Well, after testing the device for few days, i can say that there are some remarkable good and other bad points.
good points:
- Wifi signal is so good. in fact, their dual-antenna get strong signal from wifi.
- The device have A/V composite out. this is a very interesting and useful feature that i'm sure there is many users will appreciate. There are some segment of users that don?t have HDMI input on their TVs, or have old TV's that want to give a second life with some device like this.
- There is a new mapper designed to be used with a gamepad for setting elements on the screen. you don?t need an extra mouse for move elements of the mapper on the screen. This is a very useful feature, really.
- The mapper can work with any attached gamepad.
- The device have a good heatsink system.
- Memory for apps is around 5GB (app partition)
bad points:
- The system is not rooted, and i can?t find a successfully way to root. This is very important point in my opinion. There are many features/apps that requires a rooted device. Most of Keymappers can?t work properly without root (GameKeyboard+, MobileHelper/MC4Helper, Tincore, screenshots, CPU managers, etc)
- The mapper have some issues. Right stick is not working well and have the same behavior that old mappers that have a "view mode" that simply start from a arbitrary point and displaces a touch to some direction, without "re-entering" to the starting point, and this mode is not working properly, because have some "stick" mode movement, but the generated touch is going out the screen (i?ll upload some video for showing this). The "stick mode" is not working.
- Because there is no Root, we cannot change the SDCARD point, or remap using some tool for external memory such microSD, or external USB drive, for installing apps. Currently, i can install apps, bot only using 5GB. there is no way to expand this "memory" for get more room storage. Installing Modern Combat 4, Nova 3, The Bard's Tale i get a "no enought space on the device" message.
- Because i don?t have root, can?t use any screenshot app. i tried many ways to do, but for now is impossible for me taking screenshots in any way.
- The device don?t have a standard microSD port for connecting to PC. I found that USB port 2 have connectivity with PC, but i search in many places for drivers, and there is no way to connect the device to PC. i was installed RK drivers, in many ways... but is no way to PC recognize the device (always get a "non identified" device)
Weird points:
the device don?t have an external slot for microSD, but opening you found a microSD slot on the SoC, that come with a 16GB class 4 MicroSD!
This microSD come fullfit of roms and software (all cracked), ready to be installed on the system.
Why GPD don?t put this slot outside the device, for easy access?
i will post more imprssions, but for now i'm waiting for GPD for a rooted firmware, for continue with the review.
