GP2X - An Awesome Linux-Based Handheld Games/Movie/MP3 Gadget: With the run-up to Christmas, friends and relatives will be lining up to buy the PSP handheld console for their loved ones, or (if they're that bit savvier) the Nintendo DS Lite. But if they're really, really savvy, they'll get them a little-known handheld console called the GP2X.

What is the GP2X?

Where to begin? At its heart, it's a handheld games console; but it's also so much more. Unlike Sony and Nintendo's offerings, it embraces the values of a free, open-source platform. It even runs on Linux, and is eminently configurable: a hacker's portable wet-dream.

Its openness means that anyone can develop their own games for the platform. The SDK is included with the system free. It brings back memories of the Amiga, with an easy-to-develop-for system and thriving developer community. (There's even a full-speed Amiga emulator available - more about what you can do with the system below, though).

If you haven't encountered the GP2X (or its predecessor the GP32), it might be because it's UK-based. However it's also readily available in the US (and worldwide) via mail-order.

At the core, it's powered by two 200mhz CPUs with 64MB RAM, custom graphics hardware and decoding chips. The chips normally overclock just fine to 240mhz. You can also buy units that been tested as ok at 275, for when you need that extra horsepower. In terms of processing "grunt power", it's roughly twice as powerful as the Nintendo DS.

It has an SD port for memory expansion, plus 64MB of NAND memory. The SD card is the same kind you'd use in your digital camera. It handles up to 4GB, and the GP2X can show your pictures on its pin-sharp screen.

The amazing thing about the GP2X, though, is its price. In the UK it sells for £124.99; overseas you can pick it up for $189.99 (US dollars).

What Can You Do With the GP2X?

This is where things get really interesting. Because it's an open system, there's a mass of readily available games (many of them free, some commercial, like the fully-3D action shooter Payback shown in the screenshot on the left) that you can download and put straight on the GP2X. The fact that it runs a MAME emulator opens up a whole universe of free, commercial-quality games (we're talking 1000+ arcade games, which fit just right on the screen and look almost as if they were custom-made for this system). Running MAME on a handheld like this truly is amazing.

But it isn't just about the games: not by a long way. The backlit 320x240 screen means that you can watch DivX/AVI movies quite comfortably. The PG2X can instantly rescale, so it can play a full-rez movie, but of course it wastes space and CPU effort. So if you're serious about downloading movies to the GP2X, you should take a look at PocketDivXEncoder. This handy utility shrinks your movies down to a more suitable screen size; e.g. it can shrink a 740x448 movie down to 320x240; just tell it you have an iRiverPMP100, and it'll do the rest. In one test, it shrank a 712MB AVI file to 200MB; and in another, it scrunched a 113MB Quickview file down to a 3MB DivX file! Resizing the movie down on your PC before transfer means you can carry more vids around on your SD card. (It also handled the subtitles file, as an added bonus).

The GP2X is also an MP3 player and has a headphone slot. It takes 2xAA rechargable batteries (i.e. none of this "built-in battery" nonsense a la Palm LifeDrive and iPod). For the rechargable batteries, you'll want to use 2300mAh ones or better. Don't try to use alkaline non-rechargables, as they just don't have the "oomph", and get sucked dry too quickly.

For geeks (like me), though, the system's true appeal lies in the fact that it really is an open Linux box. You can connect it to your PC via USB, which lets you mount the GP2X SD drive in Windows; best yet, you get TCP/IP. You can even FTP and telnet into it; and it has a built-in web server (which runs PHP!), not to mention a Samba server, so it's mountable on a Windows network; e.g. you could do \\192.168.1.3\gp2x.

The UI is skinnable; e.g. the skin shown in the screenshot on the right gives the console a super-cool feel.

As I mentioned, there's a thriving developer and user community around this wonderful device. Check out this site for the GP-related latest news, reviews and suchlike; also take a look at their active message board. On the same community site there's also a wiki containing masses of useful links and "how-to"s, and a comprehensive resource for tracking down applications, demos, development tools, emulators, firmware updates, GP2X skins, e-books, oh and of course games.

So, to sum up... if you're looking for a handheld console this Christmas, forget about the PSP or the DS; the GP2X, with its open platform, thriving community and general awesomeness, leaves them for dust.

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Check this ad for GP2X on YouTube
Anonymous person 
Nice videos of various arcade games on gp2x
Dino 
FE-MAME
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