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[squeakywheel]

I just got my unit this week after a month of waiting.
Kind of disappointed with the build quality. I was expecting something similar to my new 3DS XL and was quite disappointed with the mushy buttons and dpad not to mention the plastic feels cheap. The n3DS Xl feels like it can take a beating. I can't say the same for this. BUT, one thing it excels with are the analogs and the screen.
Oh and another disappointment are the emulators built in. The NeoGeo one slowed down so much when playing Metal Slug 3. I will load retroarch later once I can find my 64GB microSD but so far it's been pretty underwhelming compared to my Shield portable. Shame the Shield isn't as portable nor as slim.

 

[PaulloDEC]

What's the best place to buy one of these from? Kind of interested now, if not just for tinkering around with it.

Also just wondering if anyone's tried emulating Paper Mario on this thing and how well it works.

I got mine off ebay; other online retailers are tempting, but I prefer the security that ebay offers.

I tried Paper Mario too; unless I've got some settings wrong somewhere, it isn't really playable on Mupen64 Plus. Flashing glitchy graphics everywhere.

I just got my unit this week after a month of waiting.
Kind of disappointed with the build quality. I was expecting something similar to my new 3DS XL and was quite disappointed with the mushy buttons and dpad not to mention the plastic feels cheap. The n3DS Xl feels like it can take a beating. I can't say the same for this. BUT, one thing it excels with are the analogs and the screen.
Oh and another disappointment are the emulators built in. The NeoGeo one slowed down so much when playing Metal Slug 3. I will load retroarch later once I can find my 64GB microSD but so far it's been pretty underwhelming compared to my Shield portable. Shame the Shield isn't as portable nor as slim.

I mean, I think maybe it was a little optimistic to think a little-known Chinese company was going to produce a product that could match Nintendo and Nvidia in terms of build quality.

Definitely replace the default emulators though. You're pretty much guaranteed to find better ones on the Play store.

 

[AU Tiger]

Kinda interested in this but not quite ready to pull he trigger just yet.

I sort of want to see if nvidia is going to do a shield tablet refresh. I'm using a nexus 7 and PS3 controller right now and a smaller and more portable device would be nice.

 

[Nekobo]

My replacement is finally being shipped to me, so I'm excited to give this device a second crack. Do you guys recommend using the latest firmware? I seem to recall the system had screen whining and wi-fi issues, so I was wondering if the updates addressed those issues.

 

[topplehat]

Was almost on the verge of buying one of these but saw a good deal on a Shield Portable that I went for instead...

 

[PaulloDEC]

My replacement is finally being shipped to me, so I'm excited to give this device a second crack. Do you guys recommend using the latest firmware? I seem to recall the system had screen whining and wi-fi issues, so I was wondering if the updates addressed those issues.

I'm still on the default firmware and I've no complaints. I understand the XD has pretty wimpy WiFi hardware, so I'm not too hopeful about improving it via software update.

Not sure what "screen whining" is though?

 

[squeakywheel]

My B button is kind of stuck now.
The chinese place I ordered it from via aliexpress isn't responsive now.
Anyone else have this issue where the button feels "stuck" (it's basically half the "height" of the other buttons and feeling spongy, not springy).

The only time I hear the slight whine is when I'm gaming while charging.

 

[thechristoph]

I just got one of these and I love it! While I love the idea of homebrew on 3DS, it's so much nicer being able to play on a system that's got some extra guts. N64 games that normally feel sluggish and run at 19fps feel amazing being forced to run at 30.

A couple of questions. While the SNES Retroarch cores are fine, I do enjoy SNES9x. However the fast forward function seems to only work as a hold button, not as a toggle. I can't find an option anywhere. Am I blind?

Also the virtual joypad remapper thing having its own dedicated button seems entirely useless. Is there a way to remap this key? Whenever I try to give it a new function via input mapping in an application, it brings up the virtual screen. So it seems to be a system-level function rather than a regular key. Again, am I missing an obvious option somewhere?

It's sad that this thread has kinda stalled, but this device is awesome.

 

[neonglow]

I'm considering one. Is the 16GB model good enough or should I go for the 32GB model?

 

[PaulloDEC]

Also the virtual joypad remapper thing having its own dedicated button seems entirely useless. Is there a way to remap this key? Whenever I try to give it a new function via input mapping in an application, it brings up the virtual screen. So it seems to be a system-level function rather than a regular key. Again, am I missing an obvious option somewhere?

I've not found any way to deal with this either. Fortunately I've usually got more buttons than I need, but still.

I'm considering one. Is the 16GB model good enough or should I go for the 32GB model?

I went with the 16gb, but only because I'd always intended to grab a big micro SD card for the bulk of my content.

 

[minor effort]

I'm considering one. Is the 16GB model good enough or should I go for the 32GB model?

I went with the 32GB model since it was only $10 more than the 16GB one. Sure, it has an SD card slot, but for only $10 I wanted to make sure I had a comfortable amount of internal storage.

 

[thechristoph]

I've not found any way to deal with this either. Fortunately I've usually got more buttons than I need, but still.

I haven't gotten into any PS1 emulation yet, and really I don't know if there are any/many games that use every single possible button that I'll end up playing, but I may run out of buttons for save/load state and fast forward (if that exists in ePSXe).

 

[JGCD]

So I got a shield portable a while back ( not the tablet) and besides emulation and android games, I was really interested in playing my steam games over WiFi.Unfortunately, I really hated holding the dang thing(kinda heavy, felt really awkward).

However, I love the DS style of handheld which is why I'm so interested in this device.

Can this thing stream? Its kinda hard finding a solid answer to this and I would be playing like indie-style games (undertale or one finger death punch) this would make this an instant buy

 

[plc268]

There's moonlight (formerly called limelight). It's basically nvidia streaming but more configurable. Can use on most android devices.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.limelight

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.limelight.root

 

[PaulloDEC]

So I got a shield portable a while back ( not the tablet) and besides emulation and android games, I was really interested in playing my steam games over WiFi.Unfortunately, I really hated holding the dang thing(kinda heavy, felt really awkward).

However, I love the DS style of handheld which is why I'm so interested in this device.

Can this thing stream? Its kinda hard finding a solid answer to this and I would be playing like indie-style games (undertale or one finger death punch) this would make this an instant buy

I've heard very dicey things about the wifi capabilities of the XD, particularly in regards to streaming video. Definitely do some further research before you make any decisions.

 

[Karak]

There's moonlight (formerly called limelight). It's basically nvidia streaming but more configurable. Can use on most android devices.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.limelight

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.limelight.root

I wish to god I could get this to work. Of the 10 or so odd peeps I know physically who have installed it all of them get disconnected within 20 second of starting a game or Steam damnit.

 

[JGCD]

I've heard very dicey things about the wifi capabilities of the XD, particularly in regards to streaming video. Definitely do some further research before you make any decisions.

Thanks for the info friend. I most likely will pick it up down the line at some point but this would have given it a push in the right direction

Hopefully anyone that has it and tried it can give me a retelling of their experience

 

[whitehawk]

On the verge of buying this, found a place to get it for $145

Only thing I don't like about this device is the lack of bluetooth. Seems like such a big oversight. Otherwise it would be perfect to plug into a TV and use as a multiplayer emulator machine.

 

[minor effort]

On the verge of buying this, found a place to get it for $145

Only thing I don't like about this device is the lack of bluetooth. Seems like such a big oversight. Otherwise it would be perfect to plug into a TV and use as a multiplayer emulator machine.

Yeah, that's the biggest design oversight to the GPD XD. Without bluetooth, the HDMI port on the back seems only marginally useful. It's still totally worth it if you're buying the XD to use primarily as a portable device, but if you're looking to use it primarily as a TV setup you might do better with another device.

 

[Apt101]

A lot of handheld news lately.

I like the idea of another Android handheld. Having owned a Shield tablet for a while, I see there's already a lot of great games available for the platform, but controller support still appears lacking. Even games advertised as having full Shield controller support and curated by Nvidia often have major hangups, or just poorly designed controls (maybe this is less of an issue on a Shield handheld - I don't know). More players in the market trying to improve controls on Android is a welcome thing.

 

[whitehawk]

Yeah, that's the biggest design oversight to the GPD XD. Without bluetooth, the HDMI port on the back seems only marginally useful. It's still totally worth it if you're buying the XD to use primarily as a portable device, but if you're looking to use it primarily as a TV setup you might do better with another device.

Yup. I'm having trouble imagining no one at GPD suggesting the put blutooth in ifbthey are putting HDMI in. The cost difference wouldn't have been that much.

Although at the same time I already have my surface pro 2 for emulating on a TV, which will always do a better job than the gpdxd. Would've been nice though.

 

[PaulloDEC]

It definitely would've been nice to have a few of those wireless features beefed up a bit (add bluetooth, improve the wifi capabilities), but on the other hand I think they did well to pack in as much as they did. HDMI out and the micro USB allows for output to a TV and play via a wired 360 controller, which ain't bad for any Android device in my experience.

The XD is by far my favourite emulation-geared handheld, with far more things done right than wrong. I hope GPD continue to improve on the formula. My wish-list of improvements is actually pretty short.

 

[whitehawk]

Cool. I think I'll end up having and buying it. If anyone's wondering, I'm looking at gearbest.com

It's 159.99, and you can just Google gearbest coupons and find one for $14 off.

 

[minor effort]

Yup. I'm having trouble imagining no one at GPD suggesting the put blutooth in ifbthey are putting HDMI in. The cost difference wouldn't have been that much.

Although at the same time I already have my surface pro 2 for emulating on a TV, which will always do a better job than the gpdxd. Would've been nice though.

Windows is no stranger to emulation, but there's a lot of emulators on Android designed around controller input for the UI, so there is an advantage to using Android for TV emulation boxes. There's Retroarch on Windows, and that plays well with a controller, but virtually everything I've used for Android supports controller navigation for the UI.

The GPD XD is wonderful handheld, but something like a Shield TV would probably be better for a dedicated TV setup. Hopefully they add Bluetooth in a second-gen GPD XD, if there is one.

 

[whitehawk]

Windows is no stranger to emulation, but there's a lot of emulators on Android designed around controller input for the UI, so there is an advantage to using Android for TV emulation boxes. There's Retroarch on Windows, and that plays well with a controller, but virtually everything I've used for Android supports controller navigation for the UI.

The GPD XD is wonderful handheld, but something like a Shield TV would probably be better for a dedicated TV setup. Hopefully they add Bluetooth in a second-gen GPD XD, if there is one.

PS4 controller is the best for windows. You can set the touchpad to act as a mouse to navigate emulators! Press it for left click.

 

[minor effort]

PS4 controller is the best for windows. You can set the touchpad to act as a mouse to navigate emulators! Press it for left click.

I did not know this. I may have to look into this myself. Thanks for the tip!

 

[JGCD]

Hey where is the smartest place to buy this device?
searching around and i get way too many sites i know nothing about
anyone got recommendation (no amazon using paypal)

 

[PaulloDEC]

Hey where is the smartest place to buy this device?
searching around and i get way too many sites i know nothing about
anyone got recommendation (no amazon using paypal)

I didn't feel comfortable buying from unfamiliar online stores either, so I ended up going with ebay. This is the seller I bought from, and it seems like they're still selling XDs. Not sure how the price compares, but I do remember that the postage was crazy fast.

 

[Nekobo]

My replacement is finally arriving today two months after I sent it back. Anyone try playing Saturn games on this?

 

[Maximo]

The thought escapes me there is a program that scrapes ROM Images/Information into a handy APP for all the emulators anyone know the name of it?

 

[bodine1231]

How do you get around the performance dips when connecting via HDMI out? Even playing SNES games both the TV and console slows down to what looks like 30fps,which is understandable as its rendering twice. Is there a way to maybe turn off the small screen?

Its frustrating because I was hoping that this would replace my Pi because I can play games on the go and then connect to the TV to continue longer games like RPGs but the slowdown is annoying.

 

[PaulloDEC]

How do you get around the performance dips when connecting via HDMI out? Even playing SNES games both the TV and console slows down to what looks like 30fps,which is understandable as its rendering twice. Is there a way to maybe turn off the small screen?

Its frustrating because I was hoping that this would replace my Pi because I can play games on the go and then connect to the TV to continue longer games like RPGs but the slowdown is annoying.

Try enabling HDMI out, plugging the XD into your TV and then power-cycling the XD. IIRC there's a weird issue where plugging the TV in while the device is already switched on results in the laggy performance. Starting it up from the OFF state with everything already plugged in ought to solve it.

 

[JGCD]

there would be a way to dual boot or boot windows on this? I thought it would be AMAZING to play some RPG maker games on the go but the options are so limited

 

[redlemon]

there would be a way to dual boot or boot windows on this? I thought it would be AMAZING to play some RPG maker games on the go but the options are so limited

They're planning on a windows 10 handheld before the end of this year. If they're 2000/2003 games you can check if they work on easyrpg though.

 

[bodine1231]

Try enabling HDMI out, plugging the XD into your TV and then power-cycling the XD. IIRC there's a weird issue where plugging the TV in while the device is already switched on results in the laggy performance. Starting it up from the OFF state with everything already plugged in ought to solve it.

Thanks,thats what I needed to do,plug the HDMI in with the unit off,then power on. Works great now.

 

[JGCD]

ordered one off geekbuy.com and should have it by next week
was on the fence but my 3DS went missing and i needed some sort of portable for my commute
hopefully this ends up impressing me so i can buy the window 10 edition of it
Anyone with one tried the FF9 recent port? figured that would be a godly game to break it in

 

[Dicer]

Bumping for impressions and updates, kinda interested in one of these...

 

[akidnamededdy]

Bumping for impressions and updates, kinda interested in one of these...

I love mine. I ordered it back in November on Amazon and surprisingly got it a week later (even though the shipping estimate gave it a month).

I haven't fiddled too much with it. Everything up to SNES era works as it should. N64 works surprisingly well (currently playing through the first Mystical Ninja on it, forgot which emulator, but it runs great--not as flawless as the other stuff, but good enough). PS1 emulation works great, from the little I've tried. Dreamcast is a bit more spotty, the few games I've tried ran okay with some weird graphical glitches (weird backgrounds and stuff), and it's a little harder to understand the options on that one for me, but Sonic Adventure 2 runs really nicely at least.

DS emulation works great but it's probably tricky playing something like Spirit Tracks on it. PSP emulation is pretty choppy for me...crisis core and BBS stutter a bit, but I wonder if I can fix it with the settings.

The hardware itself is decent. The buttons and dpad feel kinda "squishy" for a while but I think I've broken them in a bit so they feel better (or I've at least gotten used to them). Screen is nice. Wifi antenna is on the weak side but I don't use the thing for Netflix or anything so it doesn't bug me much.

I have had a couple odd power issues that gave me a scare--apparently if you power the thing down while it's charging, the screen goes black and doesn't come back on until you do some power cycle thing and turn it back off for a few minutes...weird things like that. No big problems yet though.

Bottom line is I fee like it's been worth my money. Has officially replaced my PSP as my handheld emulation machine, and the other android stuff is nice to have too.

Speaking of...has anyone tried the android version of FF9 on this thing? How's that work?

 

[JGCD]

Speaking of...has anyone tried the android version of FF9 on this thing? How's that work?

This I NEED TO KNOW

 

[MUnited83]

I've just noticed that they are running a IndieGogo for a 128GB version for 200$

 

[outunderthestars]

I've just noticed that they are running a IndieGogo for a 128GB version for 200$

Kind of shocked that only 21 people backed it.

 

[MicroByter]

Finally got mine as a Birthday gift and it's pretty awesome. Only problem I have had is that the microSD is a pain to get out, have to use something flat and narrow to make it pop. Other than that, really awesome!

On a side note, if you are interested in a screen protector for it, the Vita screen size is pretty much exact and these work well:

http://www.gamestop.com/ps-vita/accessories/ps-vita-screen-protection-2-pack/99883

I installed it on mine and and won't worry now, these things have been great on my Vita.

Any suggestions for decent controller compatible Android games? I've been hooked (again) on Minigore 2 and mapping the controls to the screen.

 

[jimjonjimmy]

Does anyone else have an issue with the controller disconnecting for like a split second? I was playing Yoshi's Story with the MegaN64 emulator and every now and then it doesn't read my inputs. There's a diagnostic tool in the emulator that will show all the buttons as they are pressed and every now and then it will blink that the controller is disconnected. I'm using the built in controller. I've had some other issues like in the Dreamcast emulator not reading the joystick when I press up.

 

[Philippo]

So, i'm starting to consider buying one of these, since it looks amazing and i'm in a retro-gaming mood.
But i've been reading that the company is already working on a XD2 with a processor that even runs PS2, Wii emulators on other tablets.
Any idea when that is going to come out, and do you think it's better to wait for it (if it's going to get the same price as the original)?

 

[Ruud_Luiten]

So, i'm starting to consider buying one of these, since it looks amazing and i'm in a retro-gaming mood.
But i've been reading that the company is already working on a XD2 with a processor that even runs PS2, Wii emulators on other tablets.
Any idea when that is going to come out, and do you think it's better to wait for it (if it's going to get the same price as the original)?

Where did you read that?
That would be awesome and an instant buy!

Would drain batteries, but alas Wii / ngc on the go <3

 

[Cow Mengde]

So, i'm starting to consider buying one of these, since it looks amazing and i'm in a retro-gaming mood.
But i've been reading that the company is already working on a XD2 with a processor that even runs PS2, Wii emulators on other tablets.
Any idea when that is going to come out, and do you think it's better to wait for it (if it's going to get the same price as the original)?

I honestly don't know if the new one can emulate PS2 and Wii. I'd wait on it if I were you. I got the first one and couldn't be happier. I think it's very unlikely it'll emulate PS2 and Wii well with simple android hardware.

 

[Philippo]

Where did you read that?
That would be awesome and an instant buy!

Would drain batteries, but alas Wii / ngc on the go <3

There are a few sites with news from March, no idea how trusty they are since it's not really my field.

I honestly don't know if the new one can emulate PS2 and Wii. I'd wait on it if I were you. I got the first one and couldn't be happier. I think it's very unlikely it'll emulate PS2 and Wii well with simple android hardware.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROOTSc1YaJA

I don't know, looking at other tablets with similar hardware (i guess), they look to be able to hold PS2/Wii games pretty well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROOTSc1YaJA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=birlJx5Entw

 

[Cow Mengde]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROOTSc1YaJA

I don't know, looking at other tablets with similar hardware (i guess), they look to be able to hold PS2/Wii games pretty well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROOTSc1YaJA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=birlJx5Entw

All we can do is wait and see.

 

[GlamFM]

Mine is arriving this afternoon - very excited.

Is there a rundown somewhere which emulators are the best?

What´s the best SNES emulator?

 

[mavericktopgun]

Mine is arriving this afternoon - very excited.

Is there a rundown somewhere which emulators are the best?

What´s the best SNES emulator?

So it's running Android right?

Install Snes9x from Robert Broglia.
He has Emus for Nes, Genesis, Gameboy (and Advance) and others.