Caanoo Review


sbock said:
Flavor noticed this strange volume slider behavior, too. Is it a real analogue potentiometer or some other sort of control?

It feels like an analogue potentiometer where the software needs about half a second to read out the value ;)
 
Last edited:
EvilDragon said:
sbock said:
Flavor noticed this strange volume slider behavior, too. Is it a real analogue potentiometer or some other sort of control?

It feels like an analogue potentiometer where the software needs about half a second to read out the value ;)

OK, now that's strange... :)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The stick IS an analogue stick, one of the Bennu test programs shows shows the values as you move the stick around, also I have a test program that shows the accelerometers working too, I can see a range of games with control methods very similar to the iPhone appearing. Such as driving games where you tilt the unit to steer etc. Added to that the rumble feature makes this a really fun device :) .

OMG I just realised I didn't mention the rumble and accelerometers in the review, I really should update that.

Addition:
One of the nice points about the stick being analogue, in games that use a digital stick you should be able to adjust the dead zone, this should give you full control over when the virtual d-pad is triggered making it a more personalized experience. Hopefully developers will include this setting in their software as it makes a lot of sense to do so.
 
WarmFluffyUK said:
The stick IS an analogue stick, one of the Bennu test programs shows shows the values as you move the stick around, also I have a test program that shows the accelerometers working too, I can see a range of games with control methods very similar to the iPhone appearing. Such as driving games where you tilt the unit to steer etc. Added to that the rumble feature makes this a really fun device :) .

OMG I just realised I didn't mention the rumble and accelerometers in the review, I really should update that.

That's definitely a great thing to hear. So let's see, 7 face buttons, 2 shoulder buttons, and a stick click. A touchscreen, and accelerometers. So far the caanoo actually sounds like it might be worth buying. The exclusion of a user-accessible NAND sounds like a good thing, since I personally never used it. Any word on file transfers to the SD card using the caanoo? I know the wiz only managed maybe 600KB/s in transfer speeds for whatever reason. Is their any improvement with the caanoo?

EDIT: Also, just wondering, is GPH still using a looping animation in the music player to pretend it has a visualizer? xD
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I will do some transfer speed tests on the USB soon, and in answer to your 2nd Q: it's a looping animation for the music player visualization.
 
WarmFluffyUK said:
USB Port
To the left of the Multi connector is a standard USB port, this will be used for the WIFI dongle. I have tried plugging various USB pen drives into the USB socket but none of them were recognized. I'm not sure if it's the make/model of pen drive or if the firmware is not designed to utilize this feature.

You have to upgrade to firmware 0.8.5, it makes working USB host.

What about first hidden pixel rows ? (especially you can notice on Asura and MAME)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Mr 2X said:
WarmFluffyUK said:
USB Port
To the left of the Multi connector is a standard USB port, this will be used for the WIFI dongle. I have tried plugging various USB pen drives into the USB socket but none of them were recognized. I'm not sure if it's the make/model of pen drive or if the firmware is not designed to utilize this feature.

You have to upgrade to firmware 0.8.5, it makes working USB host.

What about first hidden pixel rows ? (especially you can notice on Asura and MAME)
Okey dokey, I will perform a fw upgrade this evening.

Regarding the screen, I did mention this in the review, I will inform GPH of this and report back.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
torpor said:
I want to buy one. Do you guys have any recommendations for where to buy from?


Hi, I ordered mine from EvilD.

http://www.gp2x.de/shop/index.php

Seems logical for you too, as you are also in Mainland Europe.

Plus the EvilDragon seems like a very nice chap, and has been a trusted seller of handhelds for a good while now.

Shop with confidence.

C_S
 
Last edited by a moderator:
CapcomSuicide said:
torpor said:
I want to buy one. Do you guys have any recommendations for where to buy from?


Hi, I ordered mine from EvilD.

http://www.gp2x.de/shop/index.php

Seems logical for you too, as you are also in Mainland Europe.

Plus the EvilDragon seems like a very nice chap, and has been a trusted seller of handhelds for a good while now.

Shop with confidence.

C_S

Absolutely correct.
The only alternative I know is Anarchy's shop in Spain. Also a very nice guy who supports the community...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Ah, thanks .. I looked but didn't see it at first. I'll do that! :)

EDIT: order placed! Looking forward to seeing what the Caanoo can do!
 
Another post about the analogue stick I'm afraid...

I think the main problem I had with the Zodiac's stick was that the positioning of my hand might change during play so that when I moved in what I thought was an UP direction it may be slightly off to the diagonal. This was most noticeable in games like R-Type (on PC Engine emulator).

@WarmFluffyUK - Did you find anything like this? I would guess the form factor would make a big difference - the Zodiac was very rounded at either end so you didn't notice your hand moving round a bit but the Caanoo is more square so maybe your hands stay in position better? Have you tried a shoot-em-up or similar?

Cheers!

john
 
I suppose I should ask, how does the LCD screen look?
Compare it to the F100, F200, Wiz, Nintendo DS Lite, DSi, and PSP, that would give a good idea.
 
CapcomSuicide said:
Plus the EvilDragon seems like a very nice chap, and has been a trusted seller of handhelds for a good while now.

I'm not. I'm Evil :)
 
Last edited:
Looks like a winning combo to me, been playing with the accelerometer on the odroid-s a lot and it's surprised me by turning out to be more than an ample replacement for a joystick.

EvilDragon said:
Open2x will come for the WIZ and most probably also for the Caanoo.
I sent Senor Quack a WIZ for that a while ago, but he said he's travelling at the moment so they aim for a first release in autumn.

Open2x is supposed to be using EABI, too, so Caanoo software should run there.

Lord quack has vanished into the wilderness, should have been here by now, been listed as MIA and presumed to have been eaten by a bear.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
RupeeClock said:
I suppose I should ask, how does the LCD screen look?
Compare it to the F100, F200, Wiz, Nintendo DS Lite, DSi, and PSP, that would give a good idea.
I only have an F100 and to be honest it's pretty much the same in terms of viewing angle. Tilting the Caanoo forward dims the display (to the eyes) the same as the F100 does. It's not fair to compare the Caanoo to the Wizs screen as the viewing angle on OLED tech is amazing compared to TFT. In other words, the screen is a little bit of a step back from the Wiz.

I will say this though, the Caanoo screen is a LOT brighter than an F100, and the colours are more vivid.

Regarding PSP, I only have an original first edition PSP, and I think the PSP is a little better in terms of viewing angle, but not as bright unless you're charging the PSP.

I don't own any DS products so I cannot compare.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Sphinxter said:
Lord quack has vanished into the wilderness, should have been here by now, been listed as MIA and presumed to have been eaten by a bear.

Eh? He was last online Aug 06 2010 06:17 AM.
So I guess he's back but not doing much here at the boards now.
 
Last edited:
EvilDragon said:
Sphinxter said:
Lord quack has vanished into the wilderness, should have been here by now, been listed as MIA and presumed to have been eaten by a bear.

Eh? He was last online Aug 06 2010 06:17 AM.
So I guess he's back but not doing much here at the boards now.

I meant >here<, like physically IRL.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Sphinxter said:
EvilDragon said:
Sphinxter said:
Lord quack has vanished into the wilderness, should have been here by now, been listed as MIA and presumed to have been eaten by a bear.

Eh? He was last online Aug 06 2010 06:17 AM.
So I guess he's back but not doing much here at the boards now.

I meant >here<, like physically IRL.
Here isn't exactly a physical place. not even the IRL is physical....

OK soz having a laugh, we know what you meant though: Here as in the forums :)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
EvilDragon said:
Open2x will come for the WIZ and most probably also for the Caanoo.
I sent Senor Quack a WIZ for that a while ago, but he said he's travelling at the moment so they aim for a first release in autumn.

Open2x is supposed to be using EABI, too, so Caanoo software should run there.

@Clare:
Yeah, the delay with the volume slider sure is weird :D
But somehow, I love those little weirdnesses with GPH devices :)
It's no problem using it, is just feels weird :D
BY the way you describe it, the volume slider is rather over engineered and downright silly. We could put sensors in a button that measures the tension of the skin on your finger to determine if it is exerting pressure on the button, but like the slider, it would be a silly over-engineered thing. Perhaps there is an incompatibility between the wiz and caanoo if the digital volume control isn't present?
Why in the world can't gamepark make a backward compatible console that doesn't need a recompile for the backward comparability? What about software who's source code wasn't released and who's author has disappeared? Why does such a small company refuse to listen to it's most loyal customers? I know the reviewer gave the analog controller a thumbs up, but why is a thumb pad so difficult for these people? Are they just afraid of scaring away their language machine customers? They have now put out 4 consoles that were not significant upgrades to their previous model. THe gp2x was not a significant upgrade to the gp32, the f200 was almost no upgrade at all, the Wiz offered little more gaming power and now the caanoo offers little more than the wiz. If I upgraded from the gp2x f100 to the caanoo, (based on avail info), I wouldn't think it much of an upgrade. If they manage to survive this next round, I really hope they learn something from all of these exercises in mediocrity and release something brand new with significantly more gaming power than the caanoo with traditional controls.

Chris
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Back
Top