New Gp2x F-200

[namco]

QUOTE

So would I, and much more for hardware 3D chip and li-ion battery.



Um, and this is where I disagree.

I object to paying £10/£15 per li-ion battery. I'm using 2800mah rechargables from ebay (£6 for 4) and they give me at least 4 hrs worth! If I need more hours I'll just get some more batteries at a cheaper price.

Here's some links to them:

24 x 2800's

4 here

Why a 3D chip? The device more than perfectly shows its potential through power alone. And because of the secondary (lazy arse) chip we have access to and the potential (thanks to gpu940) to turn that into a capable 3D piece of rendering hardware - at a software level. So it's no PSP open source version, but, for now, it's good enough - hell, more than good enough!

 

[Blah]

Ed/Craig,

Please make GPH push back the release a month or two (they would already, just by screwing up and needing to make a MK4), so they can fix the damn d-pad and for once not forget about the RTC.

In all truthiness, nobody really cares about the TV-out inteface, it is fine as it is. And IMO, the processor is good enough for now.

But if WiFi could be added I would be super mega happy. Then I could get my internet fix wherever I am without having to drag out my laptop and wait 33 seconds for it to boot up. (See guys, 15 seconds boot time ain't bad at all)

Thanks if you even read this, its more than GPH would do (they of course haven't got back to me on whether I can get my damn screen cover replaced (nobody sells those anymore)).

 

[Orkie]

See guys, 15 seconds boot time ain't bad at all

It is when you consider the fact that it could've been much less had GPH decided to use standard boot scripts rather than their custom layout which is a complete mess.

 

[Naloj]

24 x 2800's
4 here



Right ! Thanks for the links, I should agree that we don't need to pay much more for batteries and I'm to rush on these.
IMO a 3D chip would be helpful to decrease energy requirements : gpu940 running at top speed, considering Egoboo, which runs well and is enough graphically (number of polygons, md2 models, etc.), but eats a lot. The GBA and DS power requirements are much lower than GP2X mainly due to their lower CPU frequencies (much lower) and their hardware tricks : color palette, display modes (GBA modes "mode 7", "mode 2", etc...) kind of "hardware layers" for the blit, dedicated registers and so on. VPU for the DS.
Those mini hardware tricks are specific to the 2 machines - thus, not a good point for portability... - and quite strict to use when you develop, but they save battery and CPU.

I don't know how much would cost a tiny 3D chip like the VRender3D CraigX and EvilDragon are thinking of for their project, but I suppose it's quite low cost - just a tiny scalar chip managing 1 million of polygons, which is far enough for any 3D handled game. :huh:
I wanna hope for such a thing.

 

[DisgruntleElf]

See guys, 15 seconds boot time ain't bad at all

It is when you consider the fact that it could've been much less had GPH decided to use standard boot scripts rather than their custom layout which is a complete mess.


You've never touched a Gizmondo. That sucker takes over a minute to boot up. Turn it on, go do some shopping, see a movie, take a shower, have something to eat... by then its booted up and your ready to play. :lol:

 

[Perky_Goth]

Why a 3D chip? The device more than perfectly shows its potential through power alone. And because of the secondary (lazy arse) chip we have access to and the potential (thanks to gpu940) to turn that into a capable 3D piece of rendering hardware - at a software level. So it's no PSP open source version, but, for now, it's good enough - hell, more than good enough!

I pretty much doubt that the second processor could account for the lack of floating point when calculating 3d, or that it can reach the performance of dedicated hardware. Not my area of expertise, though.

 

[fargo]

GP2X F-200 photo gallery:

http://www.engadget.com/photos/hands-on-wi...rks-gp2x-f-200/

 

[Megatog615]

I will not be purchasing the F-200, unless it includes some kind of WiFi support.

 

[Naloj]

GP2X F-200 photo gallery: http://www.engadget.com/photos/hands-on-wi...rks-gp2x-f-200/


Looks like the plastic texture has changed : it's now glossy and maybe a bit thicker.
Good little point IMO.

 

[DBH]

GP2X F-200 photo gallery: http://www.engadget.com/photos/hands-on-wi...rks-gp2x-f-200/


Looks like the plastic texture has changed : it's now glossy and maybe a bit thicker.
Good little point IMO.


Good thing to because they must have realised the matt effect on the F100 scratched off too easily and made it a bit unsightly when marked.

 

[Gadget]

Stick button push is pressing down all four buttons at once, so that's still there.

Wow, what a clever convenient way of simulating 1 button press :rolleyes: The least they could have done is put it as another seperate button somewhere. The more I read about this revision of the GP2X the more I think that GPH isn't serious about a future in the market. Very simple design issues.

I agree with some other postings on here that WiFi would / should have been added, but imagine the battery drain without a higher capacity Li-Ion cell... And as for the comments about 2800mAh batteries, that's good advice but even with high capacity AA batteries the GP2X still sucks in this area. 3.5 -> 4 hours is pretty poor. If an iPod had such low battery life then I would never have bought one.

We put up with design flaws / shortfalls because it's cheap and open platform, this limits the device to a certain number of sales. If they fix the problems they would open up the device to the mass market.
IMHO, the GP2X is a 'wanna be' gaming device. Don't get me wrong, I love it but it just has these few quirks that should have been address in this revision. Based on the fact they haven't, I can only assume this is about clearing stock. ie. they have loads of ARM9 CPUs left over, and other ICs

With regards to touchscreen support and lack of RTC, this is another clear indication that GPH is a company that doesn't know WTF it's doing, or rather not paying attention to what consumers want. You only have to look at the firmware revisions to realise that they are still in the design stage with the interface. If you ask me, we are the focus group and by the time GP3 / 4 x comes out it will have everything we asked for from day one, and at that point GPH will have a good chance at competing with the larger names.

Anyway, it looks like it will be fun! I will keep a close eye on this and look forward to the first reviews.

 

[JyCet]

ED, any place to hide the stylus?

Nope, but it's a telescope stylus which can be easily attached with a string.
If it's not pulled out, it's about 3cm long.


:unsure:
It's very stupid from them ... it doesnt touch any compatibility if they change box design to add dedicated stylus place :huh:

I saw on engadget pictures, they didnt change USB and EXT POWER place :unsure: ... always under your right hands

Are they planed to change the crappy POWER ON/OFF button by a better ? On picture it's the same in white.

It's very strange, they chnaged some hardware part and affect the compatibility ... but they dont correct some box design which dont touch the compatibility

GPH live in another planete

 

[Squidge]

It seems GPH don't want to change the underlying PCB as it'll cost too much (or maybe they have lots of PCB left over from a production run), so they just change the plastic moulding to add different control method and touch screen.

Maybe once they have got rid of all there stock, they'll begin work on a proper console.

 

[EvilDragon]

Well, problem is, changing the case is expensive.
They changed the upper case already, but left the rest as it is, as that would cost more.

 

[namco]

QUOTE
pretty much doubt that the second processor could account for the lack of floating point when calculating 3d, or that it can reach the performance of dedicated hardware. Not my area of expertise, though.


Damn! Keep forgetting about that!

HHhhmmm....even so I suppose you could write an algorithm that takes the floating point and converts to fixed point? Yeah, so it isn't floating point and may not be a total competitor next to PSP and DS, BUT you couldn't say that we didn't use the processor to it's fullest potential, since it doesn't do much but the video.

 

[lubidog]

I find it hard to understand how GPH can be happy with Craig and Ed distributing their handheld while developing a competitor to themselves. Do they know about the new one coming along? Or do they just not expect to see it? Another Ninja?

And I agree, this d-pad does seem a little strange...

 

[kingbuzzo]

So the dpad will be like the wonderswan dpad but with a huge space in between....

Is it even possible to make a cap for this that will work great if the dpad isn't a single disk?

I mean like this here...

 

[yodaofborg]

They probably do not even know about the new gp*x...

I dunno, I'm not that bothered about using my gp2x as a web browser, but the more I think about it, the more I feel that without some kind of Wifi support, the touchscreen will only be used for a select few games, not even 3d shooters could utilise it properly!

 

[Gadget]

So the dpad will be like the wonderswan dpad but with a huge space in between....

Is it even possible to make a cap for this that will work great if the dpad isn't a single disk?

I mean like this here...

Wow, that's a cool idea! That might solve my concerns over the diagonals.

 

[craigix]

I'd say the easiest way to fix it would be to just stick a real dpad over the top of the buttons as in that picture, i've already spoken to the people who made the MK1 replacement stick about moulding one for us.