My Circuit Sword Gameboy Zero + Freeplay CM3 (Gameboy Advance)

[Fish17]

I was considering making one but I love my gameboy cm3.

Comparing Kites sword CM3 to freeplay’s CM3 I see some disadvantages:
- smaller screen (3.2” vs 3.5”). Correct me
If I’m wrong but with the 3.2” Is not fully utilized, not sure what that makes the actual display size.
- X&Y buttons are switches
- battery capacity limited to 2000 mah
- no built in WiFi
- no fan capability, the pi3 can get hot

What are your thoughts?

You are correct with each point. Also, the Freeplay does not have any way to currently adjust screen brightness so it is always at its brightest setting. The only advantage I see that it has is the GBA form factor, which I prefer over the DMG both for portability and nostalgia; I never had a DMG (I had a Gameboy Pocket) but I remember in my early teenage years saving up enough money for a GBA and really enjoying it. I am 1 of 6 kids so having a game system all to myself was a rarity which is why I was always found mobile platforms more compelling.

Regarding heat, I have not had an overheat with either CM3 system (so far). A few weeks ago, I got curious about the system in regards to overheating and loaded Mario Kart 64 onto the system and let it loop the start screen demo for an hour. I loaded a terminal every so often and remotely accessed the CM3 to check the temperature. The hottest it got was 152-156 degrees F. The back shell was somewhat warm but never hot and the video/audio never stuttered and the system never powered off.

Heat TestShow

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That said, I have been regularly playing numerous titles from GBA, SNES, Turbo Grafx 16 and PSX on the Freeplay CM3 and have experienced no issues regarding heat. It appears the heatsink is quite sufficient without an active cooling addition.

My thoughts exactly I do like the form factor of the GBA compared to a DMG. I’m prob much older than you so the DMG was my nostalgia

[sygyzy]

You said you got the "silicone" buttons from kitch-bent. Do you mean the actual buttons or do you mean the pads? I want to know where you got the A, B, X, Y, D-Pad buttons from since they have an interesting texture. Thanks.

[gnarlynick]

You said you got the "silicone" buttons from kitch-bent. Do you mean the actual buttons or do you mean the pads? I want to know where you got the A, B, X, Y, D-Pad buttons from since they have an interesting texture. Thanks.

They are from Kitsch-bent, here's the link for their page. I bought several sets to make the multi-colored ABXY buttons. The AB buttons come in a pair so I cut them in half to make the single buttons. These function as the button+silicone pad in one (they are have the depth of the plastic buttons with the silicone pad), so you only need to buy these. I prefer the texture and feel of these buttons to the typical plastic ones. These are the colors I got:

• full set - blue*

• full set - red

• full set - green*

• full set - black

The Start/Select buttons I used (grey) are from a stock DMG that I had lying around, the Kitsch-bent sets come with a DPad, Start/Select and an AB button pair each.

[gnarlynick]

I've performed a few upgrades:

Joystick & R2/L2Show

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[craptastrophe]

On the DMG L2/R2 upgrade, did you redo the case? It doesn't look like either set of rear buttons is in the same place as the 'rear' picture.

[BlindArtificer]

How does the silicone dpad feel compared to a normal one?