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The Price of a GameBoy Zero

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 4:35 pm
by Vman
Helllo!

I've been calculating all the parts I may need for the GBZ and I've gotten about 250$: Is this the price you guys normally pay when making this? Just making sure that this is average and fairly good.
Parts:
Female USB Port -https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H5 ... 0DER&psc=1
32GB SD card - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010Q ... 0DER&psc=1
Charging board - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074J ... XB7D&psc=1
Rasberry Pi Zero- https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075F ... J23Z&psc=1
Cartridge Reader - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077F ... M6O2&psc=1
Ion battery - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0137 ... 587C&psc=1
PowerBoost - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BM ... P2JK&psc=1
DMG - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078V ... 6DGC&psc=1
Screen - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0045 ... MN2K&psc=1
Controller Board - http://www.tinkerboy.xyz/product/game-b ... oy-zero-3/
Speaker - http://www.tinkerboy.xyz/product/game-b ... hm-1-watt/
Dial - http://www.tinkerboy.xyz/product/b103-v ... ial-taper/
Cartridge Case- http://www.tinkerboy.xyz/product/game-b ... for-gbz-3/
L and R buttons - http://market.sudomod.com/dmg-button-shoulder-bracket/
Safe Switch - http://market.sudomod.com/safe-shutdown ... d-edition/
Cartridge - http://market.sudomod.com/micro-sd-cart ... filtering/
Power Strip PCB - http://market.sudomod.com/power-strip-pcb/
Audio Buffer - http://market.sudomod.com/pwm-audio-buffer-board-smd/
Audio - https://www.amazon.com/Audio-Developmen ... B00Q3U42DM

Re: The Price of a GameBoy Zero

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 5:02 pm
by Sushi
That seems like a lot. My Pi3 build came out to ~140 in parts. That's not factoring in the cost of a shell which should only bring it to around ~150. Why do you have an audio fx board in there? You need an amp (unless I'm mistaken). I used a 2.5 watt mono amp from adafruit, though you can use their 3.7 watt stereo if you want stereo through your 3.5mm. You can order a lot of your parts from other suppliers to get them cheaper.

Recommendations:
-If you are doing a composite build, buy the gearbest display (on the wiki page). It's 5V ready and easy to work with
-Replace your battery with an adafruit 2500mAh battery. It's cheaper and 25% higher capacity

Re: The Price of a GameBoy Zero

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 5:10 pm
by Vman
Sushi wrote:
Thu Mar 08, 2018 5:02 pm
That seems like a lot. My Pi3 build came out to ~140 in parts. That's not factoring in the cost of a shell which should only bring it to around ~150. Why do you have an audio fx board in there? You need an amp (unless I'm mistaken). I used a 2.5 watt mono amp from adafruit, though you can use their 3.7 watt stereo if you want stereo through your 3.5mm. You can order a lot of your parts from other suppliers to get them cheaper.

Recommendations:
-If you are doing a composite build, buy the gearbest display (on the wiki page). It's 5V ready and easy to work with
-Replace your battery with an adafruit 2500mAh battery. It's cheaper and 25% higher capacity
Yeah I'm not really familiar with the type of audio components I will need. What did you use/ recommend?

Re: The Price of a GameBoy Zero

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 5:12 pm
by Sushi
I had a Pi 3 so I didn't need an audio filter (as it wasn't PWM). I just used a 2.5 watt mono amp from adafruit. Because your build will have a stereo audio jack, I'd use this.

Re: The Price of a GameBoy Zero

Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2018 7:32 am
by rodocop
my most recent build cost me about $140 Canadian (i did have some small parts in stock though, like buttons, and silicone membranes etc...). A few things I would suggest to lower the price. Unless you really want it, i would skip the SD card reader in the cartridge. If you orient the pi correctly you can access the SD card through the contrast slot. that's just my opinion

Also, with the powerboost, you can find cheaper alternatives that work just as well, something like this (you can get 5 for less that 1 powerboost):

https://www.ebay.com/itm/5Pcs-Mini-USB- ... 2604944426

You can also save a bit of money from buying in bulk from ebay or the like, for example you muicro usb breakout board is
showing 3.45 + shipping for one, i've just ordered 10 for about 3$

https://www.ebay.com/itm/10Pcs-Micro-B- ... 2749.l2649

for audio, a lot of people use these,

https://www.banggood.com/3Pcs-PAM8403-M ... ds=myorder

All in all, if you only plan to build one for yourself that price isn't too bad, but if you plan to make a few i would buy cheaper bulk parts from China, and save a bit of money.

Also, I second the recommendation on the gearbest screen, it's the best one I think and it will not need any modifications to run on 5V.

Re: The Price of a GameBoy Zero

Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2018 4:26 pm
by FlashyFrank
I think my build that I just did cost me around $165 american. You could probably cut a few corners on your build if you want to save money.

One thing to be aware of is there is no "correct" or "right" way to build a GBZ. Each one is in one way or another custom and everyone builds them differently to different degrees of complication and professionalism. You might want to consider making your first build less complicated by removing some of the more extravagant features. This would save you a lot if cost is a concern.

Re: The Price of a GameBoy Zero

Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2018 7:34 am
by sujaygh
Vman wrote:
Thu Mar 08, 2018 4:35 pm
Helllo!

I've been calculating all the parts I may need for the GBZ and I've gotten about 250$: Is this the price you guys normally pay when making this? Just making sure that this is average and fairly good.
Parts:
Female USB Port -https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H5 ... 0DER&psc=1
32GB SD card - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010Q ... 0DER&psc=1
Charging board - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074J ... XB7D&psc=1
Rasberry Pi Zero- https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075F ... J23Z&psc=1
Cartridge Reader - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077F ... M6O2&psc=1
Ion battery - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0137 ... 587C&psc=1
PowerBoost - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BM ... P2JK&psc=1
DMG - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078V ... 6DGC&psc=1
Screen - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0045 ... MN2K&psc=1
Controller Board - http://www.tinkerboy.xyz/product/game-b ... oy-zero-3/
Speaker - http://www.tinkerboy.xyz/product/game-b ... hm-1-watt/
Dial - http://www.tinkerboy.xyz/product/b103-v ... ial-taper/
Cartridge Case- http://www.tinkerboy.xyz/product/game-b ... for-gbz-3/
L and R buttons - http://market.sudomod.com/dmg-button-shoulder-bracket/
Safe Switch - http://market.sudomod.com/safe-shutdown ... d-edition/
Cartridge - http://market.sudomod.com/micro-sd-cart ... filtering/
Power Strip PCB - http://market.sudomod.com/power-strip-pcb/
Audio Buffer - http://market.sudomod.com/pwm-audio-buffer-board-smd/
Audio - https://www.amazon.com/Audio-Developmen ... B00Q3U42DM
You can check shipping cost from USA to India, UK & vice versa and also know the exact custom duty & shipping charges for your international courier/shipment with PPOBox.

Re: The Price of a GameBoy Zero

Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2018 9:01 pm
by Italian77
Vman wrote:
Thu Mar 08, 2018 4:35 pm
Helllo!

I've been calculating all the parts I may need for the GBZ and I've gotten about 250$: Is this the price you guys normally pay when making this? Just making sure that this is average and fairly good.


Mine was the same too. It cost me over $200 USD

Re: The Price of a GameBoy Zero

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 12:48 pm
by jakejm79
I've built ones for under $100 and ones for close to $200. 3 things that effect the price are:
1. Where you order the parts from or rather how long you want to wait.
2. How many you plan on building, a lot of parts are just as expensive to buy 5-10 of vs. just 1, being able to split the cost over several of GBZs can help.
3. Its all in the details, I find where it really adds up is all the little things to make it perfect, screen covers, stickers, custom PCBs also if you are particular about buttons and need to buy extra kits.

Re: The Price of a GameBoy Zero

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 2:05 pm
by CrogDog
Another tip that I discovered when building mine that could save a little money; If you go with the Adafruit Powerboost 1000c it comes with 1 female usb jack that isn't soldered to it! (same as the one you linked)