Good place to buy a gamebox advance sp?

[c0ldb33r]

I saw a review of this on YouTube. It looks great.

I don't really want to order from deal extreme.

Did anyone here order one? If so where did you get it?

[Satoshi_Matrix]

link to said youtube video. I want to take a look too.

[geezuzkhrist119]

Retro Game Tech did a mini review on youtube.
http://youtu.be/vc6MdEJDHUM

[understatement]

Why no love for Deal Extreme?

[Greg2600]

http://s.dealextreme.com/search/gamebox

Interesting product. My guess is they used the repro GBA SP shells for these. If the LCD's are well backlit, you're at worst getting a GBA SP-101 for $43. The "console" unit is a decent buy at $53. Cons might be that it's only composite video, and not sure how advanced a MAME game can be played with that hardware?

[Tupin]

So does it play GBA cartridges or not? If so, how does it do it, just emulation?

I wonder if it's available from DealExtreme's US warehouse. Shipping from Hong Kong takes forever...

[mr_nihilism]

And I was going to be the jerk that had to point out the spelling mistake in your title. Never mind.

[Greg2600]

This review on the website seems to be the most informative...


Pros:
- Looks like a real GBA SP
- More than 140 GBA games in the memory, and they aren't repeated. Also, a few CPS1 games. - GBA and CPS1 games work at full speed. Only 2 or 3 show a little slow down. - Play games from a microSD, just drop the .gba files on the SD root folder - USB charging mode - USB connection with PC - You can erase built-in games and load yours. Just include them inside GAMES folder. Savefiles go on SAVES folder. - Adjustable brightness level - In-game special menu. Includes savestates, Tv mode, Game guide, and soft-reset. - TV connection works great, games look just a little deformed, but speed is ok. - Save your games normally (.sav file) or you can use savestates through in-game menu - In game guides!! - Soft Reset Function - AVI and MP3 playing is ok.
Cons:
- Battery life is short, moreless 2 hours of gameplay.
- Buttons are a bit noisy and a little hard to press. Just a little. - Golden Sun 1 and 2 are hardly playable because the slowdown in combats. - Can't connect earphones without an special adapter. - Cannot read Gameboy Color carts - When you insert an original GBA cart, the save file gets erased. Be careful! - MP4 playing worked bad for me, maybe the file was very big.
Other Thoughts:
- I think that this is the best GBA clone you can buy around here. I'm really surprised.
- I think the only real con is the battery life, too short. But you can buy an alternative battery here in DX, or use one of your old original GBA SP or NDS phat. - I didn't try the link cable for multiplayer games, but I bought one, so I will write a post on the forum when I have the results.


I'd figure the bottom line is if you want something that looks like a GBA SP, this is a nice product. But there are probably many other handheld devices that will emulate the same kinds of stuff.

[c0ldb33r]

Why no love for Deal Extreme?
I've bought from them a few times and I've eventually received my items, but it took MONTHS!

[StealthLurker]

I got one of those fake GBA SP's with the "brighter backlit" screen a couple months ago from DealExtreme. Yes it does play real GBA carts. It also has 100 builtin-in games ranging from NES, SNES, GBA and homebrew. It's actually very nice, especially for the price.

By the way, they also just recently came out with another GBA clone however its modeled after the shape of the very first gameboy advance. However it does have a backlit screen. I ordered one of these about 2 weeks ago. Seems like a cheaper and easier alternative to modding a real first gen GBA with the afterburner backlight kit.

BTW, the stuff I've ordered from Dealextreme took about 6-8 weeks... not months lol.


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[kedawa]

I usually get my DX order in less than a month, but I don't order much from them these days, on account of them no longer selling ninja stars.

[Aussie2B]

I found shopping with DealExtreme to be a nightmare. I've only done so once, but I don't intend to ever use them again if I can avoid it. It was around 4 months before I finally got my item. Around 2 months for the first to arrive, which was packed like shit, and it was either broken or defective. Then, after terrible communication and jumping through hoops to prove that it wasn't working, I had to wait another 2 months to get a replacement, praying that it would work fine, which thankfully it did. I consider myself understanding when it comes to problems and patient when it comes to shipping (after all, I usually opt for SAL from Japan), but that was RIDICULOUS.

[c0ldb33r]

I can't find anywhere but DX to get one of these - I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and get it there.

I appreciate the free shipping, but is that why it sucks so bad? I'm happy to pay a few bucks to speed things up!

[understatement]

I order stuff from DX all the time and with about 200+ orders I’ve only had two take over a month (one was on backorder and they hadn’t updated the site to show it) and only a hand full of DOAs there returns have gotten a lot better so only a few of them were a pain.


I can't find anywhere but DX to get one of these - I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and get it there.

I appreciate the free shipping, but is that why it sucks so bad? I'm happy to pay a few bucks to speed things up!

Also to the people that it took a long time for shipping did you add the “Drop Shipment and Gift Service? (http://www.dealextreme.com/p/drop-shipment-and-gift-service-1888)” Most of the time it only takes a few days for the package to get here from China but then it spends most of its time in customs. Adding this greatly reduces the time in customs most of the time.

I think that the normal shipping has incorporated most of what this did (like declaring as gift and not saying what the contents are) but customs know the DX name and hold most of the packages from DX to check them for illegal lasers, cell phone blockers, and what not. So if you drop the DX name you reduce the chance of this happing.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I order stuff from DX all the time and with about 200+ orders I’ve only had two take over a month (one was on backorder and they hadn’t updated the site to show it) and only a hand full of DOAs there returns have gotten a lot better so only a few of them were a pain.



Also to the people that it took a long time for shipping did you add the “Drop Shipment and Gift Service? (http://www.dealextreme.com/p/drop-shipment-and-gift-service-1888)” Most of the time it only takes a few days for the package to get here from China but then it spends most of its time in customs. Adding this greatly reduces the time in customs most of the time.

I think that the normal shipping has incorporated most of what this did (like declaring as gift and not saying what the contents are) but customs know the DX name and hold most of the packages from DX to check them for illegal lasers, cell phone blockers, and what not. So if you drop the DX name you reduce the chance of this happing.

This!

I'm a serial DX order-er and I was just gonna post all of this.

[c0ldb33r]

This!

I'm a serial DX order-er and I was just gonna post all of this.
Good idea. Next time I order something from DX I'll try those.

Unfortunately I already ordered the Gamebox before I read your post LOL

[Aussie2B]

Also to the people that it took a long time for shipping did you add the “Drop Shipment and Gift Service? (http://www.dealextreme.com/p/drop-shipment-and-gift-service-1888)” Most of the time it only takes a few days for the package to get here from China but then it spends most of its time in customs. Adding this greatly reduces the time in customs most of the time.

I think that the normal shipping has incorporated most of what this did (like declaring as gift and not saying what the contents are) but customs know the DX name and hold most of the packages from DX to check them for illegal lasers, cell phone blockers, and what not. So if you drop the DX name you reduce the chance of this happing.

I didn't. How is anybody supposed to know to do that? :? The blame still goes to DealExtreme, though, not the customer for not picking that, if their business practices are so questionable that customs knows to look for illegal items from them. How about they, you know, not sell illegal items?

I sure hope the improvements to returns were made within the last several months because my order was only a year ago. If that was the "improved" experience, then I don't even want to imagine what it was like before.

[StealthLurker]

I didn't. How is anybody supposed to know to do that? :? The blame still goes to DealExtreme, though, not the customer for not picking that, if their business practices are so questionable that customs knows to look for illegal items from them. How about they, you know, not sell illegal items?

I sure hope the improvements to returns were made within the last several months because my order was only a year ago. If that was the "improved" experience, then I don't even want to imagine what it was like before.

If you spend any time looking through DX you'll see that they specialize in grey market goods.... more so than lik-sang ever did, which I think is a huge plus for niche/strange gadget fans. Back in the day you couldn't obtain obscure stuff like this conveniently. You had to go to Hong Kong or have a friend/relative ship it to you. I remember trips to Hong Kong and seeing the weirdest/coolest gadgets with functions I always wanted, but questionable in legality from a US perspective. Haha, some of the stuff I've brought back in the past have made interesting exchanges with the customs officials at the airport.

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[squirrel_king]

For what it's worth, these clones are emulation-based so GBA games don't run perfectly; you're not exactly getting a cheap AGS-101, basically they have similar capabilities to your average Chinese MP4 player/emulator console, only with the added bonus of a GBA cart slot.

There is one in the works (from "K-Team") that is an actual hardware clone, though, using a CPU which is 100% compatible with the GBA's when underclocked, and it seems to have perfect GBA compatibility; theyre also working on a version that can also play media and emulated games from an SD card. there's quite a bit of info here: http://obscurehandhelds.wordpress.com/2011/12/11/the-gba-is-dead-long-live-the-gba/
It can link with real GBAs too - the only feature it lacks from the original is GB/GBC support (apparently the technology supports it but the team felt there wasn't the demand to include it. Which is a shame, really - I'd buy one in a heartbeat if it could play GBC)

[c0ldb33r]

That's very cool - what's the price?

[StealthLurker]

http://obscurehandhelds.wordpress.com/2011/12/11/the-gba-is-dead-long-live-the-gba/

Very nice and thanks for the heads up!

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[squirrel_king]

That's very cool - what's the price?

Dunno yet - the team haven't announced anything AFAIK. I'm sure it'll be mentioned on that blog when they do, though.

[Aussie2B]

If you spend any time looking through DX you'll see that they specialize in grey market goods.... more so than lik-sang ever did, which I think is a huge plus for niche/strange gadget fans. Back in the day you couldn't obtain obscure stuff like this conveniently. You had to go to Hong Kong or have a friend/relative ship it to you. I remember trips to Hong Kong and seeing the weirdest/coolest gadgets with functions I always wanted, but questionable in legality from a US perspective. Haha, some of the stuff I've brought back in the past have made interesting exchanges with the customs officials at the airport.

.

That still doesn't make sense to me. If there is stuff from DealExtreme that customs would confiscate, how do they sell it in the first place? What, they just go off of the luck of the draw that it might slip through? I don't get it. If they only sold things that customs would let through, then customs wouldn't see the need to hold everything forever.

And if they know that they're shady and that they have trouble with customs, why don't they leave the DealExtreme name off of every package? Rather than expect the customer to know to mark it as a "gift".

[Tupin]

Does the service of removing the logo from the package really work? Do you really get your package in two weeks compared to the two months without it?

[BlastProcessing402]

I order stuff from DX all the time and with about 200+ orders I’ve only had two take over a month (one was on backorder and they hadn’t updated the site to show it) and only a hand full of DOAs there returns have gotten a lot better so only a few of them were a pain.



Also to the people that it took a long time for shipping did you add the “Drop Shipment and Gift Service? (http://www.dealextreme.com/p/drop-shipment-and-gift-service-1888)” Most of the time it only takes a few days for the package to get here from China but then it spends most of its time in customs. Adding this greatly reduces the time in customs most of the time.

I think that the normal shipping has incorporated most of what this did (like declaring as gift and not saying what the contents are) but customs know the DX name and hold most of the packages from DX to check them for illegal lasers, cell phone blockers, and what not. So if you drop the DX name you reduce the chance of this happing.

My issues with DX had nothing to do with customs, it has to do with them being f'ing liars and claiming they have things in stock when they don't, so I'd order something "in stock" and as soon as I did the status (in my order, not on the site where it kept staying in stock) would change constantly to different variations on "waiting on stock".

My first order, of "in stock" items finally shipped about 3 weeks after I placed the order, and after that took about a week to get to me, not a single problem with customs or anything.

My last order, I finally got fed up with the bastards after they hadn't shipped my "in stock" item well over a month after I placed the order, so I canceled the whole transaction and decided not to order from them again. This wasn't even anything ultra rare or anything, just an Xbox360 transfer cable. If I'd done the smart thing and spent a few more bucks I could've had one from Amazon in days.

And while it didn't ever happen to me personally, there are enough stories out there of DX selling fake versions of memory cards and stuff (without mentioning they're fake) that they just aren't worth it, despite the rock bottom prices.

[StealthLurker]

That still doesn't make sense to me. If there is stuff from DealExtreme that customs would confiscate, how do they sell it in the first place?

Maybe the United States isn't the only country it sells to? Mexico?



What, they just go off of the luck of the draw that it might slip through? I don't get it. If they only sold things that customs would let through, then customs wouldn't see the need to hold everything forever.

And if they know that they're shady and that they have trouble with customs, why don't they leave the DealExtreme name off of every package? Rather than expect the customer to know to mark it as a "gift".

Maybe overall not enough people see a problem with this and or complain to them about it.

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[squirrel_king]

Maybe the United States isn't the only country it sells to? Mexico?
exactly - DX ships worldwide, different countries have different laws about these things. DX doesn't generally keep track of what is and isn't allowed in each country, theyre based in China so they only have to comply with Chinese law. If a customer wants to order something that might be confiscated by their country's customs, thats their own risk to take.

[Aussie2B]

They may not be responsible, but if they want to actually be viewed as a quality, respectable business, then they should care about providing a pleasant experience for the customer. I'm sure they've been in business long enough to know if they have issues with US customs, so all they need to is prevent US orders on certain types of items. Or not put their name on the address label. Or put a note for the buyer that they should pick "gift" service. Or SOMETHING.

It's your prerogative if you guys want to worship DealExtreme and think they can do no wrong, but my experience was awful with them and I highly doubt that you guys would be happy with waiting 4 months and all of the other issues either. If you've never had any problems, then consider yourselves lucky, but I personally will always recommend that people DON'T use DealExtreme. In all of my many years shopping online, I've never had a more frustrating experience with an online store.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

They may not be responsible, but if they want to actually be viewed as a quality, respectable business, then they should care about providing a pleasant experience for the customer. I'm sure they've been in business long enough to know if they have issues with US customs, so all they need to is prevent US orders on certain types of items. Or not put their name on the address label. Or put a note for the buyer that they should pick "gift" service. Or SOMETHING.

It's your prerogative if you guys want to worship DealExtreme and think they can do no wrong, but my experience was awful with them and I highly doubt that you guys would be happy with waiting 4 months and all of the other issues either. If you've never had any problems, then consider yourselves lucky, but I personally will always recommend that people DON'T use DealExtreme. In all of my many years shopping online, I've never had a more frustrating experience with an online store.

Well, in some respects I worship the service they provide, because the prices, the products and the FREE SHIPPING are really really tough to beat.

BUT I know that it's certainly not perfect and there are major pitfalls - I've had items that were listed "in stock" get stuck in packing limbo for weeks/months and then never ship at all based on discontinuation of the product where I've had to ask for a refund/credit, and I've had smaller, inexpensive items take months to get to me, but I order SO frequently from them (almost weekly) that I've just become accustomed to the lack of speed by which they deliver.

There are a lot of eBay sellers that are obviously doing the same kind of warehouse drop-shipping as DX and they tend to get the stuff out a bit faster, so, if you absolutely have to have something on DX faster, you can probably find it on eBay if you poke around, but the price on the item will typically be a bit more, or include shipping charges.

In the case of these GameBox SP units, they're not on eBay at all that I can find.

But, to your original point, yes, DX can be a shitty experience, but, like I said, I'm a serial user of their service, and overall it's worth the occasional headache.