New Lik-sang Article On Gp2x


It looks to me like they just took every bad thing from every post. From the sounds of it they haven't even tested one unit to see if every unit is affected by everything on their list.

I have not noticed the "large joystick deadzone" and also have not noticed reversed sound channels or mono speakers. I may test if the headphones are reversed tonight. They also mixed up the video problems (XviD plays out of sync and displays video too quickly). For the most part DivX 5 plays flawlessly. DivX 6 is not supported. I have not tested any other codecs.
 
was thinking of ordering from them originally so glad i didn't :)

They are sorta harsh but they have a point, but i really don't mind some early problems... it makes me a more HARDCORE fan!
 
was thinking of ordering from them originally so glad i didn't :)

They are sorta harsh but they have a point, but i really don't mind some early problems... it makes me a more HARDCORE fan!
Well, makes sense considering everything that's been going on over the past month or so. I know that if I hadn't already pre-ordered, I would have probably decided to wait it out until the "official" release (I'm not going to cancel, since I suspect that if we all did, there would be *no* official release). As it is, I was going to get one for my younger brother for Christmas, and I've decided against it (he's not as big a gadget freak as I am :))
 
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Nearly all of the problems they list are firmware-related. But it's understandable that they don't want to deal with a lot of people who think the unit is broken without understanding.

But even if they DID decide to sell it now, are there enough from the first batch to go around?
 
I can understanda their decision, but the list of 'faults' is largely bollocks IMHO.
Practically many videos are not playable without capping them.
Not sure what 'capping' means, but I watched a 1.5 hour movie last night without a problem - it was converted using PocketDivXEncoder.
There are reports of Xvid playing too fast, and DivX sound not in sync with video.
Didn't think Xvid was supported anyway, and the sync problems sounds like bad encoding, nothing to do with the GP2X.
There is a battery problem, 2 hours battery-life with standard batteries only.
The unit draws about 500ma. With cheap 1000ma batteries you're gonna get 2 hours, with half decent 2100ma batteries I'm getting over 4 hours. Plus it's a firmware problem which will be sorted.
There is no power supply or charger included with the GP2X.
This is a 'hardware fault'? I've never seen an advert including a power supply or a charger. This is just padding the list.
Stereo jack sinks on some units, because of poor soldering.
Fair enough.
The speakers are mono instead of stereo.
Don't seem to be on my unit, maybe I've got bad ears?
Headphone channels are switched, left is not left.
As above. I've seen one forum post claiming this, but no confirmation.
The action buttons are too small. Your thumb can cover all four.
I'm 6'1" and have pretty large hands, they aren't a problem for me. Tested by a gorilla?
There is a large joystick deadzone (that can be fixed with a "mod" according to a distributor).
'Large' is subjective. I've never owned a handheld gaming unit before and it's not proving to be a problem for me, but I had no expectations.
Uneven color distribution on the screen and other LCD problems.
Fair enough, but not on my unit. Maybe just a small number?
Long boot time (28 seconds).
Fair enough, but that's only going to get better.
Compatibility problems with some brands, types or sizes of Flash Cards.
As above.
USB Connection and incompatibility problems with Windows XP (apparently fixed with latest Firmware).
So it's been fixed but still makes it into the software faults list?

Honestly, a lot of this is simply over-stating the issues. I just hope potential buyers do more research than only reading that piece.
 
XviD should be supported and the problem is on the firmware side. The battery issues are more complex than you stated. Also, the USB problems are not fixed as far as I know. On the other hand the sinking headphone jack is only a rumor, I haven't seen a confirmation of it actually happening, yet.
 
You're most probably right (I know bugger all about batteries except that my cheap Uniross rechargeables are doing fine), but even then they've padded that list unnecessarily. It would have been enough to say there were some issues with the GP2X and they'd decided to wait until they were happy with the unit.
 
I'm still waiting for my pre-order copy but to be honest the issues that everyone keeps going on about don't bother me. Part of the enjoyment of having a GP32 was trying to figure out how to get things to work on it properly!

Addressing the issues will make the involvement with the machine more satisfiying in my opinion.
 
I agree it's a padded list but since they are an official distributor of the unit and most likely will be "Joe Shmoe's" first stop online to pick one up (no offense to other resellers, but Lik Sang is among the central 'stops' for purchasing import gizmos).

So I think they just have to air all the complaints out in the open. I'm looking forward to eventually owning one of these units and tinkering around on it, but I was rather weary of rushing out to buy one "first".

My personal deadline is about a month from now, when I'm sure GamePark will step up the firmware releases and fixes, and perhaps work on hardware flaws in the manufacturing.

I have zero doubt the GP2X will be the system to own for portable homebrew/emulation/video/etc., but there's a little bit of time to go before it's a "Joe Shmoe get-up-and-purchase" device.

It reminds me of the initial GBA flash cards. I held off until the Flash Advance 256 Pro, and am damn glad I did. Once that hit it seemed everything was smooth sailing product-wise afterwards.

(Speed patching, anyone?)
 
I think the article is one of the best so far. I agree that the GP2X isn't ready to be shipped to "normal" customers, yet. It's for sure a good thing for them to wait. Lik-Sang really can't test every unit. It's a really hard service from Craig and ED to do that. We should say thank you to them and shouldn't say anything against Lik-Sang because they aren't doing the same.

Be fair and calm down. :)
 
I don't have a gp2x yet, I haven't preordered or anything because I'm broke, but this reminds me of when I bought my Neuros MP3 player. Yeah, it had a lot of problems (I went through 2 units before one that actually booted), but in the end it works and I enjoy it. I also believe in the idea of an open source product.

If you went into the forums at the time, you'd think that it was a total piece of crap. People were posting about how the buttons were cheap, small, and jacks were crappy, battery life was poor, current firmware buggy etc.. Pretty much the same complaints for the gp2x.

It showed me that people will a) complain about anything, even stupid crap (especially the people that called the Neuros "big and bulky", the dimensions were never kept a secret) and B) people don't understand the economics of hardware production. The big name handheld manufactuers sell their hardware at a loss, GP can't, and can't really sell them at close to cost, because they can't really make it up in volume. Personally, for the price, I consider the gp2x very good deal, even with the problems. Of course, I consider the open development part of the value.
 
Incidentally, Lik-Sang has cancelled all their GP2X pre-orders because of these issues. I had one on order with them, and just this morning got an email saying they will be giving me a refund...

So, can anyone confirm that GPH will actually be doing a 2nd version to fix any bugs? I'm not sure if I should just order from somewhere else, or wait it out for a new version that might have eliminated the headphone problems and supposed joystick dead-zone....

--Zero
 
Same here, they cancelled my order. :huh: Well, nothing else to say or I may stir up trouble on my own...

Hope I can get my really nice GP2X next Spring, however.
 
So, can anyone confirm that GPH will actually be doing a 2nd version to fix any bugs?

Second Edition means something completly different than second version in this term. Second edition just means that it's the same unit with software and maybe hardware fixes. The Joystick-deadzone is a property of the stick and not really because of bad hardware. I don't think that they'll change the stick. Beside, ED and Craig maybe want to sell some GP2X with different sticks later.
 
Lik-sang is just covering their ass. They figured that they won't get units on time anyway and considering all the issues popping up, it could be headache to deal with possible returns due to those issues. So, they made the decision to bash GP2x at the cost of ruininig the relationship with GPH. It's nothing more or less than a calculated business decision which they entitled to make.
 
Well they did get burnt when the BLU+ first came out as they sell most of their stock overseas and the trouble they had with returns and people demanding postage costs etc..
I'm sure they will be more than happy to stock the GP2X once the dust has settled a bit. :)
 
I think im just gonna wait till next year before i gonna order one. hopefully GPH have solved some of these problems by the time.
why did GPH release GP2X when they know the console had these problems, I know its not hardware related, but they sould just had waited a month or two mabyee three before releasing it.
And what about the "broken" bad joystick on some consoles, i know they made a tutorial on how to fix this, but i dont want a tutorial, GHP should had fixed it from the beginning. :(

I realy hope that GPH does something soon, because this is a realy cool console. :) if you ignore all the problems
 
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