I received it last thursday so i had a little time to fiddle around with it and collect some first impressions.
The device itself:
The build quality is mediocre imo. It's acceptable but could be better. Some parts feel a little like cheap plastic. On the other hand it is very light. The two rechargables seem to be the heaviest part of it. Controls could be a little more ergonomic.
The display is very good. It's very bright and full of contrast. Even in bright sunlight i was able to see something.
The software:
The preinstalled firmware is easy to understand. Although the gp2x can be a geek tool for linux coders also non geeks should have no problems to use the handheld.
Installing software is a little more complex as on usual handhelds/consoles tho. You always have to read the readme to know where to place files on your sd card, fiddle around with different settings for the emulatet games etc. But thats part of the fun imo. You dont have to write scripts to use the device if you dont want to!
There are a lot of homebrewn games already. My personal focus is on emulators and interpretors tho.
Snes, Genesis and lower nintendo/sega console emulators run very well with full speed and sound. Neo Geo is a little complex to get to work but from what i know most games should run full speed with sound. Amiga runs a little slow yet but i managed to get a few games to work in playable speed with sound. There are also emulators for many other consoles and computers.
Scummvm (old lucas arts adventures) run perfect. Same goes for Ultima VII (omg!).
Video and music playback works fine. My rechargables (2x2600 mAh) last for around 2-3 hours when watching movies. Games probably longer except they run overclocked (how much batteries last depends a lot on how much cpu speed the programs use).
I must say i'm happy with my gp2x. It seems to be worth its money. Its cool to go out of the house and have so much entertainment fun in only one device and on one 2GB sd card. Best part is that i dont have to spent additional money for games. The web is full with legal and illegal (
) software that runs on the gp2x.