DS or GP2X?

[alexandro98]

Ok, I torn between the Nintendo DS or the GP2X.   
The GP2X cost more intially but it can play a ton of homebrew.  The DS is only 129 but after buying all the stuff needed to run homebrew it gets expensive.

The DS has some good titles tho, I love old school platformers and the DS has couple really good ones.

Im just torn between them.  The DS screen is lower resolution then GP2X but it has 2,

I dont know.. which one !!! lol 

And if you recommend the DS, recommend a homebrew solution too like the DS-X or something.  Speaking of the DS-X it has only 512mb so it seems like its limiting the homebrew, so is it possible to add 2ndary storage say in the GBA slot? Just curious.
Anyway. tell me what you would recommend and why?

Thanks!
 

[SithMaster]

doesnt matter if the ds has two screens.

im sure there is a ds thingy that lets you use sd cards so you can have a 4gb.  it was mentioned on here before search for passkey or somesuch.

id go with the gp2x.  it seems to be more versatile.  it can play movies, mp3s, has madd homebrew being made for it, doom quake and stepmania to name a few.  the only issue is the batteries so invest in some rechargables.

for me it was psp or gp2x but since i got my psp for 70 dollars there wasnt a choice.

the ds can play movies but you have to convert them to a special format and the quality is not great. and it can play music as well but the gp2x seems to be the winner here unless you need to play ds games then get the ds for ds games and use the money you would have spent to get homebrew running on it for the gp2x.

[big daddy]

depends entirely on your tastes.

if you like new generation games, DS is the way to go.  DS is cheaper, but to play homebrew or backups you have to spend $ for the m3, etc and it gets pretty close in cost to the gp2x when you add that in. 

One note on the gp2x, you also need good batteries, good charger, and large memory card..so there's a cost associated with all of that. 

I have the gp2x and it's good at what it does (playing old school emulation).   From early on it's played Atari 2600, NES, NeoGeo, and Sega Genesis/megadrive pretty much perfectly in my mind.  SNES was hit or miss depending on the game(due to performance) and GBA was nowhere to be seen.  In the past few months though, SNES is now a very good emu (plays everything I throw at it) and GBA has made unbelievable progress (and the developers think they'll get it to full speed before long). 

The difference maker for me was the OTHER things, though.  gp2x is more of a media player.  I can put several episodes of deadwood or heroes on my memory card, and with my 8 rechargable AA batteries pretty much fly anywhere and have enough viewing entertainment to keep me occupied (and mix in some gaming in between).  Essentially my buying decision came down to gp2x was the cheapest movie player, had support for normal AA batteries, had exceptional battery life compared to other PMV's, and oh, by the way, plays some great old school emulation

[ChadTower]

I've heard nothing but negative things about the GP2X hardware quality.  Many issues, not nearly as robust as your average Nintendo workhorse.

[sphetr2]

I've heard nothing but negative things about the GP2X hardware quality.  Many issues, not nearly as robust as your average Nintendo workhorse.

You probably heard about version 1. Many of the members of this board bought those versions at first and posted complaints.

Later, they released version MKII, and fixed all hardware problems that users faced. At least, that's what I've  read.

[ChadTower]

It's possible.  I stopped paying attention to it when all of the reports said they were dying early deaths.

[SithMaster]

Yeah version one was the faulty one.  A friend received his version 2 last week and has said nothing but good about it except for the battery life.

[big daddy]

agreed...must have been mk1.  mk2 has been out for the better part of the year and it's considered very stable...I rarely read any posts about hardware problems anymore. 

I've got nothing but good things to say about mine as well.  It's very good at what it does and has kept me occupied on many a plane trip.

has said nothing but good about it except for the battery life.

He might need new batteries or a new charger, as this thing has pretty good battery life.  Check out the following thread.  Someone wrote an app to measure battery life and people are posting their results.  Some people are getting upwards of 4 hours on a pair of rechargable AA's.  Pick up a 4 pack of energizer 2500's and you've got 8 hours of gaming available.

http://www.gp32x.com/board/index.php?showtopic=32578

[More Cowbell]

I bought a DS for my son and we got the M3 going on it. It's a fun system and he loves it. I bought the GP2X for myself and I love it. It gave me some headaches getting everything configured properly but it's running well now. I love being able to throw movies on it and watch on the train. It is probably as small as you would ever want to watch a movie though. The gaming is awesome. Being able to go through a season of Tecmo Bowl while commuting is teh bomb. I bought an 8 pack of 3000's off of a place on eBay and I get a good 4 hours off of each set. Just keep some in the game, some in my briefcase, and some charging at home and rotate as they die. For me, a 2gb SD card holds all of the gaming I want (MAME and NES right now) plus 2 movies. I recommend the GP2X.

[SithMaster]

he had used some batteries he said where lieing around.  i imagine they were just some alkalines and for all i know they could have been used previously.

agreed about the screen size for movies. right now im watching transformers the movie on my psp (about the same screen size) and its just fine but if it was smaller id not even bother.

so i guess to answer the original question

ds-for ds games, limited homebrew/emulation, movies low quality, and music, seems more challenging with the passkey, finding one that will not increase thickness of ds

gp2x-large selection of homebrew, decent emulation choices, music, and medium video, easy to setup more or less just need to get the sd card and get apps configured

though if someone who has used a ds for homebrew could correct me on anything please by all means and the same for the gp2x as i havent used either of these but am basing my statements on what ive read.

[big daddy]

Being able to go through a season of Tecmo Bowl while commuting is teh bomb.

I'm sure you already know it, but I like to point it out in case people don't because I think it's so cool:

You can edit the nes and snes roms to include updated rosters and even put in the expansion teams.  You can do this yourself if you're dedicated, or there's a place where you can download other people's roms.

There's nothing like playing some tecmo bowl and having Ben Roethlisburger complete a pass to Hines Ward...it just feels right 

http://www.famssu.com/tecmo/
http://www.armchairgm.com/mwiki/index.php?title=2006_Version_of_Tecmo_Super_Bowl

[More Cowbell]

Being able to go through a season of Tecmo Bowl while commuting is teh bomb.

I'm sure you already know it, but I like to point it out in case people don't because I think it's so cool:

You can edit the nes and snes roms to include updated rosters and even put in the expansion teams.  You can do this yourself if you're dedicated, or there's a place where you can download other people's roms.

There's nothing like playing some tecmo bowl and having Ben Roethlisburger complete a pass to Hines Ward...it just feels right 

http://www.famssu.com/tecmo/
http://www.armchairgm.com/mwiki/index.php?title=2006_Version_of_Tecmo_Super_Bowl

Nice! 

[sphetr2]

Being able to go through a season of Tecmo Bowl while commuting is teh bomb.

I'm sure you already know it, but I like to point it out in case people don't because I think it's so cool:

You can edit the nes and snes roms to include updated rosters and even put in the expansion teams.  You can do this yourself if you're dedicated, or there's a place where you can download other people's roms.

There's nothing like playing some tecmo bowl and having Ben Roethlisburger complete a pass to Hines Ward...it just feels right 

http://www.famssu.com/tecmo/
http://www.armchairgm.com/mwiki/index.php?title=2006_Version_of_Tecmo_Super_Bowl

Best thing since Wii. 

[danny_galaga]

yes, i must say im impressed with the gp2x. but then im not a person who absolutely HAS to have the latest games. im learning so much about the older stuff that i never had, like sega genesis and snes. and the gameboy emu is great too since i can play the same games on the gp2x and not get a headache trying to watch the gameboy screen! i have the mkII and as everyone has said it is quite good quality. im the sort of person who always waits for the second version of something though to let the first punters find out what needs to be improved. tip: ALWAYS do this with cars 

mame on the gp2x is more or less version 36, with a couple of other games put in. mame on the gp2x has features like being able to over/underclock individual games, and the menu clocks at 66mhz to save a little bit of power. and vertical screen rotation on the fly with the controls automatically reconfigured to suit (the volume button becomes button 1 and 2). nice touches. i actually bought mine JUST for mame! but i will buy the game 'payback' after christmas. the demo is pretty slick...