A Stranger In The Fog Knocks On Craig's Door

[x68000]

Thanks x for the review!

I assume you did not tryout the video capability.
If you plan to visit again, can you bring a movie with you and try it out to see if the viewing is as good as we hope?

Also, did you try out the hinges and what are your thoughts on them? Did you played the emulators with it fully opened?

I played with the hinge fully open as that is the standard position. The good news is that no matter where you swivel the screen to, it maintains contrast very well. It also felt very comfortable in that position.

EDIT: x68000, what N64 roms did you try?

-God Ginrai

Only Super Mario 64, and for such an early build it played fantastically. The nubs worked a treat and the game just looked so so sharp. It was by no means perfect, but it is already far better than we have any right to expect.

I fortunately live 3-4 minutes away from Craig

so is craig as much of a dork as he is in the videos, the interview w/ ED a while back made mention of ED's personality being that of a super nice person as he is in the forums....

so was craig a drunken crazy person like he appears in the forums?

Of course he is, how else would he put up with us all

 

[Jourdy288]

I'd cross the ocean right now to touch a Pandora... of course, if I could do that, I could afford to order one

But nice, I'm glad to see that the Pandora is so... comfy looking.

 

[Mr.Gonzo]

Just to see Craig bump into things while speaking gibberish, i'd cross the ocean.
And film it.
And watch it when i feel bad about also being a crazy drunk.

 

[Mr.Confuzed]

So, how much did Craig pay you for this? Is there anything you didn't like about it?

 

[BackAssward]

Still, I might be able to hack said camera in somehow, or at least advocate for its integration in a Pandora 2 should that ever happen...

I also wish for a camera in Pandora 2, too useful not to include if you ask me. Would be perfect for all the bloggers out there as well, camera and a keyboard.

I don't see how this is relevant to the thread, and almost no one agrees with having a camera. "too useful not not include" is an absurd statement. I'd say the exact opposite, and from history, the majority of people here would agree. Basically, cameras are unimportant, if you want one, get a USB one, but for something used 1% of the time, it is a waste of space and money to put one in any Pandora.

 

[mali]

"too useful not not include" is an absurd statement.

You missed "if you ask me" == "in my opinion", so no need to start an argument, imo

 

[WizardStan]

Is there anything you didn't like about it?

I'm also interested in this. We all know what's good about it. Was there anything that you didn't like or would have done differently?

 

[Trip]

Not much to add except cheers for the info X. Always nice to get more confirmation of the excellent build quality etc.

 

[God Ginrai]

Still, I might be able to hack said camera in somehow, or at least advocate for its integration in a Pandora 2 should that ever happen...

I also wish for a camera in Pandora 2, too useful not to include if you ask me. Would be perfect for all the bloggers out there as well, camera and a keyboard.

I don't see how this is relevant to the thread, and almost no one agrees with having a camera. "too useful not not include" is an absurd statement. I'd say the exact opposite, and from history, the majority of people here would agree. Basically, cameras are unimportant, if you want one, get a USB one, but for something used 1% of the time, it is a waste of space and money to put one in any Pandora.

Yea, cameras are gimmicks. If you want a camera, get a good one that uses SD cards.

-God Ginrai

 

[Phawx]

Do you guys also consider webcams on netbooks/notebooks to be useless? I do plan on using my Pandora as a netbook as well. Webcam's don't take up that much space and they aren't terribly expensive.

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8668

And they overcharge on this type of stuff because it's one-off pricing. I will wholeheartedly agree that webcams for games, ala DSi are gimmicks. But I when I go on business trips and want to start a video chat with my wife, I'd rather not have to bust out a bigger netbook when the Pandora could do it just fine.

I also think that the Pandora would make an awesome mobile blogging tool.

 

[Trip]

Yea, cameras are gimmicks. If you want a camera, get a good one that uses SD cards.

-God Ginrai

I'd have agreed with that statement 3-4 months ago but Augmented reality is something that's shaping up to be very useful on a portable device.

+1 for having a camera on the Pandora 2

 

[God Ginrai]

Do you guys also consider webcams on netbooks/notebooks to be useless?

Gimmick, Yes; Useless, No. It's hard for things to be useless as long as they can perform a function.

-God Ginrai

 

[krosfyah]

Is there anything you didn't like about it?

I'm also interested in this. We all know what's good about it. Was there anything that you didn't like or would have done differently?

Yeah, it would be good to hear some criticism, however minor it may be.

 

[Mr.Gonzo]

Hey, even my professional camera has a usb port for tranferring files if i want, so its even better! ( reads like an external drive and all )
Awesome for blogging and better than some cheap mobile cam resolution.

Or else for chatting overseas well, there's always webcams and i think its the ONLY purpose the cam on the p2 could serve.

 

[Phawx]

Do you guys also consider webcams on netbooks/notebooks to be useless?

Gimmick, Yes; Useless, No. It's hard for things to be useless as long as they can perform a function.

-God Ginrai

A drinking bird is a gimmick and is useless when carrying out it's function.

 

[skyeyemachine]

Yea, cameras are gimmicks. If you want a camera, get a good one that uses SD cards.

-God Ginrai

I'd have agreed with that statement 3-4 months ago but Augmented reality is something that's shaping up to be very useful on a portable device.

+1 for having a camera on the Pandora 2

I wasn't thinking about that when I made my post, but I second this; AR is very cool. Also, in my case, having a small camera for on-the-go visual captures of signs, notices, faces, etc is very handy, and something I'd rather not drag a second device along for. That's my oppinion, anyway; I don't expect everyone else to share it. There are people who would have liked the Pandora to have integrated cell phone systems, and I don't care for that at all, much as I can appreceate their arguments...

 

[Tensuke]

Do you guys also consider webcams on netbooks/notebooks to be useless? I do plan on using my Pandora as a netbook as well. Webcam's don't take up that much space and they aren't terribly expensive.

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8668

And they overcharge on this type of stuff because it's one-off pricing. I will wholeheartedly agree that webcams for games, ala DSi are gimmicks. But I when I go on business trips and want to start a video chat with my wife, I'd rather not have to bust out a bigger netbook when the Pandora could do it just fine.

I also think that the Pandora would make an awesome mobile blogging tool.

I'd like to give this mod a go, the Pandora should be powerful enough for some videochatting.

 

[skyeyemachine]

Do you guys also consider webcams on netbooks/notebooks to be useless? I do plan on using my Pandora as a netbook as well. Webcam's don't take up that much space and they aren't terribly expensive.

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8668

And they overcharge on this type of stuff because it's one-off pricing. I will wholeheartedly agree that webcams for games, ala DSi are gimmicks. But I when I go on business trips and want to start a video chat with my wife, I'd rather not have to bust out a bigger netbook when the Pandora could do it just fine.

I also think that the Pandora would make an awesome mobile blogging tool.

I'd like to give this mod a go, the Pandora should be powerful enough for some videochatting.

If you do, please document your work! As much as I'd like an integrated camera, I'm very newbish as far as electronics and so forth goes, and I'd worry very much about torching my shiny new Pandora by accident in my attempts...

 

[Awakening]

Wasn't planning on commenting more on cameras but since so many jumped on that topic I just wanted to add my 2 cents on the subject. The reason why we (or at least I) want a Pandora is because it has a screen, keyboard, gamepad, WiFi etc. all built into one compact little device. I don't want to start carrying around another device of similar size just to take pictures. I also don't want to have to take the SD card out of a camera and put into my Pandora for every quick image. The photos should not be crappy but they don't have to be comparable to a camera.

With a camera built into your Pandora you can take photos anywhere and instantly email it to your friends or upload it to Facebook, your blog or a forum. You can take a picture of something you just bought, a restaurant menu, something funny that just happened, completing a game or a million other things. Instantly share images from a party, a fair or your vacation. You might not have a camera around but you didn't leave home without your Pandora. Or use the camera instead of taking notes, like URLs, phone numbers, book recommendations, movie posters.

There are so many things you can do with photos if you don't have to bring a camera with you.

 

[Mr.Gonzo]

i don't know. i just don't want the pandora to fall into the Cell-Phone-trying-to-be-everything-routine or in the end it will just loose it's Retro lovin meaning.

Maybe i'm a little oldschool on that. But i love the fact that it CAN please anybody being able to support add ons. But is not trying to be everything at the same time.

An handheld will never have the quality and usefulness of real cameras in my opinion.

when a camera is potentially needed, it is hanging from my neck, no need to start an app or anything, just point and shoot right on time.