juggleclown
Still Fresh
- Joined
- Aug 8, 2010
- Messages
- 2
Hey. I'm considering getting a Pandora. Well, not so much considering as trying to figure out how to justify spending $300+ that I barely have when I've got too many handhelds, consoles, and computers. XD
Anyways, the thing looks and sounds absolutely amazing, the "last handheld device I'll ever need", but for real this time. TV out on the PSP is awful, web browsing is poor on PSP and abysmal on DS, the PSP controls suck, the DS resolution is too small for most emulators, and my laptop, currently the most portable computer I have, is a hunking Thinkpad that overheats in minutes (making the keyboard very uncomfortable), has no working battery, and can be shut off just by moving the wire. I'm using it right now!
Not much needs to be said on selling this to me, but I'd like to know a few specifics anyways. I could probably do more reading, but I've been reading about this thing all day, and I figured maybe I could just get a few quick answers by asking.
The TV-out, it's composite yellow, white, and red cables, right? Is the cable generic and easily replaceable in the future? How about the battery? One thing I hate is specialized batteries and chargers that cost so much that just replacing something would be cheaper. Like with my Thinkpad, I can either buy a $100 battery, or use my mediocre-at-best soldering skills and follow some guide I found once, which is something I've been less-than-eager to do.
My cellphone lasts in standby for about a day, and I can talk for 30 minutes, because the battery is pretty much dead. By comparison, my Neo Geo Pocket Color runs 20-something hours on rechargeable AA nimhs, which are easily replaced. That's one reason I've considered the edubook on multiple occasions, is it's ability to run on 8 AA's that can be recharged inside the unit. Not a deal-breaker, but it'd be nice to know I won't have battery issues come 2020, and I really hope that the group behind Pandora is still around for the next century (I really do, you guys are great, this thing is the future), but if they're not, then I don't wanna be screwed.
Also, does it get hot? My Thinkpad gets uncomfortably hot. I mean, it scares me how hot it gets. I'm not a smart guy, but I've opened it, was surprised to see the fan was working and relatively free of dust, but it's not easily serviceable, being a laptop and all. I don't care about fixing it that much (Pandora would make a GREAT replacement, it's not like I do anything intensive on here anyway), but the bottom of it gets hot enough, that if I touch it, I've burned myself on a few occasions. Sometimes I put it on icepacks to keep cool, but it melts them pretty quickly. I stopped putting it on my lap years ago. The Pandora has twice the processing power of the PSP, and a hell of a lot more ram, and that little thing can get a bit warm. Does the Pandora keep cool well?
This thing runs Quake 3, with it's 600Mhz and 256MB ram. I don't really understand how the graphics are on this thing, though. As in, I couldn't really find what the "video memory" of it is. Is that applicable? The video memory of my laptop is 16mb, the processor is 2ghz, and the ram is 1gb. So, it's about 4x more powerful in those two regards, but what about video? My laptop can barely do YouTube, so is that feasible, or not so much?
What is the state of NES emulation? I've seen a lot of work on SNES, but it looks like there are only two NES emulators, and one of them was in the "yellow" range of compatibility. I had a 100mhz desktop that ran NES perfectly, so I know it's a matter of "when" if anything, but is it pretty much perfect right now?
The ports of Doom, Quake, Heretic, Hexen, and so forth are of interest to me. Especially Hexen, being one of my all time favorite games. Interest in portable Hexen is what got me into getting an R4 for my DS, and buying a PSP and a pandora battery just to put CFW on it. Unfortunately, the ports of Doom-engine games for both systems were much worse than the Quake I ports (both of which were actually very good, though they had some odd weaknesses, and didn't control all that great, especially the PSP. Nice thing about the Pandora is those great controls, and being able plug in a keyboard and mouse), and no FPS ports seemed to have music. Do they already have working music on the Pandora? I've seen those projects just die unfinished on PSP and DS.
How is SNES emulation? I've seen videos of F-Zero and Mario Kart, and they look great. What about later and more advanced stuff like Super Mario RPG, Yoshi's Island, Earthbound, Chrono Trigger, Doom, Stunt Race FX, Vortex, etc? One particular one is Equinox, which doesn't use any special chips, but has spent the longest time not being emulated well in both ZSNES and Snes9x.
N64 emulation looks pretty good, from the Super Mario 64 video I saw (much better controls than SM64DS). How is sound and compatibility? Do you think it will be perfect in the future? It looks like Pandora can handle N64 very well already.
I know there's no hope in hell for Saturn, and Genesis is already very good if not perfect. I saw a video of Sonic CD, which means Sega CD emulation. One system that very rarely gets emulators is the 32X. I don't see anything about 32X in Picodrive on the Pandora. I'd sure love to have Knuckles Chaotix on a handheld. Is there anything in the works, or is there just not enough interest?
I imagine support for the Pandora is still very much in it's infancy, despite how far things have already gotten. I know things will get better, but I just want to see what's working right now. The fact that it's already a powerful, linux-based computer shaped like a game system and designed specifically by and for the people writing and porting programs for this thing makes it the greatest handheld for this sort of thing ever devised.
How would, say, Minecraft run on this? It's a java-based game that can run in an internet browser. My laptop can't handle it that well due to it's low video capability. Does it seem likely that it will run (or already does run) well enough to be playable? Draw distance doesn't have to be max.
Is there some good RTS action on Pandora? I imagine there are some original homebrew efforts, but could Starcraft or Total Annihilation ever be done on here. There's probably not much luck for Starcraft, what with it being a Windows game, this thing running Linux on an ARM processor, and Blizzard's games aren't exactly open-source (one remake for the DS unfortunately got hit with a cease and desist). I think the source for Total Annihilation is available, though, and there's been a lot of fan stuff for that game. Do you think that could ever happen? Handhelds have been pretty awful as far as RTS gaming goes. There's been a few efforts, but they haven't been all that great, and the homebrew efforts are usually either not very fun, infringe on copyrights a little too much, or just never get far in development.
Neo Geo looks good so far. I've seen some Metal Slug 2 gameplay. I built myself an arcade stick and use it frequently (it's made with arcade parts and the PCB of a PS2 controller, so it plugs into PS2, and I use adapters for USB, Gamecube, XBox, etc, so it's pretty much universal). It'll be fun to be able to plug this thing into the wall, put it on the floor, plug it into the TV, and use USB controllers like that. I'm sure far too many of you have already gotten to do just that. ;_;
How is DOSBox? Is it easy to load up and play Jill of the Jungle, Commander Keen, and ZZT?
Sorry, lots of questions. A lot of them I could probably find the answer to if I searched a little harder, but again, I just felt like asking here for anybody willing to answer. Just answer the ones you already have an answer to from experience. I'm sure I'll find the answers to all of these in due time, anyways.
I've always wanted to be involved in programming. Never had anyone to teach me, and learning through the internet isn't easy. I've been dabbling in everything from Basic to C++ and Java for decades, and have lots of experience with game makers like ZZT, Megazeux, RPG Maker, and whatnot. I've done months of reading on how to model for the Source Engine, but it's very complicated. I've got some level of skill with simple 3D modeling, but all of the exporting and whatnot is confusing, I've pretty much given up on most of these pursuits.
An odd question, but is the Pandora a good platform for learning this kind of stuff? I mean, I'm old, I've been around for too many decades, and see teenagers making games and mods, and I just think "How in the HELL did they learn this stuff?!". Eh, they learn in months what I've spent decades researching, not understanding, and failing at. >_<
Well, that's all. Thanks in advance. I want this thing so freaking bad, and I'm willing to spend weeks of food money and live off of ramen (well, more than usual) to get it!
Anyways, the thing looks and sounds absolutely amazing, the "last handheld device I'll ever need", but for real this time. TV out on the PSP is awful, web browsing is poor on PSP and abysmal on DS, the PSP controls suck, the DS resolution is too small for most emulators, and my laptop, currently the most portable computer I have, is a hunking Thinkpad that overheats in minutes (making the keyboard very uncomfortable), has no working battery, and can be shut off just by moving the wire. I'm using it right now!
Not much needs to be said on selling this to me, but I'd like to know a few specifics anyways. I could probably do more reading, but I've been reading about this thing all day, and I figured maybe I could just get a few quick answers by asking.
The TV-out, it's composite yellow, white, and red cables, right? Is the cable generic and easily replaceable in the future? How about the battery? One thing I hate is specialized batteries and chargers that cost so much that just replacing something would be cheaper. Like with my Thinkpad, I can either buy a $100 battery, or use my mediocre-at-best soldering skills and follow some guide I found once, which is something I've been less-than-eager to do.
My cellphone lasts in standby for about a day, and I can talk for 30 minutes, because the battery is pretty much dead. By comparison, my Neo Geo Pocket Color runs 20-something hours on rechargeable AA nimhs, which are easily replaced. That's one reason I've considered the edubook on multiple occasions, is it's ability to run on 8 AA's that can be recharged inside the unit. Not a deal-breaker, but it'd be nice to know I won't have battery issues come 2020, and I really hope that the group behind Pandora is still around for the next century (I really do, you guys are great, this thing is the future), but if they're not, then I don't wanna be screwed.
Also, does it get hot? My Thinkpad gets uncomfortably hot. I mean, it scares me how hot it gets. I'm not a smart guy, but I've opened it, was surprised to see the fan was working and relatively free of dust, but it's not easily serviceable, being a laptop and all. I don't care about fixing it that much (Pandora would make a GREAT replacement, it's not like I do anything intensive on here anyway), but the bottom of it gets hot enough, that if I touch it, I've burned myself on a few occasions. Sometimes I put it on icepacks to keep cool, but it melts them pretty quickly. I stopped putting it on my lap years ago. The Pandora has twice the processing power of the PSP, and a hell of a lot more ram, and that little thing can get a bit warm. Does the Pandora keep cool well?
This thing runs Quake 3, with it's 600Mhz and 256MB ram. I don't really understand how the graphics are on this thing, though. As in, I couldn't really find what the "video memory" of it is. Is that applicable? The video memory of my laptop is 16mb, the processor is 2ghz, and the ram is 1gb. So, it's about 4x more powerful in those two regards, but what about video? My laptop can barely do YouTube, so is that feasible, or not so much?
What is the state of NES emulation? I've seen a lot of work on SNES, but it looks like there are only two NES emulators, and one of them was in the "yellow" range of compatibility. I had a 100mhz desktop that ran NES perfectly, so I know it's a matter of "when" if anything, but is it pretty much perfect right now?
The ports of Doom, Quake, Heretic, Hexen, and so forth are of interest to me. Especially Hexen, being one of my all time favorite games. Interest in portable Hexen is what got me into getting an R4 for my DS, and buying a PSP and a pandora battery just to put CFW on it. Unfortunately, the ports of Doom-engine games for both systems were much worse than the Quake I ports (both of which were actually very good, though they had some odd weaknesses, and didn't control all that great, especially the PSP. Nice thing about the Pandora is those great controls, and being able plug in a keyboard and mouse), and no FPS ports seemed to have music. Do they already have working music on the Pandora? I've seen those projects just die unfinished on PSP and DS.
How is SNES emulation? I've seen videos of F-Zero and Mario Kart, and they look great. What about later and more advanced stuff like Super Mario RPG, Yoshi's Island, Earthbound, Chrono Trigger, Doom, Stunt Race FX, Vortex, etc? One particular one is Equinox, which doesn't use any special chips, but has spent the longest time not being emulated well in both ZSNES and Snes9x.
N64 emulation looks pretty good, from the Super Mario 64 video I saw (much better controls than SM64DS). How is sound and compatibility? Do you think it will be perfect in the future? It looks like Pandora can handle N64 very well already.
I know there's no hope in hell for Saturn, and Genesis is already very good if not perfect. I saw a video of Sonic CD, which means Sega CD emulation. One system that very rarely gets emulators is the 32X. I don't see anything about 32X in Picodrive on the Pandora. I'd sure love to have Knuckles Chaotix on a handheld. Is there anything in the works, or is there just not enough interest?
I imagine support for the Pandora is still very much in it's infancy, despite how far things have already gotten. I know things will get better, but I just want to see what's working right now. The fact that it's already a powerful, linux-based computer shaped like a game system and designed specifically by and for the people writing and porting programs for this thing makes it the greatest handheld for this sort of thing ever devised.
How would, say, Minecraft run on this? It's a java-based game that can run in an internet browser. My laptop can't handle it that well due to it's low video capability. Does it seem likely that it will run (or already does run) well enough to be playable? Draw distance doesn't have to be max.
Is there some good RTS action on Pandora? I imagine there are some original homebrew efforts, but could Starcraft or Total Annihilation ever be done on here. There's probably not much luck for Starcraft, what with it being a Windows game, this thing running Linux on an ARM processor, and Blizzard's games aren't exactly open-source (one remake for the DS unfortunately got hit with a cease and desist). I think the source for Total Annihilation is available, though, and there's been a lot of fan stuff for that game. Do you think that could ever happen? Handhelds have been pretty awful as far as RTS gaming goes. There's been a few efforts, but they haven't been all that great, and the homebrew efforts are usually either not very fun, infringe on copyrights a little too much, or just never get far in development.
Neo Geo looks good so far. I've seen some Metal Slug 2 gameplay. I built myself an arcade stick and use it frequently (it's made with arcade parts and the PCB of a PS2 controller, so it plugs into PS2, and I use adapters for USB, Gamecube, XBox, etc, so it's pretty much universal). It'll be fun to be able to plug this thing into the wall, put it on the floor, plug it into the TV, and use USB controllers like that. I'm sure far too many of you have already gotten to do just that. ;_;
How is DOSBox? Is it easy to load up and play Jill of the Jungle, Commander Keen, and ZZT?
Sorry, lots of questions. A lot of them I could probably find the answer to if I searched a little harder, but again, I just felt like asking here for anybody willing to answer. Just answer the ones you already have an answer to from experience. I'm sure I'll find the answers to all of these in due time, anyways.
I've always wanted to be involved in programming. Never had anyone to teach me, and learning through the internet isn't easy. I've been dabbling in everything from Basic to C++ and Java for decades, and have lots of experience with game makers like ZZT, Megazeux, RPG Maker, and whatnot. I've done months of reading on how to model for the Source Engine, but it's very complicated. I've got some level of skill with simple 3D modeling, but all of the exporting and whatnot is confusing, I've pretty much given up on most of these pursuits.
An odd question, but is the Pandora a good platform for learning this kind of stuff? I mean, I'm old, I've been around for too many decades, and see teenagers making games and mods, and I just think "How in the HELL did they learn this stuff?!". Eh, they learn in months what I've spent decades researching, not understanding, and failing at. >_<
Well, that's all. Thanks in advance. I want this thing so freaking bad, and I'm willing to spend weeks of food money and live off of ramen (well, more than usual) to get it!
