Almost all of that is nonsense, and most of those judgements are made from your Mk1 unit, which is now irrelevant. Perhaps your unit is actually faulty, like several Mk1s were?
For use in a game device, the stick is broken. It is the same one in MK1 and MK2.
I can tell you my Mk2 does not have a broken stick, the soldering is without fault, the plastic is solid, the battery terminals have never moved out of place (though I'm aware this happens when people *drop* the unit), and the shoulder buttons are the best I've ever used on a handheld (and I've used 'em all). The excessive current draw issue was solved a few firmwares ago (IIRC you said recently you never upgraded from FW1.4), which is why we saw a large jump in battery life.
I don't care if GPH has better soldering in the MK2. They didn't provide a free replacement for MK1 users, and MK1 users have broken products. The plastic is solid but of low quality. A lot like that used in bootleg toys. The shoulder buttons and carbon-membrane buttons are usually of differing stiffness and sensitivity, giving an uneven and unbalanced feel.
I don't know what you're talking about the 'current draw issue being fixed'-- the scaler and TV-output encoder are devices meant to be used in an AC-brick powered unit, not a battery powered one. Consequently, they are mostly useless in a portable device and send power consumption through the roof when utilized, especially together. This issue is impossible to fix in software. If you were told a new firmware version fixed this, you were lied to. The last firmware I used was v2.0.0. Battery life was mostly the same between v1.4 (and earlier versions) and v2.0.0.
Please explain exactly how the Mk2's power subsystem is faulty, and how that effects usage?
It doesn't affect usage, it affects battery life. It's an inefficient design that poorly utilizes the maximum capacity of the cells. It's laid out more like an AC-powered unit. This is why there is no means to switch cleanly between Battery and AC-brick power without the whole system losing power, or the machine's power subsystem being severely damaged. This makes sense since GPH copied MagicEyes' design for the simple MMSP2/MP2520F example platform instead of engineering their own system. They just didn't consider the hardware in that design was very poor for mobile use.
How exactly is the Mk2 screen "incompatible?" Again, perhaps your Mk1 screen is faulty.
The MK1's display is completely incompatible with the MMSP2/MP2520F's LCD controller. This is what causes the scanline issues described ad nauseum on this forum. The MK2's display has its own problems like poor viewing range that are not as severe. Again, MK2's superiority in this regard is irrelevant due to the penetration of MK1s into the market and failure by GPH to replace the defective units (all of them).
"incorrect-value LCD backlight resistor selection" This is the only "fault" I cannot comment on, but since I've never experienced such an issue with my own unit (the LCD backlight is among the best I've ever seen), I can only imagine it's an obsolete comment referring to the Mk1?
Many MK1s had this issue, which causes the backlight brightness to change constantly, like a strange strobe light. At any rate, the backlight in the GP2X's displays is primitive and simplistic. Take a look at a transflective display for an example of a high quality backlight design. I will give you this, GP2X displays are bright. Don't confuse that with 'high quality'.
Remember, just because you don't like something, doesn't mean it's broken.
I described design faults. Not liking the color or finding the shape of the unit would be issues of opinion. I am discussing engineering fact.
And yes, the Mk1 had several issues, but how is that relevant to someone wanting to buy a new Mk2 GP2X? That's like saying you shouldn't buy a DS because it's too heavy, ignoring the fact that the current units are Lite.
The DS' issues, being large, heavy and unwieldy, did not impact its functionality in any regard. So it doesn't make sense to replace them. MK2 is not an evolution of the GP2X's design, it's a partial fix for faulty hardware. The only way to absolve GPH's wrongdoing in this issue is to replace every MK1 unit with a fixed model. Selling MK2 for the same price is fraud. I don't care if GPH can't afford to do this. If they can't stand behind their products, they need to go out of business.
Jackd said:
Those personal attacks were completely deserved. He was responding to being called a lone, bitter little man. Thats just a messed up thing to say. A few shots at the rediculousness of the persons avatar, name etc. look like nothing compared to that. Though I too get mad at epicenters posts (cause i luv my 2x too much), I dont think he goes about them in an immature way at all. I haven't seen anything good come from epicenter but that doesn't make him a poor programmer neccesarily, however if he wants his game on a handheld then he shouldn't hold his breath for the xgp which leaves only the gp2x as a open handheld, maybe he should take another look at the 2x and try to find some positive stuff. Btw epicenter i know u hate the 2x's hardware but do u still ever use urs for emulators etc.?
Thanks for your support. I won't be going back to the GP2X as a development platform. If the XGP does not pan out, the engine I'm working on is still usable on other platforms, including PCs, PocketPCs/Palm units, and some consoles including Dreamcast and XBox. This was a crucial requirement of my selection of language/library to use from the very start- portability to a wide variety of platforms. This makes it even easier to leave the GP2X and not look back. I do not use my GP2X for any purpose, including emulation or media playback.
