Gaming K101 up for preorder!

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Just got my K101 today. I can't wait to get home from work to load it up with games. Here are my first impressions:

The hardware is really nice, very well put together. I will admit that there are screen issues with image scaling. I'll try to take some example pictures tonight to show what that means. The buttons are nice and responsive, but the shoulder buttons have a lot of movement and not the quick *click* movement you get with original GBA hardware. The video-out function worked very well. The video output is over composite, so you can only get so good a video signal out of it. That is to be expected.
 
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the shoulder buttons are free-floating but i've found them extremely responsive. are you experiencing something different?

please do share some photos of the screen. i haven't found any scaling issues. just the normal sharp edges and less than optimal crispness when the 32bit sprites are stretched to fit the screen.

-another world
 
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Also note that bright button + down enable/disable the screen stretching.

Overall, i am more than happy with the Revo K101. This product really works very well, the screen quality is really pleasant, the handheld is light enough.

I'm really satisfied :)
 
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To let you guys well use the Hotkey, I will include some as below :


* LCD brigthness LCD- to adjust the brightness on screen

*+A Auto_Fire switch- Auto fire- combo

*+B Cheat switch - cheat file button

*+START- Backup save to TF memory card

*+LEFT- LCD/TV switch LCD/TV

*+RIGHT- TV NTSC/PAL switch TV

*+DOWN- Screen aspect_radio

*+R- Enter sleep mode

*+L- Return to menu



@ewzzy

the should buttons are free floating design. They are in good use- responsive. It will not effect you to use them.



I hope you guys who receive the Revo K101 can share more here:lol:
 
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I took a bunch of pictures. First off here is a GBASP with backlight:
14-g3x2_0.jpg

13-g3x2_1.jpg

14-g3x2_2.jpg

15-g3x2_3.jpg

16-g3x2_4.jpg

17-g3x2_5.jpg

18-g3x2_6.jpg

Note that the screen is pretty low resolution, but the pixels are 1 to 1 with the content.

Next is the K101 in the default 4x3 mode:

06-k4x3_0.jpg

07-k4x3_1.jpg

08-k4x3_2.jpg

09-k4x3_3.jpg

10-k4x3_4.jpg

11-k4x3_5.jpg

Note that with the high resolution you can't see the individual pixels, but the scaling is just a little off. Scenes that fit the screen perfectly are a little less perfect. It's hard to show in pictures.
4-k101.jpg

Fine details that are one pixel across blur. This is especially noticeable in text.
The 3x2 mode doesn't fix it, it actually makes it worse.
01-k3x2_0.jpg

02-k3x2_1.jpg

03-k3x2_2.jpg

04-k3x2_3.jpg

05-k3x2_4.jpg

Instead of mapping the pixels to to the screen better it seems to be removing lines to fit the 3x2 space. This is makes text especially bad.
As a bonus here are two shots of
19-tv_0.jpg

20-tv_1.jpg

Those are the two scaling modes. I had some issues with the audio. Audio comes out both the K101 and the tv. If you turn down the K101, the tv volume goes with it. The cable is also a little picky with varying levels of visual noise and buzzing sound if it isn't in just right.


I realize that this has come across as very negative, but I've just found that the K101 is a little rough around the edges. It still has a lot of good points. It's a well put together machine and the seamlessness of loading roms on the microsd and playing them is great. The screen is VERY bright. It's lowest setting is comparable to the GBA SP AGS-101's brightest. I'd love to see further revisions of the device with better screen scaling, so maybe when the K202 comes around. ;)
 
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WTF for me the K101 screen is better than the original SP one, THANK GOD.
Please send mine K101, i can't wait to have this little device in my hands.
 
Oh no doubt in the least. The screen in incredible, I would of payed more to be sure! It is bright to be sure, too bright actually I dim it a bit as default. What is amazing though is the VIVID colors. It's so good it reminds me of how bland the Donkey Kong Country port is in terms of color, compared to the SNES original! :-p
 
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I'm not trying to start a fight. If you don't see the scaling issues that I see, then you will love your K101. I have been playing mine fairly regularly since I got it and though I'll stick with my DSI XL with DStwo or AGS-101 for most GBA games this is a great way to play them. Despite the slight slowdown (pointed out by obscurehandhelds.wordpress.com) the Tony Hawk GBA games are great to play on the K101. You can reconfigure the controls so they mimic the PSX controls with all four face buttons.
 
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Hello there,

ewzzy has shot the perfect example of what is wrong with the screen : see the text line "THE LEGENDARY POKÉMON CARDS..." : on the 2nd shot (k101) the first horizontal row of pixels is nearly rubbed away.

I took a bunch of pictures. First off here is a GBASP with backlight:

14-g3x2_2.jpg


01-k3x2_0.jpg

One can see it on diagonal lines too. Here is a comparison between VisualBoyAdvance and Revo K101.
megaman vba.png VBA
megaman k101a.png K101
I circled little “imperfections” which appear regularly on the screen, all along an horizontal line. I also drew imaginary lines in line with these rows. The thing is, the eye can descry these lines when the screen scrolls. That's what I called tearing on my first post.
I tried to catch it in move but my camera seams to rub out that effect (edit: damn stabilizer). Nevertheless, here are the videos :


Hope this can help ^_^
 
Hello there,

ewzzy has shot the perfect example of what is wrong with the screen : see the text line "THE LEGENDARY POKÉMON CARDS..." : on the 2nd shot (k101) the first horizontal row of pixels is nearly rubbed away.



One can see it on diagonal lines too. Here is a comparison between VisualBoyAdvance and Revo K101.
View attachment 1191 VBA
View attachment 1192 K101
I circled little “imperfections” which appear regularly on the screen, all along an horizontal line. I also drew imaginary lines in line with these rows. The thing is, the eye can descry these lines when the screen scrolls. That's what I called tearing on my first post.
I tried to catch it in move but my camera seams to rub out that effect (edit: damn stabilizer). Nevertheless, here are the videos :


Hope this can help ^_^


K101 have a image miles away better than the original SP(Don't care bout the text thing, while the whole picture is fair better on K101).
Please dont compare VBA with any device, it's not fair even with the SP Brighter.
 
Really solid review! Agreed on all points!
I will be working on a custom solution so the dpad can get a touch tighter. It really does grow on you though! Amazing design!
 
the scaling causes some text to be unreadable when toying with gba-based emulation. it also does cause some of the issues i see in the above photos. in all honesty, the gba game complaints aren't bothering me. i'm not a purist and i don't need a 1:1 experience to enjoy these games on the k101.

with that said, thanks for the images and for taking the time to make your post. i do appreciate it.

-another world
 
WTF for me the K101 screen is better than the original SP one, THANK GOD.
Please send mine K101, i can't wait to have this little device in my hands.

You already have a little device :lol:
 
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