Dingoonity.org

Doesn't seem like there's much future for Pokegear... but the RS-69 looks very promising, thanks for pointing it out!

Teardown thread here: https://boards.dingoonity.org/other-game-systems/coolbaby-rs-69-f1c100s/

I think someone needs to send one to Steward ; )

Well, I just found out that the "backup" function of (at least my) Pok? Gear does not work. So I effectively have no means to keep my saved games if I want to change a game. This, combined with the scratchy sound and about 15% slowdown on the framerate and music relegates this machine to a "play one game you can live with the slowdown with until you beat it" status. At that rate, I might as well just use my GBA and my EZFLASH or my Pocketgo. I will keep this machine as a reminder that I should research better then buy after informing myself better. Early adopter for China gadgets is a no-no.

Do you have any issues with keeping saves in between games (as in, when you change games) as well?

Well, the machine does save internally and it does keep the save game as long as the game is in the built-in memory. But when I use the backup function it does not keep the save along with the ROM.

Now, looking at the steps, maybe I have to literally do what you are describing. As in, right after I save, press R, then select, save, then immediately go to the backup update screen and backup the ROM.

Now that I think about it, if I turn on the machine, it does not load the save until I press start. So if I just turned on the machine and backup the game, it just backups whatever is there without loading the save. Urgh.

When you backup the ROM, does it add some sort of save file along with it? As in, if you load it on an emulator, it allows you to continue progress?

I really should have just ordered the one that comes with the SD card, the seller said he would send me the games and now he is looking the other way. I noticed the built-in ROM had the LCD driver option on it, apparently the slow-down is due to the screen not being fully 60 fps, (hence the tearing).

Well, I tried that and it doesn't keep the saves from one game to another. So every time I change a game I have to play from the beginning, all progress is lost. So this machine will probably be relegated to NES PAL format games (or the odd RPG) and sold whenever I get the chance.

UPDATE: The console stopped working. Mind you, if it is plugged in to anything (usb port, power outlet, etc) the console will go into "brick" mode. In my case, it happened twice, once while playing (managed to recover it) then while updating the game (because I did not want it to run out of power while doing it) so it died. So yeah, proud owners of this oddball machine, DO NOT turn it on or reset it if it is plugged in. So if you thought that an external battery is or was a good idea to extend playtime, think again! Now I have to go through the joy of the AliExpress dispute process

Well, I tried that and it doesn't keep the saves from one game to another. So every time I change a game I have to play from the beginning, all progress is lost. So this machine will probably be relegated to NES PAL format games (or the odd RPG) and sold whenever I get the chance.

UPDATE: The console stopped working. Mind you, if it is plugged in to anything (usb port, power outlet, etc) the console will go into "brick" mode. In my case, it happened twice, once while playing (managed to recover it) then while updating the game (because I did not want it to run out of power while doing it) so it died. So yeah, proud owners of this oddball machine, DO NOT turn it on or reset it if it is plugged in. So if you thought that an external battery is or was a good idea to extend playtime, think again! Now I have to go through the joy of the AliExpress dispute process

how can you unbricked it?
also, i think it's a GBA on a chip because i was messing with the soldering pins on the memory chip while in black screen and i heard a GBA Boot sound. any thoughs?

As I'm going to sell the device, I'd like to restore it to its original state - any chance someone would upload the original multirom (which I have not backed up and then overwritten when figuring the device out) and send me a pm with the link? Thank you.

In order to backup the built-in rom that came with the machine, you must have the rom in an SD card to begin with. So if you did not get the SD card you are screwed.

You are not going to be impressed.

Yeah it kinda sucks, the new bittboy is the way to go. I bought a Poke Gear and the RS-69 in hopes that I could find some cheap handhelds to sell to customers, but they are no good really. The Biitboy and the Pocketgo are the cheapest you can go and have a decent (or semi-decent, depending on opinion) gaming machine.

Ok, my RS-69 is here as well - the screen wasn't fixed properly, so I had to disassemble the unit and add a bit of sticky foam to remedy that (very easy to do so, 6 external screws and 3 internal).

-Unit is larger than the PokeGear, 7.8mm*11.5mm.
-The shell isn't as nasty, but not liking the bumpy finish too much.
-The screen isn't great, bad viewing angle especially when looking from left.
-Was extremely lucky to somehow change the language to EN by accident. After managing to do that, everything seems to be in EN, thankfully.
-No way of remapping the controls as far as I can tell. So unless they are already mapped in a way that makes the game playable, you are out of luck.
-One savestate per ROM, it seems, and no support for internal saves. This means you are one bad select away from destroying your progress.
-Comes loaded with some 3k+ ROMs (for all supported systems) of various quality and languages on a 8GB microSD card. The operating system is on the unit's internal memory. With no SD card, you are allowed to boot and change the settings.
-Seems way slower than the PokeGear, Doom2 runs at 0.5FPS (was perfectly fine on the PokeGear).
-There definitely is some screen tearing, and some ROMs don't work (WarioLand4, Wolf3D, Sonic1 and 2, despite coming loaded on the SD card).


Conclusion - nope.

Any console that allows loading of your own ROMs also needs to support key remapping, multiple savestates and regular saves, and screen scaling. If it doesn't, it's not worth your time.