Gp2x/psp Comparison - My Own Opinion


So the PSP 2.0 firmware has been hacked. So will 3.0. And 4.0 (if the system lives that long).

I feel better knowing that GPH won't be actively trying to STOP me from running homebrew on my system like Sony is (and when the technology fails to do so, expect the lawsuits to start).

Giving up all that headache, and what do I lose? The ability to play crappy warmed-over PS2 ports and buy crappy movies for more than the DVD costs.
 
PSP can handle windows 95... i would like to see that for the gp2x...

Yes, the PSP can kinda run Windows 95, with Bochs and a lot of messing around. But it is so slow it's completely unusable. It'll run sweet FA. The only reason someone tried it in the first place was to say 'Eh, look what I did!'.

Some people here have dissed the PSP's Megadrive emulator. I actually kinda liked it. True, you have to push the CPU to 333Mhz to run it at a decent speed and even then it's not as fast as the GP2X one. But it's still quite playable.

Better performance on a 200Mhz CPU than a 333Mhz one? Just goes to show how much potential the GP2X has. Give it time, and we will see some amazing stuff, especially when people take proper advantage of the second processor.

While we're on the subject of the PSP though... I don't think anyone's mentioned what annoys me most about it, and that's the fact that the PSP's d-pad is absolutely SHIT at doing diagonals. It will do them eventually, after the pad has been hammered and broken in, but still not very well even then. This might be acceptable for Sony's modern games, but it's a massive no-no when it comes to retro emulation IMO.
 
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But the GP2Xs stick is SHIT too :p and PSP has the backup of the nub, which if ok if you get used to it - I can kick but on SF with it -_-. And the MD emu runs near full speed at 222, Ive never OCed to use it, same with NeoCD. Only the Snes one I had to OC (well, not OC but, reset to its actual speed :p).

Both consoles have their plus and negatives, but right now PSP is definate winner. Get your fanboy thumbs out your arses and taste the biased shit youre spouting. GP2X might be better in the long run, then again PSP might keep ahead, you DONT KNOW -_- Hell, PSP might fly ahead if the whole 'custom firmware' thing comes to fruition.

Both have their place, both have a long future.
 
After spending a day with it, playing mame + genesis emulator and *trying* to play divx files without crashing I must say this is a real step back from the GP32.

The whole unit feels tacky and cheap, it's unstable (it'll often crash just booting up, with and without an SD card in!), it doesnt play divx properly, again crashing like mad (although i've read this is down to bugs in latest firmware).

The volume control is a joke, it's down to each application to respond to the volume input, not a system-wide volume thing like, erm, every other handheld.

The joystick is still annoying as hell, it's dreadfull and makes playing some arcade games a right pain in the ass.

Ooh yeah and you have to put the plastic screen cover on yuorself too, which is just another corner that they've cut (and to stop people moaning that there' dust on their screen when they receive it no doubt).

Overall I wouldnt recommend the gp2x to anybody, it's a real dissapointment over the GP32 and certainly PSP, and can only hope that future revisions of the console fix this.
 
The volume control is a joke, it's down to each application to respond to the volume input, not a system-wide volume thing like, erm, every other handheld.
Actually it permits developers to use the volume button as a control button, for example when playing a vertical shmup ...
This obviously demonstrates you miss the point here, and that you don't deserve to own a gp2x :D

edit : spelling and bashing
 
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The volume control is a joke, it's down to each application to respond to the volume input, not a system-wide volume thing like, erm, every other handheld.
Actually it permits developers to use the volume button as a control button, for example when playing a vertical shmup ...
This obviously demonstrates you miss the point here, and that you're just not smart enough to own a gp2x :D

Dont you just love fanboys who'll argue against what everyone would expect just because they're fanboys :)

Are you really telling me that when you first saw the gp2x you expected hte volume button to work in the way it does and thought it was a good idea? If you say yes then you're the one that needs to lookup "smart" in the dictionary :)
 
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Are you really telling me that when you first saw the gp2x you expected hte volume button to work in the way it does and thought it was a good idea? If you say yes then you're the one that needs to lookup "smart" in the dictionary :)
I'm not sure to understand you ? In fact, each time i tried to use the volume button it worked as it was supposed to work from a user point of view (ie at least it works with mame, DrMD, mp3 player and video player), so i don't even wondered how it was working ?
 
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The volume control is a joke, it's down to each application to respond to the volume input, not a system-wide volume thing like, erm, every other handheld.
Actually it permits developers to use the volume button as a control button, for example when playing a vertical shmup ...
This obviously demonstrates you miss the point here, and that you're just not smart enough to own a gp2x :D

Dont you just love fanboys who'll argue against what everyone would expect just because they're fanboys :)

Are you really telling me that when you first saw the gp2x you expected hte volume button to work in the way it does and thought it was a good idea? If you say yes then you're the one that needs to lookup "smart" in the dictionary :)
That is actually something that people wanted to be used by the programmer. It is. If you want proof I can find some posts from 8 or so months ago.
 
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Are you really telling me that when you first saw the gp2x you expected hte volume button to work in the way it does and thought it was a good idea? If you say yes then you're the one that needs to lookup "smart" in the dictionary :)
I'm not sure to understand you ? In fact, each time i tried to use the volume button it worked as it was supposed to work from a user point of view (ie at least it works with mame, DrMD, mp3 player and video player), so i don't even wondered how it was working ?

Well to use MAME + DrMD as examples, you load up a game, you change the volume, fine, then you load up another game, and the volume has reset itself. This is not typical behaviour and if we're honest, not the kinda of behaviour anyone would expect.

Fair enough if i'd have powered off the console then i'd accept that it may revert to a "defautl" volume for the console, but if i've set a volume whilst hte console is on I expect the actual unit/OS to remember that and not be lazy and expect the developers of the game i'm playing to have to handle something as trivial as volume control in their own way.
 
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Digital volume control is shit.

They should've put utility buttons in place of the volume control (if they wanted buttons there), and added an analog volume potmeter on the side.
 
there ain't nothing wrong on the gp2x that can't be fixed yourself.

i.e. new knobs. duh, easy. feels great too!

i.e. new skin. easier than it seems.

i.e. new buttons. easy!

its a total DIY game machine, if you don't treat it that way, you won't be getting the point. i've got 4 of them now, and while not all of them are in the same shape, they're all hell fun!

(just coz i guess a few of you are arguing from the consumer stance, i figured i'd put in a step on the producer side...)
 
thought I'd stick my oar into this pointless debate ;)

most of the hardware quality features vs price thing balances out pretty well between the two.

it all comes down to whether you want to play:
a. wipeout and gta, etc. - get a psp
or...
b. noiz2sa and gauntlet (and nebulus and...) - get a gp2x

plus there's the issue of open platform or not. you've got the choice of:
a. kick-ass commercial games (at commercial prices) with super-whizzy graphics - get a psp
b. lots of freeware (lower quality and more hassle to setup, but it's free!), plus the ability for you to easily write your own code - get a gp2x.

personally I don't understand people who have a 'brand loyalty' thing going on. I'd love to have both (I DO like wipeout!), but can't really justify the cost :(

so I'll just stick with my shiny gp2x as I'd rather take the b. options above :)
 
Well to use MAME + DrMD as examples, you load up a game, you change the volume, fine, then you load up another game, and the volume has reset itself. This is not typical behaviour and if we're honest, not the kinda of behaviour anyone would expect.
To be honest I noticed that first time I played with DrMD but it didn't surprised me at all :D I Guess I'm just used to this kind of digital control, with all the drawbacks ...
Btw I totally agree that an analog knob would be more useful if you want ONLY to set volume. But gp2x allows users to use this control for much more stuff than it was originally intented. Isn't it cool ?
 
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thought I'd stick my oar into this pointless debate ;)

most of the hardware quality features vs price thing balances out pretty well between the two.

it all comes down to whether you want to play:
a. wipeout and gta, etc. - get a psp
or...
b. noiz2sa and gauntlet (and nebulus and...) - get a gp2x

plus there's the issue of open platform or not. you've got the choice of:
a. kick-ass commercial games (at commercial prices) with super-whizzy graphics - get a psp
b. lots of freeware (lower quality and more hassle to setup, but it's free!), plus the ability for you to easily write your own code - get a gp2x.

personally I don't understand people who have a 'brand loyalty' thing going on. I'd love to have both (I DO like wipeout!), but can't really justify the cost :(

so I'll just stick with my shiny gp2x as I'd rather take the b. options above :)

I totally appreciate and understand the merrits of both devices, i'm an avid fan of the GP32 (as you can tell frmo the fact i've been regged here for years and am member 169 on the board), i've had and enjoyed my GP32 for ages as well as PSP, DS, NPGC etc. etc

But what I can't accept is what to me is an under-par console which is the gp2x, i wont go over old groud, but i do feel that despite the fact it does exactly whati wanted (i.e lets me play mame on the toilet :p) it comes at the sacrifice of dreadfull controls and an unstable device.
 
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my only gripe about the gp2x is the joystick, everything else is perfect, hopefully once i get me a DaveC cap and devs start implimenting case 2 of the joystick controls this will be sorted
 
Digital volume control is shit.

They should've put utility buttons in place of the volume control (if they wanted buttons there), and added an analog volume potmeter on the side.
Actually I agree with you on this, I had totally forgotten about this problem. I doubt it will be long before we see a someone hack a potentiometer onto the sound rails. I do like the buttons where they are though. They should've just used analog volume control and put buttons in the digital controls place
 
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you'll be putting your buttons back after your pot gets some dust in it and starts making insane noises :D

but yeah personally i can't stand +/- volume controls.
 
thought I'd stick my oar into this pointless debate ;)

most of the hardware quality features vs price thing balances out pretty well between the two.

it all comes down to whether you want to play:
a. wipeout and gta, etc. - get a psp
or...
b. noiz2sa and gauntlet (and nebulus and...) - get a gp2x

plus there's the issue of open platform or not. you've got the choice of:
a. kick-ass commercial games (at commercial prices) with super-whizzy graphics - get a psp
b. lots of freeware (lower quality and more hassle to setup, but it's free!), plus the ability for you to easily write your own code - get a gp2x.

personally I don't understand people who have a 'brand loyalty' thing going on. I'd love to have both (I DO like wipeout!), but can't really justify the cost :(

so I'll just stick with my shiny gp2x as I'd rather take the b. options above :)
Problem is the PSP runs emulators AND commercial games, gp2x runs emulators AND more freeware/open source stuff.

So well.
 
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