GP2X

[coldfish]

Ive got one, and it is good.

Stereo Speakers and headphone jack.

I havent used it for movie playing at all yet, still messing around with emulators and free software.  

Emulation;  It's surprisingly good, Mame stands out as the most advanced and stable and emulates over 1000 games, as well as being quick at ~233Mhz.  There's emulation for most 8-16bit hardware.  UAE is progressing nicely, most games still suffer from inaccurate/choppy sound even at 280Mhz, but gfx is well done.  Vice (C64) is very good and stable.  In short, all good.

Unlike say the PSP or DS this is an opensource device, software is in a state of constant development and is occasionally buggy, so dont be to upset with having to reset every now and then.

The OS is stable, and quick.  My Mk2 with 2.0.0 boots in about 10 seconds, navigation is straightforward.  There's not much to say, I do find the joystick to be a little innaccurate at times, overstepping a selection, but that could be me?

If you like messing around with emulators and like handhelds get one, simple as that.    

[coldfish]

JJ wrote:
Thanks for the info, think I will get one in the new year.  Is it worth getting the faster one for the extra £10

I would've if it had been around when I bought.  
I'm not sure how far it will overclock though?  And most current emulators only allow up to 300Mhz.  Id say UAE would opperate ~100% at about 320-350Mhz.  Mine only clocks to 280, sadly.

If the extra dosh is no sweat, go for it.

Jupp3, yeah, I considered the PSP for a while too, but Sony seem determined to squish homebrew instead of supporting it and the commercial games dont interest me.

The XGP, by Gamepark isn't out yet but will exist in 3 forms, I think its focus will be more commercial than opensource?

The speaker issue is sorted.

[coldfish]

nasty wrote:

If you like messing around with emulators and like handhelds get one, simple as that.

I just ordered myself one, so I can't say what its like. But I like messing around with emulators and I use my amiga for old school gaming, so thats the main reason I bought one,  for amiga gaming on the move!

But what other things can you do with the GP2X?

I havent explored that too much, but there are loads of free apps.

http://www.gp2x.de/cgi-bin/cfiles.cgi?0,0,0,0,1
 
You can run a PDA OS called Qtopia, with the breakout board/docking station you could use the GP2X as a computer, with keyboard mouse ect.
Of course, there the Music and Video players and ebook and photo viewers.  Qtopia features PDF viewers Firefox, all the usual bits or you can run Utilities natively.

Basically, anything you can do with a 200-400Mhz PC.  The GP2X has  a "dual-core" @200Mhz CPU, but the cores arent identical, one is for genreral processing the other is optimised for 2D video, they can be overclocked to 280Mhz on most/many units and there is a faster, 275Mhz clocked version available.

Note: best get a SD card reader too, the GP2X has some trouble talking to Windows via USB, (its flakey; some people no problem some no luck at all), Linux (kernal2.4) is fine though.
Also, get some high capacity (2600+) NiMH batteries and a charger, the GP2X eats AA's for breakfast, lunch and tea.

Have Fun!