Be Excellent To Each Other

Hi ho chums. I saw this little computer on Ebuyer:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/167153

Now as some of you might be aware, I was considering a small PC to go in my gaming corner to run emulators etc. Would this be too weedy? I'm guessing it might be and that Linux might be a pain in terms of emulation. However there are XP/Vista/7 versions also available.

Any thoughts? Would I be better building myself?

This isn't an immediate thing but something I have my eye on.

Hardware wise, it's very similar to my Acer netbook. Get Windows on it and you'll be able to emulate stuff to your hearts content - my little Acer Aspire One spends more time pretending to be an Amiga than anything else. But forget running any modern games on it, it's far too weedy. I tried installing Defcon on the netbook and it struggles even with that.

That's OK. I have an XBox which as any fool knows is the games playing platform of choice. As long as it can do CPC/Speccy and Mame then that is cool.

My wee netbook has similar specs (My graphics chipset is inferior & my SSD is smaller than your HDD). It runs MAME, UAE & SCUMMVM nae bother. It also runs Windaes XP (slowly) via VirtualBox.

In short it'll probably be fine, though finding an emulator you like might be a pain in the arse if you stick with Linux & don't like launching things with the terminal.



@Zio: I got Defcon running reasonably well on the eee by shrinking the textures.

As an aside, these things seem to work very, very well as media-playing PCs; the Linux version of XBMC (which you can boot from USB if you don't want to install it) supports the Nvidia ION chipset and will apparently play 1080p MKV files perfectly on a bog-standard Revo. I'm definitely considering getting one when I finally get round to buying a new telly.

What are you trying to emulate?

If it's old console stuff then just get an old Xbox with a large drive in.

This might actually be a good solution for you if your not worried about having a more authentic controller

The original xbox will handle most 8-bits and a number of 16-bit systems without any problems , its very simple to use (once hacked its really just 'press a button and it goes') - can do a simple SCART out (or VGA if you'd prefer with the proper cables) and if you can find one in a GAME or similar its probably going to be a much cheaper option (£10 / £15 for the console and a few quid for an old IDE drive)



I think Chinny means he has a 360 which will let him play 'new' games , but he's looking for something for the .... more mature gamer.

I said old Xbox. The one that goes down the post office with it's walking stick and draws it's pension

Other plus points.

It runs on linux so never needs reinstalling (haha).

It's piss easy to chuck on a network and send things to til' your heart's delight (just get a Xover NIC cable)

It's brilliant for SNES, MD, PCE, NES and so on.

You get a pad with it that feels like a real console pad.

It even runs some N64 stuff.

It's really cheap.

Only thing is I don't know any one who can fit large drives. I would like one put in mine but have no idea who to ask.

I'd prefer a PC solution because I like the idea of the fancy graphics effects you can get in modern emulators. Some old consoles look as rough as a badgers arse on an LCD due to razor sharp graphics. The Amiga looks a million times better on a CRT as I was using one when routing out my SCART problems.

Also I might want to play video on it from time to time.

Chinny the emulators on Xbox are all PC ports mate, so have all of the same options. Difference being? they work. Really well

Worth looking at but I still think I'd prefer a proper computer. I'll certainly get a wider choice of emulators for a start.

I know it does...

Coleco (Adam)
MD
SNES
N64 (though it only runs certain games well, like Mario 64)
PC Engine.

Stu had a decent page on his site ages ago listing them. I don't even know if there are any emulators in development any more.

It's just so darn easy on Xbox. No waiting for an OS to load, none of that whosafudge. Just press the power button, pick emulators, pick the one you want and a game and bosh, off you go. You don't have to have a keyboard and mouse or any desks.

It's amusing to see JC arguing the advantages of an xbox while Chinny insists he wants a PC for gaming

If you'd prefer the computer route one other suggestion i'd have is to look at boot disks and unix flavours.

I have 4 disks right now which are : Amiga / AtariXL / MAME / .... and something else which you put into the machine , boot and it runs a cut down version of linux and boots you straight into the emulator.

So you want to play Amstrad - you stick the amstrad disk in the drive (or USBkey in the slot) , turn on the machine and your playing Amstrad stuff configured the way you want it.

You want to switch to Spectrum you swap out the disk (or key) , reboot and your straight in.

For 8-bit stuff there really shouldnt be a problem with any machine you can actually buy (a small netbook or the Revo you've linked to would be fine) , for 16-bit you may need something with a bit more oomph (AtariST is fairly forgiving but you may need slightly more power to do an Amiga even just a stock 500).

There are probably forums where people have used these systems to dump in a MAME cab - may be worth checking with them - speaking of which someone posted this on the Retroleague site a few weeks ago and i want one :-)

Until you want to put new ROMs on, at which point you have to turn it on, leave it on the dashboard, go to a computer, and use FTP to put the files in the correct directories. Which is hardly back breaking but isn't "darn easy" either.

I do prefer the idea of a PC based solution because I'll mainly be emulating computers, and quite often there is alot of fiddling or you suddenly download an image that you want to play.

Even the CPC emulators on the Mac are shite, I dread to think what an Xbox is going to be like.

Chinny, I think the Revo is your best bet. I have a chipped old Xbox too, and it is very nice and everything but the Revo is going to be the way to go I think. Especially if you get Windows running on it. My Acer netbook came with Linux preinstalled (£50 quid cheaper that way) and I simply plugged an external DVD drive in (the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive works a treat for this), installed Windows with it and downloaded the drivers from Acer's website. I've little doubt they have drivers available for the Revo, allowing you to do the same.

From then on, running emulators, installing ROMs and all that is going to be a piece of piss, a lot less hassle than going the Xbox route (which you'd still need to mod, or find someone to mod it for you anyway). And trust me, it can run an Amiga emulator absolutely fine. I've been playing the original Dune on my Acer Aspire One quite a bit lately via WinUAE and it runs perfectly - and the Revo is a slightly better spec than that.

Hmm, there's a good deal on a Revo from Ebuyer:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/172706

And how do you do it on, say, that Revo? The same way yes? because after all they're both PCs. I mean yeah I suppose you could burn a DVD (EDIT that's out of the question as it doesn't appear to have a DVD drive or optical drive in it) or take a memory stick to it, but that would probably take longer than setting up the FTP once and being able to send whatever you like to it. You can also network into all your media files then too and watch them without having to copy them to it.

I agree getting the Xbox set up on a network is a bit of a pain. It took me a while because of all the buggering around with MAC addresses and so forth. But once it's done it's pretty easy to figure out. I should be even easier using Mac OS.

Thing is, it's the price. £50 will get you an Xbox with a min 100gb hard drive in. The Revo is considerably more expensive. If money isn't an issue? yeah, the Revo would be a nice thing to have

I am quite tempted by the Revo with Windows 7 on it.

Let's face it, a new mini notebook looks better on the company assets list than a second hand Xbox, right?

I would open up a web browser and download the ROM, or open up a network share and copy them from my home server. Why the fuck would I use FTP to copy things onto a Windows or Linux computer?

See, I find having to piss about with FTP to be a major arseache compared to just sticking a USB memory dooberry in and grabbing your files from that. Plus the Revo can access the Internet just like any other PC, so you could always just download whatever you want straight to it.

The Xbox idea is nice, but really I can't help but feel that an XBMC-equipped Xbox was for a time before we had cool, cheap little computers like the Revo. Nowadays it all seems a little old, difficult to use and, well, crap. I suppose on the other hand you would have an Xbox out of it though, and you'd be able to play Xbox games on it, should you so desire.

Personally, if it were me, and excluding financial considerations, I probably go for the Revo and a wired Xbox 360 controller. That should sort all your emulation shenanigans right out.

If I had a reason, I'd get one. My old boss bought one last week.

A friend of mine actually does have one, though he bought it out of pure gadget lust and never actually uses it. I'm sure he mentioned a desire to sell it the other day, so I'll ask him and see how much he wants for it if you're interested Chinny? I've not actualy seen it myself, but he tends to keep things in extraordinarily good nick, so I'm sure it'd be fine.

I've gone and bought it. The thought of having a CPC emulator up and running is too tantalising to contemplate not having!

[edit] + a USB Competition Pro, natch.

942 Bananas.

It's here. And it's very very dinky!

Cute! It would be a better picture if it didn't have that odd black and white thing on top of it.

Even Chinny's carpet is retro!

I hope I have no visitors to my office while I have a BBC Master on the floor as well as a Commodore 1541!

Benchmarks pls! We need to know it's 3DMark score!



It actually does look very cool. Did you get the one with Windows 7 preinstalled in the end?

My office is a former bedroom. Carpet was laid in the mid 70's I'm told but was is wool with proper backing (none of that rubber stuff). So 30+ years on its holding up very well!

I hope future offices have similar quality flooring.

Yes. I will be setting it up later when I return home.

Windows made more sense. Emulation is hateful enough on the Mac, let alone Linux. I have lost track of the number of retro challenges where I ended up back on the PC to run a game properly because I'd encountered some horrific bug.

You could make a tidy sum renting your office out as a set should the Beeb want to make another 80's geek-o-docudrama like that Micro Men thing last year.

Most shiny!

Usually nothing in here but work stuff.

Now my retro corner at home on the other hand..........

Please peel the plastic protective film off. It upsets me when people leave those on.

I HAVE NOT TAKEN IT HOME YET!*





* I get upset when people nag me.

Opening a grocers?

No offence Chinners but... Did you choose that carpet?

So up and running! You've got to love PC's, they come with so much shovel-ware installed that you have to spend 20 minutes cleaning it off before you can start.

The machine is prompting me to make a backup of my system disk for restore purposes. That's dandy but the Acer software is insisting I backup to a DVD drive.

Except of course the machine has no optical drive!

Luckily I have a external blu-ray burner back at the office so I can sort a backup out next week. But bloody hell, talk about short sighted!

Presumably I might be better off just taking a mirror of my drive when I have it how I want it. Anyone know of a equivelent of Carbon Copy Cloner for the PC that isn't (a) Ghost and is (b) totally free?

Now the shit has been cleared off the machine now to install emulators!

It came with the office and is 30+ years old.

It was, in its day, very expensive carpet. It's actually in good nick considering the age. The room was a bedroom prior to me moving in so I also have a fireplace and my cupboards are very very deep as they are actually wardrobes! This is actually very good for equipment storage.

Actually will the Acer backup just make a backup of how the system is, or will it just save the system default state? Documentation is non existent.

FTFY

Alienware FTW (Non Dell ones obviously).