Author Topic: Getting an open source handheld device in 2014  (Read 9052 times)

Conifer (OP)

  • Posts: 3
Getting an open source handheld device in 2014
« on: March 09, 2014, 02:51:51 am »
Ok, so I'm pretty new on the open source portable gaming world and I've been reading my way around.

Problem is, most of the info I find around is either biased or outdated.

My premises are simple, I'm looking for a portable console to play mostly MAME, Sega Genesis and NEO GEO stuff, I recon all the common emulatores are pretty much covered by all consoles (GBA, SNES, etc.).

So what would you guys advise me to get? I've been seeing the A380E on ebay but I recon those are fake and don't run any of this stuff? And I also recon getting an A320 or a GCW new and cheap is pretty much impossible now, am I right?


Thanks in advance for any help you might provide. You might imagine how overwhelming all this information is for a guy used to Nintendo DS/PSP world.
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Koji-Kendo

  • Posts: 28
Re: Getting an open source handheld device in 2014
« Reply #1 on: March 09, 2014, 05:24:36 am »
It pretty much depends on how much you're willing to pay for starters. Every time someone asks that exact question, they get bombarded by "GCW-Zero this, "Android that".. . Which there is nothing wrong with suggesting as they are for the most part impressive tech.

But everyone likes to assume that the new guy has $150+ to plunk down on or hours and hours of time to sit down and troubleshoot the devices.
What I would recommend is put that powerful PSP to use as it has well over a decade of homebrew support as it is and offers many if not all of the systems you mentioned. It would also be great practice for everything else that's out there in the homebrew / open-source scene.
The DS also has flash cartridges with tons of homebrew as well although it is much more limited in scope compared to the PSP.

If you're pretty much done with those consoles, then yes, the first thing I would recommend is to decide how much you're willing to spend, read some reviews (real reviews, not fanboy advertising, cough-cough) i.e. youtube videos, etc. and go from there.

Personally I get along fine without breaking the bank for the top-notch, latest and greatest handhelds and I'm happy with Neo Geo Arcade, CPS-1, CPS-2 and everything below the PSX.
I enjoy emulation on PSP-3000, 3DS-XL, Gemei/Dingoo A330, Dingoo A320, Game Boy Advance-SP, Hell, even Game Boy Color! haha!
What I like about these is there low price point, easy, drag and drop setups, simple trouble-shooting, solid builds, robust software support, etc, etc.

Seriously though, take your time and think about it.
Last thing you want is to regret dropping almost $200 on a console with a crap d-pad and long nights of ripping your hair out troubleshooting. 3-)
« Last Edit: March 09, 2014, 05:29:20 am by Koji-Kendo »
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DA320, DTA330, DD/GA330, DMG (modded), MGB (modded), MGL, CGB (modded), GBA, GBA-SP (001 and 101 (custom) w/flashcarts), GB Micro, DS Lite, DSi (custom), 3DS, 3DS-XL (all  w/ flashcarts), PSP (modded), WonderSwan, NeoGeo Pocket Color...PS1, 2, 3 and 4...

cronot

  • Posts: 48
Re: Getting an open source handheld device in 2014
« Reply #2 on: March 09, 2014, 05:40:40 am »
Well, the GCW is not necessarily hard to find, but it's not cheap, yes. If you've got the cash, or can hang on and save it for a while, the GCW is certainly a much better, robust and safer choice.

The A320 is also a safe choice as far as software library available, but the hardware is sadly outdated at this point - it runs most stuff good enough, but you should expect some hiccups with certain games/emulators, specially the ones you mentioned - the GCW should be much more reliable in this regard, if not right now, at least in the long run, because it both gets more dev love and has a much beefier hardware. And yes, the A320 is nearly impossible to find at this point, you'd only find one used, if that.

I've talked about the A380 elsewhere, but the gist of it is that the software library for it is a bit more restricted; but it's generally a valid choice.

You may want to also consider the A330 (The Dingoo Tech one , not Gemei) - it's basically an A320 with twice the RAM, so you get the same software library of the A320 for free, and it can still be found new in some places. On the other hand, some people complain about the casing (specially the buttons), and the fact that it's pretty much an A320 means you get the same outdated hardware - the more RAM doesn't make much of a difference when the bottleneck is usually on the CPU.

Good luck!
« Last Edit: March 09, 2014, 05:53:49 am by cronot »
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Conifer (OP)

  • Posts: 3
Re: Getting an open source handheld device in 2014
« Reply #3 on: March 09, 2014, 12:08:50 pm »
You guys are amazing, really insightful answers, thank you both!

So yeah, price plays a big part, I'd like to stay under 100? as I really am just aiming for 8/16bit emulation and arcades.

I've recon most people have moved on to android gaming tablets, but do want something smaller, that was why I had been llooking at the A320 and the (supposely fake) A380E. That console has pretty much the size I'd really want, but something along the size of the GCW would also be ok. They both also look really nice.

I will research further on the A380E as that one is basically the cheapest and the only one 1 click away from ebay.
I'm also considering the A330 (which costs basically the same from amazon) and even the GameGadget Handheld System but I recon that one must be jailkbroken and stuff?

Am I missing any console similar in price, size and looks to these ones?

Thanks again for your help and time
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Drem

  • Posts: 853
    • Russian Android/Dingo/GCW/gaming gadgets blog
Re: Getting an open source handheld device in 2014
« Reply #4 on: March 10, 2014, 09:20:33 am »
Quote from: Koji-Kendo on March 09, 2014, 05:24:36 am
But everyone likes to assume that the new guy has $150+ to plunk down on or hours and hours of time to sit down and troubleshoot the devices.
GPD G5A can be bought for as low as $110-115, it's powerful, quite compact (it's slightly bigger than PSP but still smaller than 7" tablet) and has excellent quality of build. And controls of G5A are amazing - I wish GCW Zero could have such gorgeousness of buttons and joysticks.
There are giant amount of homebrew apps and games everywhere in the net, and emu-scene is blooming like mutated rosebush on the hill of dung. You can play N64, PS1, Dreamcast and PSP games, which you can't play on GCW Zero & Dingoo, sad but objective reality. 8- and 16-bit games runs without any hiccups and problems.
So please don't touch these "Nah, that Android crap..." strings.
« Last Edit: March 10, 2014, 09:25:26 am by Drem »
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Charliedontsurf

  • Posts: 22
Re: Getting an open source handheld device in 2014
« Reply #5 on: April 24, 2014, 12:40:11 am »
Don't discount an ebay Xperia Play, which can be had used for like $25-60 dollars. That will give you excellent emulation up to and including PS1, with some PSP games very playable as well and improving all the time thanks to the awesome dev of PPSSPP. I know many purists bemoan controller lag and audio lag inherent in Android, especially older version iirc, but I am unable to perceive these issues 99.5% of the time.
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Xperia Play, Nvidia Shield
Emulation should be free and open.

ker

  • Posts: 620
Re: Getting an open source handheld device in 2014
« Reply #6 on: May 26, 2014, 11:31:22 pm »
Quote from: Drem on March 10, 2014, 09:20:33 am
Quote from: Koji-Kendo on March 09, 2014, 05:24:36 am
But everyone likes to assume that the new guy has $150+ to plunk down on or hours and hours of time to sit down and troubleshoot the devices.
GPD G5A can be bought for as low as $110-115, it's powerful, quite compact (it's slightly bigger than PSP but still smaller than 7" tablet) and has excellent quality of build. And controls of G5A are amazing - I wish GCW Zero could have such gorgeousness of buttons and joysticks.
There are giant amount of homebrew apps and games everywhere in the net, and emu-scene is blooming like mutated rosebush on the hill of dung. You can play N64, PS1, Dreamcast and PSP games, which you can't play on GCW Zero & Dingoo, sad but objective reality. 8- and 16-bit games runs without any hiccups and problems.
So please don't touch these "Nah, that Android crap..." strings.

GPD G5A analogs are great, but dpad is not very good. Screen has poor quality and battery life is not a strong point. Size is another handicap compared to GCW0.

I use G5A to emulate N64, PSP and PSX. This systems emulation is far to be perfect, very far, but is not possible to play this emulators on my GCW, so I use both: G5A at home and GCW everywhere (it's always on my pocket)

For NDS emulation I use a 3DS XL ;-)
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