Wikipedia Article On Gpx2 (how I Found Out It Existed) Needs Fixing

[DavidBeoulve]

Wikipedia article on GPX2 (how I found out it existed) needs fixing
The article seems weighted with information that portrays the device badly.

Portraying accurately is fine - but I noticed that posters there are up in arms about how the GPX2 handles/doesn't handle GNU licensing, or how it competes terribly with the iPod, "which is a larger market than a Quake/Mame handheld" ... huh?

It's not right for one man to try to fix it - it is, after all, a wiki.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GP2X

 

[Cyclops]

Wikipedia article on GPX2 (how I found out it existed) needs fixing
The article seems weighted with information that portrays the device badly.

Portraying accurately is fine - but I noticed that posters there are up in arms about how the GPX2 handles/doesn't handle GNU licensing, or how it competes terribly with the iPod, "which is a larger market than a Quake/Mame handheld" ... huh?

It's not right for one man to try to fix it - it is, after all, a wiki.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GP2X

LOL its pretty accurate, GPL raises its head every so often and, complience improves, not everything has been released, mplayer is just the tip of the iceberg.

Music players are a larger market, the players mentioned are better for playing music on, although its a little strange considering both creative & apple want to get into the video market, but then the GP2X is also not good at making toast.

 

[DavidBeoulve]

LOL its pretty accurate, GPL raises its head every so often and, complience improves, not everything has been released, mplayer is just the tip of the iceberg.

Music players are a larger market, the players mentioned are better for playing music on, although its a little strange considering both creative & apple want to get into the video market, but then the GP2X is also not good at making toast.

Exactly - which makes me wonder - why do they bother talking about toast?

Here too - if it's that accurate - you guys have to realize - text like that scares potential interest away fairly quickly. It's possible to word things accurately without sounding dark and foreboding.

 

[ingrin]

Umm. I can swap my GP2x "in a store" if it has problems?
Also, while I didn't touch the article because I wasn't sure, I did add this comment in February.
"
Video:
2 hours is too short, but someone has now edited to 6 hours with 2850 mAHs. I find that hard to believe. I have tested with 2000 mAH and 2500 mAH batteries and got 2hrs 30 min and 2hrs 50 min respectively. I would believe 6 hrs for general use using 2850's, but video watching uses both CPUs, I don't see how one could get more than 3.5 hrs with any nihm battery set... --15.235.153.102 21:43, 7 February 2006 (UTC)"

My first, and only, entry in Wikipedia...

 

[Vimacs]

uhm, i never get under 4hours, no matter what i do.
Use a proper charger and proper batetrys...

 

[DavidBeoulve]

Umm. I can swap my GP2x "in a store" if it has problems?
Also, while I didn't touch the article because I wasn't sure, I did add this comment in February.
"
Video:
2 hours is too short, but someone has now edited to 6 hours with 2850 mAHs. I find that hard to believe. I have tested with 2000 mAH and 2500 mAH batteries and got 2hrs 30 min and 2hrs 50 min respectively. I would believe 6 hrs for general use using 2850's, but video watching uses both CPUs, I don't see how one could get more than 3.5 hrs with any nihm battery set... --15.235.153.102 21:43, 7 February 2006 (UTC)"

My first, and only, entry in Wikipedia...

Yeah I read that TalkBack part. You're right about that.

As for a store - I'm in the US. There are stores that sell it here?

 

[FluffyPanda]

I'm in the US. There are stores that sell it here?

Only online stores at the moment.

 

[Cyclops]

Battery life is something that nobody can agree on, but its definately better.

Normal useage is difficult to equate, some watch video; others play games; others overclock.

The reality is. I carry 4 batteries 2 in my machine and my case. I have 4 say in a charger, but they have been there for two days. I am travelling 2 hours each way a day, and never ever run out of battery life. Its good enough. And I hope they will continue to improve battery life.

Essentially the battery life is good enough,

 

[ingrin]

Ohh, I agree, but someone said that they were getting Video Playback of 6 hours. Someone has now amended to 4.5, which seems fair.

My batteries do fine for most tasks, but I got between 4-5 hours for games, and only 2.5-3 hrs for videos. I just don't see it doing 6hrs of video nonstop for 6 hours, no matter how magic your batteries are.

You are welcome to test though and compare to my results.

I'm in the US. There are stores that sell it here?

Only online stores at the moment.

Yeah, thats what I was getting at, if you read the Wiki it sounds like we walked into a brick-and-morter to exchange our defective products.

I wonder what Best Buy would do if I brought it in...

 

[FluffyPanda]

Since it varies so much depending on what batteries you put in and what clock you choose for the movie player, should it really be mentioned at all in a supposed encyclopedia entry?

If it has to be mentioned I think it should be very vague, like

"Battery life varies greatly depending on the type and rating of the batteries and the use of the device. Operational lifetime can be over 15 hours with good NiMH batteries and using only the mp3 player while some brands of alkaline AA don't provide enough power to turn on the device at all"

 

[Cyclops]

Yeah, thats what I was getting at, if you read the Wiki it sounds like we walked into a brick-and-morter to exchange our defective products.

I've thought about this, several times. What brick-and-morter store would stock it. Most of the stores, It won't be stores that sell the PSP/DS becuase they want to make money on the games. So that leaves electronic stores, how will they sell it, will they know even what it is. How will the customer know what it is, and they sell games too.

The only place I can see the GP2X being sold is at computer shows.

The only thing wrong with the Wiki entry is most of it is taken up with "Criticism, issues and controversy" & "DRM" this is clearly noncence.

 

[Phil]

That article is a heap of ned.

I tried fixing it once but a week later it was back to "WTF ITS NOIT AN IPOD" so I didn't bother again.

 

[Minkoff]

GPH marketed it as a "Personal Entertainment Player," and seemed to think people would mostly use it as an audio/video playing device. That's why it's compared to the iPod.

I honestly don't think this is very biased, and I love my GP2X.

 

[nubie]

but video watching uses both CPUs, I don't see how one could get more than 3.5 hrs with any nihm battery set...
My first, and only, entry in Wikipedia...

I think you forget that the frame processor ( a different processor than the two ARM9 ones) is doing the heavy grunt work of actually de-compressing the frames, the second ARM IS in use, as the stream processor for frame data and raw data. Go look at the block diagram and description of the System On a Chip (SOC) that is the MMSP2.

That said I can see how clocking back the processors to maybe even 66mhz with some widescreen 320x172 vids could net you the run-time mentioned, if that is all you watch then by all means run the video player at that speed and get all the battery life you can.

I am still confused as to why nobody (used loosely, please don't be offended) goes and checks out a simple block diagram and reads the PDF about this processor, all the while shouting: "just put in one 400mhz instead of those 200mhz ones". I think we will be seeing some truly sick commercial games, whose gameplay and storyline can beat out PSP rehashes of crappy games (I am looking at you PSP Ridge Racer, I enjoy the RR games, but $40-50 is way too rich for my blood), and whose graphics will be nearly the same.

I mean honestly, how much processing power can you throw at screens as small as the PSP and GP2X, keeping in mind that the TV-Out on the GP2X means it wins hands down as a console, just take it to a friends house and play against him with some USB controllers, heck just for the fun of it make a carry case for the controllers and GP and a hard drive and the BreakOut Box (BoB) out of an old thick PS2 , I think that would be the ultimate irony because the GP2X has nearly the raw processing power as a PS2, and double the ram( I said nothing about 3d processing power ).

Battery life is something that nobody can agree on, but its definately better.

Normal useage is difficult to equate, some watch video; others play games; others overclock.

The reality is. I carry 4 batteries 2 in my machine and my case. I have 4 say in a charger, but they have been there for two days. I am travelling 2 hours each way a day, and never ever run out of battery life. Its good enough. And I hope they will continue to improve battery life.

Essentially the battery life is good enough,

The battery life is good enough, I think some people are getting crap batteries or crap GP's and thinking that it is normal, also remember sometimes the batteries need to double charge if your charger can't get them fully charged, this happens with the "fast chargers" they can't possibly shove that much energy into the battery in that time and charge it fully, it isn't chemically possible in real world conditions.

Rants over:

Back on topic, I don't think it will be possible to keep that Wiki on topic unless a lot of people devote a lot of time to keep it accurate *and unbiased* and up to date.

At the bare minimum it needs a big link to the GP2X Wiki

I almost forgot, welcome to the scene David Beoulve!
Keep your ears open and start by understanding what the hardware is all about, then you can ignore all the people arguing over processors and joysticks and crap, PS, I hope you got one of the new GP2X's with the rotated Digital stick and the new cap for it, the control was pretty bad on some of the early units.

If not, have a look into Radek's killer nGage QD replacement of the stick with a D-pad Post of nearly finished product, with pics.

Edit: I just looked at the wiki and it seems perfectly fine to me (12:35 PM Pacific standard time, May 10, 2006)

I would only mention something about the 3D, it is true there is no hardware accelerator, but in grunt processing power it makes up fully, see this demo of Payback, an upcoming commercial title for the GP2X.

It requires a GP2X as it is a real-time 3d demo with 4x AA (anti-alaising) and this second demo has real headlights from what I read.

 

[DavidBeoulve]

Nubie, you are polite, well-spoken, and make a great impression of this community, as does FluffyPanda and all of the crew here.

Buying a 2nd Edition GPX2
I thought I read somewhere that if I order my GPX2 here, I'll definitely get a 2nd edition. Is that correct? If so, I'm ordering it tonight! My Latin wife gave me the OK - 'cause she knows toys I can tinker with keep me busy for ages - and games that I play once and beat leave me wanting more. I think that's one reason she loved Neverwinter Nights so much. MMOs... my ADD can't take.

Defending the Wiki
Well guys, I'm all for working at it - at the very least providing a proper link to Craig's Review, whose movie I single-handedly credit with making me all hot & bothered, though it was cooler heads with keen insights here in this forum that made me realise the purchase is a good idea.

The GPX2 is Nearly Invisible
It's not at E3. It has no advertising budget that I'm aware of. Lets face it: The GPX2 will be a blip on everyone's radar if we're lucky. I'd love the thing to get Slashdotted, or Penny-Arcaded. It's been Gamers Gone Badded, but that doesn't mean much since I stopped drawing strips last year.

So all we can do is use what the Internet's best at: Being webby. I found this by links; others can too.

The community and the fun we have creating stuff and getting stuff others created working (well, that's not fun all the time) is really what the GPX2 seems to be about: Freedom.

People can complain about GNU or batteries - but the system appears to work or you all would be screaming bloody murder. How many game consoles, handheld or otherwise, were made to run emulators and be programmed by the end-user?

 

[Paradox]

Gamepark's target audience is also a concern for minor criticism. Their chosen game-oriented market makes the device compete rather badly with the [[iPod]] or the [[Zen Vision]], even though portable audio/video is arguably a vastly larger market than portable [[MAME]]/[[Doom]] players. On the other hand, the company's aim obviously is not to compete on these grounds. It can even be considered that this argument is entirely moot, since the GPH has always marketed the GP2X as more than only a music player such as the iPod or Zen Vision.

he goes on to say how its not an ipod (ipods are shite anyway btw, kthx) and then goes on to say its a moot argument anyway, SO WHY EVEN SAY IT?!

 

[Lobo]

I agree that the wiki gave a really negative first impression of the GP2X(mainly the "current issues" part): it almost put me off buying until I lurked in these forums for a week or so and realized that most of the scare stories aren't as true today as they might have been at the beginning (dead pixels, arriving broken, bogey headphone socket, not compliant with the GNU etc)

I've just had another look and it seems that it is now a lot more accurate than say a month ago, which is a good thing!

 

[Ravnos]

The GPX2 is Nearly Invisible
It's not at E3. It has no advertising budget that I'm aware of. Lets face it: The GPX2 will be a blip on everyone's radar if we're lucky. I'd love the thing to get Slashdotted, or Penny-Arcaded. It's been Gamers Gone Badded, but that doesn't mean much since I stopped drawing strips last year.

Actually, it's been on Slashdot a few times. That's how I found out about it. It's well below the PA guys' radar, though.

 

[Epicenter]

I went through and fixed some technical inaccuracies, notes about firmware versions, etc. This article still needs a good bit of work, but let's face it-- it's like this for a reason. The launch was a mess and the hype engine got into gear far too soon.

 

[DavidBeoulve]

I went through and fixed some technical inaccuracies, notes about firmware versions, etc. This article still needs a good bit of work, but let's face it-- it's like this for a reason. The launch was a mess and the hype engine got into gear far too soon.

Thank you Epicenter! And that's a good point - I wasn't there for the hype engine but that sounds perfectly in line with what I see now.

Ravnos - like the name - I stand corrected! It has been Slashdotted.

Lobo - glad you catch my drift - you had a similar experience to me.