

I was jsut wondering, is it worth it yet to get the GP2X for the non-developer? I'm considering buying it somtime soon, but loads of people are saying to wait for the offical release. Then again, alot of people are saying that there is no offical release at all

SOOO I will be using it mostly for emulation and movies, maybe a few mp3s aswell. I will try my hand at developing, but I already know how thats gona turn out

So to the point, is it worth it yet? I've really wanted to get one for the last few months and I don't think I can wait much longer. Any advice? :huh:

 

[Wobedraggled]

I'm not a dev and I'm digging it so far, some rough edges emulation and firmware wise but it's still pretty useable.

 

[Empyre]

Nah, save your money. Get one at Christmas time.

 

[TelcoLou]

I say it's worth it .. I'm not a dev, and I use this wonderful little device ~2-4 hours a day. We have:

Genesis (most games run full speed w/full sound, save states)
MAME (port of MAME 0.34, literally hundreds of games at or near full speed w/sound)
TG-16 (nearly full speed w/sound)
GBC (a few different versions, all works in progress coming along nicely)
NES (again, a few different versions in various stges of develoment)
Atari 800 (pretty much perfect, as far as I can tell)
C64 (Frodo, and VICE which also runs C128, Vic 20)
MESS (Mutile system emulator with TI-99/4A, Colecvison, Atari 7800, and others coming soon)

And many others .. I only listed what I use ... there's also many homebrew games.

Definitely worth it

 

[xrti]

I would say "yes"

It`s worth it for MAME alone!

 

[Radek]

I was jsut wondering, is it worth it yet to get the GP2X for the non-developer? I'm considering buying it somtime soon, but loads of people are saying to wait for the offical release. Then again, alot of people are saying that there is no offical release at all

SOOO I will be using it mostly for emulation and movies, maybe a few mp3s aswell. I will try my hand at developing, but I already know how thats gona turn out

So to the point, is it worth it yet? I've really wanted to get one for the last few months and I don't think I can wait much longer. Any advice? :huh:

​

If you want to play videos (and audio too) then gp2x is one of best choices now. The SD cards are getting cheaper and bigger and gp2x supports divx/xvid so even at 250kbps quality will be decent. And you will be able to connect it to TV sets so things are even better.

For emulator there are some decent ones already (the Outcast is almost perfect and efficient, the Fuse, the DrMD and few others) but snes is apparently subpar yet. But it should improve with time.

For developing on the gp2x possibilities are great already. There is even Python, Fenix, Perl and number of options will be only increasing. Of course the old good C and assembler are available too.

For SDK/libs you have SDL, minilib and you can use hardware directly too.

The minuses of gp2x are not too good stick (but can be improved to be bearable for most), the refresh issues with lcd (looks like a firmware problem) and often short battery life (but many people don't have such problem - I found it acceptable myself).

 

[tobytyke]

I also thinks it worth, Emulation at the moment is not 100% but it getting better each day.

SNES is on its way
OutCast (Atari ST) - Near as damm perfect
DrDM (Genesis/MegaDrive) - Perfect
TG-16 (PC Engine) - Perfect

Video with DIVx works great.

All the devs have really started to kick in so I for one am looking forward to the next few months to see how much they can squeeze out this little wonder.

 

[Trashman]

Read the buying a psp thread. Some good stuff in there that might help you make your mind up. B)
I say go for it.

 

[naples39]

I'm just curious--for the people who are waiting or are advising people to wait, what exactly do you expect to happen in the near future that would make it better to buy the unit later as opposed to now?

As far as I know no hardware changes are coming to the unit itself, which then makes it a question of software. In the case of software, there is no reason to wait because you can own it in the meantime and use the 'beta' software versions, and a future release of software will work just as well on a unit purchased today as a unit purchased in 3 months.

 

[BenScar]

If you can stand the little issues, which when I'm using mine don't seem to be all that much of a problem, then get one.
Understand that it's not "perfect" from the start and if you can live with that, it's SO much fun

Playing Sonic on the train, using it to watch the latest Battlestar while on the bus, it's just great.

It might even spur you on to learn programming and become a dev
(It's rekindled my desire to learn more C++!)

 

[tobytyke]

Well put BenScar, Its nowhere near perfect but most important it fun.

Playing ST and Genesis games is great. Back in the 80/90s games were written for playablity not flashy graphics. If thats what your after, playing classic games then the GP2X is perfect for you. Added to this you can also play movies and music on the move.

If your looking for an out of the box deal with super classy graphics then the PSP is most likely what your looking for.

I personally preferre the GP2X but its not for everyone. If you do go for the GP2X then i'm sure your'll have lots of fun if your willing to do work a little.

 

[danny404]

I'm just curious--for the people who are waiting or are advising people to wait, what exactly do you expect to happen in the near future that would make it better to buy the unit later as opposed to now?

As far as I know no hardware changes are coming to the unit itself, which then makes it a question of software. In the case of software, there is no reason to wait because you can own it in the meantime and use the 'beta' software versions, and a future release of software will work just as well on a unit purchased today as a unit purchased in 3 months.

​

No, its just there have been so many roumors and people saying wait for the 'offical' release I decieded to wait and see. That, and I didn't have money cause of christams rush

So yeah I'll get one somtime in Feb. with maybe a 1-gig card. Anything else I should get with it? Also where is the best place to but it? Replies appreceiated in advance

 

[yaustar]

UK GBAX
US GP32Z

You may want to look at a TV Out lead and power supply.