Be Excellent To Each Other

Does anyone know more about these bad boys?:

http://gp2x.co.uk/

Maybe I'm late in finding out about his but OMFG!!?! My ancient H140 iRiver Mp3 player is on its' last legs, so I was looking at something to fill that hole, but this could replace my DS Lite as well (since I only play a few puzzle games on it anyway).

Anyone had any experience with it? It seems like it would be incredible as an all round portable media player/games machine.

That ad/site has been up for ages. Frankly, the d-pad (or its equivalent) looks fucking horrendous.

DBSnappa has a F-100, which is a bit slower and lacks the touchscreen. He seemed generally impressed with it (except battery life). I got a PSP instead though -- the emu support is almost as good on there, I think, and it has (obviously) better commercial software. However this new touchscreen GP2X is interesting.

I've got and had a GP2X for quite some time, which I suspect is the precursor to this device - I even had a GP32 until it disappeared into the blackhole that is Gaywood's paws. It's very nice at emulating lots of different old systems. However, this is all I use it for, mainly - I've never run video or music on it. It's quite large - physically it's about the same size as the original DS, possibly a bit smaller. The joystick is a bit crap, but it's bearable and doesn't ruin games or your hands like a PSP does.

The build quality seems good if the materials are a little gimcrack. It absolutely eats batteries like a 1970s electronic toy though. If you're lucky you'll get 2.5hrs out of a brand new set of AAs - decent rechargeables usually double that, so buy some.

Urgh, it uses batteries?! That's not good!

How big (drive space) is your iRiver?

40GB, which is why I am struggling to get something new at least this size, which isn't an iPod. I also use RockBox, so any new MP3 Player is looking like it will be a serious downgrade in functionality. I'm interested in the Zune which Grim... mentioned in the iPhone thread, but still, it won't do as much as my rockboxed H140 does now.

Got an F-100 First Edition (ie. beta hardware) and an F-200. The joystick on the F-100 is practically unusable - the joystick is positioned the wrong way around so the diagonals are easier to hit than left and right. The d-pad on the F-200 is a big improvement, but the touch screen is hopelessly inaccurate. I ported my DS GUI kit to it but gave up when I realised just how bad the touch screen is.

It's great for emulators. Has full-speed ST, Mega Drive, SNES, NES, Master System, C64 (etc) emulators, and does a reasonable job of Amiga emulation. The F-200 d-pad is still a bit awkward, though, and you're probably better off waiting for the Pandora if you want a games machine.

As a media device, it's OK I suppose. It uses MPlayer for playback (it runs a midget Linux distro as its OS) and will play the usual formats.

The Pandora looks brilliant, I'll definitely wait until that has been released before I consider buying one of these devices. Looks very promising indeed, I have been considering getting an Eee PC as a coffee table internet device, but the Pandora could cope with that instead, it seems. Ain't technology great!?