Android and Linux Handhelds - Shield, GCW Zero, GP2X, Pandora, Pyra, JXD, etc.

SML

NEANDERTHAL FUCKER,
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The latest OTA update for the portable fucked up some stuff for me. I'm getting app optimization every time I boot and the start button only *sometimes* registers. Nvidia also patched support for the controller touchpad out of the Shield TV.

Add the Windows 10 driver troubles to this and I'm worried nvidia won't get around to patching the 103 bugs for awhile.
 

SML

NEANDERTHAL FUCKER,
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And now the Shield Tablet has been recalled.

I tried out the new Saturn emu on my Shield TV. It's promising. A lot of stuff doesn’t run at all but Panzer Dragoon Zwei runs well at full speed.
 

team_andromeda

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Lots of games run at pretty much full speed on my Shield Tablet. Here's what I've tried so far and what's worked/not worked:

Albert Odyssey - good
Assault Suit Leynos 2 -- couldn't get to boot, probably bad cue file
Astal - good
Astra Superstars -- good
Batsugun -- looks like it will run fine, but the copy I downloaded has a bad CUE file. Have to fix on my pc first
Blast Wind -- works great
Clockwork Knight - this game runs fine but is not good
Guardian Heroes - graphical glitches, but playable
Guardian Force - this game is fun
Keio Flying Squadron 2 - I don't like this game
Layer Section II -- runs great, looks better than PS1 emulation too
Metal Black -- runs perfect
Mega Man 8 - Couldn't get past title screen
Nights into Dreams -- Runs fine
Panzer Dragoon -- perfect
Panzer Dragoon Zwei -- perfect
Panzer Dragoon Saga -- perfect
Princess Crown -- runs great
Radiant Silvergun -- perfect
Sengoku Blade -- perfect
Shining Force III -- runs well

I'll keep trying more and posting here, if anyone even cares.
 

SML

NEANDERTHAL FUCKER,
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Joined
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Lots of games run at pretty much full speed on my Shield Tablet. Here's what I've tried so far and what's worked/not worked:

Albert Odyssey - good
Assault Suit Leynos 2 -- couldn't get to boot, probably bad cue file
Astal - good
Astra Superstars -- good
Batsugun -- looks like it will run fine, but the copy I downloaded has a bad CUE file. Have to fix on my pc first
Blast Wind -- works great
Clockwork Knight - this game runs fine but is not good
Guardian Heroes - graphical glitches, but playable
Guardian Force - this game is fun
Keio Flying Squadron 2 - I don't like this game
Layer Section II -- runs great, looks better than PS1 emulation too
Metal Black -- runs perfect
Mega Man 8 - Couldn't get past title screen
Nights into Dreams -- Runs fine
Panzer Dragoon -- perfect
Panzer Dragoon Zwei -- perfect
Panzer Dragoon Saga -- perfect
Princess Crown -- runs great
Radiant Silvergun -- perfect
Sengoku Blade -- perfect
Shining Force III -- runs well

I'll keep trying more and posting here, if anyone even cares.

I do.

I haven't been messing with it too much, but Shining Wisdom also works well.
 
Joined
Mar 12, 2012
Posts
46
Just bought a s7800b, should be here in a week or two. From what I've seen, looks to be a pretty neat system for the retro stuff. Can't wait to log in some neogeo-time abroad on that purdy screen.
 

yoshi41

Crazed MVS Addict
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Dec 29, 2012
Posts
131
I have my GPD XD now for a couple of weeks.

V3HXnON.jpg


Pretty satisfied. Best chinese handheld i had so far. Buttons and d-pad are a bit soft, but otherwise great build quality with IPS screen. Same size as a 3DS XL.
 

SML

NEANDERTHAL FUCKER,
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I like that form. The "GPD" had me thinking, for a moment, that "GPH" was back in business.
 

pixeljunkie

Whilst Drunk., I Found God., Booze = Bad.,
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I have my GPD XD now for a couple of weeks.

V3HXnON.jpg


Pretty satisfied. Best chinese handheld i had so far. Buttons and d-pad are a bit soft, but otherwise great build quality with IPS screen. Same size as a 3DS XL.

i was considering one of these....looked interesting
 

daskrabs

Ace Ghost Pilot
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Aug 23, 2010
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FYI, AE has the S7800B for $77 shipped. I picked one up. Not affiliated with AE, just a heads up.
 
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SML

NEANDERTHAL FUCKER,
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The GPD Win thread reminded me that the Pyra has a finished prototype:


Looks an awful lot like the Pandora, which isn't a bad thing.

Hopefully the price point, availability, and build quality are better than the Pandora's.

Here are the specs, according to the website:

As the Pyra is still in development, not everything is fixed already. Entries with * might still change!

Technical Specs:

Texas Instruments OMAP 5 SoC
2x ARM Cortex-A15 @ 1.5Ghz with NEON SIMD
2x ARM Cortex-M4
PowerVR™ SGX544-MP2
Vivante GC320 2D Accelerator
2GB RAM
720p 5" LCD
High-Quality speakers, analog volume wheel
Headset-Port, Built-in-Mic, HDMI Video Out
Various sensors (accelerometer, gyro-sensor, etc.)
Vibration motor


Ultra-portable: approx. 140 x 84 x 29 mm*
Huge battery for a long battery life (6000mAh)
Gaming controls (DPad, 4 shoulder buttons, 6 face buttons)
Two accurate analog controls with push-button
QWERTY keyboard with backlight
Integrated Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0*
Dual SDXC card slots
2x Full-size USB Host (one can be used as eSATA-with a small adaptor), 1x Micro USB 3.0, 1x Micro USB (Debug and Charging)
Fully configurable RGB-LEDs for notifications
Optional 3G/4G/UMTS and GPS module
 
Last edited:

team_andromeda

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Jul 26, 2015
Posts
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The GPD Win thread reminded me that the Pyra has a finished prototype:

Looks an awful lot like the Pandora, which isn't a bad thing.

Hopefully the price point, availability, and build quality are better than the Pandora's.

Here are the specs, according to the website:

Dude! Yeah, I have been getting steady email updates for about the past two years almost on this thing. This guy definitely knows how to build a prototype and keep the fans informed, I'm so pumped for this thing when it drops. It fits in perfectly with my childhood dream of carrying around a pocket PC for (legally) pentesting some networks!
 

geise

Mickey's Coach
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Jul 2, 2011
Posts
582
Man that GPD looks kinda nice. I was thinking GPH as well. I miss the early days of the GP2X community and the stuff coming out for it. I eventually upgraded to the Wiz, but the batter loses charge after 10 min now since I used it so much. Was a great system for it's time though. I now do most of my portable (sort of open source) gaming on my Nvidia Shield portable. I love the shield portable. Retroarch and the Shield is an amazing combo and I would recommend it, but man it's high in price since it's not manufactured anymore. Not pocket portable though which would be a huge issue for people. Sometimes you can find one for $150 at a 2nd Hand Charles or some other 2nd hand store. Forget amazon or ebay the markup is ridiculous. However the system is crazy powerful and will have no problem with BSNES performance or MAME 0.78 core. The 2014 MAME even runs most 80's and early 90's games fullspeed. Final Burn Alpha in Retroarch is quite nice. Great for some quick shooter goodness.
 

SML

NEANDERTHAL FUCKER,
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Sep 24, 2003
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The Pyra is available for pre-order. Here's the price summary:

* Pyra Standard Edition, 2GB RAM: 500 EUR without VAT (=595 EUR incl. VAT)

* Pyra Standard Edition, 4GB RAM: 529,41 EUR without VAT (=630 EUR incl. VAT)

* Pyra Mobile Edition, 2GB RAM: 600 EUR without VAT (=714 EUR incl. VAT)

* Pyra Mobile Edition, 4GB RAM: 626,05 EUR without VAT (=745 EUR incl. VAT)

Pretty intense.
 

Jibbajaba

Ralfredacc's Worst Nightmare
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Apr 30, 2009
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lawwwlll. They're fucking insane.

That's a no-brainer non-purchase for me.

Pixeljunkie, that handheld looks slick-as-fuck. I have one of the JXD android gaming tablets, and it's cool but I never use it. It was like $120 though. I can't really imagine paying $300+ for an emulation handheld.
 

pixeljunkie

Whilst Drunk., I Found God., Booze = Bad.,
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Pixeljunkie, that handheld looks slick-as-fuck. I have one of the JXD android gaming tablets, and it's cool but I never use it. It was like $120 though. I can't really imagine paying $300+ for an emulation handheld.

yeah me neither - seems like it would handle any emulation you throw at it though....but yeah, not for $$$$
 

Tanooki

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I'm using a Shield Tablet, original stylus model post-recall so it has the good battery. I've only so far thrown Neo.EMU at it and it doesn't disappoint in the least bit. Given what hardware is in there though, and going by what my previous notably weaker Nexus 7 32GB 2013 model could do, I can't forsee it failing running can cart based system most excellently outside of some oddball special chip issue or coding problem on the emulator side. The Shield is powerful, and that link up there earlier today for that new JXD system they appear to have similar guts so it would be a pretty beefy thing to play games on that's already ready to go out of the box while I have to install the stuff and use something like File Explorer ES to get the goodies on there as I did for Neo.EMU. Yes the tablet lacks a controller, but one can be bluetooth locked to it (which I have, a basic steel series pad) or you can get a wired setup going, plus it's nice having the mini-hdmi to hdmi port as it locks into a TV very easily nearly negating the usefulness of their shield console if it didn't have the somewhat even better Tegra in that.
 

SML

NEANDERTHAL FUCKER,
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I have a Shield Handheld and a Shield TV (500gb). Love both of them. The Shield Handheld still holds up.

It's a shame, the S192 looks like the closest thing we'll ever actually see to a "Shield Handheld 2." If only it had a flip screen to avoid scratches.

I hope we see more manufacturers start pursuing the "pocketable" form of the GPD-XD as we go forward.
 

Tanooki

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I think devices and cross 'shell' same OS stuff is going to be the big next thing wave in gaming. Sales are down for stand alone handhelds, also consoles too. They're on the handheld side becoming more niche and limited, the consoles are becoming blurred boring copies of eachother as halfassed closed media box PCs basically. The thing that seems to be doing well is the model Nvidia went with. One os (android) with their hub on it, specific very powerful but cheap hardware inside, comes in a controller, tablet, or tv console format where the same stuff works on all, just prettier as you work up the hardware scale. Rumor has it this is even what Nintendo with the NX project is up to as they got outed over NintendOS which appears to be basically an Android facelift like FireOS roughly speaking for Amazon. If this is Nintendo's thing correctly rumored, they'd have their closed game cards, a system you can get in the style you want (portable or not), runs the same stuff, stupid easy to code for, android games can be drag and dropped right into it. They can't compete anymore against the other guys and handheld niche nightmares are mounting, it could be that out, them pioneering a direction for old console companies to survive. The closed up software only that works on the Tegra chips in the tablet and console, they're at or above basically speaking the PS3 level which is no joke yet the file sizes still aren't really over the 4GB mark except in like 1-2 extreme cases, and really few others over 1/2 that.

If these side projects like that current JXD in this thread or the S192 in particular can do it so well at that price, imagine what a non-pirate entity could do too. It opens some fascinating doors. The cool thing is, aping the Nvidia model those things use mini-hdmi to hdmi on the tablet (handheld too?) so you can still even use them as consoles themselves into a big screen and it looks and plays great as I've done it on my tablet.
 

blakeb8111

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Nov 13, 2014
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I have the shield handheld and it's awesome. It's really powerful and the battery life is amazing. It's not the cheapest device, but the build quality is nice. Plus the shields additional controllers are nice and with the hdmi out you have a nice compact console setup to travel with.
 
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