A question for those that had Pandoras and have their Pyras now


tnpir4002

tnpir4002

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Greetings all,

I have a question for anyone who previously owned (or still owns) a Pandora, whether a classic or a 1GHz Platinum version, and who has their Pyra now.

The Pandora was a pretty nifty gadget, and by all appearances the Pyra outclasses it in every way. Spec sheets are one thing, and I'm interested to hear what the user experience is when it comes to the Pyra. Is there something they improved which you really like? (Or should I say, what's your favorite thing that was improved?) Is there an improvement that you read about that you notice but that doesn't really impact your user experience? In general, how does using the Pyra stack up against using the Pandora?

(Asking because I'm working on a video review of the Pandora, and I'm planning to follow it up with one on the Pyra when mine arrives, I just want to get an idea for what to look for when it does.)

Thank you!
 
tnpir4002 said:
the Pyra outclasses it in every way
Click to expand...
✘ doubt
You can sure find negative aspects too. Bigger, less standby time, less hackable hardware, worse touch screen.

Only improved thing that is really noticable for me is the better screen.
Well and the nubs are more accurate.
 
Yeah, screens have improved as have the nubs. The nubs on my Pandora was passable for playing nub nub but anything precision related (I forget the name of the game I was going to mention here) was basically unplayable because the nubs would constantly reconfigure themselves.

I'm not sure why you say the hardware's less hackable? Perhaps because it already has all of the game buttons anyone wants (except arguably for analogue shoulder buttons), bascially everything people hacked into their Pandoras in the early days is incorporated here.
 
It’s a much proper Linux which is quite near on the Desktop Experience, you can now quite easy connect Bluetooth Headphones, and it’s quite useful that you can now acces the Debian Repo , because you now have 32 gb instead of the 256 mb from the Pandora..

The Case was quite improved, although my Unit is quite early, so I have some issues:
This morning I wanted to read a Newspaper on it, I put the Mouse in but incidentally dropped the Pyra a few cm on the breakfast table and it’s lost batterie contact..
I have allready put a sheet of paper in ..
The Nubs works much better than on the Pandora, and the overall controls are also cool: Finally that many Shoulderbuttons than on the PlayStation..
tIts much more powerful, so Internet Stuff is finally possible again , on the Pandora, you had a lot of trouble whit the Sites when there were Ads
The Luminated Keyboard is really cool , and the LID Logo makes also a lot of bling bling ^^
shure it’s higher than the Pandora and it’s gets slightly warm, even when it’s only have to show a Newspaper PDF

IfIf the HDMI Out gets software support whit a future update, this also would be a nice improvement to the TV Out from the Pandora, I have the original TV Out Cable, but you don’t need a proportionate cable on the Pyra ..

There is still room for improvement, the batteries should lost much longer ..
 
elw3 said:
✘ doubt
You can sure find negative aspects too. Bigger, less standby time, less hackable hardware, worse touch screen.

Only improved thing that is really noticable for me is the better screen.
Well and the nubs are more accurate.
Click to expand...
The only problem I see with the Pyra is that I don't have one yet :mad:
 
Some positives as people already mentioned, Screen, Nubs and such. CPU performance is considerable better. Not entirely sure how the hardware is any less hackable than the Pandora, the schematics are out in the open and such. Touchscreen don't care it was least used thing on my Pandora.

The negatives for me is there is some urgent need for software development to get some things working better. We need a Pandora like custom SDL1.2 version that can scaling properly. Also hardware video decoding needs to be figured out, while the CPU can handle a bit of it on it's own it's less than Idel. Still some oddities in the 3D drivers and such...
 
Also the Hardware still have a lot of room for improvement: i have a quite early unit (Nr 37 or something allthough it should be 28), my DPAD Hole was cut wider by hand and its not that round ..
Everything is on a quite early state, its allready works, but not that comparable to the Pandora in its last Software State..

As i incidently crashed my Pandora and lost a Shoulderbutton Contact, the Pyra is much more usefull whit 3 More Shoulderbuttons ^^
 
Disclaimer: I dont have that much Linux Knowhledge, just a bit experience whit Ubuntu, Pandora Angstrom, and Pyra Debian..
The Pandora Linux had to get made quite small to fit in the few 100 mb of the Pandora NAND, so it came whit some basics, and this was it..
the Pyra got 32 gb, so you can install stuff from the Pyra Debian Repo as long as its fits the Hardware Specs, so you dont have to wait until someone makes a Libre Office PND Like on the Pandora, you can go to the Synaptic or the Terminal and install the Libre Office from there..
You could even use the Games from the Repo when you bind them to OpenGL via Terminal, or you can wait until someone ports it for the Pyra as DBP File whit build in OpenGL Support..

Not every game needs OpenGL Support, i have par exemple the Gnome Game Packet from the Pyra Repo which contains stuff like Solitär, Minesweeper etc you also know from a Windows Desktop and they run just normal..
 
I agree with matze, it feels much more like complete device because the debian repo is there. The pandora was great and got better and better I think the pyra will too. But the pyra even gets updated from people outside the pyraverse via that repo. The sound part of the pyra is the greatest worry I think, where the pandora was completly awesome, especcially when the tv-out cables became available. The pandora became more and more stable over time, I think the pyra will too. However Im also worried there it seems to be a much more complicated device, not only because it is but also because of it's afore mentioned being more regular linux, this seems to shy away devs en especially just starting devs. It seems like al the 'problems' are low level like they were on they pandora however the current low level problems are a bit more on the surface for regular users.

So come on devs do your stuff (or come back and take an interest) or something we need you!
 
Last edited:
Hi all,

My 2 cents. A mixed bag for me so far since April, and I'm really sorry to say so :(

+ Debian 10: much better than Angström Linux IMHO. The current OS lacks the polish of Super Zaxxon though. I'm curious how / when we'll upgrade to Debian 11. What will be the consequences ?
+ Faster CPU: much better than the Pandora, but generates heat (at least on my unit. I've been told I'm over sensitive to heat ;) )
+ Extra memory
+ Extra storage
+ WiFi: much better than the Pandora

~ Keyboard: the backlight is a nice addition. I'm not fond of the keys and the layout, but it's a matter of taste I suppose.
~ EDIT: Gaming controls: my nubs are noisy, you can definitely hear the springs underneath. they make a "spring like" noise when I use them. D-Pad, face buttons and shoulder buttons are OK.
~ Display: good picture quality but I'm not fond of the touchscreen. You just can't interact with the edges (scroll bars, etc...)

- Hard to charge the battery (micro USB cable not recognized, only a very short USB 3.0 (Micro-B plug) cable works for me). Battery emits some noise when charging.
- MicroHDMI out doesn't work yet
- Mass: feels heavier than the Pandora
- Audio bugs when playing games EDIT: solved by @EvilDragon :)
- Battery doesn't last long (power saving features not yet in place)
- The Repo (https://pyra-handheld.com/repo/apps) could use some love. Porting applications to the Pyra seems to be more complicated than porting to the Pandora. I believe we lack a VERY simple DBP tutorial for idiots like me :D

I'm confident most of my issues with the Pyra will be resolved as the software side matures. I'm also looking forward to hearing some news about the next CPU board ;)

Cheers, Magic Sam
 
Last edited:
Magic Sam said:
I don't remember what the underlying technology is. What I meant was that my nubs emit a "spring like" noise when I use them :)

I edited my post above, sorry for the poor phrasing.

Cheers, Magic Sam
Click to expand...
It is like this in all units. Yes, the position is read from a magnetic field but to keep the nub centered there is a metallic spring. Somthing similar to the ones used in wind up toys.

There is nothing to do about the noise.
 
Magic Sam said:
- The Repo (https://pyra-handheld.com/repo/apps) could use some love. Porting applications to the Pyra seems to be more complicated than porting to the Pandora. I believe we lack a VERY simple DBP tutorial for idiots like me :D
Click to expand...
Oh, that's a good idea! @ptitSeb can you make for us a simple how to tutorial? Even if we can't port an entire programm yet, we could do the pre - port work for you. If you make a to do list and every one get engaged, we could complete much more work, than a single person
 
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