Topic: GPD Win 2: The Most Powerful Handheld Ever Made

It's not perfect- it's a handheld system and any handheld system is going to have compromise in terms of ergonomics. That's just a given.

But the layout works. The 2 innermost buttons are a little further in than I'd like, but the alternative is the old layout of the first GPD Win and that wasn't as good, so it's the best you can get on a handheld with full keyboard included.

It's good enough though. It works. Especially comfy for games that use the 2nd analog like Bioshock Infinite and Darksiders 1 and 2.

So ya, layout isn't perfect, but it's good enough. It works

@JaxonH thanks for answering, I appreciate it!

No prob.

It's like Switch. It's not perfect because it's a handheld layout. Switch has an awkward reach on the right analog, but it works. People use it and enjoy it. Doesnt stop anyone from loving the Switch.

Same here. It's a bit of an awkward reach for the inner buttons while pressing the R2 shoulder button (not a problem if you're not using R2 also because the hand can more easily slide inward). But it works. Won't stop me from enjoying it.

All portable systems have to make compromise but I'd say this is pretty good.

Anyways, this thing is so freaking rad! Playing Portal 2, Darksiders 1 and 2, Bioshock Infinite, Devil May Cry (DMC), Alan Wake, Ori and the Blind Forest, Far Cry 3, Assassins Creed 2 (maybe Black Flag also, have to see if it runs), X-COM, Dragon Age Origins and Dragon Age 2, Dragons Dogma, practically every single GameCube game in Dolphin, PS2 games, PSP games, Wii games, SNES, Genesis and SegaCD and 32X, NES and GBA, N64, the list goes on and on!

Its just SO nice and high quality. They outdid themselves. They really did

@JaxonH This is probably not a very sensible query but... can you play RTS or turn-based games such as CIVILIZATION, STARCRAFT II or AGE OF EMPIRES/MYTHOLOGY on this device?

I've always wanted to carry on playing the PC games I loved in the past but am practically never sat in front of a computer so would need to be mobile solution which alas falls down due to the controls often required of these games.

I guess if you don't mind the size of the screen and the input methods.

@Yosheel
It's 6", same size as a Switch screen. Obviously anyone who buys a handheld doesn't mind the size of the screen, or else they wouldn't be buying the handheld device to begin with. And as far as handhelds go, this has the largest screen of any traditional handheld gaming device ever made. Bigger than PSP, Vita, GameBoy, GBA, DS or 3DS. It's even as big as the Switch screen yet still remains pocket portable.

@Lroy
You can play any game that can run. It has a switch that toggles between mouse mode and controller mode. So if you want to play a game with a controller you just toggle the switch after you started and the mouse cursor disappears and it controls with the buttons instead (provided the game has Controller support- some of the older PC games don't have controller support).

If it's a game that uses a mouse, you simply play in mouse mode where the right analog moves the mouse. Clicking R2 makes the mouse move at 2x speed. I would only play a game in mouse mode if it was like, a turn based tactical game or something like that. But trying to click and move the camera around in a third person adventure game... that probably wouldn't be the best way to go 😆

Switch is 6.2"

@Knuckles-Fajita
... yes, and?

What resolution is it btw? 1080p?

The thing is that, yes it's a similar screen size to the switch's, but if you get this it is because you want to play PC games.

You know, PCs tend to have larger monitors, and PC games are usually developed with that in mind.

Your experience playing Civilization 6 or whatever on a 30" monitor may be very different from playing it on this 6" screen.

It's something very important to take in mind for anyone planning to buy this to play specific titles.

As I said in my post, if you don't mind the screen size and input methods, it should be fine.

@Knuckles-Fajita
Well, I'm not splitting hairs here. It's about the same size. You hold them side-by-side and I can't tell the difference.

It's 720p, just like Switch. 1080 P would drain the battery far too much. Not to mention, 720p looks just as sharp anyways- a screen that size has such high ppi that I wouldn't even notice a higher res. And a lot of the games just wouldn't be able to run with the extra processing power going to quadrupling the resolution to 1080p. The juice isn't worth the squeeze, as they say.

It has twice the battery capacity as switch, but still averages about 3-4 hrs without overclocking. I run at the stock 7 watts, but you can change to the 12 watt profile in the BIOS and get 122% performance compared to the stock 7 watt profile. But it comes at a high cost of battery life where you're looking at 2.5 hours max. And honestly I would rather have the battery life. If a game can't run on the system with stock settings out of the box then I'll just play another game. There's so many games that can run, I'm not too concerned about squeezing every ounce of juice just to be able to run a few extra games.

@Yosheel
Disagree. Just because you want to play games that are on the PC does not necessarily mean you are looking for the cultural "PC gaming". Anyone who buys this is looking for handheld gaming, not "PC gaming". But they're looking for handheld gaming with the breath of the PC library, and advantages offered by PC as a platform such as emulating Gamecube games and Wii games and PS2 games.

Nobody, and I do mean nobody, is buying this looking for "PC gaming" as most come to think of it with high graphics and monitors. Anyone who is looking for that is going to go buy a desktop PC and a monitor. The people who buy this are handheld gamers and want a handheld gaming experience.

Besides, you can't lump everyone in the entire world into neat little categories and say the only people who play on a computer are those who want big monitors and high graphics. There are all kinds of people in this world who want all kinds of different things and buy all kinds of different platforms for all kinds of different reasons.

... Except the person I am replying to specifically mentions "PC culture" examples. Also I'm not lumping anyone. That's your own doing thinking that anyone wanting to play PC games will want to to be part of this "PC culture" you bring up.

Do you really find it disagreeable that people should keep in mind the limitations of the hardware when buying a personal computer or software for it?

I'm just stating the obvious.

@JaxonH
Btw, if i compared GPD 2 with Decent Laptop in term of Prices and Minimum Requirement to play Steam games, which is better ?
Because in my opinion, i still choose Laptop due to :
1. Easy to founded in my country.
2. There is a White laptop.
3. The screen is bigger than GPD 2.
4. I can use it for work in the school.
5. Enable to detect Controller for PC.

Btw, did you play Steam games OFFLINE without Streaming ?

Edit: Steam / PC games that i want to play just Portal Knights & The Sims 4.

I personally have a really nice windows tablet.

I can run a surprising amount of games on it... But to be honest since I use it mostly for work, I'm afraid using it for games will kill the battery faster.

@Yosheel
??

I have no idea what you're talking about or how you just came to the conclusions you did.

You said

PCs tend to have larger monitors, and PC games are usually developed with that in mind

And that's just not factually true. Most of the games on PC are console games now. So when you say "if you get this it is because you want to play PC games" all you're really saying is, if you get this it's because you want to play games. Just games. Not "PC" games, just games. Some of them might be games designed for the PC, but many of them won't be.

You're essentially saying the only people who would want this are people looking for "PC-oriented games, most of which are designed for large monitor setups". And that's wrong on two counts- the fact that's not the only people, and the fact most games on PC are not designed around some large monitor setup. They might be designed as console games, yes, and that I would agree with you on, but I wouldn't narrow that down to PC specifically. While there are many PC oriented games that exist there are far more that simply coexist as console/PC games.

All this to say I don't think it's right to try to categorize people who buy a handheld gaming device as anyone other than those looking for handheld gaming.

@Yosheel
Tablets are neat for gaming, but what I've found is I don't use them to game on because there's no controller attached. And having an attached controller is really convenient for a portable gaming device. Although detaching it is a really awesome thing (like Switch) not having the option to attach kind of kills the convenience I think.

I'm guessing you have a Surface Pro? I was reading the fact sheet for this GPD Win 2, and I believe they said it uses the same processor as the Surface Pro. So you've probably got a pretty good idea of what this thing can handle just based on what your tablet can handle.

A PC game can be a hyper realistic shooter. It can also be a point and click adventure. Maybe even a pay to win puzzle game. But this person wants to play StarCraft. Not those games. That's what I replied to.

Anyway, my tablet came with a keyboard attachment so I can play some complex games on it. Its not very comfortable though, so I try to keep it at simpler touchscreen games.

It's a Samsung Galaxy tab pro s or something like that. It's actually a little bit of an older model by now.

The screen is amazing, but a little bit too big for my tastes.

I didn't know the Galaxy tablets ran Windows. I was always under the impression they were Android-based.

I'm absolutely horrid with a keyboard. I have a gaming PC connected to my TV (I treat it like a console) and I have a wireless keyboard with a built-in trackpad mouse so that I can navigate the OS with one single keyboard device in my recliner. But God help me if I had to use that thing to play a video game with lol. I only play games with a controller. I did buy a steam controller though which kind of imitates the mouse with the trackpads. I downloaded some really good configuration files for a lot of games and I almost prefer playing them with the steam controller. Dragon Age Origins, using the trackpad as the mouse to rotate the camera... oh my gosh, it's incredible. I love it way more than using the bog standard X1 Controller.

I've always had a fascination with handheld gaming though. Ever since I was a teenager I had this innate desire to accumulate all my favorite games on a handheld device. For over a decade I've wanted Metroid prime on a handheld. That dream just came true. And Xenoblade on a handheld. And Last Story on a handheld. And Paper Mario Thousand Year Door. And Zelda Twilight Princess and Windwaker. And... on and on and on.

PORTAL FREAKING 2... on a handheld! HALF LIFE 2... on a handheld! With max settings! When I bought the PS Vita the day it released that was what I wanted from it. In fact that was the only thing I wanted from it. And I never got it. When I heard about GPD Win, the original Win, I was more than a little intrigued. But the device had some kinks in it like the heat sink and getting really hot, and it just wasn't quite powerful enough to run Dolphin, and it just just a smidge too weak for most 7th gen AAA games. You could run Fallout New Vegas and Dark Souls on low settings, but those were the exceptions rather than the rule.

And that's why this device is so exciting to me. It's finally gives me what I've been wanting for all these years.

I believe the tabpro series is their windows line but yeah it's rather confusing. It certainly doesn't include Android. It might've been cool if it included both though. I know some tablets do that.

I have a program that lets me sync my WiiU pro controller as an Xbox one controller. It's really good for games that use console controls.