New Gp2x F-200

[Orkie]

Those Engadget photos show GMenu2X. Is it now built in or did EvilDragon install it? :S

 

[prairiefire]

... i've already spoken to the people who made the MK1 replacement stick about moulding one for us.

Great thinking ahead! You know, i'm still not sure if i'll get this. It looks like an improvement over the F-100, but still very similar to to it too. I think I agree with squidge that it's very possible they're trying to get rid of remaining stock and frankly i think this is a great way to do so (i.e. minimal costs to introduce a newer console).

One thing is for certain though, this new F-200 has really helped to peak my interest in the "craiginator".

 

[NoidZ]

I think the F-200 is great! Even though I sold my MK2 a couple of months ago, I want an F-200. Mainly because I think the touchscreen gives the opportunity to use the 2X as agenda as well. And the way I see it, it wouldn't be that hard to program such an app.

The D-Pad is one of the things everyone was comlaining about when the 2X was released and the TouchTechnology, in my eyes is a great chance to develop new apps and games.

I just don't see the cons of buying this one.

 

[BenRoshi]

Hopefully I'm not rehasing an idea (I read the first 10 pages...) but I simply think this new model doesn't do enough new. The DPAD is a great update (assuming it's a good DPAD mind), but a touch screen? Maybe for certain emulators and games it'll be good, but all this talk of the GP2X being a PDA is ridiculous, unless gamepark suddenly upped the level of their software a few steps. A PDA needs to have a fast interface. Your device should never turn off so you can hit one button and be where you need to be. You shouldn't have to scroll through a menu to get to your address book, it should be one button away. PDA features will be a gimick. I think I'll be sticking with my MK1. What GPH really should have done is waited another year and then busted out a GP3X with all these features and more powerful hardware.

 

[Blah]

The only thing that sucks is that there isn't a slot for the stylus. I hope a bit of white double-stick adhesive foam above the battery compartment will do.

 

[berighteous]

ok, so the dpad isn't very good AND there's no place to store the STYLUS??
They're insane. Nobody thought that they NEEDED a place for the stylus for the touch screen?

 

[Blah]

Craig said it would have cost them too much to redesign/re-mold the backside of the case.

I don't think its that big of a deal. Then again I will not be an early adopter, because we all know how much GP and GPH have screwed up their first batches/revisions [of GP32s and GP2Xs].

 

[z32fairlady]

Damn... too late and I bought a PSP...

[/me ran for life]

But it's really sexy! And this is really the machine where emulators should run on.

So that I won't have to make a miniature PC like the guys at mini-itx.com do.

But seems I'll have to wait until playasia start selling it actually, because it's much easier to return the unit in case any problems found (I'm from Hong Kong). That would be around early next year then...

 

[benny32]

I'm interested only in actually hardware improvements in performance. The d pad on the unit looks terrible. 8 way control? I think my fingers would split if I tried playing contra with that thing. The touchscreen sounds cool, but is not necessary.

With the PSP homebrew scene making legendary strides in advancement, the gp2x hardware is becoming easily outshadowed. During the GBA gen, the gp32 gave gamers a choice for homebrew on the go. Now with psp cfw, the gp2x is losing appeal. Why buy a gp2x when you can get a psp for less cash, and more potential.

400mhz processor, minimum 32mb ram *preferably 64mb ram, brighter screen, sdhc support.

Thats really the next step in portable homebrew. I still dream of the day we can get our hands on a 1ghz, 520mb ram, homebrew portable. Hello n64, psx, slow Dreamcast, emulation on the go

 

[z32fairlady]

Thats really the next step in portable homebrew. I still dream of the day we can get our hands on a 1ghz, 520mb ram, homebrew portable. Hello n64, psx, slow Dreamcast, emulation on the go

The problem is, except those nanobooks or OQOs, what company will ever think of producing a machine like this? Even if VIA's Mobile-ITX becomes a reality, this would be mostly for mobile phones or PDA-size PC, not a dedicated gaming machine as we're looking for - though it could give us the necessary computing power PSX, or even N64 emulation requires.

Unless you build one yourself. Serious.

[FYI: Mobile-ITX = VIA C7-S @1GHz + 512MB on a business card]

 

[icurafu]

Thats really the next step in portable homebrew. I still dream of the day we can get our hands on a 1ghz, 520mb ram, homebrew portable. Hello n64, psx, slow Dreamcast, emulation on the go

The problem is, except those nanobooks or OQOs, what company will ever think of producing a machine like this? Even if VIA's Mobile-ITX becomes a reality, this would be mostly for mobile phones or PDA-size PC, not a dedicated gaming machine as we're looking for - though it could give us the necessary computing power PSX, or even N64 emulation requires.

Unless you build one yourself. Serious.

[FYI: Mobile-ITX = VIA C7-S @1GHz + 512MB on a business card]


You're actually talking about the Pico-ITX, trust me on this.

It's not available for $300 US, which is surprisenly cheap, since the micro cost a lot more when it came out.

Just add a ram, LCD, 1.8' HDD and somekind of plastic mold (with a touchscreen and buttons) and you got yourself a reasonably cheap UMPC. Hella expensive game console that barley plays quake3. Sorry to repeat.

 

[z32fairlady]

You're actually talking about the Pico-ITX, trust me on this.

It's not available for $300 US, which is surprisenly cheap, since the micro cost a lot more when it came out.

Just add a ram, LCD, 1.8' HDD and somekind of plastic mold (with a touchscreen and buttons) and you got yourself a reasonably cheap UMPC. Hella expensive game console that barley plays quake3. Sorry to repeat.

Agreed. It IS expensive, and just not worthwhile.

BTW, Pico-ITX is the size about a poker. Mobile-ITX is about the size of a business card. VIA rolled their prototype just a few months ago.

Read this:
http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS2010384636.html

Actually there are a few videos from VIA on youtube too - you can search for it.

But looking at this prototype, there raised yet another question, sorry if I didn't search the forum:

Why this new GP2X still have only 64MB of RAM!? :angry:

 

[saehn]

Edit: Nevermind

 

[xhyldazhk]

Hi Craigix & EvilDragon...

I surely will buy a gp2x f200 even with the fact I'm more than happy with my current f100 mk2.

But... I think the addition of a realtime clock, it will bring the gp2x from being only a game console to be the cheapest palmtop available. Think of the chances for GPH... Suddenly, with a minimal change the GPH positions itself in the frontier between machines like th GBA SP, PSP, NDS, and machines like the OLPC, the ASUS Eee. Think of the new apps. Not only games. Handling documents is meaningless if all the timestamps are relative to the time the machine was turned on. I would be more than glad to pay an extra to have RTC. Please, reconsider that decision. Think of a full office suit, running in the GP2X.

And... well... I think its fair to send some of the first production units to the authors of the homebrew games included in the firmware. They surely deserve it.

 

[icurafu]

Agreed. It IS expensive, and just not worthwhile.

BTW, Pico-ITX is the size about a poker. Mobile-ITX is about the size of a business card. VIA rolled their prototype just a few months ago.

Read this:
http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS2010384636.html

Actually there are a few videos from VIA on youtube too - you can search for it.

But looking at this prototype, there raised yet another question, sorry if I didn't search the forum:

Why this new GP2X still have only 64MB of RAM!? :angry:



Sorry, you're right. I thought I read the micro-ITX for some reason. mobile-itx will be great for a pc in the pocket once it comes out and gets cheap enough. I'll just want it for a linux box.

 

[Alex.]

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.

In other words, it's a new MK1, which will pave the way to a new MK2 that may or may not get to the point of existence. If they were serious about this, they would get it right by the third hardware revision. I like my MK2 and use it a lot, but carrying hardware flaws revision after revision is inexcusable.

 

[Sphinxter]

A touchscreen is just a one button mouse. Take the surface and divide it into rectangles, like tic-tac-toe and number them, as the events come in button down within a certain time build a string of the square id's then when button release parse and translate to a command and you have signature recognition. Game with working linux code example of mouse signatures at http://fullsack.com/frogs I built these wonderfully brilliant little transmeta powered touchscreen wireless shopping carts for a big grocer chain, (picture an etch-a-sketch with vga, barcode scanner and a card reader that knows what you need mounted on the handlebars) and of course we needed a game to play on them and came up with this.

 

[DaveC]

Well, as you can see, basically four buttons.
At the moment, they go too far in, so you always hang in the piece if case in the middle of the DPad.
If the buttons won't go in that far in the final version, it's very well usable.

Hard to say at the moment, as the simulation of diagonals (yes, it simulates diagonals when you press two buttons at once) isn't finished yet.

Are they actually 4 separate disconnected buttons? When you press one do the others move at all or are they completely separated underneath? They should be connected, if they are not, try to have them change that.

They should have sent me a prototype. I could have modded it and sent it back to them with a proper D-pad design. I could have left the pad look separated like now so they could use the same case but joined it underneath. I would have also tuned it for the optimum dead zone.

Pressing down on all at once is a bad way of doing the stick button. They would be better off ignoring that anyway. Almost nothing requires that now. The pad should have a true pivot point in the center or the control won't be that good.

As far as diagonals why couldn't they do it how a D-pad modded GP2X works now? Those work fine with only 4 switches for 99.9% of all current stuff.

 

[saehn]

GPH have ZERO presence on these forums. I don't think they care what we think, other than perhaps what's suggested to them by ED and CraigIX. Either we're not their primary market, or they have no concept as to how to market a product.

That being said, I'm currently interested in a '200 just for the D-pad. HOWEVER: if CraigIX et al come through with their product, that will be the obviously superior choice. According to all reports, it should allow existing GP2X devvers to simply recompile their games with minimal modifications.

I'm just slightly concerned because the SoC hasn't even been decided upon yet, judging from recent posts.

 

[EvilDragon]

Those Engadget photos show GMenu2X. Is it now built in or did EvilDragon install it? :S

That was my personal SD Card