Android Dev Phone 1 Or Pandora

[adamorjames]

I want something that is small and open. It seems the Pandora might be hard to fit in my pocket but the Android Dev Phone 1 might get boring. If I was rich I'd get both. If somehow you people can help me decide on which one to get then please do. :lol:

Android Dev Phone 1
Smaller but less powerful
1 MicroSDHC slot
Proprietary headphone jack
Built-in 3.2 MP camera
Built-in accelerometer
Smaller screen resolution (480x320)
Lots of applications (modified specifically for the device)
Play cellphone games (there is work on a Gameboy emulator)
Wi-Fi and cellphone internet service
GPS
Big community
More mature
Can get sooner
More expensive
HTC

VS.

Pandora
More powerful but bigger
2 SDHC slots
Standard 3.5mm headphone jack
No built-in camera
No built-in accelerometer
Bigger screen resolution (800x480)
Tons of applications (halfway modified for the device)
Play video games (maybe even Bob's Game!!)
Wi-Fi
No GPS by default
Small community
Less mature
Will take longer to get
Less expensive
TI


Similarities:
Linux kernel on defaults OS
Developer-friendly
ARM
Touchscreen
Bluetooth
QWERTY keyboard

 

[(naw)mcx]

This is Pandora country, get out!

 

[eksasol]

I think you are mixing up the catergory. The Android seem to be a phone that does some other things and the Pandora is more a gaming device that can act as a full OS system. Some people might try to make the pandora work as a cellphone, but there was no desire to create the Pandora for phone usage. So two different devices for very different pracitical purposes.

I got a kick out of that mature thing though, haha, ha.

 

[adamorjames]

Will the Pandora be able to play Flash content?

EDIT: I searched Angstrom pacakages and found nothing about a Flash player. http://www.angstrom-distribution.org/repo/...flash&arch=
Ahh maybe swfdec.

 

[eksasol]

Adobe has just allowed their Flash 10 software to use freely for mobile ARM phones, and the companies are optimizing them for their phones. Edit: Well I guess it's only for companies part of the Open Screen Project, but hopefually some third party decoder can be implemented atleast.

 

[mali]

I've dug this out of off topic:
http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?showtopic=45300

 

[Ravnos]

The lack of 3G on the Android phone is a deal-breaker for me, since it won't do better than EDGE on Rogers either. It's a shame, because I want to get one pretty bad, but I can't justify dropping $600 on a phone and then getting shafted because it only "half works".

 

[Chip]

I have a G1 and it's a very good phone, but it's far from perfect. Luckily I'm in one of the few spots on earth where T-mobile has decent 3G coverage, but it's still nowhere near as complete (or as fast) as EVDO on Verizon was. If you're in an area with little or no T-mobile 3G, then I'm not sure it would be worthwhile.

The software works quite well for the most part, though there are a few speed issues that will hopefully be worked out and updated out of existence. In two months of ownership, I've never had the phone lock up to the point that I had to pull the battery to reset it. I certainly can't say the same for WiMo or Palm phones I've owned in the past. The browser and Gmail integration work great, and since these are the two things I use the phone for the most, this alone makes it worthwhile for me.

There are a couple serious hardware issues that I have with the phone that, unfortunately, no amount of firmware updating can fix. The keypad is one of the less usable ones I've had. The keys are very small, flat, and sit flush with the case. Because of this, you can't easily feel the individual keys with your fingertips. HTC would have done much better to have used pebble-type keys like Palm and RIM, or larger domed keys like their 6700 (which I owned and loved for the keypad, if not the OS). It's a struggle to get up to a reasonable typing speed, and this is from someone who has been thumb-typing on qwerty cellphones for 5 years. Just how typable the Pandora will be remains to be seen, but having adequately spaced, raised keys it has to be better than the G1.

The battery life is also a serious drawback. We're looking at a minimum of about 8 hours for the Pandora, with 10 hours being a reasonable average. The G1 can't make it through two whole days with light to moderate usage, and doesn't make it through 4 hours of constant, actual use. During a longish browsing session you can actually watch the battery indicator run down.

The only other problem I have with the G1 design is with the sliding display that everybody else seems to love. Yes, it is pretty neat the first few times you use it. However, it just doesn't seem nearly as sturdy as a normal sliding mechanism. My HTC 6700 has seen over two years of serious use and abuse, but the sliding mechanism is as solid as the day I bought it. The G1 is wobbly now, I can only hope it survives two whole years.

Still, even with those issues, I do not regret buying the G1 at all. There is no one perfect smartphone, only phones with different problems. It's really a matter of finding a phone whose weaknesses you can live with.

As for comparing it to a Pandora, there really isn't much of a comparison to make. The Pandora is so much more powerful and versatile, and the G1 is so much more connected (at least in northern NJ), that they are not really comparable devices. The Pandora has much more in common with a desktop PC than with any smartphone.

So which do you want: A phone or a computer?

 

[adamorjames]

So which do you want: A phone or a computer?

Thanks Chip. I think you have brought me to a decision. I'm going with the Pandora!

 

[Username]

Thanks Chip. I think you have brought me to a decision. I'm going with the Pandora!

Took you a while there.