Alternatives to the pyra?

[comradekingu]

2 years ago the race to have the highest specced phone was on. Then people realised those bences were doctored, and that a phablet style device cant utilize the power anyhow.


The people buying them certainly couldn't. So for what the pandora is, for the people its for, it makes more sense than carrying around extra controllers with your phone.


You can only sell people on desktop-level performance so many times, PCs, and then laptops hit that treshold years and years ago.


An alternative to the pyra has to be a phone. I think something slightly bigger with mechanical keys could make sense. A very DIY device with replacable parts in a whole range of dynamic options.

 

[FaeMinx]

An alternative to the pyra has to be a phone. I think something slightly bigger with mechanical keys could make sense. A very DIY device with replacable parts in a whole range of dynamic options.

I know this isn't what you had in mind, but...


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Ara

 

[matzesu]

If i remember correctly, when Pandora was in delevopment, there was also a new ??Panasonic?? Handheld to be released, this was a Clamshell Handheld whit Keyboard which should be aimed for MMO Players,


It dit some puplicity in the Boards at this time, but i cant remember its name..


Also it ditnt got released..


EDIT: Ok i found it: Panasonic Jungle..


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungle_(console)

 

[fusion_power]

So I just read about the JXD 7800 today.  Apparently it's been out for over a year.


It basically has everything the Pyra will have, except the full keyboard.


Android 4.2 RK3188 Quad Core 1.6GHz 7 inch IPS Screen 2GB RAM 8GB ROM Bluetooth 4.0 Cameras










Anyone know of any other device similar to what the pyra will be, but is available to purchase now?

And all that for under 200EUR, interesting. No clue how it will compare to the Pyra speed-wise but with an propper keyboard it seems to me like an competitive device for a much lower price (how they do that?).  Not sure about the build quality yet but at first sight it looks not that bad.

 

[TrashyMG]

No clue how it will compare to the Pyra speed-wise but with an propper keyboard it seems to me like an competitive device for a much lower price (how they do that?).  

It doesn't have a keyboard... so it's still not a competitive device as it's not comparable.

 

[levi]

It also doesn't have bluetooth, apparently, so you can't even use it with a bt keyboard.  I'm sure other tablet+game control android devices do have bluetooth though.


Another issue for me personally is that these devices run android, thereby running an older kernel and probably not receiving regular updates.  If I only used it for emulating games, that wouldn't be much of a problem (although I'd want to reflash it fairly regularly to stop it being turned into a zombie on my network), but my Pandora has various bits of personal data on it.  I guess I'm just repeating that my Pandora has much more utility than even a smart phone for me though.

 

[SNESFAN]

Non-closed gaming handheld comparable to the gaming capabilities of the Pandora or Pyra; GPD XD


It doesn't have all the capabilities as the Pandora, specifically the keyboard and also due to the differences between Linux and android, but I feel the XD makes up for it in faster processing adding to its capabilities as far as what games can actually be played at an enjoyable level. Again specifically from gaming/emulation standpoint.


the XD and android devices in general are good if you want a media consumption device. I feel the interface there provides a better experience in general than the Pandora or the pyra do or will. But if you want a media or content creation device (emails, scripts, documents, programming, or things where onscreen keyboard would be troublesome) the pyra and Pandora will excel to the point of there being no alternative.

 

[Klumpen]

Besides the point, that it only has 20% of the Pandora's possibilities, it doesn't even reach the performance of the emulation.


There's no reason to compare it to the Pyra when even the Pyra's predecessor is superior in the selling point "emulation" which JXD traditionally achieves by stolen software, which should already be a no-go.


Ask Robert Broglia if they paid him for shipping it with his software this time, I don't think so.


Do they sell their stuff with Exophase's NDS-emulator too now?

 

[directive0]

Non-closed gaming handheld comparable to the gaming capabilities of the Pandora or Pyra; GPD XD

Just make sure you get a good one; mine had a faulty left analog stick that crosstalked with the d-pad so it made things like n64 games a pain. It was fine so long as you wanted one or the other.


*Urhps, sorry I meant the g5a not the XD. 

 

[SNESFAN]

Just make sure you get a good one; mine had a faulty left analog stick that crosstalked with the d-pad so it made things like n64 games a pain. It was fine so long as you wanted one or the other.


*Urhps, sorry I meant the g5a not the XD. 

My first Pandora had a faulty left analog as well. Since then, on my replacement my left shoulder button and right SD card slot has stopped working. Whereas my XD arrived without defect and is still running strong several months later.


Nothing's perfect, but with a bit of luck and a couple RMA's you will eventually get one that doesn't suck. Chances of bad or unreliable hardware seems to be the theme regardless which brand of mobile device you end up getting.

 

[txus]

Not a real alternative, more like an overlap on some functionality (each one has it's pros and cons), but it just went live:


https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/smachteam/smach-z-the-first-handheld-steam-machine

 

[Grench]

I know this isn't what you had in mind, but...


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Ara

Google's Ara got it wrong with it's slide-in modules.  They put 'dividers' in instead of generic spaced square 'micro rails'.  I.e. I should be able to install any module of any size in any orientation in any position.  The device itself has 'space' for 3 module units by 6 module units.


All of these should be possible in any logical placement - even, 'hanging over the side': 1x1, 1x2, 1x3, 1x4, 1x5, 1x6, 2x1, 2x2, 2x3, 2x4, 2x5, 2x6, 3x1, 3x2, 3x3, 3x4, 3x5, 3x6.  


A 1x3 and 3x1 module should be 'installation agnostic' and both fit into the same places.  Also, every module should have the reverse 'micro rails' and contacts on it's back side so that multiple modules could ride in a double or more thickness device.  Modules should 'touch' on the edges - no gaps.


Of course the primary assumption in the Ara project is a bit wrong now.  It assumes that every function, GPS, WiFi, cell receiver, etc would each be contained an disparate chips in separate modules that could be added/removed.  Now that those functions are progressively being consolidated onto fewer and fewer features (chips) on the motherboard, Ara has drifted into irrelevancy - as it is becoming cheaper to just install it all.

 

[PowerGod]

It's not a PC, so, I just can't see how to do a comparison with this at all...


I can only compare the single common parts, like the display, or the gaming buttons, but the product is something totally different, is like finding the differences between an amphibian vehicle and a boat... the boat has a powerful engine, goes faster and probably cost less, but you can't go outside the water with it...

 

[directive0]

My first Pandora had a faulty left analog as well. Since then, on my replacement my left shoulder button and right SD card slot has stopped working. Whereas my XD arrived without defect and is still running strong several months later.


Nothing's perfect, but with a bit of luck and a couple RMA's you will eventually get one that doesn't suck. Chances of bad or unreliable hardware seems to be the theme regardless which brand of mobile device you end up getting.

Glad to hear you're having a good time with your XD. My experience was anomalous and completely anecdotal, but it was enough to turn me of GPD stuff for now. Hearing you're enjoying yours does pique my interest a little.

 

[PowerGod]

Not a real alternative, more like an overlap on some functionality (each one has it's pros and cons), but it just went live:


https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/smachteam/smach-z-the-first-handheld-steam-machine

I wonder if this thing will be really able to run "The Witcher 3", as I have seen it in the video, anyway seems a cool project, also very cheap on kickstarter

 

[Klumpen]

I wonder if this thing will be really able to run "The Witcher 3", as I have seen it in the video, anyway seems a cool project, also very cheap on kickstarter

you can also stream games from your PC via WIFI

That's obviously what they did. I don't think that any handheld made in the next 10 years can run Witcher 3 if there's no custom made version for it.


Anyway, the modular button pads are a very cool idea and if there's a way to somehow jailbreak it and use it without any Steam software, it would be quite interesting.

 

[FaeMinx]

I don't think that any handheld made in the next 10 years can run Witcher 3 if there's no custom made version for it.

http://www.pcgamesn.com/watch-microsoft-s-surface-pro-2-tablet-modded-handheld-pc

 

[SNESFAN]

The thing I think that steam handheld will be going for is the steam streaming, the same thing that allows me to run GTA5 on a netbook I got in 2004. Are they saying it can run native?

 

[Faust]

The Smach Z Cpu/Gpu could be interesting as an upgrade of the pyra's one: AMD embedded G-Series SoC (formerly codenamed "Steppe Eagle") with "Jaguar"-based CPU and GCN-based Radeon™ graphics with 2 GB of dedicated GPU RAM.


As the Smach Z is a 5 inch console, maybe it could be doable?


Envoyé de mon 6039Y en utilisant Tapatalk

 

[Yoyobuae]

you can also stream games from your PC via WIFI

That's obviously what they did. I don't think that any handheld made in the next 10 years can run Witcher 3 if there's no custom made version for it.

I wonder how well will that work. I've been playing with the idea of streaming games from my (Linux) PC to Pandora. Obviously I got a Wifi dongle to use instead of Pandora's iffy onboard Wifi. But I ran into various issues:

• Packet loss is a pain. Forget TCP, retransmissions eat more bandwidth which makes things worst. Some kind of foward error correction is needed (but that implies using more bandwidth).
  
• More compression can reduce bandwidth use, but real time encoding kills the PC's CPU. Even encoding 480p res (for Pandora) takes a big chunk of CPU time.
  

Maybe the problems are solvable (is there any streaming solution already that works well?) but it's certainly not an easy problem.


EDIT: Looks like some video cards have special hardware accelerated video encoders, so that should free CPU from the huge encoding load.