Let me explain that I am more or less a total noob to the OP in how it works (as in I know what it is but have no experience using it - I am a heavy Windows, android and iOS user). I don't use linux either. The idea being I start learning from hands on experience! I also used to work in QA
Well when I first heard about the Open Pandora I was excited, I had seen my friends Wiz and was thinking about something similar for sometime. My brother had brought a Dingoo and it too was pretty sweet but not quite perfect.
By the time I preordered I was pretty late in. Pretty sure it was a late second batch. As I was finally in a secure job, I thought what the hell? Now or never...
A few years later my optimistic behaviour was not paying off. I lurked the forums sprodically. Could never read it and join - mainly because at work the firewall blocked the forum, though I could still read the Stalker and see the replies from the OPT. THe forum unblocked itself recently so I caught up on news. Not entirely sure what on earth is going on anymore tbh.
Finally I was given the option to "upgrade" - if it had been the rebirth model there was no way. But the 1 ghz version was at least significant enough that I again decided what the hell and with the promise of shipment before Christmas I took a leap of faith.
The order went through and queued a tense waiting period as I wondered where it was. I got a Tracking code which eventually said it had been delivered!
Well opening the box I noted the wrapped newspaper and the normal OP box. The unit itself looked good I opened it to reveal the actual OP. Now I own several other handhelds by far bigger companies so I cant exactly critique the slightly rough casing - with the plastic seams here and there from the moulding. There was nothing sharp or catching in the hand that I could see so thats fine.
I double checked the L and R which were good - I had read that the early models had some issues with these.
Now the battery was in a nice matching case but this proved rather annoying to open - it did open but rather suddenly. Slotting it in I noticed the battery was less secure than it could be. It was fine with the lid on but seemed to move about when inserting it.
Another thing I noticed was that the OP turned itself on, again this was a surprise and while not detrimental just seemed a bit odd.
Using the buttons during setup I found the buttons pretty good but could certainly have a little less give to them for something handheld I don't really need that much give to be honest, but I was quickly used to how it worked. Certainly I found as a left hander that the spacebar on the right wasn't too bad and accidental pressing was hard.
I setup the system fairly quickly, though I noticed the system would not allow my username - probably because it shared the first initial with my second name. Odd but not a major issue. However once I had finished I was given 3 options to further tweak the system - ie calibrate the screen and other bits. During this it got stuck on a blank screen. I believe I clicked on the cancel/cross and rather than load anything it just left me on the background - I could see the cursor but none of the buttons worked - I couldn't even switch off -
I eventually had to perform a battery pull.
On restart it noted I had not shutdown properly which was a bonus and seemed perfectly fine after this.
I soon was trying out the different GUIs available. Being quite techy the minimenu was pretty easy to get my head round though the way it works is quite inconsistent - sometimes things didn't start when tapped or things were not quite clear as to what it was. The little box on the right of the screen would have been helpful in this regard - it already displays the name - a single line as to have it does would have been helpful (such as Web Browser etc)
It seemed a little odd to me that all the apps were on the first tab and then it split into different categories. I suppose it is a matter of preference (and being a noob) but it could be slightly easier to use. The settings tab had multiple items in it but these I am sure would be better off combined into a more intergrated method as a one stop shop rather than going in to change them one at a time. The same with the calibration. Network seemed a bit odd as the Wifi toggle was not in there.
On switching over to the full gui it was a bit more like a windows experience with a desktop and a "start" menu of sorts. Here I started setting up the wifi and fending through the different options which seemed to be sorted out fairly well.
I encountered a problem in sorting out the memory card I brought. A 64gb SDXC card. I had to download the community codec pack to another card to install before it worked as an NTFS card. I was reading the Wiki and probably the easiest option would be to point this out - Install the CCP immediately! Format the card as NTFS (easily done in Windows 7) and create the folder system. And then its done.
I have to say the OP repo is really nice and convenient - it might be worth updating the Wiki with software updates and version history for each of them so each has its own page? - then the end user has a nice convenient online wiki manual explaining each bit of software (without having to mess around asking on the forum repeatedly or trawling through what could be many pages of replies) and any quirks. Though this is a major bit of work to do so.
I proceeded to start sorting out and trying a few emulators which had been one of my primary reasons for buying. Most worked great though the GBA one seemed like it needed some bios which I will have to look into.
I ran into some trouble with the Mupen64 though. I was changing the button layout - or trying to - but for some reason I had trouble changing the C buttons to the ABXY buttons and changing O and P to be A and B. (So it reflects the actual real N64 controller layout better) so will have to look into this.
I was also slightly annoyed at the fact my PSP charger has gone kaput. Then finding the default inlcuded charger didn't fit but recalled ED had mailed about the missing cable. Luckily it charges via Mini USB.
Well that was my first nights exp. Will look into updating in the next week and during Xmas when I have some time off to spend more time on it!
Well when I first heard about the Open Pandora I was excited, I had seen my friends Wiz and was thinking about something similar for sometime. My brother had brought a Dingoo and it too was pretty sweet but not quite perfect.
By the time I preordered I was pretty late in. Pretty sure it was a late second batch. As I was finally in a secure job, I thought what the hell? Now or never...
A few years later my optimistic behaviour was not paying off. I lurked the forums sprodically. Could never read it and join - mainly because at work the firewall blocked the forum, though I could still read the Stalker and see the replies from the OPT. THe forum unblocked itself recently so I caught up on news. Not entirely sure what on earth is going on anymore tbh.
Finally I was given the option to "upgrade" - if it had been the rebirth model there was no way. But the 1 ghz version was at least significant enough that I again decided what the hell and with the promise of shipment before Christmas I took a leap of faith.
The order went through and queued a tense waiting period as I wondered where it was. I got a Tracking code which eventually said it had been delivered!
Well opening the box I noted the wrapped newspaper and the normal OP box. The unit itself looked good I opened it to reveal the actual OP. Now I own several other handhelds by far bigger companies so I cant exactly critique the slightly rough casing - with the plastic seams here and there from the moulding. There was nothing sharp or catching in the hand that I could see so thats fine.
I double checked the L and R which were good - I had read that the early models had some issues with these.
Now the battery was in a nice matching case but this proved rather annoying to open - it did open but rather suddenly. Slotting it in I noticed the battery was less secure than it could be. It was fine with the lid on but seemed to move about when inserting it.
Another thing I noticed was that the OP turned itself on, again this was a surprise and while not detrimental just seemed a bit odd.
Using the buttons during setup I found the buttons pretty good but could certainly have a little less give to them for something handheld I don't really need that much give to be honest, but I was quickly used to how it worked. Certainly I found as a left hander that the spacebar on the right wasn't too bad and accidental pressing was hard.
I setup the system fairly quickly, though I noticed the system would not allow my username - probably because it shared the first initial with my second name. Odd but not a major issue. However once I had finished I was given 3 options to further tweak the system - ie calibrate the screen and other bits. During this it got stuck on a blank screen. I believe I clicked on the cancel/cross and rather than load anything it just left me on the background - I could see the cursor but none of the buttons worked - I couldn't even switch off -
I eventually had to perform a battery pull.
On restart it noted I had not shutdown properly which was a bonus and seemed perfectly fine after this.
I soon was trying out the different GUIs available. Being quite techy the minimenu was pretty easy to get my head round though the way it works is quite inconsistent - sometimes things didn't start when tapped or things were not quite clear as to what it was. The little box on the right of the screen would have been helpful in this regard - it already displays the name - a single line as to have it does would have been helpful (such as Web Browser etc)
It seemed a little odd to me that all the apps were on the first tab and then it split into different categories. I suppose it is a matter of preference (and being a noob) but it could be slightly easier to use. The settings tab had multiple items in it but these I am sure would be better off combined into a more intergrated method as a one stop shop rather than going in to change them one at a time. The same with the calibration. Network seemed a bit odd as the Wifi toggle was not in there.
On switching over to the full gui it was a bit more like a windows experience with a desktop and a "start" menu of sorts. Here I started setting up the wifi and fending through the different options which seemed to be sorted out fairly well.
I encountered a problem in sorting out the memory card I brought. A 64gb SDXC card. I had to download the community codec pack to another card to install before it worked as an NTFS card. I was reading the Wiki and probably the easiest option would be to point this out - Install the CCP immediately! Format the card as NTFS (easily done in Windows 7) and create the folder system. And then its done.
I have to say the OP repo is really nice and convenient - it might be worth updating the Wiki with software updates and version history for each of them so each has its own page? - then the end user has a nice convenient online wiki manual explaining each bit of software (without having to mess around asking on the forum repeatedly or trawling through what could be many pages of replies) and any quirks. Though this is a major bit of work to do so.
I proceeded to start sorting out and trying a few emulators which had been one of my primary reasons for buying. Most worked great though the GBA one seemed like it needed some bios which I will have to look into.
I ran into some trouble with the Mupen64 though. I was changing the button layout - or trying to - but for some reason I had trouble changing the C buttons to the ABXY buttons and changing O and P to be A and B. (So it reflects the actual real N64 controller layout better) so will have to look into this.
I was also slightly annoyed at the fact my PSP charger has gone kaput. Then finding the default inlcuded charger didn't fit but recalled ED had mailed about the missing cable. Luckily it charges via Mini USB.
Well that was my first nights exp. Will look into updating in the next week and during Xmas when I have some time off to spend more time on it!
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