Re: [NTLK] [OT] GP32 (Was Re: New possible candidate platform for einstein)

From: Matt Lichtenberg (kerobaros_at_gmail.com)
Date: Tue Feb 01 2005 - 15:29:59 PST


DISCLAIMER: This post is quite long. And it has no bearing to
anything else about the Newton, short of discussing a (im?)possible
candidate platform for Einstein. This is almost as OT as it gets,
folks. The only reason I spent so much time on this is to distract me
from a few choice.. 'customers' here at work. That being said..

At Tue, 1 Feb 2005 12:31:41 +0100, DJ Vollkasko <DJ_Vollkasko_at_gmx.net> typed:

> ...
> Is anybody familiar with the really nice looking GP32 from Gamepark
> (Korea) http://www.gamepark.com ?

I like to think so, yes; not that I own one, but I've played with it,
and read everything I've been able to.

> Gamepark actively provides upgrades,

There's a laugh. I think Gamepark has released two upgrades in the
past two years, both close to abysmal compared to the third-party
firmwares, especially Slubman's.

> and there's a big developer community, as the SDKs is free
> <http://www.gamepark.com/eng/support/sup_sdk.asp>.

Once more, Gamepark's own offering has been trounced by a thirdparty
SDK, this time by a man named Mr. Mirko.

> Gamepark seems also to be happy to market third-party developed stuff,
> as I take it from their Games-page -- BTW, gotta love it that all the
> games are under US$10,--! They seem to be pretty reasonable people and
> very interested in cooperations.

They're under US$10.-- or so because they're selling the games as
downloadable files you can place on a SMC to play on the console.

> GP32 *has* a StrongArm CPU and a 320X240 pixel sized 65,536 colours
> 3,5'' display. They don't say much about which StrongArm with what
> speed they use (guess they put in whatever they can get fairly priced),
> but 166 MHz and 188 MHz are rumored or avalailable as hacks from third
> parties.

The StrongARM in the GP32 is software-overclockable. The GP32 is
rated out of the box to run up to 133MHz, but some can be overclocked
past 166MHz; the theoretical maximum is somewhere around 206MHz or so.
 As I said, the processor's speed can be chosen by the program itself,
allowing low-powered games to throttle the processor down to save
battery life.

> 2 AA alkaline cells give 12 h nonstop performance.

On 66Mhz, maybe.

> Doesn't say if you can charge cells in the device.

Nope, unfortunately.

> Oh, and it has built-in MP3 player, video player, wireless gimmick,
> USB, SMC slot... Gamepark offers an add-on keyboard, too...

Gamepark, from what I've seen, doesn't offer their own keyboard.
There is a hack for the Ericsson Chatboard to make it work with the
system, though; quite nice for Frodo (a Commie 64 emulator).

There are a few problems with the GP32, other than what I've pointed out:
-There is no easily available keyboard, other than the Chatboard,
which is connected to the GP32 with a short length of cable, making
typing on-the-run mildly difficult, to say the least.
-The only route for expandability is the link port, which, if I recall
correctly, has RS232 pins on it. The SMC port can only handle memory,
and only up to 128MB, at that.
-No touchscreen. Let's be honest here, the main reason most of us use
the Newton still is because of two things: the HWR, and the OS. Both
require a touchscreen, to say the least.

If Gamepark would introduce a new version of the GP32, "made to order"
so to speak, then, yes, this idea would be pretty excellent. However,
from the two short email exchanges I've had with the (former) US
distributor, Gamepark doesn't really want to stay in the market more
than they have to. As far as I can tell, they're only still here
because of the thriving homebrew community. Past that, they'd have
been gone long ago.

Sorry to go at length about this, Mr. Vollkasko, but as a games
machine, the GP32 is excellent. As a PDA.. well.. I'd rather use a
PalmPilot. *audience gasps* ;)

-Matt

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