Earlier this week I got my hands on GamePark Holdings' GP2X personal entertainment player. For those not familiar, the GP2X is a Linux-based audio, video, and gaming device aimed at homebrew development. What that essentially means is that the GP2X, while meant to primarily be a gaming console, is a cheapish personal media player with a few extra bells and whistles.
Now, don't think that it's Linux in a handheld because it ain't - Linux developers, though, should feel at home with game and application development.
Chances are you're asking yourself where this stands in relation to the DS or PSP. Right off the bat I can tell you that while the GP2X is pretty close in size to the original GBA, it's closest rival would be the PSP. With the built in media player, picture viewer, MP3 player and text reader it hits a few bases where the DS is lacking. Unfortunately, with its lack of Internet connectivity, smaller screen and much smaller game library it doesn't quite meet up with either of the more popular mainstream gaming consoles.
So - what makes the GP2X worthwhile? First off, the GP2X can read SD memory cards up to 4gb. Unlike the PSP, with its demanding filestructure pre-reqs, you can place images, music, or videos ANYWHERE on the card for later viewing. There's also an eBook utility which allows you to view text files and eBooks if you don't mind reading off an electronic device.

As you can see the menu system is pretty straight forward. Under each of the sections (except "Settings") you get the ability to browse the GP2Xs onboard 64MB memory or the SD card. Just browse to your file and you're set to go.
With compatibility you're looking at a couple of different format types. Music wise you can play OGG and MP3, for Videos you've got MPEG, XVid and Divx encoded AVI files, and for images you've got GIF, JPEG and PNG. While you can't play songs off your iTunes or Napster library without stripping the DRM you can play burned CDs (hint hint) and most videos.
The other great GP2X feature is the community. Between the extensive Wiki and the file archive you can track down software and games. The GP2X also runs emulators which allows ROM collectors to take their games on the go. If you've got a good collection of MAME roms you'll love this. If you've got other types of roms your emulator is probably supported too which is nice.
Priced at $179.99 through Lik-Sang it's not cheap but worth it in the end - especially for emulator fans. If you've picked one up already, or you're thinking about getting one, stay tuned. Over the next few weeks I plan on including some reviews of GP2X specific software. I also hope to put in a few tutorials on video encoding to make life a bit easier for beginners.
If you've got any questions or would like me to cover something specific please let me know.