GamePark's GP2X F-200 handheld gets reviewed

We know, most of you even remotely interested in the F-200 either already own one (and you're playing it right now, aren't you? Don't lie.) or are waiting intently for the Pandora. Nevertheless, the cats over at Ars Technica managed to wrap their paws around the GP2X F-200 and give it the full review treatment -- needless to say, impressions were (fairly) positive. Immediately recognized as a "hybrid of Sony's PSP and the Nintendo DS," the gaming handheld possessed a bright, clear LCD, somewhat "tinny" speakers and the ability to chew through batteries without shame. Still, aside from a few minor niggles, the critics found it to be "well worth the $170 price tag for the emulation capabilities alone." Hit up the read link for the entire review, but don't even bother if you're looking for excuses to hold off.

[gabe @ Apr 16th 2008 11:37AM]

and what are the advantages over a Custom Firmware PSP at the same pricepoint with emulation?

[Nate @ Apr 16th 2008 11:45AM]

The advantage is that it doesn't take any dicking around with custom firmwares.

[rob @ Apr 16th 2008 11:46AM]

Gabe-

Better screen ratio for most emulated systems, less ghosting of pixels, etc.

[wolf @ Apr 16th 2008 11:53AM]

actually I would say that the advantage would be that it runs linux and is a very open development platform- don't get me wrong, I love my modded psp's, but the gp2x crowd is a totally different mentality- you can't play god of war- but you can run cygwin and ssh on it- I am interested iin the pandora when it comes out though- I would just like it more if you could put some scaled version of windows on it for app support since I do audio and you could prolly do some really fun things with the 2 analog controllers on some live performance software, even if you were just doing loop cuts and such

[JohnTitor @ Apr 16th 2008 7:14PM]

Pandora doesn't have an x86 CPU so windows is probably a no no (unless you want to emulate windows 95). But certainly if those guys work hard enough they might come with some advanced Linux port like QTopia but better. Give it web browsing and you got an interesting device indeed

[FRZ @ Apr 16th 2008 11:48AM]

So, this definitely play Crisis right?

[Rollins @ Apr 16th 2008 11:57AM]

Yes.

[Carbonize @ Apr 16th 2008 3:31PM]

Doesn't play Crysis though.

[King Mook Mook @ Apr 16th 2008 10:51PM]

Beat me to the mark! Damn you!

[Mark @ Apr 16th 2008 11:51AM]

but does it play doom?


bwahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111

[hcaaman @ Apr 16th 2008 12:08PM]

Actually, it DOES play doom!

[Mark @ Apr 16th 2008 12:47PM]

oh. uh ...

...

[rv @ Apr 16th 2008 1:19PM]

CAN IT PLAY DOOM 2?

[atomicthumbs @ Apr 16th 2008 1:50PM]

It plays Doom and Doom 2 with the port of PrBoom.

http://archive.gp2x.de/cgi-bin/cfiles.cgi?0,0,0,0,20,1164

[rv @ Apr 16th 2008 8:26PM]

WHAT ABOUT DOOM 3?

[B_Lizzard @ Apr 16th 2008 11:55AM]

Your mom plays Doom

[trimbandit @ Apr 16th 2008 11:59AM]

I wonder what you can do with this that you can't do with a DS and a r4 cart? Plus you can play Doom on the DS :)

[FRZ @ Apr 16th 2008 12:00PM]

Honestly, this looks really neat. Now if it slided up and tilted revealing a keyboard, I would definitely buy.

[Jeff @ Apr 16th 2008 12:16PM]

What are you gonna type on it? No wi-fi, no cellular...

You gonna write some text files on the go?

[Phoenix @ Apr 16th 2008 12:23PM]

That's called the pandora.

Well almost. That's flip rather than slide.

[FRZ @ Apr 16th 2008 12:24PM]

@ Jeff

Yes, I need to keep all of crazy thoughts somewhere safe where no one would think of finding them.

[JB87 @ Apr 16th 2008 12:38PM]

I bought one of these in December for the emulation, and I love it. It does use a lot of current for a handheld (I measured around 1 amp when running Picodrive), but with a decent set of NiMH batteries you can get at least two hours between swaps.

The only complaints I have about this unit are the lack of a battery indicator, and the lack of a "stick click" button that some programs use.

[Max Savin @ Apr 16th 2008 3:35PM]

they could have done it better

and stylus = stupid

[TareX @ Apr 16th 2008 5:08PM]

If it emulates MAME, GBA, old PC games to perfection, then it is a must buy. 170$ for all the free MAME and GBA games you can get, in a handheld package is a really good deal.

Now the question is, can it emulate MAME and GBA to perfection? How about DS?

[Noc @ Apr 16th 2008 5:38PM]

Niggles? WTF are niggles or a niggle for that matter?

[Benson @ Apr 16th 2008 9:44PM]

People with dalk skin.

[Kris Quigley @ Apr 17th 2008 12:33AM]

niggle
/ˈnɪgl; `nɪˇl/ v 1 [I, Ipr] ~ (about/over sth) give too much time and attention to unimportant details; criticize in a petty way

[Jhongerkong @ Apr 19th 2008 10:57AM]

Benson, you are an idiot

[Atlas @ Apr 18th 2008 11:07AM]

The Thumb Stick on the F-100 was way better that these creepy buttons.
And the white color is also worse. But overall it's a nice toy.

An entire movie (Xvid in 320x240 and acceptable quality) is about 200 MB.
So with a 2 GB SD card (and earphones!) you can take at least eight movies with you.

[Carney @ Jun 24th 2008 1:54PM]

Actually I've been frustrated with the thumbstick. The time necessary to reverse direction is too slow for many fast-moving games, or even traditional platformers.

I don't know whether it's worth it to buy another whole GP2X to get the benefit of the traditional button/D-pad layout though.

[Amorcriolo @ Apr 19th 2008 5:14PM]

I've had the system since december and i am totaly in love with it. i love the fact that it can emulate the super nes, nintendo, etc. spend quite some time downloading some roms for testing purposes only :). i've since put it away for specific reasons

1. battery life is to short
2. cant find the power adapter anywhere
3. The dpad is not so great

these days, i have been spending more time with my modded psp

[Carney @ Jun 24th 2008 1:58PM]

You've got to get some high capacity rechargable batteries and a battery recharger. RadioShack sells perfectly good ones. I use Cat #23-428 which can recharge a batch of 8 AAs at a time. Take a spare pair with you on the go and you can play for a couple hours at worst. Not too bad.