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Your history with SBC devices

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K3Nv4

K3Nv4

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I'm curious about your past history with these devices or what made you first learn about them? What was the first SBC device that really caught your interest?

Back in 2013 I was just learning about different ways you could mod original Xbox and was instantly hooked. Learning you could play genesis etc on og Xbox hardware seemed so cool at the time. I was deep into being a console nerd during those years. Soon after using software like Xboxhdm to clone HDD upgrads it was much harder. Needing specific old XP builds that even supported booting into Linux software was a difficult task at the time. We didn't have bios options like today's cerbios that unlocks every model of HDD to be compatible with upgrades

Soon after I started with psp cfw just using cfw and early 5.0 chickenhen days the fact a tft file could exploit PSPs was entertaining.

Fast forward and I learned about companies making PSP like clones that didn't even require any type of mods made life so much easier. All you needed was an SD card and a specific file structure and you were golden.

The first device that caught my attention was the GCW Zero. I had a few email interactions with the owner as they were a smaller company that were looking for people to test the new product. It was a killer little device for 2013. I regret selling it off but from memory $200 was hard to pass up. Such a cool sleek little dingus. Really not that different from what we have now just prettier screens and faster chips that are easily supporting PS2/3DS/Switch etc...
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https://superfuntimevideogaminggirl.com/2016/06/03/gcw-zero-the-best-handheld-youve-never-heard-of/
 
I always wanted one but they were always too expensive for a penniless student from a third world country :tpi:
So I made do with homebrew on the GBA and later DS. They had games and emulators but also movie players, music players and e-book readers and the DS had a bunch of other stuff that made it a full PDA at a time when smartphones were still rare and expensive.

I've been following the SBC devices and I love how cheap and powerful and varied they became. The one thing I noticed though is that with smartphones around, all the homebrew took a back seat and the devices focused only on games and emulation which is, granted, their main purpose by far, but I still miss the homebrew.
 
Veho said:
I always wanted one but they were always too expensive for a penniless student from a third world country :tpi:
So I made do with homebrew on the GBA and later DS. They had games and emulators but also movie players, music players and e-book readers and the DS had a bunch of other stuff that made it a full PDA at a time when smartphones were still rare and expensive.

I've been following the SBC devices and I love how cheap and powerful and varied they became. The one thing I noticed though is that with smartphones around, all the homebrew took a back seat and the devices focused only on games and emulation which is, granted, their main purpose by far, but I still miss the homebrew.
Click to expand...
Because Android became the perfect OS for emulation mostly due to its open source concept people would rather have just working emulation apps. Sort of a AIO device. The main device we really had that supported this outside the big 3 for TVs was the Nvidia shield. I think that set the tone in what helped narrow down a good standard device without being that expensive. And thanks to type c being so universal with dock mode setting.

These little handhelds mass production definitely took note imo from that and helped lower prices to where we could have new affordable printed pcbs and relive the same form factor ability while having both options to be docked or portable is what makes them stand out these days. More of the same isn't always bad if it functions better.
 
Dual booting has been a boon for the little handheld consoles, you get Android for all your apps and then some lightweight OS for a tighter focus and less bloat, if you need a snappier front end.
 
Veho said:
Dual booting has been a boon for the little handheld consoles, you get Android for all your apps and then some lightweight OS for a tighter focus and less bloat, if you need a snappier front end.
Click to expand...
Oh yeah custom os is definitely popular that helps strip down some of the bloated software. A feature I wish was supported more on android phones but companies yeeted that idea cause durr policies.
 

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