What Handheld Should I Buy ?

[computerB]

Ever since i was a kid, ive wanted a handheld but never had one. Now after playing emulators on xbox, i suddenly have the urge to play them on a handheld. There is something more magical or engrossing about itm compared to a tv, especially for 2d platformers etc.

i literally stumbled upon the gp2x a few hours ago, when trying to find comparisons for handheld emulators.

what is most cost effective and functional, ie a DS with a card, to play all the major roms, or a psp, etc.

I dont have much idea on the cards and adapters yet. Its hard to find a straight answer on the many sites that sell

gp2x sounded really good, with 1000+ mame support, then i read that only a handful work,

i mainly want to play 2d platformers from amiga, gba, snes, nes, dos, mame, etc...

what would you do ??

The fact the newer white gp2x is coming out in october, makes me want any system even more. I dont feel like waiting that long!!

 

[X-Code]

You won't be needing the touchscreen for that type of games, so, I wouldn't wait for the F-200 unless you really want that touchscreen and that directional pad button thingy.

The GP2X is perfectly prepared for what you want as it is, the new version ( F-200 ) doesn't really improve actual performance, so you wouldn't be missing much.

I don't think that you could get anything that does as much, for so little cash

 

[DaveC]

If you want emulators forget the DS. The DS is too slow, has too small RAM space, and the screen resolution (256 x 192) is way too low to run stuff like MAME, Genesis, Neo Geo etc. The physical screen is kind of small on the DS too. The only thing the DS is good for is GBA and DS of course.

I would get the white D-pad GP2X.

 

[computerB]

good to know, but im interested in the replies ive read around the place of this system not supporting many roms, and or being quite troublesome. I have an softmodded xbox and can imagine it will behave similarly to that, with regards to roms etc. Most prolly a bit worse.

I would love to be able to play commander keen mods. which i have trouble playing on dosbox, both on pc and xbox, even though others can get it to work well, its just me not knowing how to use it properly.

 

[DaveC]

good to know, but im interested in the replies ive read around the place of this system not supporting many roms, and or being quite troublesome. I have an softmodded xbox and can imagine it will behave similarly to that, with regards to roms etc. Most prolly a bit worse.

I would love to be able to play commander keen mods. which i have trouble playing on dosbox, both on pc and xbox, even though others can get it to work well, its just me not knowing how to use it properly.

Well the Xbox has a 733 MHz Pentium, the Gp2X is only a 200 MHz ARM. Don't expect the GP2X to run all of the same ROMs as fast as an Xbox. It is still much better than a DS for emus though.

 

[Oncer]

I would forget about DosBox. It runs way too slow on the GP2X. Commander Keen 1-3 have been ported, though. Look at http://wiki.gp2x.org/wiki/DosBox if you want more details.

 

[computerB]

yeah thanks for that, i just came across a ck torrent, on a gp2x site, but its not downloading due to an error.

 

[___]

let the torrent leech for a while... had the same problem before ^^

Anyway... yeah the mame port supports a huge number of roms and pretty much all of the roms that are supported work flawlessly. Only problem is controls as you can't really simulate a spinner etc but you should be able to work around that. If you want Neogeo, the gp2x has the best emulator by far compared to other handhelds. CPS1 is supported through mame and fba plus is being ported. cps2 is supported quite well already through an emulator port.

Other then that, the gp2x has the most active homebrew community as far as I can say. There is pretty much new updates and releases every week if not every day sometimes.

Check out some of the great homebrew available: battlejewels, tilematch, boxed, cavestory, gravity force, clonk2x, sqdef2x etc etc etc... there is so many high quality homebrew apps.

 

[mrsnature]

definately get a gp2x! if you like the idea of a white one with directional pad and can wait, get the new one...(the pad should be better for what you want) but you can probably pick up a f-100 cheaper and now, and personally i don't find the stick problematic, after a bit of getting used to.

 

[benny32]

The best system for portable emulation is the psp hands down. 3.52 m33-4 cfw is amazing. N64 emulation, PSone emulation, perfect gba, neo geo, cps2, cps1 arcade emulation.

Mame emulation is better on the gp2x. Also, the genesis emulator on the psp is 99% real speed of games on the psp, so even though its playable and close to perfect, it isnt 100% perfect like on the Gp2x. Also genesis game compatability is better on the gp2x. Snes is almost a tie between the psp and gp2x, although the psp wins in ease of use in snes tyl.

With all the great advances made with the psp, I would go for that system first, then pick up the gp2x or DS. You should really get all three. They are amazing as a trio and will make sure you are never bored waiting during a trip again.

So PSP first, then gp2x or DS depending on your preference.

 

[cappuchok]

Of course it goes without saying that there's also Craig's as yet unnamed machine which will be a worthy successor to the GP2X, no doubt (there, I said it ). I wouldn't wait for it though, I'd get a white D-pad GP2X first and the new device when it arrives (probably Q1/2008 but hopefully December '07 if the current info from Craig and the team is anything to go by).

 

[argor]

i recommend gp2x
i haven´t regret buying the gp2x
gp2x has UAE4ALL (Cyclone) is the fastest Amiga Emulator on any handheld
Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln6GF7Zxang
to be honest i have own psp
and the gp2x stands on top

the emulators and homebrew on the gp2x tend to be more polish

and the gp2x community is way beder than psp community

on any of psp community you kan be flamed h34r: for asking a simbell Question

 

[SkullFire]

Ever since i was a kid, ive wanted a handheld but never had one. Now after playing emulators on xbox, i suddenly have the urge to play them on a handheld. There is something more magical or engrossing about itm compared to a tv, especially for 2d platformers etc.

i literally stumbled upon the gp2x a few hours ago, when trying to find comparisons for handheld emulators.

what is most cost effective and functional, ie a DS with a card, to play all the major roms, or a psp, etc.

I dont have much idea on the cards and adapters yet. Its hard to find a straight answer on the many sites that sell

gp2x sounded really good, with 1000+ mame support, then i read that only a handful work,

i mainly want to play 2d platformers from amiga, gba, snes, nes, dos, mame, etc...

what would you do ??

The fact the newer white gp2x is coming out in october, makes me want any system even more. I dont feel like waiting that long!!

Personally, now that my internal NAND (thing acted like an unwritable mmc card >_<) and now has been restored (purposely bricked it and then reloaded everything from scratch) The good ol' MK2 GP2x F100 (teh black one) is good enought for me :3 Although I like the idea of the new dpad :-\ I'm sure I'm not the only one who has almost lost their analog stick for the 100th time...

personally, the GP2x has been my primary handheld. I've owned Palm Pilots, a Nintendo DS, and even once considered a PSP (still reconsidering, now that the price dropeed) but the GP2x has been the better of them all. Go for the gold and get the GP2x :3

for me, I am currently in the process of obtaining the rare GP32... blu...

Well, enough early morning ranting from a crazy like me, if you has any questions, I'll be happy to answer them just PM me :gp2x

 

[imhotep]

A good GP2X vs PSP thread here.

 

[rx_shorty]

Seems you need to get the GP2X

 

[trooper]

I am currently in the process of obtaining the rare GP32... blu...

Wish you luck, You won`t be disappointed . I still have my 3 gp32_console `s :wub: (Two of them are Blu`s (not +`s)).

Trooper

 

[sensible GP32]

i love the idea of the gp32 becomming rare

 

[Burbruee]

Definently stay away from the DS if you want to get a handheld for emulation.
Also MAME and Snes are very slow on the PSP. The GP2X is way better there, although some games with transparency are still a bit slow, but very playable.
I personally don't like the PSP counterparts for NES or Neo-Geo. And although the PSP has a larger resolution to handle CPS2 I actually prefer the GP2X version.
GBA emulation is about as good on both systems, but PSP is of course way better on the PSP.

But go for the GP2X, better quality with some REALLY great homebrew too and the best community there is.

 

[quadomatic]

Definently stay away from the DS if you want to get a handheld for emulation.
Also MAME and Snes are very slow on the PSP. The GP2X is way better there, although some games with transparency are still a bit slow, but very playable.
I personally don't like the PSP counterparts for NES or Neo-Geo. And although the PSP has a larger resolution to handle CPS2 I actually prefer the GP2X version.
GBA emulation is about as good on both systems, but PSP is of course way better on the PSP.

But go for the GP2X, better quality with some REALLY great homebrew too and the best community there is.

I think everyone on this forum is being way too down on NDS as an SNES emulator. Sure, it's not great, but it's very promising...

It's certainly the best handheld for ScummVM

 

[Burbruee]

Definently stay away from the DS if you want to get a handheld for emulation.
Also MAME and Snes are very slow on the PSP. The GP2X is way better there, although some games with transparency are still a bit slow, but very playable.
I personally don't like the PSP counterparts for NES or Neo-Geo. And although the PSP has a larger resolution to handle CPS2 I actually prefer the GP2X version.
GBA emulation is about as good on both systems, but PSP is of course way better on the PSP.

But go for the GP2X, better quality with some REALLY great homebrew too and the best community there is.

I think everyone on this forum is being way too down on NDS as an SNES emulator. Sure, it's not great, but it's very promising...

It's certainly the best handheld for ScummVM

Well, that is true. It's also quite good for NES. (You can scale the screen with the stylus and find a good value so that the text is readable and not hard to read because of the resolution on the DS.)
SNES looks promising, but it's not quite there _yet_.
I agree about the ScummVM part, maybe we could get something as good as that though with the new F-100 GP2X?
However, when it comes down to MAME emulation, NeoGeo or Amiga I just don't see it happening on a DS.
I got rid of my DS a while back (February) so I don't really know what new emulators there are. But back then for MegaDrive/Genesis emulation it could run Sonic very slow and without sound and had a long way still to go. I heard of a new one in the GBAX 07 comp, but I haven't been able to test it out since I no longer have a DS.