23 replies to this topic

[A_Locomotive]

So as of late I've been thinking about buying a emulator handheld like the Dingoo or Caanoo. I was wondering if anyone could give me there opinions on which would give me the most bang for my buck, is the best build quality and most importantly best game play overall. Not really sure where to start as I've never had anything like one before and have only played with emulation on my PC a couple of times. I'm also curious if anyone has modded a PSP 3000 for emulation. I looked into it when I initially bought it and it just seemed way to difficult and I stopped looking for the time being out of fear I'd brick the poor thing, but that was many months ago, could it have gotten easier since then? Anyway if you have any imput let me know.

Edited by A_Locomotive, Fri Jan 27, 2012 10:46 PM.

[MagitekAngel]

I didn't want to invest money in a handheld specifically for emulation, so I looked around for some emulators to put on my Nintendo DS R4 card. Most of what was out there wasn't great, but I was very happy with nesDS (NES) and LameBoy (Game Boy/Color). Both have perfect speed, high compatibility, and friendly, navigable menus on the lower touch screen. nesDS even has rewind, so I was able to beat Ninja Gaiden for the first time in my life.

As for the PSP 3000, my girlfriend has one, but she won't let me hack it. Frankly, I don't blame her.

Edited by MagitekAngel, Fri Jan 27, 2012 11:36 PM.

[ls650]

Buy a used PSP - you can find a good one for about $50.

[goldenegg]

I have a fairly large collection of open-source handhelds (included a modded PSP) and my recommendation would be to get a Caanoo. The emulators are solid and the system quality is fairly high. If you have any specific questions about it, feel free to ask!

[akator]

My preferences in order:

• PSP with Custom Firmware
  
• Caanoo
  
• Wiz
  
• Dingoo

[A_Locomotive]

Just ordered a caanoo.

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

You'll want this site for apps and emulators you probably already know:

http://www.openhandhelds.org/index.php

[A_Locomotive]

OldSchoolRetroGamer, on Wed Feb 1, 2012 1:11 AM, said:

You'll want this site for apps and emulators you probably already know:

http://www.openhandhelds.org/index.php

Yup. I've got it book marked and will start digging around the site after work tomorrow which is when my Caanoo is scheduled to arrive. Now I just need to find a good source for roms, the site you gave me the invite for months back I stupidly forgot to log into before going on a vacation and it lapsed.

[A_Locomotive]

My Caanoo arrived from Korea an hour ago(haha that was quick), I'm extremely impressed with it so far. It feels extremely solid and has a good weight to it. The 4 gig SD card it came with came preloaded with a very nice selection of games, funny enough a good number of the ones I wanted to get for it anyway. Was a nice surprise, I was expecting it to be a blank card when I saw it listed among what I'd get. The game play is fantastic as well, just had a session with Metal Slug 2 and the controls feel perfect, much better then Metal Slug controls on my PSP(its amazing the difference a proper joystick makes). The only complaints I have with it are the shoulder buttons are a little hard to reach when playing and are a bit stiff and the joysticks rubber material isn't as grippy as expected but thats not too big a deal just have to periodically readdjust where my thumb is. One thing that I'm not sure about is something I noticed when playing Metal Slug 2, on the second level when killing large groups of mummies the Caanoo would emit a crackling noise from its speakers, not sure if this is something to be worried about or if its normal and the speakers are just not up to it, definitely going to try and figure it out though because I want to make sure there is no faults with it before the time passes when I can return/exchange it.

Edited by A_Locomotive, Thu Feb 2, 2012 12:49 PM.

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

A_Locomotive, on Wed Feb 1, 2012 12:55 PM, said:

Now I just need to find a good source for roms, the site you gave me the invite for months back I stupidly forgot to log into before going on a vacation and it lapsed.

Dude you threw away the keys to Fort Knox and I don't have another invite.............well I PM'd about it, I will hook ya up with another source not as good but still pretty damned good........

[A_Locomotive]

OldSchoolRetroGamer, on Thu Feb 2, 2012 1:38 PM, said:

A_Locomotive, on Wed Feb 1, 2012 12:55 PM, said:

Now I just need to find a good source for roms, the site you gave me the invite for months back I stupidly forgot to log into before going on a vacation and it lapsed.

Dude you threw away the keys to Fort Knox and I don't have another invite.............well I PM'd about it, I will hook ya up with another source not as good but still pretty damned good........

'

I Know, I was pissed when I realized when I realized I couldn't log back on. I've been checking periodically on the site hoping to be able to get back in but it doesn't seem like they purge as aften as the registration paga claims. :/

[JPjuice23]

Hows the screen on games like Super Mario Bros? On my PSP 1000, hacked, it has ghosting, and you can't see anything when you are going fast. The screen blurs. How good is the refresh rate on the Caanoo?

[Catsmasher]

My $.02
I own a Dingoo that I have been using for about 3 years and one of the new Yinlips that I have owned for about two months. They are each OK, but not great. The Dingoo screen is too darn small and it has issues with SNES and N64 performance - it just isn't there. The Yinlips seems to have enough power, but it is a pain to use, the touchscreen sucks, the wifi kept dropping out like it had noooo antenna and the battery life is horrible (at least on mine).
A week ago I went into the Verizon store to upgrade my old phone and saw the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play phone. Instead of a keyboard it opens to reveal a gaming control pad. Game over! I now have a brand new android smart phone that is also a handheld gaming device that is stable, fast, made with quality (not a chinese knockoff piece of crap), and has a warranty. I can download emulator apps that work well without having to go through all the rooting or Dingux crap. It also provides newer games made just for it - the asphalt 6 game rocks. I have installed Atarioid, Nesoid, and Snesoid and all seem to work with no problems. This is what I have been looking for all along!!!
With a two year plan it was even cheaper than a Dingoo, Cannoo or Yinlips. Without a plan and the rebate, I think it was about $150 - comparable to a Yinlips.

The only downside is that there is no 'video out' so you cant hook it up to a tv or monitor. But that is the only downside I have found so far.

Check it out. There are also a lot of videos on you tube about it as well.

Finally - the more gamers that get this phone, the better chance Sony will stick with it and others will develop games for it.

I guess that is all in way of saying "I recommend that you look into the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play smartphone."

http://www.knowyourm...powerhouse.html

See image in next reply

Cat

Edited by Catsmasher, Sat Mar 17, 2012 10:59 AM.

[Catsmasher]

[amiman99]

I got 2 Dingoos (One is an original and other could be a copy or a later model that doesn't play GBA), Gemei 760+ and GP2x Wiz.
Out of those my personal favorite is the GP2x Wiz. Plays every thing perfect, even some PS1 games. Plays Doom, Quake, Mr Driller and others too.
The only gripe I would have is the right side buttons, they're just to close to each other.
If I find cheap Caanoo, I may get it.
There is another game system on the block:
This one: http://www.dealextre...-1ghz-4g-115345
And This one: http://www.dealextre...e-silver-112403
And this one: http://www.dealextre...hite-4gb-118033

Basically an Android game systems with proper buttons, some look like Vita and some like Wii U controller.

[rmo70]

I love my PSP,

even if you don't want to hack your PSP it's a great little platform - Activision Hits Remixed (very cool 80's sound track and lots of unlockables like the Activision TV commercials), Atari Classics , Midway Treasures, Capcom classics, Namco Museum.... these are all favorites of mine.

[Catsmasher]

amiman99, on Fri Mar 23, 2012 8:59 AM, said:

I got 2 Dingoos (One is an original and other could be a copy or a later model that doesn't play GBA), Gemei 760+ and GP2x Wiz.
Out of those my personal favorite is the GP2x Wiz. Plays every thing perfect, even some PS1 games. Plays Doom, Quake, Mr Driller and others too.
The only gripe I would have is the right side buttons, they're just to close to each other.
If I find cheap Caanoo, I may get it.
There is another game system on the block:
This one: http://www.dealextre...-1ghz-4g-115345
And This one: http://www.dealextre...e-silver-112403
And this one: http://www.dealextre...hite-4gb-118033

Basically an Android game systems with proper buttons, some look like Vita and some like Wii U controller.

Those links look just like my Yinlips system I bought a couple months ago. Likely from the same factory. I do not recommend them. I had to either buy one from a Chinese importer - with a high risk it would take months to get, if at all - or from someone off of ebay (which I did), No warranty. And they don't work very well. Touch screen sucks and gets worse over time, wifi keeps disconnecting during downloads, and you have to re-root the system to do anything to it. These look like the PSP or Vita, but looks is all they have in common - they are cheap crap. I was thinking about selling mine - but didn't think I could live with the guilt of sticking someone with that turd.

At least I bought my Dingoo from ThinkGeek. They exchanged it due to a cosmetic defect, and it did what it advertised (pretty well).

[amiman99]

I bought from Dealextreme before, the shipping was not bad from China, also they have a warehouse in USA and some stuff ships from there.
As for the systems, the one that looks like Wii U controller from JXD looks promising. The more expansive model have a capacitive touch screen, which may be better then the resistive one.
This video shows the operation, N64 emulator works very nice:

[Catsmasher]

My Yinlips really looked good on the website and some youtube videos - then when I got it, it didn't work worth a hoot. Battery life stunk too - I wouldn't be able to travel with it. Consistent quality is an issue with these types or products so YMMV.
If you go that way - Hope your experience is better than mine was.

[amiman99]

Catsmasher, on Sat Mar 24, 2012 9:31 AM, said:

My Yinlips really looked good on the website and some youtube videos - then when I got it, it didn't work worth a hoot. Battery life stunk too - I wouldn't be able to travel with it. Consistent quality is an issue with these types or products so YMMV.
If you go that way - Hope your experience is better than mine was.

Thanks for the info, I'm not in the hurry to get anything new, maybe in the future they will release something better.

[eightbit]

The future is now (sorry SNK, had to use it!) in the Xperia Play. It is a wonderful, overlooked device. It is bar none the best handheld emulation/gaming console (and phone) you can get right now. No need to mod, just install emulators (even N64!) and go. Truly a marvel in handheld emulation. And, it plays modern games too! Highly recommended. Highly.

[retrorussell]

From what I saw the Game Boy Advance had some great games, including Castlevania: Aria Of Sorrow.

[Rex Dart]

retrorussell, on Mon Apr 9, 2012 3:58 AM, said:

From what I saw the Game Boy Advance had some great games, including Castlevania: Aria Of Sorrow.

They run pretty well on an Xperia Play, too : )

[Asaki]

retrorussell, on Mon Apr 9, 2012 3:58 AM, said:

From what I saw the Game Boy Advance had some great games, including Castlevania: Aria Of Sorrow.

Also emulates GB, NES, SMS, GG, Spectrum, and a good portion of GBC.