Should I Get A Gp32? - How Good Are These Emus?

[jimid2]

I may have an opportunity to buy a GP32 at a reasonable price, and I was wondering if I should... I've read the Genesis emu is excellent for the GP32, but how good are the TurboGrafx/PC Engine and Gameboy emus? If the PC Engine emulation on the GP32 is as good or better than that on the GP2X, I'd be very interested - my son's been showing a solid interest in some of these old console games since I brought my GP2X into the house...

And as an aside, how does the GP32 form factor / ergonomics compare to that of the GP2X? I think it actually looks a little nicer in the pics, but I haven't held one yet...

thanks

 

[QuasaR]

Gameboy is perfect emulated (f-day preview version from Ryleh) and also is PC-Engine (but with 30fps which you could hardly see). Sadly you can't save in GPEngine... Genesis runs with some overclocking with 25-30fps, depends on the games you're trying.
The ergonomics are very similar to the GP2X, besides the shoulder-buttoms and the joystick (which is a thousandtimes better than mine GP2X one...). One VERY big plus is the nearly endless batterie-lasting-time, IMHO they nearly last three times longer than in the GP2X.
Be sure to get the BLU one, the FLU is a little dark and the colours aren't that brilliant like in the BLU (where the TFT is the same as in the GP2X).

 

[DaveC]

Gameboy is perfect emulated (f-day preview version from Ryleh) and also is PC-Engine (but with 30fps which you could hardly see). Sadly you can't save in GPEngine... Genesis runs with some overclocking with 25-30fps, depends on the games you're trying.
The ergonomics are very similar to the GP2X, besides the shoulder-buttoms and the joystick (which is a thousandtimes better than mine GP2X one...). One VERY big plus is the nearly endless batterie-lasting-time, IMHO they nearly last three times longer than in the GP2X.
Be sure to get the BLU one, the FLU is a little dark and the colours aren't that brilliant like in the BLU (where the TFT is the same as in the GP2X).

Except the colors are NOT as brilliant like the GP2X. The colors on the BLU are MUCH more washed out and the backlight is quite a bit dimmer than an M2 GP2X. The LCDs on the GP32 BLU+ and GP2X are NOT the same. They are even lit from a different side for Christ sake. The GP32BLU+ is lit from the left side, the GP2X from the bottom. I don't know why this rumor continues

PC-Engine for GP32 is better than the GP2X though. It runs full speed and has perfect sound.

 

[shinneri]

Personally, I think that the GP32 is the more comfortable system. It has these weird bulges that you wrap your fingers around; it feels very nice, and I still miss those on the GP2X. The stick's nice.

There's a lot to do. Just be sure you can secure some SMCs; they're rare nowadays.

 

[cozmic]

Yeah the batterylife is great.

I once tried DRSMS at 33 mhz 25fps. And i got 10 hours continuous out of it.
(runing a rom in attract mode with 3000mah batts)

 

[J201605]

128mb smc will cost you 50 dollars on ebay... just make sure you add that in to your reasonable price.

 

[QuasaR]

Here you're getting ones for about 25€ (on ebay.de)

 

[sehs33]

Battery life is the greatest thing about the GP32, and unlike the GP2X, normal Alkaline batteries can power it, so you wont be ever forced to have a several pairs of rechargables if you do not want to carry your charger with you while travelling, you also get perfect Genesis, NES, PC Engine, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Doom I & II (and many extra wads).
MSX works perfectly too (in fact, it is a little bit faster than it used to be before on the original system ).
Do not buy an SMC card, instead, get an SMC to XD card adaptor, and use XD cards (you can use XDs as big as 128MB only), if you search around you can find the adaptor for less than $10, and four 128 MB XDs should cost you around $50, which is a total of a little more than the price of one 128 MB SMC card.

shinneri: Those weird bulges are called the GP32 boobs

DaveC: I agree regarding the colors, but the GP32 has a better and more comfortable viewing angle.

 

[aapje89]

Personally, I think that the GP32 is the more comfortable system. It has these weird bulges that you wrap your fingers around; it feels very nice, and I still miss those on the GP2X. The stick's nice.

Yeah me too

If you can get a gp32 cheap, definitly get it if you can get a hold of some smc

 

[jimid2]

If you can get a gp32 cheap, definitly get it if you can get a hold of some smc

I'm lucky in that I have a few 64MB SMC cards lying around from some old digital cameras the kids were using a few years back, so I'm all right in that department - you can get a lot of Genesis games on a 64 meg card, after all

Thanks for the advice, everybody!

 

[ralp99]

i still love GP32 and use it a lot.

i would possibly upgrade to GP2X sometime but if i don't I won't cry...

 

[slaanesh]

Be sure to get the BLU one, the FLU is a little dark and the colours aren't that brilliant like in the BLU (where the TFT is the same as in the GP2X).

The FLU is great outside though, if you or your kids plan to use it there.

 

[Fishbong]

I have had a unlit GP32 and i was repairing a FLU for someone, and i gotta say both of them have very nice screns, the FLU might be a bit washed out but it´s OK and if you´re playing in a well - lit environment it doesn´t matter.
The Joystick is excellent, some tend to wear out, i wrote a tutorial how to fix those and they´re as good as new afterwards. CHeck it out at http://gpnewbie.com/.

 

[cozmic]

Link doesn't work.

 

[chaos engineer]

I still use my gp32 BLU a lot, wonderful device. It is definitely fine for gameboy, nes, pc enginge, genesis, lynx . I even enjoy MAME on my gp32 , even though the gp2x version is superior.