The sweet spot for home turntable enthusiasts on a budget seems to be the $200 mark. This might be the best of the bunch.
One can only imagine the sake-fueled club hopping that led to the development of the Seiko Frequency drum machine watch.
Amazing handheld consoles
By James Grahame
I wish Ben Heckendorn was a senior member of the R&D division at a large electronics company. It really causes me pain every time he produces yet another clever handheld vintage game console that can't be bought at any price. This is his latest one-off - a stunningly compact ode to the Atari VCS.
As far as I'm concerned, the next best thing to owning one of Ben's masterpieces is the Linux-based Gamepark GP2X. It's a modern gaming platform with an old soul, thanks to enthusiastic support from hobbyists around the world. In addition to hundreds of original titles, the Korean-made system runs MAME GP2X, which emulates more than 1100 classic titles.
Until recently, the unit was only available through offshore distributors. Because of its growing popularity, the system is now available in the USA directly from GP2X Store in Yorba Linda, California. One thing I really appreciate is that they offer spare parts at reasonable prices - so you don't have to pay a fortune to replace a scratched screen panel or lost joystick cap. We're also really pleased to mention that GP2X Store is sponsoring Retro Thing this month. Thanks, guys!
