Thanks!

[SiliGoose]

I just wanted to say thanks for adding a Zodiac forum. There are a couple nice Zodiac sites out there but they're very game related and don't focus on Zodiac from a PalmOS perspective.

I use my Zodiac primarily as a PDA. It's design as a game machine is secondary to my needs (especially considering the lack of high quality Zodiac games released thus far).

[Insider]

As the Zodiac has a 200MHz Motorola ARM CPU like my clie device, check out a program called lightspeed, I've managed to overclock the Motorola chip to 230MHz without any problems so far, games and multimedia apps is the obvious benefit to such speed boost. :D

[gfunkmagic]

I just wanted to say thanks for adding a Zodiac forum. There are a couple nice Zodiac sites out there but they're very game related and don't focus on Zodiac from a PalmOS perspective.



HUH? I think you're thinking about ZG. Checkout Tapland (http://tapland.com/)...they're very palmos focused...

Anyway, great to have another tapwave forum! Good job reggie et al... :)

[ballistic]

I've been on the fence for a while about getting a Z2 to supplement>upgrade from my NX70V. Now with Sony dropping US Clie sales, I'm about to jump (although I feel a little nudge from Sony) squarely to the Tapwave side of the fence.

I also find Tapland to be very balanced when it comes to gaming vs pda. The Zodiac is, afterall, a PalmOS PDA first and foremost and a gaming device second (although 2nd to none from what I've read). You get a heck of a lot of PDA hardware & gaming capabilities for the $$. The more exposure the Zodiac gets here, at Tapland and ZodiacGamer, the better. With Sony dropping the Clie line, the Zodiac about to hit retail in CompUSA and the PSP pretty far off, Tapwave is poised to grab some market share.

I for one will NOT be getting a PSP:

1. Lack of analog joystick(s)
2. Proprietary Media (yet again)
3. I need a solid PDA that can play games, not a delivery device for Sony's games, movies, music, etc with all of the DRM that will accompany it.
4. Sony has let me down one too many times. This one was HUGE.

I can't wait to test drive a Zodiac. I'm hesitant to buy one sight unseen, as I'm sure a lot of potential buyers are. Not for long....

[SiliGoose]

As the Zodiac has a 200MHz Motorola ARM CPU like my clie device, check out a program called lightspeed, I've managed to overclock the Motorola chip to 230MHz without any problems so far, games and multimedia apps is the obvious benefit to such speed boost. Yea, I know. I just don't know why I'd want to o/c my Zodiac. No app I run requires it. What do you use it for?

HUH? I think you're thinking about ZG. Checkout Tapland (http://tapland.com/)...they're very palmos focused...I visit Tapland regularly. It's more mature than Zodiac Gamer but it's still more game oriented for my taste. I guess it's more that I'm of the opinion that Tapwave has totally failed in terms of making the Z a gaming device. The few exclusive to Zodiac games are either really bad or boringly average. The best games are non-exclusives that you can play on any modern Palm device. Furthermore, it appears unlikely Tapwave will be able to woo any AAA developers to the device in the wake of PSP & DS.

Still, it's a phenomenal PDA.

1. Lack of analog joystick(s)The PSP does have an analog joystick. It looks very similar to the Zodiac's analog stick. It's located just beneath the digital pad. Many have mistaken it for a speaker.

[Insider]

Yea, I know. I just don't know why I'd want to o/c my Zodiac. No app I run requires it. What do you use it for?

I use it to speed up the capturing framerate when recording small video clips using the built-in camera, you can also extend the battery life by underclocking some of the less intensive programs.

On intensive multimedia operations overclocking the chip improves the overall speed, webpages load up quicker on my clie for example while still playing high variable bitrate MP3's in the background... :)

[TheZodiac]

Well Im glad to see I have my own house! ;) While its nice to carry over to this new place... its a sad day to see cliesource itself gone and Sony itself pulling out of the US and Eu markets. Glad to see the unificiation of two great sources though!

[Omega00]

Yes, it's great to hav a place to discuss Zodiac stuff, without having 300 kids complying about firestorm or other programas, besides that, it just made me return to these forums after a year of absence!!!

[njdevilsfan25]

My Zodiac is amazing, especialy for emulators such as Firestorm, check it out at crimsonfire.com you can use it as a pda game devive and other cool things it rocks :) :D

[Shogmaster]

I've been on the fence for a while about getting a Z2 to supplement>upgrade from my NX70V. Now with Sony dropping US Clie sales, I'm about to jump (although I feel a little nudge from Sony) squarely to the Tapwave side of the fence.

I also find Tapland to be very balanced when it comes to gaming vs pda. The Zodiac is, afterall, a PalmOS PDA first and foremost and a gaming device second (although 2nd to none from what I've read). You get a heck of a lot of PDA hardware & gaming capabilities for the $$. The more exposure the Zodiac gets here, at Tapland and ZodiacGamer, the better. With Sony dropping the Clie line, the Zodiac about to hit retail in CompUSA and the PSP pretty far off, Tapwave is poised to grab some market share.

I for one will NOT be getting a PSP:

1. Lack of analog joystick(s)
2. Proprietary Media (yet again)
3. I need a solid PDA that can play games, not a delivery device for Sony's games, movies, music, etc with all of the DRM that will accompany it.
4. Sony has let me down one too many times. This one was HUGE.

I can't wait to test drive a Zodiac. I'm hesitant to buy one sight unseen, as I'm sure a lot of potential buyers are. Not for long....

Don't make the mistake of thinking that the Zodiac will compete in any kind of way against the PSP as a gaming device. Games on Z have been beyond pathetic so far, and with these new devices coming soon (PSP, DS, Gametrac/Gizmondo), the little dev support Z had has alreay started to erode (Fathammer is already knee deep in supporting Gametrac, and is going full tilt with their second engine which supports 3D hardware that Zodiac lacks).

Zodiac is a very nice Palm OS device. No doubt about that. And as one of the best bargains in the Palm OS world (128MB of RAM for $400 device, dual SD slots, bluetooth), it has the best chance of surviving in the market place. But trust me on this, unless Tapwave produces a backwards compatible Z3 with a real hardware 3D GPU within the next 6 months, it's done for as a gaming platform (Some will argue it's been done for a while).

BTW, PSP has an analog stick. Quite nice too (played with it for at least 3 hours at E3 over 3 days). It's the black nub below the D-pad on the left side that most people thought was a lil' round speaker. It's a "slider" design, which incredibly works quite well.

[zackepceo]

Maybe if tapwave would make a svelte, wifi, non-gaming version of the Z2 for $299 it would sell like hotcakes.

[SiliGoose]

But trust me on this, unless Tapwave produces a backwards compatible Z3 with a real hardware 3D GPU within the next 6 months, it's done for as a gaming platform (Some will argue it's been done for a while).

Agreed 100%.
I find it funny that Fathammer is backing the Gizmondo so seriously. That's two loosing horses in one year. The boys at Fathammer sure know how to pick 'em, huh? :)

[Shogmaster]

Agreed 100%.
I find it funny that Fathammer is backing the Gizmondo so seriously. That's two loosing horses in one year. The boys at Fathammer sure know how to pick 'em, huh? :)

I think they are just desperate about making something stick. Gizmondo is pretty sad device as gaming console as it is now, but they are seriously considering adding a proper 3D GPU (the names bandies about by the rep there were an ATI 3D Imageon chip that's supposedly coming soon, a nVidia chip that haven't been taped out yet but already had Fathammer 2 3D engne already running demos on emulation at the nVidia booth, and IMG Tech/PowerVR MBX). Unfortunately, they are going to charge 200~300 pounds if they do, which is way too far into the PSP pricing territory IMO. Too expensive for a device that can't do double duty as a PDA like the Zodiac (and no analog stick to boot).

BTW, the games shown were just ports of the Zodiac Fathammer games and they were chugging! WTH! They have double the clockspeed and half the pixels to draw! Must have been super early ports.