The Definitive Psp V Gp2x

[MakavelianKode]

After seeing so many "should I get a psp or gp2x" thread and after debating it myself so much, I decided to draw up some of the pro's and con's of each. This is ALL opinion and no it's not really definitive - especially seeing as how I didn't say who actually wins in the end. It's all about what means more to you. I care about controls, emulation, homebrew and video playback but the next man may care about price and commercial gaming - who knows. There's no silver bullet - take this list of pros and cons and develop your own opinion. After actually making the list I'm leaning towards gp2x. All I need to make it a solid decision is great SNES, improved NES and improved video playback.

*One last disclaimer in case some people haven't gathered from the last one - I don't own either. Some of the following may be slightly inaccurate but I accrued this knowledge via extensive and arduous reasearch (and reading). I read up in these forums and I read up in other places as well.



Controls & Ergonomics

gp2x
+ Easy to hold
- Blister-inducing joystick cap but easily remedied by DaveC's wonderful replacements
- Large dead zone
- Hard to hit ordinals
PSP
+ Standard PS1/PS2 style D-Pad, plus analog nub (nub is better than none)
- Hard to hit diagonals
Winner?
Popular opinion here is gp2x I think because it may fit nicer in your hand. I personally prefer the PSP because I like and am used to the d-pad


Video Playback

gp2x
+ No need to convert files
- Some playback problems including audio synch
PSP
+ Beautiful resolution
- Must convert video
Winner?
As of right this moment, PSP may have the advantage. I think however that gp2x's issues will be solved and will become the clear winner. Since those problems aren't solved - Tie


Audio Playback

Winner?
Nothing of note to mention about either - Tie


Homebrew

gp2x
+ Free and open development community
PSP
+ More potential for 3D
- Hindered by Sony's adamant efforts.
Winner?
gp2x is the clear winner. Quake, SDL and more is enough to make me happy. Quake Engine should suffice for 3D games also.


Commercial Gaming

Winner?
PSP but who cares


Hardware

gp2x
+ Lots of potential with dual arm cores
PSP
+ Hardware accelerated 3D
Winner?
There's a lot more to say on the subject but I give it to PSP


Emulation

gp2x
+ Megadrive, MAME v0.34, PC Engine
+ Native resolution is close to that of the machines it emulates
PSP
+ NES, SNES
Winner?
Tie because 1) gp2x hasn't been out nearly long enough and 2) it all depends on what YOU want emulated


Potential

gp2x
+ Free, open access to devving
+ Not out very long. Long life to come, as evident by 5-year old gp32 scene
+ Unused CPU and unreleased source. Fix these two things and we may see a whole other handheld.
PSP
- Sony working hard to stop homebrew dev with each FW
- I don't expect to see significant improvements. I expect emulation progress to start hitting a wall soon.
Winner?
Clear winner - gp2x


Price

gp2x
+ $190
+ Cheaper memory
PSP
- $250
- Expensive, proprietary memory
Winner?
Clear winner - gp2x


Firmware Upgrades

GP2X
+ Several thus far, all useful and looked forward to by the collective community.
PSP
- Several thus far, none very useful (unless you like an 'official' mini-browser), and dreaded by the collective community.
Winner
gp2x


Other

gp2x
+ TV-Out
+ Double AA batteries with 2-5 hours depending on type of batters and depending on usage
+ More than just homebrew and console emulation. Duke Nukem, Quake, Commander Keen and OpenJazz all make for lots of endless fun.
PSP
+ Rechargable battery with 2-5 hours depending on usage
+ Included power adapter
+ Wifi
Winner?
gp2x

 

[triton]

pretty reasonable and fair judgement, im perfectly happy with my 2x and if i had a psp i would enjoy it nearly as much i think

 

[Drak]

You forgot squidgesnes and the psp snes emu. Also you forgot we have the nifty psx emu!

 

[MakavelianKode]

You forgot squidgesnes and the psp snes emu. Also you forgot we have the nifty psx emu!

​

I listed PSP SNES emulator as a plus for PSP. I didn't list SSNES because it's not YET a reason to buy a gp2x. I'm extremely impressed with Squidge's progress and think it's gonna be amazing but the status thus far is not reason enough to buy a gp2x. The potential is, but everyone's hesitant to say it'll ever match PSP's SNES emu so I held off on listing it as a plus (and it sure as hell is not a minus)

Similar idea with PSX emu - I'm so impressed and sincerely awed by it's progress. However it's not a reason to buy a GP2X.

 

[youngsir]

i have both and i like my gp2x alot more. i just like the fact that we have open source and such a devoted community. $180 for a great emulation platform is well worth it

 

[TelcoLou]

Here's a category you missed:

Firmware Upgrades

GP2X

Several thus far, all useful and looked forward to by the collective community.

PSP

Several thus far, none very useful (unless you like an 'official' mini-browser), and dreaded by the collective community.

 

[whiskthecat]

I see no reason why the gp2x cant match the psp on snes emulation. We have a great developer dedicated to the project and all the psp has is a bunch of hackers trying to make the current psp firmware run homebrew. <_<

 

[DaveC]

Similar idea with PSX emu - I'm so impressed and sincerely awed by it's progress. However it's not a reason to buy a GP2X.

​

I would bet the PSX will eventually be MUCH better on the PSP just because it has a 3D chip to aid in 3D plus the big one is that it's CPU a MiPS is the same family of CPU as the PSP's. So if the PSP can use the 3D chip and run the Mips code native it will probably be near full speed on the PSP someday.

Maybe GBA could run better on the GP2X someday though because the CPUs are both ARM?

 

[dennis20014]

Great list here, I'm happy with my gp2x, cheaper, and awesome community!

 

[Mr Doctor]

What kind of ripoff place do you live in that the PSP costs 250bucks? The 250 is the gigapack which comes with a gig duo, negating the "Expensive, proprietary memory" point. Psp as a unit costs around $150

 

[MakavelianKode]

Here's a category you missed:

Firmware Upgrades

GP2X

Several thus far, all useful and looked forward to by the collective community.

PSP

Several thus far, none very useful (unless you like an 'official' mini-browser), and dreaded by the collective community.

​

Thanks, they're now added

Similar idea with PSX emu - I'm so impressed and sincerely awed by it's progress. However it's not a reason to buy a GP2X.

​

I would bet the PSX will eventually be MUCH better on the PSP just because it has a 3D chip to aid in 3D plus the big one is that it's CPU a MiPS is the same family of CPU as the PSP's. So if the PSP can use the 3D chip and run the Mips code native it will probably be near full speed on the PSP someday.

Maybe GBA could run better on the GP2X someday though because the CPUs are both ARM?

​

Agreed. I'm not too interested in portable PSX, but if PSP gets near perfect PSX I'm gonna have to buy it too.

BTW I saw a post of urs in Emu<Insert word here>.com Lol, I forgot the name of the site. But the point is, it was a psp vs gp2x thread and u were basically promoting the gp2x it seemed. If people could see you're jus being objective when you say stuff like psp might end up having a better psx emulator then there could be a lot less flaming here

 

[MakavelianKode]

What kind of ripoff place do you live in that the PSP costs 250bucks? The 250 is the gigapack which comes with a gig duo, negating the "Expensive, proprietary memory" point. Psp as a unit costs around $150

​

USA:
http://www.gamestop.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=020248
http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/241869.asp
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?sk...d=1099391923487

 

[Mr Doctor]

Wow, either its shot up or youre at the stores that are severly shafting you I imported 2 about 6 months ago (from US to UK) at 150 dollars each and 10 postage. (not value packs though)

 

[MakavelianKode]

Wow, either its shot up or youre at the stores that are severly shafting you I imported 2 about 6 months ago (from US to UK) at 150 dollars each and 10 postage. (not value packs though)

​

I'm pretty sure it's actually shot up lol.. Ain't that a bitch? Sony had the nerve to RAISE the price of the PSP

 

[JaqMs]

You forgot the fact that PSP has wifi.

 

[BradN]

Going along with what DaveC said, a dynamic recompiler to execute GBA code on the gp2x would be very simplified since the exact same instructions can be executed - the code just needs to be patched for hardware I/O and maybe memory remapping (that part wouldn't be as big of an issue with an HH style GBA emulator "OS"), and probably some extra cycle counting code to make sure the "virtual" CPU execution proceeds at the right rate with the emulated video/sound hardware. It's probably a similar case for PSX emulation on the PSP.

 

[DaveC]

Going along with what DaveC said, a dynamic recompiler to execute GBA code on the gp2x would be very simplified since the exact same instructions can be executed - the code just needs to be patched for hardware I/O and maybe memory remapping (that part wouldn't be as big of an issue with an HH style GBA emulator "OS"), and probably some extra cycle counting code to make sure the "virtual" CPU execution proceeds at the right rate with the emulated video/sound hardware.  It's probably a similar case for PSX emulation on the PSP.

​

Emulating the video/sound hardware and getting it to work with the CPU is where it gets real tough. I wouldn't count on a playable GBA emu for a long time. Not that it isn't possible in some form, but it seems a long way off. Dynamic recompiler? Not sure about that one.

 

[BradN]

a dynamic recompiler might not be an enormous boost for GBA, but the PSX is clocked about twice as fast, so it might have more of an impact on overall performance there.

 

[Mr Doctor]

Wow, either its shot up or youre at the stores that are severly shafting you   I imported 2 about 6 months ago (from US to UK) at 150 dollars each and 10 postage.  (not value packs though)

​

I'm pretty sure it's actually shot up lol.. Ain't that a bitch? Sony had the nerve to RAISE the price of the PSP

​

Stuff supposed to get cheaper the older it gets!

Oh and you forgot "PSP screen blurs like an old man watching F1 though 6 inches of cateract"

 

[MakavelianKode]

You forgot the fact that PSP has wifi.

​

Thanks, I added it under other - does it also affect homebrew and emulation? Can you make multiplayer emulators and homeberw using psp's wifi? Cuz that'd be awesome (btw, sorry about using PSP and awesome in the same thought )

Wow, either its shot up or youre at the stores that are severly shafting you I imported 2 about 6 months ago (from US to UK) at 150 dollars each and 10 postage. (not value packs though)

​

I'm pretty sure it's actually shot up lol.. Ain't that a bitch? Sony had the nerve to RAISE the price of the PSP

​

Stuff supposed to get cheaper the older it gets!

Oh and you forgot "PSP screen blurs like an old man watching F1 though 6 inches of cateract"

​

Yeah I know.. Sony was bold

I think I can have a whole screen section. What are +'s and -'s on each of the respective screen. i.e. a minus for gp2x for the scan lines.



BTW, also added a plus to gp2x's emulation b/c of the screen