DaveC posted on Sep 9 2006 at 08:07 AM said:
I plan on giving out my kit info. If Craig or anyone else wants to make and sell them from my plans that is fine. I hope he will as I don't want to be in the D-pad business.
A mod business is a bit tough. First you have to make enough money on the pad mods to be worth the time. Then you have shipping cost both ways. It costs me about $15.00 for just the parts to make a pad mod. Then there is insured shipping for the GP2X that can cost $30.00 both ways. Then what happens if you are modding a GP2X and it breaks? Then you have to replace their unit for free. The costs add up. I doubt there would be too many takers on a $60.00 D-pad mod. This is why a DIY kit is probably the only economical option.
I agree with your comments. There is only one realistic option: CraigX sells the GP2x front case to a modder (I presume these are for sale?), who then cuts the hole required in the case and supplies it with a pre-made D-pad; all the user then has to do is open the case, snip the joystick off (leaving the pins at the back intact, stick the D-pad onto the motherboard, and solder the connections to the rear of the joystick connectors. If this can't be achieved, everyone has to make their own mods.
This "kit" form then makes things simple, postage simple, and installation issues are purely at the expense of the user, not the supplier. To make this feasible, we need distributers in each country they buy the GP2x from - so CraigX needs to consider adding this to his product portfolio if someone can create a suitable mod kit form.
subcon959 posted on Sep 9 2006 at 03:15 AM said:
I'm surprised so many people voted that they are happy with the current stick. I wish you lot would speak up in the forums when everyone else seems to say it sucks.
Exactly. I spent a lot of time presenting my mod to the community, yet hardly anyone is doing a mod, even though there seemed to be many users crying out for some solution to the D-pad problem; whether from my design or those others who have used my guide to help them make their own D-pad assembly work.
I am using the previous version of the GP2x, I don't have the MK2 version - is the MK2 version really so much better?
If you are using the stock joystick and the centre push button goes, you can always wire up a separate centre-psh button to have that feature again (see my guide). This tip might help someone!