I'm Thinking Of Buying A Caanoo


SirConnery

Shaken, not stirred.
Joined
Jan 4, 2012
Messages
6
Location
United States
I'm thinking of buying a used Caanoo system. I have a few questions though.


1.) What is the largest SD card it can take? Could I use a 32GB SDHC card? Does class speed matter?

2.) Are there any glitches/bugs that are common?

3.) Can I charge the battery and play the system at the same time? (Using a usb to ac adapter)


I would be doing the following: running scummvm games, genesis/sms/Amiga/DOS/Atari/SNES/NES/Neo Geo/Mame emulation. Nothing too fancy, probably some classics like Outrun, APB, Michael Jackson's Moonwalker (hopefully the arcade version where he becomes a robot), Toobin, Mr Do's Castle, Zaxxon, Vindicators, Power Drift, Crusin' USA, Mortal Kombat, etc.

I have tried a Dingoo and ended up not liking it. The build quality of the Caanoo looks quite a bit better then a Dingoo.

Any feedback would be great. Thanks!
 
I think 32GB is the highest you can use. Definitely get as fast a class as you can, as it will make the system and games load a little faster, at least that was my experience with the Wiz.

Can't think of any bugs or glitches save for the ones common for these types of devices.

You can charge the battery and play the system at the same time. I recommend finding an ac block with a USB interface on it, like some cell phones come with. That way you can plug it into the wall. For a while I used a USB extension cable to get me more slack so I can move around without unplugging it.

The arcade version of Moonwalker runs fine. As far as Mortal Kombat, the best version I've played is for the PSX (Mortal Kombat Trilogy). A lot of SNES games run fine except for some that heavily utilize Mode 7 graphics, like Star Fox. I don't think the SNES emulator utilizes the built-in 3D chip on the Caanoo, which is unfortunate.
 
Build quality is very good - it feels as well put together as something from Nintendo or Sony. Better than any other gamepark or (dare I say it) the Pandora, from a purely 'well put together/professional look & feel' perspective.

I haven't had a Dingoo so can't comment vs that.

Most of what you want to emulate looks do-able, although I vaguely rememeber trying to run Toobin and not having it, but not sure if thats because its not supported or I don't have the correct ROM.

Andy
 
Ryan Lucas said:
I would be doing the following: running scummvm games, genesis/sms/Amiga/DOS/Atari/SNES/NES/Neo Geo/Mame emulation. Nothing too fancy, probably some classics like Outrun, APB, Michael Jackson's Moonwalker (hopefully the arcade version where he becomes a robot), Toobin, Mr Do's Castle, Zaxxon, Vindicators, Power Drift, Crusin' USA, Mortal Kombat, etc.

I just got my Caanoo last week. We share a few of the same favorites, so I can comment on them. Outrun runs pretty well, but it is very slightly slower in MAME4All for Caanoo than the actual arcade version. It's more noticeable in the music than the gameplay. Still, it's close enough that it's fun to play. I haven't yet tried to see if it runs better, or at all, in Final Burn Alpha.

Toobin is great. It takes a little while to get the settings and button mapping to what will be comfortable for you. Since the original has a high resolution, vertically-oriented monitor, you need to set the display to Rotate Scale mode. But before you do that, you need to run it with the display on Normal mode so you can read the MAME menus and get your button mapping set up. Fortunately your character usually hangs out in the middle of the screen so you can test out the buttons and make sure everything feels right. My set up: I use the buttons for paddling, and assigned the can throw to pulling down on the analog stick. Works great!

APB is similar, with the process you need to go through to map buttons and then set the display to Rotate Scale. I'm still working on getting a comfortable button map set up. I botched it a couple of times and ended up having to go back and delete the .cfg files I created to restore the default controls. Also, the sensitivity of the analog stick is a little strong for controlling your car. This one is more challenging to set up, but technically it seems to run perfectly.

Overall I'm having a blast with the Caanoo and I'm really glad I got it. I have looked into the Yinlips device but I think for now the Caanoo is the better choice for me.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I am using a class 10 32gig MSD with adapter in mine with no problems. Not having to ever swap cards is huge.

You can charge while you play, either to your computer usb or a wall adapter.
 
I ended up buying one and love it so far. Thanks for all the info!

Now I'm looking into getting a larger SDHC card. I'm using a Transcend 16GB SDHC Class 10. I'm planning on going up to a 32GB Class 10, but I'm still deciding if I want to stick with the Transcend or see if I can find a deal on one of those Sandisk Pro cards with higher transfer rates. Not sure if the Caanoo will take full advantage of it though so I may stick with Transcend (which is rated in the 16-23mb/s range). I like the ability to carry hundreds of games around in this device, so I just need to make sure the bigger card is the same speed I have now or better.

Are any of you using that jelly protector I keep seeing on eBay?
 
Ryan Lucas said:
Are any of you using that jelly protector I keep seeing on eBay?
Yep, i bought mine at gp2x.de and it definitely raises the gamingvalue of the caanoo.
The grip is way better because of the material and the added volume, it's easier to find the shoulderbuttons and it looks very cool on my black version.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Back
Top