Dingoonity.org

So as you may know already, Anbernic released a new miniature that shares a lot of similarities with the LDK look wise.
I'm talking about the Anbernic RG-280V.


(Not the most glamorous photo but it will do)

It's basically based upon the RG-350/GCW0 using the same soc (JZ4770) etc...
So from a performance point of view, it is strictly identical to the RG-350, RG-350M, RG-350P, RG-280M etc..
It does lack an analog stick so this may cause a few issues with some ports/emulators.
Thankfully, aside from maybe trying to play Ape Escape on it, everything else should work fine.





If we compare the LDK and RG-280V, you can see it's only very slightly bigger to the LDK, if not identical.
It does seem to be a little more heavy than the LDK though. (i removed my battery for my LDK so i can't really make a weight comparison sorry : ( )

The build quality is excellent, well... almost. If you try to apply pressure the screen in the top left corner, you can see that it makes contact with the screen. So i would avoid being rough with this handheld because it might not take it.
The LDK, in comparison, is quite sturdy. The only issue i have with the LDK is the fact that the internal sd card slot isn't exposed and you may need to remove it to put roms or  games on it or simply to flash RetroFW on it.


Thankfully on the RG-280V, the internal sd card is directly exposed on the outside, same as the external sd card slot.
So if you want to play with the beta OpenDingux firmware, you can now do so without risking removing the screws on the back.

The DPAD on the 280V is really good : it feels a little less cheap than the LDK's dpad but otherwise it's just as tight and precise.
The face buttons feel much better on the 280V than they do on the LDK.
However some people may not like the 280V's buttons as they require more pressure than the LDK buttons.

So if you want to say, give a handheld to some children, i would probably recommend the LDK over the 280V unless you really need the extra power.

The IPS lcd screen that comes with the 280V looks very good : it has a resolution of 320x480.
While this isn't a problem on the stock firmware, it will cause some issues on the beta opendingux firmware as some things won't be scaled up properly. Some games do take advantage of the extra vertical height, like the SM64 port for example. (Make sure to use the 280M patch for it)

Here's a size comparison with other handhelds :


I think it is along with the RGB-20, the most powerful portable console you can get for relatively cheap in a small form factor.
The RS-90 is taller but narrower than the LDK and 280V and as a result, you might a better pick for really tight pockets but i really can't recommend the RS-90 as it's very lackluster and has a terrible screen.

There is also a very annoying issue on the stock firmware : the speakers/headphones pop each time a new game/app is being run.
A bit nerving but unfortunately (see below), the beta Opendingux firmware largely fixes this.

Beta OpenDingux on the 280V
The beta firmware does support the 280V and it does work on it, although there was one thing i couldn't exactly get to work on Linux and that is MTP. However, it could be an issue with my setup as MTP also stopped working for me on the RG-350 since a recent update...
I have been told that it works fine on Windows 10. (and the device does get detected on Linux. I think it might work with gvfs)

On my unit, i was able to overclock to 1092 Mhz. Unfortunately i had no luck with 1200Mhz but it's still better than what most people could. (which was just 1 Ghz)

There might be some issuse with SDL2 on this handheld due to the screen resolution. I haven't tried it on the latest firmware yet but saw some issues encountering such issues on the 280M. Hopefully it gets addressed if it's not.
They did fix some issues (as of now) with the IPU, so games like SRB2 seem to work now. However due to a technical issue with the IPU implementations, some emulators that rely on the IPU like NGPCEmu currently won't work. (i'm planning on working around that with very ugly black borders)

Conclusion

The RG-280V is a very cool small handheld that can run a lot of OpenDingux ports but unfortunately, it is quite pricey, even at 65$.
For example, you can get an RG-350 with dual analog sticks for the same price. There's also the fact that OGA clones like the RGB-10, RK2020 or its direct competitor, the RGB-20, have a much stronger SOC and as a result, can run some stuff like N64, DC and PSP.

The RG-280V with its puny JZ4770 can hardly compete with OGA clones, although in my opinion OpenDingux is more polished than those EmuELEC or Batocera firmwares which are not easily expandable when it comes to adding new games and ports (other than ROMS, naturally).

Despite this, if you were looking for a device like the LDK with more beef, i can easily recommend the 280V.

Quote from: 02k0 on November 20, 2020, 10:11:02 am

It's possible make a Half-life 1 port?

In theory yes, but no one did so. If you were asking if one could port Xash3D by taking advantage of the extra 480 vertical pixels while still keeping the aspect ratio, that's gonna be a bit harder...

Also, don't quote a post if it's 2 pages long

Oh btw i forgot to mention but the 280V was  provided with lots of ROMS, including some Nintendo games like Pokemon Fire Red etc...
Of course this was done illegally lol... Be careful if customs are overzealous.

Oh and there's a new competitor already too...

I hope Thomas will send me a GKD Mini X1830. This one will have a stereo DAC unlike the GKD350H but it should otherwise be similar to that one, including the better SoC.

Mine looks pretty much as good as new after glue. See attachments for foam arrangement and the console after gluing the plate on.