Dingoo A330

[davek22]

There is a new Dingoo handheld just released. It's called the A330. It appears main upgrades to existing A320 model are double ram, better screen and wireless gamepad for when it's plugged into the tv:

http://boards.dingoonity.org/dingoo-hardware-general/review-the-dingoo-a330

They chose to use a rip off psp design this time but the result is supposedly better shoulder buttons.
I am a handheld addict but not sure it's worth the upgrade at the moment. Price seems to be about ?95 on eBay with the wireless pad and ?75 without

[abigsmurf]

They should've gone for a bigger specs boost really. QVGA and a 400mhz CPU is a bit lacking.

Got some big competition from the pandora which is (finally) shipping

[davek22]

Yeah I spotted that pandora is finally out of the box. I am looking forward to seeing what that can do. Agree the specs on the a330 are out of date. The main selling point appears to be the wireless pad but it's overpriced. These chinese handheld are 10 a penny these days and there are a lot out there with better specs and lower prices.
I quite like the look of the letcool gameplayer. That's half the price at £50 and includes 2 wired control pads and bigger 3.5" screen. It has a sunplus processor capable of 720p video playback.
Unfortunatly I can't see it getting the same community support the dingoo has

[abigsmurf]

Looked up the chipset for that. Seems to be a 300mhz ARM-9 with a mystery graphics accelerator. Probably wouldn't be much more powerfull than the dingo for emulation.

Given the powerfull android tablets coming out of China at the moment, I'd imagine it won't be too long until someone does a pretty powerfull android based gaming device.

[davek22]

Yeah I looked at the odroid at one point but it looks like the android version on there has a lot of bugs. Shame as with HDMI output that could have been a great machine

[MisterBubbles]

A330 could still be nice, as pandora is 230 quid.

[The Mole]

I am also a bit of a handheld junkie. the problem for me with the Pandora is it looks like the most uncomfortable thing ever to play.

At ?230 unless it has near perfect Dreamcast emulation i can live without it.

[davek22]

If pandora was £50 cheaper I would give it a go. Once the early adopted beta testers have ironed out the bugs. Craigx who is running the show is based in the uk so I am surprised he is quoting price in dollars. It was meant to be £199 but with the $330 price and exchange rate it's too expensive.
That letcool sunplus processor has 3d acceleration and is meant to be capable of 64 bit emulation. From what I gather it doesn't come with a neo geo emu so 64 bit is a pipe dream. Those mini wired controllers are very cool though. Good for multiplayer on the move

[MisterBubbles]

If it was 200 or a little less id be all over it, but as the mole says for that money i want DC emu the lot and even maybe make my tea too LOL.

[Strolls]

I reckon the Pandora's price will plummet in a year or so. It's just a matter of holding on and seeing if the developed features & games > the price. If they get some good multiplayer FPS ported on there I'd be *very* tempted.

[QualityChimp]

Looks like there's a new GP2X out too - GP2X Caanoo.

• Color: White
• Powered by an ARM9 533MHz + 3D GPU
• 2 gigabyte flash memory
• 128MB ram
• SD/SDHC card supported
• OS: Linux
• Vibration Motor / G-Sensor
• 146(w) x 70(h) x 18.5(d)mm

The Gp2x family is getting a new member this Summer: the Gp2X Caanoo.

Optimized for wireless gaming and application the Caanoo is another leap from the current Wiz system, taking open source handhelds to a new level!

August 2010 release.

[Wools]

I was so tempted to pick up a new Mega Drive that I was looking at these open source handhelds this lunchtime.

I was not keen on the 2 D Pad look of the Wiz, so any attempt to mould the system to something more comfortable is a good move. The Pandora is a stunning piece of kit, but it looks far too unwieldy to hold, whereas this looks far more manageable.

I presume the specs of this machine is not yet enough to provide emulation of 32 & 64 bit systems?

[davek22]

I imported a Letcool system from china. It arrived today so will do some testing and post some comments. The twin gamepads with tv out sealed the deal for me. The Megadrive emu on it is meant to be near perfect. It's been rumoured it's Picodrive.

[davek22]

I had a quick play around with the letcool system last night. Build quality is top notch. Dpad and buttons are a lot better than the dingoo. The shoulder buttons are particularly good. It comes with a load of preloaded games. A lot of them are you standard bejeweled and tetris clones but there are some good ones in there.
At the moment it emulates Megadeive, NES, GB, GBC, GBA and SNES. I popped three megadrive games on with mixed results. Sonic worked great, as did Street Fighter 2 Turbo. Super Steet Fighter would not load. My son and neiphew had a great time with the plug in pads on Street Fighter. As I thought this is the key selling point for this system. They played 2 player while everone watched the footy. It would make a great in car system and great for holidays.

[MisterBubbles]

Much did you pay Dave?