Linux Toys
I'm thinking that in 2006 I may purchase a new toy and I'm thinking of two of them:
One is the GP2X. It's basically a Linux game machine and costs only USD$200.00.
Another device is less suitable as a game machine, but more suitable as an e-book reader. That's the Nokia 770 internet tablet, also a Linux machine. This one's quite a bit more expensive at USD$360.00, but the screen is a lot nicer and it has Wi-Fi connectivity. These machines are very close to perfect, and I'm a little torn between the two. The GP2X is inexpensive and with MAME should be quite the game machine. The Nokia 770 would be a very nice e-book, can be used for e-mail, browsing the web, PIM, but the battery lasts only 3 hours. I wish the 770 had a IR device so I could possibly use it as a universal remote.
I like the fact that they are open Linux devices. This means that there's a chance that someone will make a compelling application for it, like a program to keep track of my golf score. It may also mean that in a few years where the device is probably relegated to a drawer I might reuse the device for some other purpose, like a weather station monitor or some such. Of course the main reason is that if there's some annoyance (like my H300 has many little annoyances) someone will likely fix it. If it doesn't support OGG or some other format, someone will write code for it. And there's a ton of great old and new games available mostly for free, which reduces the ultimate cost of the device.
I guess I'm leaning towards the GP2X, it's cheaper, I won't have to buy a Wi-Fi access point and I know I'll use it to play games (I'm not so sure about the e-book web browsing stuff), and would be a nice hand-me-down for Victor. I really want to support a Linux game console instead of something like the PSP or Nintendo DS. I'm sure there are ways of cracking these devices to make them more open but you shouldn't have to be a criminal in order to fully use your own device.
Updates:
Here's another good site on the GP2X and another review. Looks like it can be had for a little cheaper (USD$180.00) but perhaps only in January, 2006. Another cool feature of the GP2X is that has dual processors. Investigating a bit more, MAME doesn't quite work 100% yet and mostly older MAME games should work. There's some talks of SNES but I don't believe there's anything there yet.
(More updates) This site compares the GP2X head-to-head with the PSP. Highlights: PSP is $100 more, has a better screen and WiFi, but is closed source. The CPUs are much closer in capabilities than I thought.
Technorati Tags: linux, devices
One is the GP2X. It's basically a Linux game machine and costs only USD$200.00.
Another device is less suitable as a game machine, but more suitable as an e-book reader. That's the Nokia 770 internet tablet, also a Linux machine. This one's quite a bit more expensive at USD$360.00, but the screen is a lot nicer and it has Wi-Fi connectivity. These machines are very close to perfect, and I'm a little torn between the two. The GP2X is inexpensive and with MAME should be quite the game machine. The Nokia 770 would be a very nice e-book, can be used for e-mail, browsing the web, PIM, but the battery lasts only 3 hours. I wish the 770 had a IR device so I could possibly use it as a universal remote.
I like the fact that they are open Linux devices. This means that there's a chance that someone will make a compelling application for it, like a program to keep track of my golf score. It may also mean that in a few years where the device is probably relegated to a drawer I might reuse the device for some other purpose, like a weather station monitor or some such. Of course the main reason is that if there's some annoyance (like my H300 has many little annoyances) someone will likely fix it. If it doesn't support OGG or some other format, someone will write code for it. And there's a ton of great old and new games available mostly for free, which reduces the ultimate cost of the device.
I guess I'm leaning towards the GP2X, it's cheaper, I won't have to buy a Wi-Fi access point and I know I'll use it to play games (I'm not so sure about the e-book web browsing stuff), and would be a nice hand-me-down for Victor. I really want to support a Linux game console instead of something like the PSP or Nintendo DS. I'm sure there are ways of cracking these devices to make them more open but you shouldn't have to be a criminal in order to fully use your own device.
Updates:
Here's another good site on the GP2X and another review. Looks like it can be had for a little cheaper (USD$180.00) but perhaps only in January, 2006. Another cool feature of the GP2X is that has dual processors. Investigating a bit more, MAME doesn't quite work 100% yet and mostly older MAME games should work. There's some talks of SNES but I don't believe there's anything there yet.
(More updates) This site compares the GP2X head-to-head with the PSP. Highlights: PSP is $100 more, has a better screen and WiFi, but is closed source. The CPUs are much closer in capabilities than I thought.
Technorati Tags: linux, devices
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