AYN ODIN 2 PORTAL

AYN ODIN 2 PORTAL

Why
did I get the Ayn Odin 2 Portal you may be asking? I only got it to
complete the trio, Ayn Odin 2, Ayn Odin 2 Mini and now Ayn Odin 2
Portal, I just had to have it and I'm addicted to backing things on
Kickstarter which is where I got it from. Seriously I bought it, initially to use as a tester for different
emulators and streaming services (game and TV).

I bought the Ayn Odin 2 Portal Pro version with 12GB of memory and
512GB storage in the indigo colour. The max version may have been
overkill but I may never know. The extra onboard storage may have
been handy to have.


Some
handhelds have style, some have substance but the Ayn Odin 2 Portal
has both with its shiny all glass front and its beautiful  rounded
corners with great ergonomics, the bumps on the back are sufficient
for me.

 Odin 2
 Odin 2 Mini 
 Odin 2 Portal
 CPU
 SD 8 Gen 2 
 SD 8 Gen 2 
 SD 8 Gen 2 
 GPU
 Adreno 740
 Adreno 740
 Adreno 740
 Screen
 6" IPS/OLED
 5" Full HD LED
 7" AMOLED 120Hz 
 Resolution
 1920x1080p
 1920x1080p
 1920x1080p
 RAM
 16GB
 12GB
 12GB
 Storage 
 512GB UFS 4.0 
 1TB UFS 4.0
 512GB UFS 4.0
 Ex Storage 
 microSD
 microSD
 microSD
 OS
 Android 13
 Android 13
 Android 13
 Wi-Fi
 7
 7
 7
 Bluetooth
 5.3
 5.3 
 5.3
 Battery
 8000mAh
 5000mAh
 8000mAh
 Connectivity 
 USB-C
 USB-C
 USB-C
 Misc
 Active Cooling
 65W Fast Charge 
 Active Cooling
As you xcan see from the chart above they are pretty much the same internally but that is not the be all and end all. The differing form factors play a big part, the small form of the Odin 2 Mini makes it more portable than the Odin 2 Portal but the odin 2 Portal looks a lot more premium then either the Odin 2 or the Odin 2 Mini.

I
knew before I even parted with my money that this was something
special and that I would like to do something special with it,
possibly PlayStation 3 emulation, wouldn't it be good to have a
portable PlayStation 3, but I recently decided to make one of my Odin
3s my PlayStation portable with Playstation 1, Playstation 2,
Playstation 3, PlayStation Portable and PSVita.

So
not needing this as a PlayStation portable I decided I would make it
my Steam machine as this is something I hadn't tried before. I did a
bit of Googling and downloaded GameHub for Android and got that
installed. I must admit I dived right in without doing any research
other than watching a couple of short videos all saying how easy it
was to do and how great it was once setup. First thing to do was to
create a Steam account which was really easy to do.

So
far so good, now let's buy a couple of games, some of my favourites: 
Dead Island Definitive Edition, Quantum Break, UNCHARTED™: Legacy
of Thieves Collection  and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. I was looking
forward to trying all of these.

I must admit this is a great pairing, on opening GameHub you no longer feel as though you are emulating another system.

Would I Recommend the Ayn Odin 2 portal?
The Odin 2 Portal makes an excellent handheld as part of a collection or even as your only handheld. It's large, it's shiney and is a confortable thing to hold for extended gaming sessions.

Would I Recommend GameHub?
This post was not really intended as a blog about GameHub but the pairing of the Odin 2 Portal and GameHub is excellent for those who like their Windows, XBox, GOG or Steam games on the go, although I haven't tried it while I've been out yet. The only drawback I have found so far is the amount of noise the fan makes which also drains the battery a little faster.

Follow and comment below

Michael

GB350: GAME PLAYER

GB350: GAME PLAYER

Yesterday on a bit whim I went and bought something on the spur of the moment. I decided to have a nosey on Amazon, there's a surprise, and did a search for the word “Console”, there were quite a few pages so I decided to narrow it down to what could be delivered tomorrow (which is now today). I though I would go for something a little more bargain than my usual purchases.

I
found the GB350 which is the model but I couldn't find out the maker,
very strange. The unit cost me £49.99, probably one of the cheapest
handhelds I've ever purchased. As well as game playing it also has
some multimedia functions such as:
Movies:
Select
'Movie' from the main menu to play video files. The console supports
playback of various video formats
Music:
Select
'Music' to play audio files (e.g., MP3/WMV)
Photos:
Select
'Photos' to view image files
E-book:
Select
'E-book' to read text files


The
box contains:
1
x GB350 console
1
x Type-C USB cable
1
x Type-A USB to Type-C USB adaptor
1
x User manual
1
x microSD card

I
couldn't find out much information about the specifications for the
GB350, I have no idea of the processor, the GPU or much information
on any of the internal hardware. I was only able to get the below
info:
Release: 04/2025
CPU:
Dual core 1.2G
Ram:
2GB DDR3
Display:
3.5” IPS screen
Resolution:
640×480
Aspect
Ratio: 4:3
OS:
Linux-based open-source system
Int
Storage: 64GB
Ext
Storage: microSD
Game
Library:
Preloaded with over 20,000
classic games for
platforms like Playstation 1, Game Boy Advance, NES and SNES
Battery:
3000mAh battery, providing up to 5-8
hours of gameplay on
a single charge
Connectivity:
USB-C for charging & HDMI output for TV play

This
console is designed for portable gaming and multimedia entertainment,
making it a great companion for retro gaming enthusiasts

Even
without much information about the console I was still willing to
purchase it due to its low cost, the question now is, did I waste my
money? So let's unpack it and switch it on. It has quite a beautiful
splash screen which didn't stay on too long as it booted into the
front end very quickly. The first screen “All Games” if selected
would display... all games, using up and down on the D-pad will
display a different system you can play games on. There are 14
systems in total.

Pressing
R1 takes you to the settings screen. The settings are quite basic and
consist of sound, brightness, language, full screen, keymapping and
factory reset. Pressing L1 takes you to a screen where you can select
the multimedia functions which are movie, music, photos and e-book
and there are samples for all four options. Movies has a very short
clip of three people walking down the road followed by two cars,
Music has two samples one of which is a Westlife song sung in Spanish
(who knows why?), Photos has 10 example generic public domain images
and e-book has a sample of “Little Women” but the text is too
small to read on the 3.5” screen.

Now
on with some gaming, I'll give 1 game on each system a quick go and
see how they play. The search facility will come in very handy at
this point as I will be able to select the games I want to play for
each system. Below is a list of the systems and the games tried:
Mame2003 (10129 games): Galaga (my all time favourite game) - This played
just like the arcade, smooth, responsive a true joy to play.
PlayStation1 (70 games): Mortal Kombat Trilogy and Tekken (not very good at
either) - Both played smoothly and if I was any good I believe both
would be greatly enjoyable.
FamilyComputer (4764 games): Super Mario Bros - Smooth gameplay, just
like having a mini NES in my hands.
SuperFamicom (5574 games): F-Zero (one of the hardest SNES games to
emulate) - Another game I'm not very good at but plays well and
feels speedy.
MegaDrive
(336 games): Flashback - Seemed a bit sluggish and the audio seemed
a little choppy.
Gameboy
(192 games): Galaga - This plays just as well as the Mame 2003
version, just as speedy just a little less colour as to be expected.
GameBoy Color (150 games): Turok - Not the most graphically intensive
game but does have horizontal scrolling section and vertical
scrolling section both of which are extremely smooth.
GameBoy Advance (1073 games): Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy - Who doesn't love a Lego game? Now running as smooth as the original
on a bigger screen at a higher resolution.
PC-Engine
(380 games): Galaga '88 - A beautiful and colourful game recreated
perfectly.
Atari
(9 games): Pac-Man - A great recreation, even has the flickering
ghosts of the original.
MasterSystem (93 games): R-Type - Looks pixel perfect but plays a bit
sluggish.
GameGear (89 games): Zool - Plays well, colourful and smooth, just like
the original port from the Amiga.
NeoGeoPocket Color (39 games): Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure - Fast
paced and super smooth gameplay.
WonderswanColor (61 games): Final Lap Special - Not a very enjoyable
experience, plenty of input lag made the game unplayable.

Pros:
Price
- Decent gaming at a bargain price
Size
-  A very pocketable sized console
Screen
- Beautifully bright with very small bezels
Emulation
Experience - On the whole from the games tested a very enjoyable
experience.
Total Games: 22,959

Cons:
Buttons
- Clicky A, B, X and Y buttons
Temperature
- Gets a little warm but not too hot to handle
Search
Facility - At first it appeared to be very useful but the more I
tested games the more I came to realise that the games were not named
correctly, possibly due to translation issues.

There is more testing to do, trying out the multi media apps and connecting it to a computer to add games and other media.

Would
I recommend this console?
This
is an easy YES. As a collector of handhelds I can easily say this is
a great addition, if you are starting out collecting then this is a
great place to start or if you have a budget and just want the one
machine to play games on then this could be for you.

Follow and comment below

Michael

TUPPERWARE

TUPPERWARE

Not
all technology is electrical based and needing replaceable batteries
or a nearby socket for recharging and I think the pinnacle of non
electrical technology is Tupperware and it needs more visibility due
to the fact that it is a technological marvel that has been around
since the dawn of time, give or take a century or so. Tupperware for
all those that don't know is a range of kitchen ware mainly used as
storage devices for varying types of food. There are also gravy jugs,
salt and pepper shakers, spice storage canisters and many other
items.



I
have fond memories of food being stored and served up in Tupperware,
such as Saturday 5.00pm, tea time, mixed salad served in a Tupperware
bowl and then sealed with the remaining salad and placed in the
fridge only to be served up Sunday night tea. Saturday nights dessert
was jelly served in the ring mould and Sunday nights dessert was a
mix of jelly and condensed milk to make blancmange (recipe
suggestion) served in the afore mentioned ring mould.

I
remember, in the 70s and 80s, when I was growing up my mum, who was what was known at the time as a housewife, held
Tupperware parties, buying and selling Tupperware, sharing stories of
Tupperware and suggesting new and exciting ways of using Tupperware,
most exciting.

Tupperware
has changed so much over the years to the point where it no longer
bares any resemblance to the original. Now original Tupperware is
vintage and can be worth quite a bit.

I
still use original Tupperware and it still holds its own to current
storage devices although they are probably seen more as a collectable
items which means I could recomend these to people who spend quite a bit of time in the kitchen or like to collect quite obscure things.

Follow and comment below

Michael