[S-99]

I'm looking for an ultra portable design that's even more portable than the netbook lineup. Like something that can fit in my pocket and of course have wireless b/g compatibility. And even better if it's a device that can be broken into with linux or homebrew apps.

The story goes that my 8.9 inch eeepc 900ha (the one with a real laptop hard drive) has a lovely long life ahead of itself full of x86 compatibility, everyday use, and network auditing (with packet injection). I'm also selling my big laptop since i hardly use it in comparison with my eeepc.

I already have the zipit z2 on my christmas list (you ought to click that link, it's a pretty badass no longer single purpose device at 50$).

And i'm returning the psp 3000 i bought yesterday. Somehow i got convinced that it can do wpa2 and i bought it. PSP is a wireless b device don't buy one for internet purposes at all (even the new psp go is just a wireless b device). Homebrew is pretty worthless if i can't login to my own wireless network, and i'm not decreasing the security just for one device. Be warned, a lot of psp users out there are dumb as hell, they claim wpa2 compatibility, but in fact, that only in wpa mixed mode on your AP (where a device unable to do wpa2 can fallback to wpa on the AP). PSP is pretty nice for surfing web and multimedia, but sony is dumb.

Maybe the nintendo dsi? Nintendo finally rectified they're G compatible problem with the dsi so now people can use wpa2 and not need to decrease security for just one device. Good move nintendo, unlike sony (google "psp and wpa2"...it's horrible, everyone hates the psp for this lacking detail which may or may not be fixable according to psp wifi hardware datasheets). The dsi does have dual screens even with touch capability.

After that there was the tapwave zodiac 2. A pda running the palm OS, but was a pda that was especially geared for being a portable console. Very cool, even had touch screen, and a big honking screen similar to that of the psp. Too bad tapwave stopped making these and that all you can buy is used ones today. It's a device although not broken into as far as i know, has an OS and software that would satisfy my needs. Although, it doesn't really have wireless.

There's also the gp2x and the gp2xz, both are pretty much the same thing. It looks like the bottom half of the nintendo ds which is cool in it's own right. And it's an open platform; it's meant to be broken into and put whatever you want on there. I'd get one, but no wireless at all.

I like the idea of getting a pandora, but no release yet, and too expensive. Ideally i don't want to spend more than 170$.

Hints, ideas? Must be wireless g compliant, i cannot stress that enough.

[Colonol Dekker]

Buy a samsung NC20 and emulate console games.
 
It are fast easy.-

[QuantumDelta]

The only two hand held 'entertainment' things I'd consider for the sake of hand held entertainment atm, especially if you're considering wireless/internet usage, iPhone (really!), and the DSi.

Nintendo have always been the undisputed kings of handhelds.

[S-99]

I already have a netbook. Iphone is definitely a nogo. 100% touch screen dedicated devices blows your manhood to a grinding halt from teeth (touch screen is great, but having devices that only function through a touch screen is the computer industry going overboard with a new interface technology).

Don't forget my 170$ limitation here either. Iphones out of there along with a new netbook, but the new netbook does allow you to put whatever software you want on there (iphone on the other hand is largely a closed device). And, **** the dsi, it's browser sucks, and the dsi in actuality doesn't have enough memory for surfing the web making it's web surfing ability blowing your manhood to a grinding halt from teeth. You can get homebrew for the dsi, but getting homebrew for it sucks just as much as getting homebrew for the psp.

You guys need to check out some of these open pieces of hardware and consider how much more awesome they are for portable emulation gaming since they are specifically designed for homebrew. Right now the hype in china and korea is portable open hardware (stuff that's meant to be hacked and for people to develop their own programs for).

Dingoo a320. I'm really considering buying one of these. The idea is too cool. It's 82$ and does 7 hours of gameplay. Not to mention the device is open. The dingoo community ports emulators to this thing all the time. And before that, dingoo digital (chinese company) that made this put a good deal of games on this thing with tons of emulators for you to use the first moment you turn it on. The community also makes it's own apps, bug fixes, and improvements for the device. The community even got together and made their own distro of linux for it, they support the standard firmware as well as linux for it also. Great collaboration on this awesome piece of hardware.


The gp2x wiz is the essentially the same exact thing as the dingoo; the gp2x wiz was built for portable emulator gaming purposes as the dingoo a320, is just as open as the dingoo a320, has the same kind of community making apps, porting emulators/apps, ironing out bugs, making software improvements, and even their own distribution of linux they made for the console. The gp2x wiz is korean and is manufactured by gamepark holdings. This one also has a touch screen and stylus, but largely what the gp2x wiz was built for, how it's used, and the games it plays; you can already imagine how useless a feature touch screen is for the gp2x wiz. A lot of people who buy and don't read the manual and just know how to use the console...it might be a while before they discover the useless touch screen by accident.


Both consoles have big communities surrounding each portable emulator console, but the dingoo a320 is getting more attention because of the price, better controls, and better battery life. Other than that, the actual differences between the consoles is not much.

DINGOO A320 82$                                   GP2X WIZ 164$
4gb on board flash                                  1gb on board flash
400mhz ARM processor                           533mhz ARM processor
32mb RAM                                               64mb RAM
miniSD storage expansion slot                 SD card storage expansion slot

If you want a follow up on both of these, here's a video of both consoles being reviewed at the same time by one of the dudes working on the pandora project.

What's happening in reality is that people like the dingoo a320 better because hardware-wise it's not that much different than the gp2x wiz, dingoo a320 and gp2x wiz both do their jobs about the same, dingo a320 has better controls, dingoo a320 and gp2x wiz are both built pretty sturdy, dingoo a320 is also half the price of the gp2x wiz. Both great awesome ass consoles designed for homebrew, both also fast enough for a special install of linux to run a web browser and surf the net or use IM, sadly neither has any sort of wireless, and especially no ethernet port.

Keep the suggestions coming though.