http://thegadgetsite.blogspot.com/2007/10/...layer-with.html
http://www.mp4nation.com/products/index.php?PID=J301

Mp3/mp4/movie players with built in emulators. And does anyone know if our beloved GP2X has the same type of screen (Low Temperature Polysilicon Thin Film Transistor)? Obviously our machine can do more and I've heard from 1 review that the emulation isn't as good as they make it out to be and that the GBA is extremely choppy. Interesting enough, they said the snes emulation was perfectly smooth with sound, but that the Genesis became choppy during periods of lots of sounds? Anyone have any experience? Think they are worth getting?

Chris

Very interesting. That thing is extremely thin, the screen looks pretty nice, and 600mhz processor sounds impressive. Dpad, looks like 4 face buttons with shoulder buttons, but the screen is pretty small.

Hard to tell much from a video like that, but NeoGeo and Genesis/MD emulation looks pretty solid. Obviously we need more info about FPS and compatibility before a final verdict can be reached about emulation quality.

Another concern is that this is probably closed source, which is a major drag. What makes the GP2X special is the dev community constantly improving projects, and with no such support the device would likely have a much shorter lifespan.

heh thats different...completely same but don't have a touchpad though...and from the looks of it definately looks like closed source...hmmm but at least they got the Dpad right.

Still you gotta love the chinese for their ability to make clones of literally anything that hits the market... and be almost dirt cheap in comparison to its predecessor.

a 16m colour screen wow; builtin usb! and those codecs - RM / RMVB / AVI / DAT / FLV / MPG man i am tempted!

edit/

curses no tvout ah well not so tempted now

Well uLinux is available for Backfin processors, and there's ports of mplayer and mame available, so I guess they've just taken these and thrown them together.

Don't think the blackfin CPU has as many features as the gp2x chip - only one core, and no mention of 2d acceleration (but does have video stuff in it).

Info about the CPU etc at http://blackfin.uclinux.org/gf/

It seems it does not have any L and R shoulder buttons. Too bad It could have been a really good little chinese device, for once. Also, even if it is closed source, I have the feeling it would not be too difficult to hack such a device and create a custom firmware over a linux distro

Processor seems quite powerful also, does anyone knows if it would be able to handle PSX emulation (although without L+R buttons it wouldn't make so much sense) ?

:-( looks really good bt like u say no shoulder button, specially with Snes emulation etc, seems pointless...

Wow! Look at the processor`s powers!

That's really nice!

Shame there doesn't seem to be any technical documentation on it. I'd really like to code something for that!

Well, I suppose you could code a GBA game and run it on the 301's emulator, but that'd be a bit naff...

But as a player, very nice...

Maybe Craig can bring his machine out on budget!

Interesting, if only to rip it apart and see what you can get it to do that its not supposed to

would be nice for just playing gba games

Seems GREAT !!!

Well that's what it promises, but according to this review:



By the way, there are currently 2 topics discussing this device, the other one is on the other consoles forum.

And..are there any shoulder buttons? (for SNES/GBA)

Wow, I think I might get one of these just to fool around with. I mean they are only $126.50USD at mp4nation!

Even if I can't get into it the kids will have fun with it.

... or get a gba?

jeff

thats about £60 ...thats a cheap price ...might tide me over for a while

I wonder if they're right about the screen being that great. It does look pretty nice.

But, does anyone even know if it's possible to develop for it.

after doing some research people have problems loading neo geo roms, it cannot play zipped rom files it has to play .neo extension rom. Some games are .neo and if they are .neo the possibilty is high for it being in chinese.

Looks ok but with some issues. The "d-pad" looks like separate buttons. No shoulder buttons. There is only one speaker, kind of lousy especially since it touts music playing. Then those emus looked OK but there was noticeable frameskip. SMD and Neo Geo run smoother and in stereo on the GP2X. The unit looks TOO thin and small, not very comfortable for any extended periods. It is not that much cheaper than a GP2X either.

Looks good, shame it hasnt got shoulder buttons but the thing you notice with this device is its well designed!

Not sure about spacing of the 4 right-side buttons, looks like theres a bit too much space from top to bottom.

If this was open source then I'm sure it'd be great!

As it stands; Unfulfilled potential with awesome screen.

These devices give a nice indication of where the new machine should be heading

Eagerly awaiting user reviews of our new F200!

looks very much like the f200. one thing that looks bad is the placement of the buttons. seem too far from each other. also the button to bring up the menu in emulators seems very awkwardly placed especially if you would be using it as a start button. seems to be closed and even if it isn't the gp2x im sure is easier to develop for. its limited in what it can emulate. I mean nothing on there isn't emulated on the gp2x already and emulated well. I really can't see it offering anything over the gp2x.

on the plus the screen seems nice and the machine looks nice too. emulation seemed accurate. 2gb onboard memory is definitely nice.

not bad just doesn't seem to be anything amazing or anything above whats already out there besides the obvious faster processor.

The unit looks sleek and pretty. The screen seems excellent.

Separated direction, goofy button layout... ONE good speaker... Sigh...

You know it doens't take a rocket scientist to fix those little quirks. Just a GOOD PLAYER. You know, a couple of guys to test the protos and say something like "I can't combo-cancel into a special move" or "I can't perform Zangief's Spinning pile driver". Simple stuff.

Might get one if only for the curiosity.

I hope someone here gets one soon to see it properly dissected

Just read the review from mympxplayer.org. This little gadget seems so nice and cheap. Could have been perfect for snes emulation. Why oh why doesn't it have shoulder buttons

Couldn't take it anymore, I broke down and ordered one. It's so slim, and should fit nicely in a pocket, the GP2X is just a bit too bulky for me to take along everywhere. I hope there continues to be firmware updates for it, and the emulation ability of it improves. I see rlyeh is over at the mp4nation boards trying to get info on deving for it.

Hmmm after thinking about some things...hmmm this thing just doesn't hit as hard as f-200 or even a MK2 would hit.

Emu selection: only NES, snes, gba, genesis, ANd neo geo only??? WT friggin F...

so CPS2 is chopped liver along with turbo grafx, and sega cd...

the screen granted its a top quality just isn't big enough...

the D-pad they got right the buttons are very close together...enough to where you can actually pull off a diagonal...still I wonder about other motions though such as HCB...

now as Audio ability goes...its a bit stronger in that area with more codec support...granted that is a gimme but 2x3.5 headphone jacks...

It can't handle SDHC...so you max out at either 4 or 6gbs...even though the onboard 2gb is a somewhat of a good idea...

Also I don't it has any ability to play any ports of games...such as quake, doom.

another thing that bothers me...the battery...from the review and the specs...it just seems like the battery doesn't go very long either...audio yea thats great but 5-6 play time??

thats about the same in a MK2 with a set of what 2500mah AA's

FM radio....honestly is that really needed?

lastly I am very sure the USB cable and battery charger are proprietary chinese tools...meaning which if they lost or broke you may be stuck since you wouldn't be able to use an ordinary usb or power adapter....I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure thats case.

Lastly I highly doubt its open source...

I dunno man honestly this thing seems so crippled...in comparison to the gp2x

The idea yea looked great when I first looked but I mean...and theres also that lack of shoulder buttions.

I wouldn't buy this unless you really just didn't want a gp2x...and so what if gp2x don't exactly fit in your pocket...get bigger pockets

me personally I carried mine in my messenger bag when I had an MK2

Edit: had to make some adjustments.

You do realize this is an audio/video player right? I mean sure it plays games, but that isn't its purpose. Personally having an fm transmitter in the mp3 player would be handy.

I got one on the way, should be here within the next few days. From what I have read the SNES plays all games and supports all the special chips. Starfox in my hands, I can't wait! I'm thinking Star Ocean, Super Mario RPG, Yoshi's Island, etc.... This will probably become my portable SNES.

The only thing that stinks about it, is that, the Neo Geo emulator requires a special game rom that ends in ".neo"

As far as i could see its a typical MP4 player design, how they started to look 1 year ago. (personal estimation). Earlier models had sometimes GB + GBC emulation built-in but this new model seems to have a quite revamped firmware.

This particular MP4 player is different than its predecessors: it seems to use a non-chinese SoC which earlier models used before. There is even a project undergoing to bring a customized firmware onto those models which were based on the chinese ATJ2085 (i hope i didnt confused the model numbers ) which can be found over at www.s1mp3.org

The stock firmwares were bare to the metal in the past and of course not available in source. For this model i would start to doubt this experience from the past: the full media processing eigther requires a hard & long firmware development (costy), purchased decoding code fragments from its manufacturer or from 3rd party (costy) or integrated open source software parts - like from ffmpeg (quite cheap).

The design seems centered about a Blackfin processor. If my memory serves me right its has a ARM9 cpu and a companion dsp built-in which probably handles a big chunk of the video/audio processing and is probably en-par with the one inside the mmsp2 (purely speculative). What i'm amazed about is the high clocking of the unit. I never thought those chips could do as high. Maybe its a newer brethren centered about an ARM A8. The clocking of the A8 is afaik specified from 600 to 1000mhz.

The design is usually quite cheap. Especially the Keys are quite hard and a bit clunky. Looking at those i still think they use similiar ones - definitetly not recommened for playing games. I guess fingers will soon start to ache if playing for a longer time.

Summary: nothing revolutionary but the next step in the evolution from those players.

[edit] typos

Don't think it's ARM based - but certainly similar technology. As far as I can tell they have similar performance mhz for mhz.

uh huh and I bet having XM satellite radio would be preferable in your case right?

personally you can take your FM and you know where you can put it.

yea its an audio/video player that only knows how to do that. Personally the cowon d2 or cowon x5 would beat this thing hands down in that department. granted the screen is bigger and can handle only a mild set of emus. Still granted I still think this thing is a joke as there are plenty of audio/video players that surpass this one. I mean come on, their own site markets a very similar Ipod touch model which pretty much outperforms it on every level possible...

Nope, you are wrong, I don't care at all about XM Satellite radio. But what does it matter arguing with you since you are clearly an ass.

where to order?

Couldn't agree more. See, the more technology moves forward, the more affordable decent specs will be. That doesn't mean these keychain devices will be any good though. Love

nice fullspeed neo geo muh better then the gp2x

Oh? I think GnGeo runs fullspeed.

Err apart from the fact the GP2X runs neogeo full speed and is now even dual core?

I've had a look at some of these in the past year, and we have spoken about them before, I've not yet seen one which offers more than the GP2X, I would stock the one which did. They are catching up with the GP2X though, it's surprising there isn't a GP2X clone... the SOC is around $10 now.

The only real advantages this machine has over the GP2X is a sleeker design a nicer screen.

GP2X can play all those systems just as well, with the exception of SNES. GBA isn't always perfect on the 2X, but it doesn't sound too good on the JXD 301 either.

The machine looks like it's being marketed as more of a PMP than a gaming device. If another machine came out that was as developer/homebrew friendly as the GP2X, then we'd have competition.

L and R are missing and I don't know if it's open source or what. Anyways, I don't believe I would buy it unless it became a real hit, which is very unlikely. I'm just scared it wouldn't get the kind of support other handhelds have. I'm waiting for the mildly good DOSBox machine, which is going to be at least a years wait (cough crai******).

Huh? NeoGeo looked pretty frameskippy on that thing to me. It is much more fluid on the GP2X. It is only MONO too as there is only one speaker. The screen looks decent but it is 1/2" smaller like a DS or Giz. It seems the screen technology is an LCD with the driver chips integrated on the screen itself for low cost.

I am suprised too the Chinese haven't cloned the GP2X. Everything is off of the shelf and the OS is open source, would be REALLY easy to copy. They could probably sell them for $120 USD or less.

DaveC: man I am in full agreement on that one.

Granted I wondered about the gp2x getting cloned itself but still it seems the chinese are more focused on just PMP at this point...and slowly working there way forward.

offtopic: man I seen that one mp4 player on that site that looked like an Ipod touch man I was kinda impressed and for that price man is it a steal...but right now I kinda want some mp3 sunglasses dunno know why lol....

anyways back ontopic...Vilmos I prefer the term Asshole...but yet and still I was just stating an honest to god opinion...maybe people just think differently and use FM radio...sorry...I know I only use FM radio when I'm in a car and even though you usually got a hook up to the car sitting in there for whatever mp3 player you got...and as far as it being with mp3 players granted its a okay idea on the whole side because you get to listen to brand new hits and listen to traffic reports yatta yatta yatta.

last but not least...I was just making a comparison because I was on the edge of getting one when I realized the differences between the two...

and can someone give me an idea why you need 2x3.5mm headphone jacks...maybe I'm a newb and am just not seeing it.

Well, it's not widely known, but to save money they used 3.5mm mono jacks, and they installed two of them. How else are you supposed to get stereo!

EDIT: j/k BTW, also, ppl with this device are saying it plays neo geo games, but only roms/files with a .neo extension. Any neo-geo experts out there have any clue what this format is? If ngpocket is .ngp, cd's would be iso, and the carts are all rom 'sets', what is *.neo?

Ah Ic, man I gotta be a jackass for not considering that...

Specs seem good, screen looks awesome. Assuming there isn't any massive bottlenecks and there's some decent opensource shizzle, I reckon it could be a very fast machine. Naturally the lack of buttons don't help. Also depends on if you can easily execute homebrew, I doubt there's enough interest for people to build a whole new OS for it.

I expect the built in emulators are just very quick ports/hacks like the earliest GP2X emus, do enough to make it playable etc. I'm sure if GPH were to had made similar emus for the GP2X when it was released they'd be equally as nasty.

I'm gonna keep my eye on it.

http://www.uxcell.com/cyclone-pmp-portable...ack-p-8725.html

well I found this and I think this is about close as you can get to gp2x clone granted this thing is kinda crippled.

Actually after doing some digging didn't a chinese company back about 2 years attempt to steal the gp2x design while they were putting it out and about to clone it???

the neo geo game in the video wasn't exactly the most demanding game either. the guy tried to say "racing games usually run slow" but that game has ran fine on the gp2x emu for some time. If it ran metal slug 3 at full speed than i'd be more impressed.

I understand people like tinkering with new devices but beyond that this doesn't really offer much. we have perfect genesis AND sega cd emulation which this doesn't have. snes emulation is quite good too except games with special chips and such. though some gba games don't run with our emu the ones that do run generally work quite well with some decent overclock.

LOL, that guy was fairly dodgy. He said he never played the game before but caught himself out in the video. Like a dodgy car salesman.

At 65 quid it's very tempting.. especially seeing Squidge, rlyeh and zodttd interested in hacking it

can some mod move this thead to the other console forum

Nice price and features, however the button placement is a bit odd and no shoulder buttons or anything really new/better, means it won't replace my GP2X. Nifty though.