Thinking Of Getting One...


Josquius

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Mar 1, 2004
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Co.Durham
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www.josquius.tsx.org
I'm thinking of getting a GP32 however I am wondering about a few things, I don't expect to get perfect answers here what with you all being GP32 lovers though hopefully someone will give me decent answers. Some will have probally been asked before but meh.

1: If I do get one what kind should I get? Lit or unlit and 133mhz or 166mhz? Is the 33mhz worth £20 extra? The same goes for the light.

2: I hear the GP32 is dying and being taken over by new 3D systems, I am rather confused about this as in other places I have heard that the Zodiac has failed to take off and the GP32 is where its at. What is the actual deal with this? Somehow in the back of my head I am thinking 'GP64' though I do not know where I heard that.

3: What is the deal with GP32s video player? I remember reading how someone claimed to have watched the Matrix Reloaded on his GP32- how is that possible, on a PC files that contain a entire film take up much more then 128mb.

4: Is there any chance of a GBA emulator ever coming along?

5: Are the SNES and mega drive emulators 100% yet?

6: Any chance of a AMIGA or primitive PC emulator?

7: The Smartmedia cards- do any kind work or just a certain type? Would this one for instance- http://www.dabs.com/uk/shopbybrand/fuji/di...?quicklinx=1546

8: Does it have some sort of a mains adapter and chargable batterys available?
 
*note: im in a drunken way but I think I will get this right XD*

1, I have a non flu and its fine for me (college mainly) also mine OC's to 156mhz which is good enough for what I want to do also (not snes/Mega Drive atm)
2, No idea; I got my gp32 for retrogaming/ mp3s tho ^_^
3, No idea but should be fine; videos need converting to correct format tho. (may have to be cut up)
4, There is some very slow ones, and one that could be promising but If u want something like that quick get a GBA and flashcard thingy.
5, Not at all; SNES is ok overclocked and Mega Drive isnt near that as far as I know.
6, Doubt it from what I hear.
7, Dunno,
8, Yea but be careful!
 
Hey Josquius, I've only just got a GP32 myself and have no regrets what ever. Anyway onto your questions -

1. Get a Flu, well worth the extra cash. As for speed if your running emulators then more is better. As to whether its worth the extra cash depends on if you consider the slight speed boost worth it.

2. Its true the new Sony Psp is out soon but its not gonna have the same homebrew/emulation scene as GP32. I don't think the GP32 is dying out. Even if it does I'll be using mine for years :D

3. I dunno about this as I haven't got one yet.

4. Judging from previous posts no

5. Not yet but many games are playable without sounds and a few are playable even with sound

6. An Amiga emulator would be cool but I dunno what the chances are, probably not good.

7. Looks ok, 128 meg is the max and they have to be 3.3v I have heard that some won't work though you should probably search the board for more info.

Hope this helps.
 
An honest opinion isnt so much to ask for. Here's mine.

1. Under normal lighting conditions if you compare the GP32 to the original GBA, the GP32 is more visible but it can still be very dark in some cases, so if you have the money go for the FLU because there will be many a time when you need it, and especially if you watch movies on it. As for the 166mhz You could buy one from GBAX (best if you're in the UK as I understant it) and get one that was modded specifically to hit 166 or you could take the chance on a regular one being able to overclock. I took the chance on one from Lik Sang without a garuntee and got one that easily hits 166 with no trouble. You have about a 60% chance. and yeah it can make a difference, some applications would be highly dissapointing if you couldnt overclock even just a little.

2. GP32 is a niche market, the big guys, Nintendo and Sony are coming out with new systems and they'll have big name titles and franchiases which isnt new its the way of the world but the GP has a deicated following that all underdogs enjoy so even if the company anbandons the system there are planety of people looking to keep it alive. The zodiac is a very different animal from the GP, sure it has emulators but it's very official/commercial and the opensource community is not as large (because it hasnt been officially released widely just yet) or helpful in some cases. If you want a PDA first and a game player second it might be what you'd get.

3. Movies are entierly possible in GPCinema, it's just a matter of ripping the movie and decreasing the size of it. The only problem is since there are so many methods some will work better for certain people than others. Some people have shrunk entire 2 hours movies to 60mb (though I'd wonder just how good the sound is!) Personally I recently converted Bulletproof Monk from dvd into 2 60mb files(stereo sound) and watched it on the train this weekend. Sure it's not as perfectly smooth as a dvd but if you;re used to watching AVI's off the internet you might know what to expect. 15- 20 frames persecond play back some fast action scenes can look garbled for a couple of seconds but it's watchable (keep in mind also that the process of encoding full moves to watch can take longer than actually WATCHING the movie but if you like to download anime from the internet or just want to have a few eps of The Simpsons to watch it takes far less time to encode)

4. There is one innovative idea for a working GBA emulator and it seems to be comming along. only time will tell if it;s ultimately viable.

5. I'd put the SNES emulator OpenSnes9x version .2 at 80% version 3 will be much better apparently but we have to wait for it. The current Genesis/megadrive Emulators are more like 40% a lot of games dont work and the ones that do are half speed without sound, but the NES emulator Littlejohn and the Game Gear/Master System emulators are practically 99% and Turbografx16/PCengine is about 90%. The only one we;re unclear about still being worked on is the PCengine emulator.

6. Amiga looks doubtful but I've heard rumors people have tried to make old PC emulators but they aren't very viable and kinda useless.

7. That's exactly the type of card you need. 128 is the maximum.

EDIT:

8. There dosent seem to be any official adapter but you can find something that meets the right requirements in a local electronics shop, and any regular recharagable NiMH double A battery is fine, the higher the mAh of the battery the longer it lasts. Also if you do get an adapter you might want to remove you batteries just as a precaution.)
 
1. Flu, as far as the extra 33hz not sure, mine can OC to 150hz and most games that I have tried, that is palyable on the SNES. Everything does 133

2. Personal peference. Would you enjoy a gp32 with the app/games/emus at the moment? Or would you prefer cutting edge games?

3. It is called compression. I managed to get most films down to 60mb. Check out the gpcinema threads.

4. Dont hold your breath

5. Snes is close, nothing much for Md

6. Not yet. Ideas been thrown about but that is it

7. max 128mb and 3.3v

8. Standard AA batteries where you can use rechargables and check the manual for the mains adapts, it uses a different polarity and odd sized plug.
 
Hi

All the answers above are good advice, but I wanted to distill it all into one answer to make you choice eaiser:

GET ONE!

Honestly, I know that's not the most informative reply, and that caps on the web is frowned upon, but I cannot emphasise enough how great these things are. I was just like you, wondering what to do and I spent ages sounding out the community before I bought my GP32 from GBAX. You are on here because you are interested, so save yourself the time and effort, and buy one, it is probably the single best purchase I have ever made...

Hope that helps!

®

in case you are curious my proper answers would be:

1. Lit, 166Mhz (If you have the money)
2. Don't wait, you need one now and the GP32 already has the sort of community, support and reputation that any new contender will take ages to acquire...
3. The video player is apparently good. Video can be compressed and resized for the GP32 leading to much smaller files, although you will need software for this...
4. (Almost) Certainly not. Don't buy one for this reason...!
5. Not yet, SNES is good, Genesis has no sound. I think they will get there though...
6. See answer 4.
7. Any normal SMC up to 128 Mb should be fine, it's up to you which brand you go for...
8. Normal AA batteries work, as well as all manner of rechargables, there is a mains adapter, try www.gbax.com (where you should buy the GP32 itself too if you are in the UK)
 
Its not the 3D games I'm interested in with the new consoles its that they can emulate the 2D consoles better.
What are the Neo Geo pocket and Wonder Swan emulators like?
Do you rate any chance of a good SNES and Mega Drive emulator? They are the main points of interest for me getting one.
The GBA emulator isn't a main point, I'm no pirate. Its just I already have a GBA and it would be better to be able to just carry one console around.

I will be buying from gbax most likely as I live near Newcastle where it is based.

Whats this I hear about Curse of Monkey Island working on the GP32? Thats quite a new and graphical game isn't it? Was it just a misquote or can it somehow run it? (I'd think it would be bigger then 128mb...)
 
Hi

The NeoGeo Pocket Emulator is good and fast, although it currently has no sound. I have heard that it is still being worked on though, so we should see a better version...

I don't know about the Wonderswan as I haven't used it, but I have heard it is problematic. Don't quote me on that, but it may still be in development...

There are already good SNES & Megadrive emulators. The problem is that the SNES is slow with sound, and the Megadrive has no sound. The enthusiasm for both these projects is high though, so they should see further development. The SNES will definately improve, while the Megadrive was released in beta only at Christmas so should be alive and kicking...

The GBA is a great machine (I have an SP) but the GP32 is not going to see an emulator for it for some time (if ever) don't buy a GP32 for GBA emulation, buy a GBA.

GBAX are the best, they are so helpful - I can't recommend them enough!

®
 
I havent tried the NGP emulator yet but it has no sound, Wonderswan didnt work for me at all, but then again the emulator is't based on sucks too.

I concider opensnes9x to be a lot better than the stuff I've seen of Pocketsnes for the GBA and it IS still being worked one thank goodness, There are a bunch of games that run beautifully already though some have to go without sound but there areplenty that are playable at near full speed WITH sound. The Megadrive emulator isnt as far a long as the SNES but it is comming along unfortunatly like with any free product you;re at the mercy of the creator's free time.

Now if you;re expecting the PSP to come out and be an open source tool for playing SNES and MD games anytime soon, forget it. For one the PSP will use a propritary disk medium so I doubt anyone will be making the equivolent of flash cartidges like they did for the GBA anytime this decade. No one knows what the Nintendo DS will do but its not that much more powerful than the GBA, Which as I said before their SNES is still a bit behind the GP's.

Looking for a perfect all in one system? That's a long ways off.
 
1: I would say a FLU 133 ( what i have) is more than enough to fun all the good stuff at a playable speed.

2: Zodiac has only been out a few months so i feel its unfair to judge. If it came down to it i would go for the GP32 every single time, free games and emus over pay versions of the same thing.

3: I have yet to use it so can't comment

4: I would have said no but i am sure i saw in another topic that one is being worked on ( don't know how good it will be)

5: Well i am useing a 133 FLU console and would say even with that the SNES emu is dam good all the games i have tried are near perfect (at 133)

6: Im not in the know enough to comment

7: I think most types work, your bog standard ones should functions fine. Dixons are doing 64MB ones for about the £15 mark and they work a treat.

8: mains adapter yes chargable batteries im unsure about.
 
It's probably worth mentioning that Castaway the Atari ST emulator is very advanced and runs most stuff at full speed with sound. Lots of Amiga stuff was released on the ST too so you can play a lot of the old favorites.
 
Wow, so many different oppinions, some say to go for 166 some to go for a flu...Ack. I'm being pushed towards 166 for the extra speed though the thought is there that £20 seems a lot for 33mhz. For lit and unlit I'm even more undecided as
I read in a review of the GP32 that the FLU has trouble with dust getting in between the screens and buggering it up, is this right?
 
I havent had any dust yet :)

Also in regards to the Monkey Island games, The gp32 has a a SCUMM port (www.scummvm.org or www.scumm.org) which allows you to play Lucasart games of the click and play variety.
 
I have a single bit of dust under my FLU screen and it's driving me nuts!

Seriously, I don't think the problem is anything to do with the FLU as such, just a general design issue. The dust problem rears it's ugly head on everything these days, mobile phones etc etc...

®
 
It isnt an airtight seal so theres always a likelyhood of a few specks of dust. The FLU might enhance the noticability but its no deal breaker. The little plastic scratch guard on the screen when you get it is probably more annoying than any dust I've seen and I stil havent taken that off.
 
on the Curse Of Monkey Island topic -- no, it's not possible. COMI has SVGA graphics, that's the biggest problem. but MI 1 and 2 work very nicely (not to mention other LucasArts adventure titles).
 
Do the smart media cards from argos work? They have the cheapest 128 I can find. I can't give any more information about it though hopefully someone will know the type argos has.
 
I work at Argos ecommerce site. So apologies if this is biased.

The Argos price is the lowest I've found in the "high street". Also if you reserve online you avoid queuing (they have kiosks in store for online reservations).

For what its worth I recently put an order through on ebuyer, and they maybe in vogue right now , but they are well cheeky, by adding total vat on at the end (like the USA) plus add the postage and packing and you are stitched up like a kipper. Also the smeggers sent me a 128MB memory stick (instead of an SMC) that I can't return since I was out of the country for a while.

The best online experience I have had is with amazon, they're pretty cheap (£20) and with P & P doesnt come to more than £25.

I've figured that ok its slightly more at Argos than online pricing, but you pay for the immediacy of having it in your hand and you're not going to be had over.
 
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