Author Topic: Looking for a rock solid gba handheld, is GCW ZERO the best choice? (Read 19796 times)

Marillmau5 · « **on:** October 22, 2012, 05:36:26 am »

its GCW ZERO vs dingoo a380 right now for me. (btw I have a good 7 inch tablet playing gba perfect, but i want a more handheld device with buttons and do not want to buy a bluetooth controller, lol)
I do want all other handhelds and console emulation but GBA needs to be rock solid. ty dingoonity.

ps. I'm new to Dingoonity (long time lurker of these handhelds) and I'm willing to buy right away.

+1 if you can post a side by side comparison of the GCW Zero next to the gba

cruelcynic · « **Reply #1 on:** October 22, 2012, 06:37:34 am »

I can't speak from personal experience as to the gba quality but the videos seem smooth. Just from a specs point of view the zero beats the 380 by two to one on raw power.

NoeL · « **Reply #2 on:** October 22, 2012, 10:53:40 am »

Personally I haven't had too many issues running GBA on native a320, though my dpad is a bit shit and the L/R buttons are awful. The GCW looks superb, and I think it's pretty close in price to the a380 (are they still running around $109? Zero is $120 for the standard model, though you'll be paying more for shipping if you're outside the US). The Zero also has the advantage of 4:3 aspect ratio so you can run it full screen without horizontal stretching. This is also purely speculatory, but given the public response to the device you're likely to have much more community support with the Zero. We haven't seen a great deal of GBA emulation on the Zero, but what's been shown looks pretty flawless. Then again, I don't think we've seen titles like Mario Tennis so the jury's still out there.

If you don't mind waiting a couple of weeks til the Zero hits consumers you'll have a much clearer answer then.

zear · « **Reply #3 on:** October 22, 2012, 11:05:22 am »

Only one emulator with it's own issues is available for GCW (and any other handheld that uses gba emulation). So for perfect GBA I'd suggest one of the devices that reimplements the gba hardware, ie. k1gba.

Alien Grey · « **Reply #4 on:** October 22, 2012, 11:35:35 am »

That's right. There isn't a perfect GBA emulator right now.

I can't say that it isn't good on the Dingoo A-380 but it it is far from perfect. There isn't anything better for this moment so we've got to do with the one that we've got right now.

Dexidus · « **Reply #5 on:** October 22, 2012, 11:43:08 am »

That being said, on most of my handhelds, yoshi's island gba plays like shit (caanoo and 320 included) - whereas i've seen earrrrrrrrrly vids of the zero handling this game without any problems. I'd say wait for the zero - the specs blow most things out of the water, and with the devs that are working on porting emu's for it, i'm sure things will be even better very very shortly.

Alien Grey · « **Reply #6 on:** October 22, 2012, 01:39:38 pm »

Those early videos don't mean anything anymore. They're from the chinese OS. Those games might run better but ask yourself the question about all the other games. You could easily end up with an emulator that runs them all to fast like that original gameboy emulator they've put on the Dingoo A-380.

ruffnutts · « **Reply #7 on:** October 22, 2012, 01:40:33 pm »

Would have to say zero all the way.. look at the attention its getting already and it aint even here yet lol

Marillmau5 · « **Reply #8 on:** October 22, 2012, 02:27:11 pm »

Quote from: NoeL on October 22, 2012, 10:53:40 am

If you don't mind waiting a couple of weeks til the Zero hits consumers you'll have a much clearer answer then.

Replying to everyone:
Sounds great, I kind of noticed the wave of attention to the device. I actually love the screen size too.

I was about to buy the nexus 7 with a case/stand and a Bluetooth controller all just for emulation. Then I remembered the dingoo, then I saw this device!

Thanks for all the replies, I feel happy to be with you guys on these forums.

From what everyone is saying then, the GCW ZERO might be like the new dingoo!!! In terms of community projects and releases and homebrew.

Dexidus · « **Reply #9 on:** October 22, 2012, 02:31:20 pm »

Quote from: Alien Grey on October 22, 2012, 01:39:38 pm

Those early videos don't mean anything anymore. They're from the chinese OS. Those games might run better but ask yourself the question about all the other games. You could easily end up with an emulator that runs them all to fast like that original gameboy emulator they've put on the Dingoo A-380.

Isn't that easily fixed with underclocking the emu? Works for me man.

10basetom · « **Reply #10 on:** October 23, 2012, 01:49:58 am »

Here's a comparison of the best emulation for each platform:

http://www.gp32x.com/board/index.php?/topic/56798-comparison-of-all-emulators-for-all-handheld/

I'm curious to find out where the Zero would place in this comparison, but definitely higher than the Dingoo.

Articus · « **Reply #11 on:** October 23, 2012, 02:31:21 am »

Those tests are pretty outdated. I believe those tests were done with Dingux os. OpenDingux runs faster and smoother. It would be nice to see a comparison, but one thats more relavant.

Note: I dont have a Dingoo a320 running OD, but I do have a DT-a330 with OD. From personal experience, everything Ive thrown at this thing plays great! A few games here and there wont run properly but no biggie!! I even run CaveStory with sound (i dont think a320 can).

obscurehandhelds · « **Reply #12 on:** October 23, 2012, 06:56:59 am »

GCW is definitely not the best choice for GBA. It's running a very old version of gpSP with many known problems. I mean, it runs very well, but if "rock solid" is what you're after then you need either a K1 or K101 (when it's released). These are GBA hardware clones (ie not emulators) and offer a level of compatibility, accuracy and speed that an emulator never will.

cruelcynic · « **Reply #13 on:** October 23, 2012, 07:30:59 am »

If you want a single solution device you might as well just get a real gba and a flash card.

NoeL · « **Reply #14 on:** October 23, 2012, 08:21:44 am »

I second what people are saying about the hardware clone units, if you want a machine that runs like an actual GBA would. If you just want a GBA machine, get one of those (or hell, get an actual GBA!). If you want to get more out of your device than just a GBA player, and can settle for imperfect (though plenty good enough imo) emulation, go for one of these other emulator machines.

Alien Grey · « **Reply #15 on:** October 23, 2012, 08:30:02 am »

Quote from: Dexidus on October 22, 2012, 02:31:20 pm

Isn't that easily fixed with underclocking the emu? Works for me man.

Didn't work at all. The emulator runs to slow and can't be used anymore to play with video out on TV. We fixed this issue with adding a perfect Gameboy/Gameboy Color SDL emulator to the custom firmware.

ruffnutts · « **Reply #16 on:** October 23, 2012, 08:52:58 am »

The K101gba is meant to play 100% still waiting for mine though its now called revo...

10basetom · « **Reply #17 on:** October 23, 2012, 01:24:02 pm »

Even the K1 GBA hardware clones are not 100% compatible. If you want 100% GBA compatibility, then you need to get a GBA. However, if you want an all-in-one device and are OK with just "rock solid" GBA compatibility, then better start saving up for the Pandora 2

.

I will reserve judgment on Zero's credentials when I try my own favorite games on it, games where you know exactly what to look for at which exact locations to gauge its emulation prowess.

Marillmau5 · « **Reply #18 on:** October 23, 2012, 03:52:21 pm »

pandora 2? now your just playing with my emotions, or is that a real thing coming soon?

SNESFAN · « **Reply #19 on:** October 23, 2012, 08:29:53 pm »

2013 at the earliest, I'm guessing 2014 or possibly even 2015

they're suggesting $700-800 price

Author Topic: Looking for a rock solid gba handheld, is GCW ZERO the best choice? (Read 19796 times)

Marillmau5 (OP)

Marillmau5 (OP)

Marillmau5 (OP)

SNESFAN