Best emulation handheld?

[iainjh]

Hi, hoping someone can advise.. I've looked over the last year but can't find what I need.. I really wish I never sold on my gp32...

i want a handheld for emulation, pc engine, atari 800, c64, mega drive, mame.

Fairly small. Decent screen, backlit. Has to have buttons, can anyone suggest something affordable and find-able? I don't want android btw!


Help / advice welcome, is a psp any good? What else is out there please??

cheers ! Iain

 

[fitzsteve]

Psp are pretty good with cfw.

I've just got hold of an open Pandora which is fantastic, I might be willing to let my gp32 flu go if you're interested?

It's boxed and I could throw in a smart media card to get you started.

 

[protek]

I have a DS Lite with AceCard. I've got a few emulators installed on it. The lower screen acts as virtual keyboard.

 

[iainjh]

Hi!

thanks . Gp32 blu is the one I want tbh. I had a flu but got a blu later and that's the one I need this time round..

ds! Never really though of that. Can anyone tell me a bit more, what spec machine can it emulate please - Atari 800 / c64 or better and are the emulators good/ complete?

tia!!! Keep them coming

 

[protek]

I have a C64, Atari 8-bit and Amstrad emulators installed on my DS. Have to check the names though. All are fully featured. Haven't really had a chance to try them out properly.

 

[stephenfalken]

I just took delivery of a JXD S7800B after seeing them on display at Play Expo.

It's an awesome bit of kit, although doesn't really fit your criteria of 'small' with it's 7" screen!

Running Android it runs all emulators up to PSX very nicely!

 

[User1301]

Pandora?

 

[fitzsteve]

Here to go mate:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandora_(console)

 

[Bastich]

Galaxy S4 (or better Android device) with a Bluetooth gamepad (IMOS G910 or better) + ZX Spectrum, C64, NES, Mega Drive, Amiga, DS, N64, PSX, PSP and MAME emulators

 

[iainjh]

hiu

i really, really wanted to use android, but i've tried twice and hated the experience. sorry..

pandora, still seems quite the chunky beast. I recall the issues back in the day and ive seen a few for sale, seems a bit too much for me right now.

So plan A is currently, get an acekard or similar for my ds and give that a go, for emulators only, see how good it will run atari 800 and frodo etc.

Problem is i now cant find clarity if an r4 is still usable on a ds lite, and a few hours later I still cant find anywhere to get an Acekard from! the only uk ish suppliers I find only take visa, no good for me...mastercard or paypal here..

any ideas peeps?

cheers again for all help.

 

[protek]

I'll check the version of Acekard on my Lite this evening. I _think_ it may be an R4 but can't tell for sure.

 

[protek]

I remembered wrong. Mine was Acekard 2, which is compatible up to DSi.

- - - Updated - - -

This looks a pretty decent deal for Acekard 2.

 

[edd_jedi]

Not really sure why you're ruling out Android to be honest, I don't particularly like it as a phone/tablet OS but on a gaming pad all you use the OS for is to press the emulator launch icon! Once set up you don't even notice that it's Android. I have a JXD S7800 and love it, the controller is the most important thing on these and the GP32 one looks absolute cack.

The benefits of having a popular, open source OS far outweigh the benefits of having an OS you like. Just look at the Dingoo and Gemei, great machines but because of the custom OS they relied solely on a couple of developers which is why they never reached their potential. The range of Android emulators blows everything else out of the water.

 

[fitzsteve]

I thought the DS was a bit under powered for Emulation?

I can vouch for the JXD, I have the older version but it's still great. Not used it much since getting the Open Pandora but It's still a great bit of kit and since I have an Android Phone (Galaxy S5) I can share my Apps with it such as the GTA Games which are much better with the pad.

Not tried China Town Stories yet on the JXD, must do that soon. GTA SA runs awesome on the JXD Pad, just like the old PC days.

 

[stephenfalken]

Indeed the JXD is an absolute joy to play with the controls, and being able to use that built in control remapped for touchscreen games is a godsend! Way better than any touchscreen device!

At the price I seriously don't know how they make em for that lol. My only concern so far is what seems a short battery life, however I have been hammering the damn thing so no wonder it's running down fast!

Regards

 

[Sardine]

My lad has the JXD 7800b (quad core) , i've had a go and I think it's brilliant, but because he's autistic he picks on the faults, the Wifi range is very poor for his youtube fix (in his room it keeps disconnecting but his ipad is ok), his older Motorola Xoom 32gb Nvidia tegra 2 tablet outperforms the JXD on a lot of the 3d games / emulators namely his favorite N64 Zelda games and the battery life, so saldy his JXD is boxed on his shelf and he uses his Xoom or Ipad for games / Youtube.

I will be snagging it off him if it stays in it's box

 

[fitzsteve]

Do both thumb sticks work with the touch mapper on the 7800B or do you need to use CFW like on the older version I have?

 

[Sardine]

I'll go snag it and see if there is fps game on it to test. (if it has a charge)

---------------------

Edit:

Flat as a fluke... plugged in and charging, no FPS games on it, Nova 3, 1 hour to download

 

[marioweezer]

I'd also recommend the Pandora. It runs all the systems you mentioned flawlessly and has the added benefit of a built-in keyboard for things like the C64.

 

[Xanxi]

I had a GP32 some years ago, and i have tried stuff on my Android smartphone, but i always conclude that the PSP is the best thing for emulation.
No wonder: it is a real gaming console already made by people who know how to do a handheld console.