Prospective Buyer Questions..............


T

timeslip

Member
Joined
May 12, 2003
Messages
368
Hi,
Stumbled upon the gp32 while browsing the web a couple of day ago - Gonna buy one come payday at the end of the month!

Spent afternoon going through the boards doing my homework so hopefully wont ask anything already posted...........

1 - How long would it take to download an entire 128meg flashcard - and how much faster would it be with one of the dedicated usb leads ?

2 - The gp32 scene seems pretty vibrant on the boards but how many of you are there ? Im not interested in the commercial games part of the system (i`d buy a GBA if i was) its the emulator scene that interests me. from prev posts its sounds like the manufactors of the system ain gonna be around for much longer. So when they fold how long is development on the system likely to last ?

Thanks guys and girls

Timeslip
 
I haven;t heard anything to suggest Gamepark are in trouble financially. I think they are doing ok to be honest...

As for download speeds.... Using a card reader/writer is much faster than using the cable you get with the GP32. The only time you'd write the whole lot in one go is to transfer a whole 1.5hr movie over.
 
1 - How long would it take to download an entire 128meg flashcard - and how much faster would it be with one of the dedicated usb leads ?
Click to expand...

I haven't tried a dedicated smartcard reader/writer, and don't intend to as the GP32 transfer speed isn't that bad at all. I haven't timed/benchmarked but the biggest thing I've transfered, Mill which is about 10MB I think, seemed to take 5 minutes or so.

2 - The gp32 scene seems pretty vibrant on the boards but how many of you are there ? Im not interested in the commercial games part of the system (i`d buy a GBA if i was) its the emulator scene that interests me. from prev posts its sounds like the manufactors of the system ain gonna be around for much longer. So when they fold how long is development on the system likely to last ?
Click to expand...

If you mean how long will development of PD games/emulators last then noone can say. If Game Park fold then development of the official SDK and API will stop (obviously), but I don't think it would deter any PD developers. I myself am messing around with a few emulators and a game for the GP32 and will be developing for it for a good while yet :)
 
Its a slow painfull life without a reader/writer. I brought a tiny one which is not much bigger than a matchbox, with a slot for smc card one end and a usb port the other and it cost me less than £10.
 
I've got a few questions, m'self:

1.) How easy is it to flash the firmware? I've read guides, and it seems simple enough...if I follow the guides to the letter, what's the chance I'd have a problem? I don't want to fry my unit...

2.) What are some of the best emus to use? That's the main reason I'd be buying a GP32; I've got a GBA for commercial software. I've heard a lot of good things about the PC Engine/TG16 emulator. How's the NES one coming along? I haven't found much info on that...

Thanks guys! I just want to get all of the info I can before I decide. This thing would be a hefty investment.
 
@liquidcross

Three letters and 2 words: N.E.S. IS COMING.

Rlyeh, an excellent emu programmer who's already done fMSX1/2 and fCOL should have his fNES coming out pretty damn soon I would think, last I heard. The beta runs between 94% and 107% with frame skip one. Totally playable. Sound was a little buggy, but if I know Rlyeh, he's ironed out most of the bugs by now. If you couldn't tell I am excited, NES is what I've been waiting for since I got my GP32.. 14 months ago!

I flashed the firmware (the previous version without the stub) no problem. Fresh batteries is a must. I know some people have killed their GP32's by flashing, but it was damn quick and easy for me. If it fails, I remember reading something about Spiv having a way to fix it....

Ciao.
 
esoteric_ posted on May 12 2003 said:
I flashed the firmware (the previous version without the stub) no problem. Fresh batteries is a must. I know some people have killed their GP32's by flashing, but it was damn quick and easy for me. If it fails, I remember reading something about Spiv having a way to fix it....
Click to expand...
I've gotta give Mr Spiv mad props--I emailed him back and forth a few times, as he's a fellow Mac user (I only use a PC at work; my home machine is a Power Mac dual G4), and he helped me out bigtime.

One more thing I forgot to ask: when upgrades to Wind-Ups, etc are released, how do I install them? I know you can use PCLink, but I may not always have that option...
 
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I've found a cheap Smart Media card writer is the best option for transfering things to my SMC. ~6 min for a full card instead of ~45 min. Plus most readers/writers (as long as it's PC/MAC compatible) could be detected and used almost anywhere automatically...

Mine was $20 Cdn.. that's about $14 USD.
 
Three letters and 2 words: N.E.S. IS COMING.
Rlyeh, an excellent emu programmer who's already done fMSX1/2 and fCOL should have his fNES coming out pretty damn soon I would think, last I heard. The beta runs between 94% and 107% with frame skip one. Totally playable. Sound was a little buggy, but if I know Rlyeh, he's ironed out most of the bugs by now. If you couldn't tell I am excited, NES is what I've been waiting for since I got my GP32.. 14 months ago!
Click to expand...

It is, for the most part, full speed. A few games dont start, but its not done yet. Sound is great so far. The biggest thing I like about it is the save state support...its nice...
 
If you are constantly putting music and movies on your GP32, I would recommend a USB SMC writer. Moving over a 100meg movie gets cut down dramatically. However, if you're mostly just doing emulation stuff, the GP32's USB port is adaquate. Copying over a couple of Atari games takes less than a second either way.
 
The way I see it, its a waist of money to buy a reader/writer unless your using it for something other than gp32.....Like a dig camera or mp3 player that doesnt have a writer built in. I copy full cds all the time with my gp32, and for me it takes less time than burning a cd at 12x speed. (i dont trust burning at anything faster than 12x for audio)
 
Mofokubik posted on May 12 2003 said:
The way I see it, its a waist of money to buy a reader/writer unless your using it for something other than gp32.....Like a dig camera or mp3 player that doesnt have a writer built in.
Click to expand...
I'm going to buy a dual SmartMedia/CompactFlash reader. My camera uses CF cards, and the GP32 uses SM cards...best of both worlds. And it's only $20, so I can't complain. :D
 
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GP32 is cheap (for what you get) it plays the stuff it's good at really well, the community is excellent, it's flexible, and because of this it needs a bit of nouse to use properly.

If you are into plug and play then bye enjoy the GBA / GBA - SP

everyone else get your wallet out, and enjoy the best machine, best community, best retro experiences available (for the price)

There it is said!

MrT
 
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