N00b Questions


nickspoon

nickspoon

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OK, first things first, hi people, I'm Nick from England.

Now, I'm completely new on the GP2X/GP32 scene, so I have a few questions to ask.

The first is about what to get. I'm thinking on three choices here. A GP32 from eBay, GP2X from GBAX.com or a PSP.
What I'm looking for firstly is a handheld that I can make games for easily. I'm just a hobby developer, and would love to put something of mine on a handheld. I've already got a few thoughts. Anyway.
Secondly, something that will play my media. MP3s, videos and whatever else would come under 'media'.
Thirdly, I'd like a nice little games machine that can play some overall good games in a good way. Emulators would be nice too.
Fourthly, I'd like something multi-purpose. Something that will let me play games, watch videos and, say, write text all in one handheld.
And finally, something expandable. Flexible. Something that will build. Do new things. With WiFi :D. And so on.

And price is a factor, too.

So, which handheld do you nice people reckon would fit that description best? Feel free to suggest others, so long as they are cheaper than £150.

And I'm -this- close to buying a GP2X.
 
With 'write text', it sounds like you would want a PDA more.. GP32/GP2X does not support Wifi out of the box nor do we know whether the GP2X ever will. It's just a possibility at this point but it does have the ability to play media and games/emulators (when they get developed).

Basically the GP2X will become as big as the community wants it to get.
 
Hello and welcome to the forum.

1. Make games for easily: That would be the GP2X. Linux means easy development.
2. Media: Definately the GP2X. It supports just about any format available. The screen is 4:3 though so maybe not optimal for movie play back. PSP is better for that.
3. Games: This is a well debated subject. It's clear that the GP2X will never enjoy the same kind of commercial support that the PSP has. The question is are you looking for cool new 3D games (at an insanely high price) or are you looking for a good gaming experience. GP2X isn't the former but will most probably be the latter. There will definately be lots of homebrew games and emulators. You should be aware that they won't be available at release time though. Some might but not many. Look at http://wiki.gp2x.org/wiki/Works_In_Progress for more info about works in progress.
4. Multi-purpose. That's a word describing the GP2X very well. With Linux we're bound to see all sorts of programs.
5. Flexible. Unfortunately there's no working USB host mode so you won't be able to plug in any USB devices. But WiFi will be probably possible with a SDIO WiFi card. GPH is trying to make that work right now.

I've tried to be as objective as I can. You should probably listen to a PSP fanboi before you decide though ;)
 
From what you want to do and your personal preferences, I really think the GP2X is by far the best option. Especially for the great open source development community!

Why not wait a couple of weeks until the units are actually shipping and decide definitely then? There's no real advantage to pre-ordering right now, and I'm sure as news from the first batch's users comes in, you will be convinced :D
 
nickspoon posted on Nov 4 2005 said:
OK, first things first, hi people, I'm Nick from England.

Now, I'm completely new on the GP2X/GP32 scene, so I have a few questions to ask.

The first is about what to get. I'm thinking on three choices here. A GP32 from eBay, GP2X from GBAX.com or a PSP.
What I'm looking for firstly is a handheld that I can make games for easily. I'm just a hobby developer, and would love to put something of mine on a handheld. I've already got a few thoughts. Anyway.
Secondly, something that will play my media. MP3s, videos and whatever else would come under 'media'.
Thirdly, I'd like a nice little games machine that can play some overall good games in a good way. Emulators would be nice too.
Fourthly, I'd like something multi-purpose. Something that will let me play games, watch videos and, say, write text all in one handheld.
And finally, something expandable. Flexible. Something that will build. Do new things. With WiFi :D. And so on.

And price is a factor, too.

So, which handheld do you nice people reckon would fit that description best? Feel free to suggest others, so long as they are cheaper than £150.

And I'm -this- close to buying a GP2X.
​
Click to expand...

GP2X would best cover everything other than writing text and wi-fi(right now )

PSP is a bitch to develop for with "mandatory" firmware updates that break the access to amateur code.

The GP32 covers most bases, but I'd assume(ignorantly) that the GP2X will be easier to code for since it has the SDL and Linux SDK's right out of the box.

All up to you of course, but that's my suggestion. Truly good Wifi and Text input implenentations is inferior across all 3 platforms, in my opinion.... Of course the GP32 has that chatboard, but I dont know about that.
 
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For me it sounds like the handheld you want dosnt exist yet :)
Drop the games thing and gp2x might be for you.
 
2X is probably as close as you'll get. You'll have to sacrifice the wireless and writing though. Mind you, I think a few people have writing wireless drivers in mind as a "pet project", but I doubt it'll be easy. As for writing, that's out too unless you're willing to code your own text editor for a joypad ;)

My Pocket PC has most of the features you're talking about, but it's pretty weak on the games front and has a price tag of over £300 quid.

As I said, all told, the GP2X is probably the option that most closely matches your designs.
 
Well, someone just came up with a good idea for text entry this week or last week I think... I'll find a link later if I feel like it.

However, besides 2 of your unrealistic wishes for handhelds wi-fi and text entry; the GP2X is THE best thing to get. It is easy to develope for, plays all/most multimedia and has great homebrew and emulators.
 
OK, about the text-editing thing... it's not that I specifically want, but I was trying to think of something multi-purposey. Anyway, an example might be: I believe there was some sort of mapping software for the GP32, just something that's really... useful, practically.

Thanks anyway, and no, I don't want high-end 3D. Plus, I'm a fan of Sonic and Mario and all those great classics. :D

So, I reckon the GP2X is the way to go. I also think that SDIO will go far. After all, what developer can resist all the possibilities and power of everything planned by the SD people? (I for one am hoping for digital TV, but that's got to be really far off. :))

Thanks! *orders a GP2X*
 
For text input, what about something like Dasher?

http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/dasher/

I do plan on trying edgewrite as well, but the thing that scares me is on the main EdgeWrite page, the paragraph that begins with "The patent-pending EdgeWrite Software".... Could that get in the way of things? :unsure:

-OCA|
 
Essentially, no. Software patents, while unfortunately easy to get in the US and even in other parts of the world, have rarely, if ever (to my knowledge), been successfully enforced. A large part of that is that software is clearly non-patentable, the most laugable example being when Adobe products starting up mention their use of a patented algorithm while every patent law ever passed forbids explicitly the patenting of mathematical formulae. I think you are very, very safe. And it's fully legal until they get the patent in any case.
 
OT: Software patents = Microsoft take over world.

I did plan on learning better C soon, actually. The GP2X seems as good a start as any. Expect to see more from me soon. (If I can be bothered to get my head down and do something :lol:)

P.S. Dasher looks really interesting and is probably the best bet for text input.
 
Actually, software patents scare the tender mercies out of MS too. In the US, the big companies (MS, IBM, Apple, and even many smaller ones) all trade licenses to each other for free on any patents they put out, simply because none of them ever want to have to worry about an actual case involving software patents.
 
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OCA| posted on Nov 4 2005 said:
I do plan on trying edgewrite as well, but the thing that scares me is on the main EdgeWrite page, the paragraph that begins with "The patent-pending EdgeWrite Software".... Could that get in the way of things? :unsure:
​
Click to expand...
Nope :) at least not while the current researchers are the only ones working on it. They don't seem to have any problems at all with others using edgewrite ideas in free software. In fact my gp32 version is linked from the main edgewrite site and I was even interviewed as part of their research.
 
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