GP2x NEWS

Get the latest GP2X news Here

GP2X Review By Wraggster

Awesome new Homebrew console

Suppliers

GP2X UK $ 189.99 (Outside Europe)
£ 124.99 (All inc.)

Screenshots

Description

With the ability to play games, movies, ebooks and more at a more than affordable price, the GP2X is a multimedia delight.

Gamepark Holdings new multimedia device is very inexpensive and yet it can compete with any other multimedia device out in the market today! Featuring a dual CPU core, 64MB of memory, SD card storage, and its Linux operating system gives the GP2X the potential no other handheld can offer.

Gamepark Holdings has made the GP2X a system for anybody to develop emulators, games, applications, practically anything for! Having Linux as its operating system, SDL support and tools supplied by Gamepark Holdings should make developing for the GP2X a breeze. There is no doubt that there will be a large homebrewn scene with games, emulators, and applications made by talented developers. The GP32 is a great scene to be a part of, and the GP2X should be no different, if not better. Emulation is complimented with perfect button layout and resolution which might make the GP2X the new emulating king for the years to come.

Besides its gaming aspect the GP2X is a great multimedia device. With its multiple codecs support you can also hook the device up to any television set through its TV-out functionality, making it a great device to have. The TV-out uses the high quality S-video standard.

GP2X also has great music capabilities. Supporting various music types such as OGG and MP3 and capable of producing sounds up to 100 milliwatts portable music couldn't get any better. Have a digital camera? Just snap a photo and instantly view it on the GP2X, never has anything been so easy! With upgradeable firmware, USB 2.0 support, and running on AA batteries makes the GP2X the most consumer friendly device in the market today.

Features

Dual CPU Cores: ARM920T Host Processor - ARM940T Video Coprocessor
64MB - RAM
64MB - NAND Flash Memory
SD Card Compatible for Storage
USB 2.0 High Speed Connection
Linux Operating System for Open Source Development
3.5' TFT LCD Screen @ 320*240 (QVGA)
TV-Out for TV Connection (640x480 amplified from 320x240)
Video Playback of MPEG, MPEG4, DivX 3.11,4x,5x, XVID, WMV,MP3,OGG,WMA,JPG, BMP, PCX, GIF and more (some using freely available third party software players)
Supports e-book, games, electronic dictionary
Free Emulators for SNES, NES, GB, GBC and GBA, Sega Mega Drive, Master System, Spectrum, C64, Atari, PC Engine, MAME, MSX, Neo Geo Pocket, Game Gear and more
1 Year Manufacturer Warranty

The Review Itself

The GP32 was a great console for homebrew with in the begining some commercial support but ultimately the Homebrew and Emulation support and the great community made it a must have console for fans of Homebrew and Emulation.

The GP2X is the next generation of the GP32, with bigger and better features in every area, heres my thoughts.

First off a minority of sites have stated a list of problems with the GP2X, now being a site owner and massively into the scene and on the side promoting the GP2X i know of the problems and my advice to newcomers and those unsure is to wait but for those who want Free games and emulators then this is the console for you.

When i got my console it was in a Black box which seemed rather well presented, there was a newsletter inside and the console, 2 batteries and the screen.

A weird thing ive never had with any console is that the front screen was seperate and you had to attach it, why that is is beyond me but you have to be extremely careful with dust particles and it has been said that a bathroom is the best place. The actual fitting was easy but i still managed to get a dirt particle on the inside and i wasnt going to take the screen off so thats a tad disapointing. The buttons all felt right and the joystick felt firm too so no complaints there and it even had little rubber covers over each port like the USB and Power point.

The console booted up first into a black screen, then a yellow screen then onto an option screen, the bootup was a matter of seconds all apart from one occasion when it seemed to stall, but i turned off and on and it was ok, so probably just a minor glitch.

Photo Playback

The GP2X was excellent for photos, you can stick the photos in any location and it will find them, i was really impressed with the quality and no load time, yeah well happy there.

MP3 Playback

The MP3 Player performed well but its much better via headphones, without headphones its no way near loud enough, there was some features i didnt try but it works and thats the main thing.

Movie Playback

Well first a tried a normal avi file and it wasnt supported, but in future i should read whats supported :P, next i tried a xvid of the latest Harry Potter film and the fact that i didnt have to encode was excellent, and the playback for me was perfect, infact on that point alone i was sold, the picture and sound quality were spot on, the list of features like fast forward etc were there as you would expect :)

Games and Emulators

This is the big area and if you look at any of the decent GP2X Sites youll see that theres been a mass of great game ports and emulators released for the GP2X, the buttons felt right and the joystick too, i can honestly say that the GP2X was spot on although at 3am i couldnt turn the sound down in a Tetris game i was playing but that was more than likely the game not having the controls coded in.

Battery Consumption.

The batteries enclosed with the GP2X didnt last long but if you get some decent 2500MAH rechargeable batteries (4 of them) you will be setup easily, getting 5 or more hours of each fully charged pair, dont use cheap batteries as they wont last 2 minutes.

Comments
One word of warning do no touch the Nand area, that area isnt for you so leave well alone or you will brick (kill) your GP2X, when instaling new software and especially firmware always have fully charged batteries, for the firmware always remember this, better still to use a compatible mains adapter.Use a Card reader to add files to your SD Card also. Fitting the screen was a bit of a downer especially if you get dust behind the screen but for seasoned pros its nothing, the MP3 Playback wasnt loud enough when you dont use headphones but OK with them. The big selling points for me were, the photo viewer, the Movie playback and the Homebrew/Emulation aspect with both the latter two being most impressive. I would also like to recommend GP2X UK as the best store to get the GP2X as the service was excellent

Overall i would give it a 9/10 , once the battery consumption and some minor firmware bugs are sorted this will be the king of homebrew and emulation and this is the early days :)

The GP2X was provided by our Worldwide Supplier of Choice - GP2X UK