Best Cheap Pocket PC For Emulators?

[CronoTriggerfan]

Cleaning out my workbench today, I found I still had one of those polycases that Ladyada used for her GameGrrl, and thinking back to a Pocket PC project I wanted to do (inspired by Bacteria), I figure this would be a good place to start. I wanna find a cheap (as in sub-$60) Pocket PC/Palm/whatever that I can optimize with gaming controls. I'd like it to be able to run NES, GBO, maybe GBC, and probably Doom or something. Anyone have any ideas as to what a good one would be? Thanks!

EDIT: Also, I'd like this thing to be as small as possible. These custom controls are going to take up a good chunk of the case, so it'd be nice to have some space to work with.

[grossaffe]

Cleaning out my workbench today, I found I still had one of those polycases that Ladyada used for her GameGrrl, and thinking back to a Pocket PC project I wanted to do (inspired by Bacteria), I figure this would be a good place to start. I wanna find a cheap (as in sub-$60) Pocket PC/Palm/whatever that I can optimize with gaming controls. I'd like it to be able to run NES, GBO, maybe GBC, and probably Doom or something. Anyone have any ideas as to what a good one would be? Thanks!

EDIT: Also, I'd like this thing to be as small as possible. These custom controls are going to take up a good chunk of the case, so it'd be nice to have some space to work with.

If you're really patient, Rockbox (third party multiplatform mp3 player firmware) may get a good NES emulator. From what i've seen they have one that kinda works but still needs quite a bit of work before its released. But aside from lacking NES emulation, it does everything else you want. Emulates GB/C (a little slow, though) and has a full-speed fully functional doom engine.

[CronoTriggerfan]

Yeah, I've run Rockbox on iPods and Sandisk Sansas before, it's not something I'd like. This is a PDA optimized for gaming specifically, so I'd like to retain some PDA-like functions. Thanks for the tip, though!

[Super Cameraman]

Maybe a Dell Axim x30? That's what I have. It does NES and SNES really well, but I don't have a controller or a keyboard or anything. It's got wifi and bluetooth, and SD card slot. I got mine on Ebay for $90 shipped. It's pretty small too, the screen takes up most of the front of the case. Battery life could be improved though.

[CronoTriggerfan]

Just grabbed one for $45 shipped. Looks like it'll suit my needs just fine, thanks for the suggestion!

[bicostp]

The x50v has VGA out and hardware 3D acceleration, if you don't mind the price.

Just a note: For some games you might have to manually edit the registry to get the buttons working right. (I had to with mine.)

Good emulators:

• PocketGnuBoy
  PocketVCS
  PocketNester
  Genpp

Also, make sure you get a copy of TCPMP, because the pocket version of Media Player 9 is crap. (Also, re-encode videos for it to 320x240 XviD. You'll be surprised at how much stuff will fit on a 2 gig SD card; the maximum supported size.)

[Super Cameraman]

$45 dollars shipped? Good deal!

Bicostp, please explain this editing the registry... My buttons have a little delay, does the editing fix that?

[Valium]

Can't you only push one button at a time on PDA's? I remember my mom used to have one, not sure of the brand, my brother put some NES games on it, and it was so hard to play with a max of one button being registered at any given time.

[Super Cameraman]

No, I can press more than one, but sometimes the buttons are on the screen, and it's not a multitouch screen, so you can only press those one at a time,

[CronoTriggerfan]

Thanks for the advice, bic, I'll get those emulators. Also, do I have to use ActiveSync, or can I transfer games via the SD card, or, if all else fails, SSH into it?

[Super Cameraman]

You can use the SD card if the program is .cab. Just copy the CAB onto the card, open it on the PocketPC, and it'll install. Some programs are EXE's and they need ActiveSync, unfortunately.

[CronoTriggerfan]

You can use the SD card if the program is .cab. Just copy the CAB onto the card, open it on the PocketPC, and it'll install. Some programs are EXE's and they need ActiveSync, unfortunately.

Ouch. Thanks for letting me know, at least!

After reading a few reviews of this thing, I'm glad I spent a few extra bucks for it. The WiFi will be a welcome addition, and even the 312MHz edition that I got runs Quake at a solid 15 frames per second, so it should handle the games I envisioned it running just fine. Speaking of games, can most of the emulators and non-touch games be configured to run via buttons as opposed to the on-screen controls? Because if not, that would kinda defeat the purpose of my project...

I know TCPMP is awesome, I used to run it on my Jornada. However, how about an alternative web browser? I hate the mobile version of IE, but are there any better third party browsers out there?

This is a bit more of an obscure question, but does anyone know what voltage the internal battery is running off of? Thanks!

[bicostp]

Also, do I have to use ActiveSync, or can I transfer games via the SD card, or, if all else fails, SSH into it?

Just use ActiveSync. (You have to if any of them come with Windows based installers, and that way you can install extra stuff to the SD card to save the internal memory for core software like TCPMP and PHM RegEdit.) If you hit 'cancel' on the 'set up a partnership' window, it won't sync your contacts and IE favorites or any of that crap. Right-click the ActiveSync icon in the system tray and select Explore (or select 'My Mobile Device' in 'My Computer') and you can browse it like it was any other removable device.

Personally, I haven't had any luck with loading stuff onto the SD card with a card reader.

ActiveSync is not that bad. Just use it; it will make things much easier.

If you want to show off a really fun (but virtually useless) trick, use the Terminal Services Client app (or a VNC client) to get into your desktop PC from it. Make an extra account with really small icons, tiny text, and no visual effects for best results.

As for an alternative browser, check out Opera Mobile. Version 8.65 is the last one for WM2003, but it's fast, can scale the entire page (not just text), and has tabs. (The tabs are kind of big on-screen; you might want a third-party skin for it.) It costs $25, but in my opinion it's worth the price. Try the demo.

Also, use the switcher bar Dell installs on the device. It's great for killing those programs that come with Windows Mobile that have no 'Exit' function of their own (practically all of them).

[CronoTriggerfan]

Thanks for the info, bic. The main reason I don't wanna use ActiveSync isn't because I "hate" it, I've used far worse transfer software. But relocating that proprietary data transfer port will be annoying.

And I'll be sure to check out OperaMobile, I use it as my main browser on my EEE and love it, hopefully this one is up to snuff, too.

[Super Cameraman]

As for configuring the emulators for actually buttons, I haven't used an emulator that doesn't allow it. The problem is that there aren't that many buttons on it. I think... 5 and a directional pad. And the 5 is including the button in the middle of the directional pad. So, it's fine for NES, but SNES could be a problem, unless you get a keyboard, but even then, I don't think wiring buttons to a keyboard is easy, with that whole membrane thing.