Best portable Famiclone from AliExpress

You can talk about almost anything that you want to on this board.

Moderator: Moderators

Post Reply
User avatar
wonder
Posts: 59
Joined: Sat Aug 31, 2019 2:12 pm
Contact:

Best portable Famiclone from AliExpress

Post by wonder »

Hi there!

I'm looking to buy a nice portable Famiclone (with SD Card support) on AliExpress.

Any recommendations?
Image
User avatar
Dwedit
Posts: 4924
Joined: Fri Nov 19, 2004 7:35 pm
Contact:

Re: Best portable Famiclone from AliExpress

Post by Dwedit »

If there's SD card support, it's not a famiclone anymore, just an emulator console.
Here come the fortune cookies! Here come the fortune cookies! They're wearing paper hats!
User avatar
wonder
Posts: 59
Joined: Sat Aug 31, 2019 2:12 pm
Contact:

Re: Best portable Famiclone from AliExpress

Post by wonder »

Not necessarily, it can be a NES-on-a-chip with an SD card interface. That's what I'm looking for.
Image
calima
Posts: 1745
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2015 10:16 am

Re: Best portable Famiclone from AliExpress

Post by calima »

That would require embedding a flashcart, which means either badly limited mapper support or too expensive for China to do, and so it doesn't exist.
NewRisingSun
Posts: 1510
Joined: Thu May 19, 2005 11:30 am

Re: Best portable Famiclone from AliExpress

Post by NewRisingSun »

There are VT369 handheld famiclones with a microSD slot. They can run mapper 0 and mapper 4 games (because the VT369's OneBus mapper is basically an extremely-extended MMC3). Here is one of them.
User avatar
Ben Boldt
Posts: 1149
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2016 8:27 pm
Location: Minnesota, USA

Re: Best portable Famiclone from AliExpress

Post by Ben Boldt »

Why do you not want a handheld emulator? Those will typically support other systems as well, which some folks would see as a bonus.

If you prefer a genuine famiclone for some reason, you could get one with a cartridge connector, then put in a flash cart. Again, not sure what your goals or requirements are or how much you plan to spend.
User avatar
Dwedit
Posts: 4924
Joined: Fri Nov 19, 2004 7:35 pm
Contact:

Re: Best portable Famiclone from AliExpress

Post by Dwedit »

Most important thing is the quality of the controller. If the D-PAD is unresponsive, you can't actually play the games.
Here come the fortune cookies! Here come the fortune cookies! They're wearing paper hats!
User avatar
rainwarrior
Posts: 8734
Joined: Sun Jan 22, 2012 12:03 pm
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: Best portable Famiclone from AliExpress

Post by rainwarrior »

I'd like to know if there's a VT-family clone with the second APU feature that lets you supply your own ROMs (with a famicom or NES cartridge slot, or otherwise something easy to use), for testing and research purposes.

It's been hard to try to find one, though, as products using them don't tend to advertise what's inside, and aren't usually long-term products so it's hard to find specific known ones.
Hiccup
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu May 16, 2019 10:41 am

Re: Best portable Famiclone from AliExpress

Post by Hiccup »

It would be useful if there was a cheap famiclone/emulator-console that had a cart slot and an SD card slot - that could be a cheap method of dumping carts. But I suspect those two things - cart slot and SD card slot - would end up making it expensive.
calima
Posts: 1745
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2015 10:16 am

Re: Best portable Famiclone from AliExpress

Post by calima »

The existing dumping methods aren't particularly expensive?
User avatar
Nikku4211
Posts: 569
Joined: Sun Dec 15, 2019 1:28 pm
Location: Florida
Contact:

Re: Best portable Famiclone from AliExpress

Post by Nikku4211 »

Ben Boldt wrote: Wed Dec 08, 2021 3:53 pm Why do you not want a handheld emulator? Those will typically support other systems as well, which some folks would see as a bonus.

If you prefer a genuine famiclone for some reason, you could get one with a cartridge connector, then put in a flash cart. Again, not sure what your goals or requirements are or how much you plan to spend.
Are most NES emulators generally more accurate to NES hardware than NoaCs are?

If so, while not surprising in this day and age, it does show how much NES emulation has progressed since the '90s.
I have an ASD, so empathy is not natural for me. If I hurt you, I apologise.
User avatar
Dwedit
Posts: 4924
Joined: Fri Nov 19, 2004 7:35 pm
Contact:

Re: Best portable Famiclone from AliExpress

Post by Dwedit »

Emulators still have issues with audio and video lag, whereas hardware that can generate a video and audio signal in realtime has no lag.
Here come the fortune cookies! Here come the fortune cookies! They're wearing paper hats!
User avatar
wonder
Posts: 59
Joined: Sat Aug 31, 2019 2:12 pm
Contact:

Re: Best portable Famiclone from AliExpress

Post by wonder »

Thank you so much for the replies, guys! :D
NewRisingSun wrote: Wed Dec 08, 2021 11:36 am There are VT369 handheld famiclones with a microSD slot. They can run mapper 0 and mapper 4 games (because the VT369's OneBus mapper is basically an extremely-extended MMC3). Here is one of them.
Yeah, I actually bought this one a while ago, I can't say I'm satisfied. I didn't know it could only run mapper 0 and 4, that explains why many games simply won't boot. Not only that, some games, such as MicroMages, get really glitchy as well. The battery life is very underwhelming and the LCD screen distorts the pixels a little bit. Now for the positives, the controls are quite responsive and when I hook it to a TV the image is quite alright.
Ben Boldt wrote: Wed Dec 08, 2021 3:53 pm Why do you not want a handheld emulator? Those will typically support other systems as well, which some folks would see as a bonus.

If you prefer a genuine famiclone for some reason, you could get one with a cartridge connector, then put in a flash cart. Again, not sure what your goals or requirements are or how much you plan to spend.
Well I'm also considering getting an Ambernic soon, but I have a special fondness for Famiclones :lol:
I think I'll take your suggestion and use a genuine Famiclone with a cartridge connector.
Image
Post Reply