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Dann, I read your blog posts about the GP2x, but now that you've had the GP2x for a few months, what are your thoughts? Do you like it? Judland's recent posts here in the forums have got me thinking about getting one...

Actually, I e-mailed Dann before going out and purchasing mine, too. So, hopefully it's okay with him if I post a segment of the e-mail he sent me, which addresses the same question that you're asking now, Chess...

> It's definely not a replacement for a PDA.  I think the GP2X makes a
> great hand-held gaming device and a wonderful media player if you're
> willing to work within the confines of the device.  Right now I have no
> problem converting any video I have come across to the format supported
> by the GP2X using mencoder on Linux.
>
> For the price and the flexibility, I think it is a great device.  If you
> are looking to play podcasts and some music, watch videos you download
> from the web and play some games it's a great device for the price.

I would add to this that the GP2X is great entertainment if you like "old school" style video games as well as some of the original titles.

Thanks, Judland -

How is the battery life? Dann seemed to indicate in his blog that it was pretty bad. How have you found it to be?

Is the screen a wide-screen aspect ratio?

Thanks!

You're welcome.

I'm using Ray-o-vac 2300 mAH NiMH, 15 minute rechargable batteries. On average, I get a little over 5 hours of video game and movie playback time. The music playback is longer (as you can turn off the LCD screen when you're doing this), but I haven't timed it just on that function.

I've read that regular alkaline batteries drop below the minimum power requirements long before rechargable NiMHs.

The physical measurements of the LCD screen are: 2.75" X 2.25". Is that considered wide screen? It is wider that it is high.

Movie playback uses as much as the screen as possible, but doesn't "stretch" the frame to fill the screen in width and height... so black bars do appear on the top and bottom, depending on the video file, itself.

One cool feature about the version of Mame for the GP2X is that you can flip the screen so it displays length-wise so it resembles the original arcade game layout much more accurately.

P.S.

There are now a few distributors in North America that sell the GP2X, so you don't have to order it from over-seas if your in N.A.

I bought from gamersection.ca and they updated the installed firmware to the latest version before sending out my GP2X. It took five working days to arrive by FedEx. They also supply the official accessories for the GP2X, like the power adapter, case, TV cable out, etc.

Many people recommend buying the power adapter and I probably would if I didn't use the 15 minute rechargable batteries.

If you did buy yourself a GP2X, be sure to get yourself an SD storage card. You'll need it. If you're not going to be using it for a lot of movie watching, you'd probably do just fine with a 512MB or 1GB card. But, if you can afford the larger storage capacity cards, then more is better.

I'm not certain if the GP2X can handle cards larger than 2GB. That might have to wait until the next firmware upgrade.

Well, I gave in to temptation and ordered a GP2x... Should be here some time next week.

Chess wrote:Well, I gave in to temptation and ordered a GP2x... Should be here some time next week.

Porn on the go!

Excellent!

Be sure to check out http://www.gp32x.com/ for all of the software that's available for the 2X.

I just checked in on the place I bought mine from.... they reduced the price of the GP2X from $195 USD to $170 USD and have increased their stock. It must be selling good.

I checked at your place yesterday and it was still at $195 so I got it from someplace else for $190. jeez. Oh well. And I've definitely bookmarked the gp32x.com site for future reference.

And no, T, there ain't gonna be no pron on this thing. My wife barely tolerates my toys as it is -- I ain't gonna risk losing them!

Edit: trying to cancel and reorder.

See if they can perhaps price-match or something.

Of course, crossing the border, I'm not sure if your Customs office charges you duty for purchasing from Canad or not. We have to pay duty here... unfortunately.