Another Review?


Joined
May 17, 2010
Messages
2,198
Location
:|
Writing this review right now from a Pandora, and as such it won't be especially wordy. (saved to SD from Mousepad, posted from my laptop because the WIFI wasn't working)

Sorry if this alarms anyone still waiting for their machine, but I don't see any point in not being honest...

The most annoying things:

The hinge angle is way too low. I mean, I'm typing this right now and doing so requires angling the top end of the machine downwards. I feel like a kid watching TV from down on the floor!

The lack of shift button on the right side of the keyboard is a bugbear. It means I have to shuffle the whole handheld into my right hand in order to do a capital 's' for example. Not especially comfortable.

Matte paint finish is... okay. It picks up fingerprints a lot too.

Volume wheel feels too recessed. I can't even feel when I'm moving it sometimes.

Usual stuff that can and will go wrong. I have a screwed up right shoulder button etc.

OS and software are very buggy and crash prone right now, more so than I expeted, but it's early days yet.

Welcome to reality:

The Pandora, now it's in my hands, feels like a completely different kind of device to mainstream handhelds. My initial impression was that the production values aren't as high as I'd imagined. The design is actually quite eccentric also, at least in person.

It's like meeting someone from the internet you've known for years. You have the most amazing, all night deep conversations and seem made for each other. When you meet though, they're very weird... and strange looking. Your brain can't connect the image you had of them in your mind to the real person. Within a few days this fades away and they seem like them again! You've now properly adapted to the real person.

It's been the same with my Pandora.

Now... if I'm slightly underwhelmed, I can see the majority of people not warming to it at all. This isn't the kind of gadget love where you fall head over heels... this is more about the personality that slowly grows on you.

The reality, after two years of fantasy, is that the Pandora is the scrappy but powerful underdog. It says vey boldy, 'This is homebrew. Eat it suckers.'. It doesn't win you over straight away, it's the kind of device you have to get used to before you love it. It grows on you... even after only a few hours I'm feeling the love.

For example, I'm already getting used to looking at the screen from a lower angle. Your brain adjusts!

I've just had to shift my expectations a little. I know what to expct from my little machine now.

Positives:

The Dpad really is superb. squeaks a bit at the moment, like most of the buttons.

The screen is very crisp and sharp!

The nubs are nice. Much thinner than I imagined, and they seem to differ in loosness but way better than the crap Sony made.

The speakers are really quite loud!
Okay, that's it for now; getting sore wrists :(

Post more when I can think of stuff!

Edit:

Argh! The OS just locked up on me and I had to reset by removing the battery. Ah well... early days.

The Pandora smells really nice. It has that new electronics must.

My case is noticably higher when closed on the left hand side (like some other guys). Not sure how bothered I really am about that... surely something other people will comment on though.

Case is very sturdy and doesn't flex.

I'm finding that the best position to hold it, for stuff like web browsing is leant against your thigh in a crossed leg position.

Not sure how comfortable it is to hold yet, as I'm still getting used to it. My hands aren't that big, but it should suit bigger handed people quite well. Japanese stuff like the DS Lite, built for little hands are the perfect size for me... if that gives you any idea.

The hinge likes to go into the locked position, although it does stay put when put when put on a table etc.

I think I need to break in most of the buttons, and this includes all the keyboard keys - some of which are a bit stiff and squeaky.

Right nub is very sensitive and a bit annoying to use as mouse buttons. It keeps going into click even though I'm barely touching it.

I keep hitting space as a shift button. My brain needs to adjust.

For some reason I've been sent a non uk charger with an adapter. I'm using my PSP charger instead.

I'm finding that if I just brush the right nub upwards, that's all it needs to click. I just stroke it upwards, not even pushing. It's quite comfortable! I'm getting really used to the nubs now.

More edit:

abiword slow with docs

Loaded some word documents in Abiword, but the text scrolling is very slow.

I found that I had to reposition the battery or else the right side of the battery cover would squeak when pressed.

The edge on the lid can be annoying when using the touch screen. For example, the sharp corners can catch the bottom of your hand.

The Pandora starts to fel heavy after a while due to the way you have to hold it (or the way I was holding it).

I went out the room, and when I came back in and saw the Pandora sitting with the hinge up on my desk, it looked like a minature laptop. That was surreal.

I realised how cool it is that I'm running a full desktop on something so small!

Hooked a mouse up using a USB hub. That was pretty surreal! It works better than the touch screen or nubs, which have variety of bugs and quirks at the moment.


For some reason my left nub is quite stiff, but the right one is smooth as silk. It's sexy smooth.

Not sure why, but I have no rubber covers over the lid screws (which are black, so less noticable - but still...).


I found the cure to the gritty touchscreen was to just give it a good clean first.

For some reason the USB port is upside down.

Plugged my Ipod Shuffle in for a while. It got very hot, which worried me.
 
Luckily Ive never owned another handheld before, I did hold a sega game gear once or twice. But I wont be comparing it to anything else :D
 
Bosbeetle said:
Luckily Ive never owned another handheld before, I did hold a sega game gear once or twice. But I wont be comparing it to anything else :D

Not even a mobile phone?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
SomeGuy99 said:
Bosbeetle said:
Luckily Ive never owned another handheld before, I did hold a sega game gear once or twice. But I wont be comparing it to anything else :D

Not even a mobile phone?

Erm how does that compare to a pandora :D Its a device I use to call with nothing more nothing less :D no need for any fast actions or 'controlling' behaviour
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Great review, it shows your paticular concerns and problems. Nice to see it came from the Pandora. Hopefully you'll work out the wi-fi issue soon. I'm not really sure how much web surfing I might do yet, but I'm really looking foward to playing online poker thru my pandy for sure.

Chris
 
jumpman said:
Great review, it shows your paticular concerns and problems. Nice to see it came from the Pandora. Hopefully you'll work out the wi-fi issue soon. I'm not really sure how much web surfing I might do yet, but I'm really looking foward to playing online poker thru my pandy for sure.

Chris

It's quite nice for typing, that's for sure. After a while I started to notice how round the buttons were, but it never made it uncomfortable or anything.

It was awesome to be able to fire up Mousepad, write all that, then save to the SD card like you would with any computer. All this without even using a stylus (just the nubs). The text rendering looked really nice too.

I don't think I've quite developed the right holding position for typing yet - I was getting sore wrists, but this seemed to go away as I was adjusting. I think I may have changed the way I was holding it.

Fennec seems quite nice too, but the WIFI was really, really slow (and then cut out). I'm using the same WIFI on this laptop with no problems.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks!
Does the Pandora key + power switch, not work for you?
I believe it's a reset so you shouldn't need to take out battery.
 
SomeGuy99 said:
The lack of shift button on the right side of the keyboard is a bugbear. It means I have to shuffle the whole handheld into my right hand in order to do a capital 's' for example. Not especially comfortable.

You know L is also mapped to Shift? :)

Right nub is very sensitive and a bit annoying to use as mouse buttons. It keeps going into click even though I'm barely touching it.

You can change the sensitivity in the Nub-Settings-Menu :)

I'm finding that if I just brush the right nub upwards, that's all it needs to click. I just stroke it upwards, not even pushing. It's quite comfortable! I'm getting really used to the nubs now.

Left = Left Click, Up = Double Click, Right = Right Click
 
Last edited:
I was going to do a review to begin with and also tell everyone about the production but i had quitea few problems just like SomeGuy99 ,he is right in that to begin with ,you notice all the small bad things and the pandora does feel weird ,i mean just looking at it is like bizzare ,it doesn't look mainstream but it does look awsome ,and at the start i was really afraid to use it becase i didn't want to put a mark on it but not in the same way when you get other new devices becase with the pandora you think to yourself man this is soo special and rare and it really could end up being one of a kind.

After getting through the problems the pandora settles in your head ,you start to use it for real and find that it is soo amazing at what it does ,the keymat is brill ,i really couldn't ask for more apart from the noise it can make but this isn't as bad as it sounds ,it will make a bit of noise if you type like crazy on it but still that noise is only heard in the evning when all is quiet and even then it's not loud or anything ,better than a mobile phone any day of the week.

I find the volume control to be perfect ,yes it is resessed back quite far and is just sticking out enough to use ,this i would imagine is intended as it's a pocket device and you don't want the volume turning up or down when the pandora is in your pocket ,to me the volume control is perfect in every way ,i really can't fault it.

The keymat to me is also pretty much perfect ,i can thumb type on it with great ease and i have never really used other simular style keyboards like on other mid devices or mobile phones ,to me the keymat placement is also fine ,i can get to my caps/shift and FN with great ease ,alt and ctrl are at the top and still when needed can be used without difficulty ,i really don't have any complaint with the keymat ,and for what it is worth three of my family members picked up the pandora and started typing with it right away and commented on how they could use it right there and then without needing to get used to it.

The nubs ,the nubs are way better than psp nub ,they are amazing and feel very smooth ,the control of them takes a bit of getting used to as i have never used anything like it ,it's really a new design and does take some time to get the precision feel right in your mind ,i didn't like the nubs when i first got my pandora ,it wasn't the look of them or the way they move ,it was more to do with them being new and me not used to them ,after 30 mins on quake 3 i was way used to them and really people you can't ask for better ,you really can't get better anywhere for handheld gaming.

The shoulder buttons ,well not much to say about these ,they work and feel fine to use and when i was playing starfox on the snes emulator they just worked perfectly ,double tapping to barrelroll was easy ,painless and a breeze.That being said ,my right shoulder button also sticks out like many of the first few units built ,OPT had to do a fix on some of the units that ment the shoulder button would stick out slightly ,it's nothing to worry about but the fix does make the button show out a little ,this has now been addressed and OPT have created a fix to this ,but even with the right button showing out a bit ,the button it's self works fine ,not as perfect as the left but fine.

The main four gaming buttons ,ABXY - these buttons are perfect ,not too big and not too small ,they press down and release perfectly and you can't ask for better ,the only issue with them is that they have been painted and so has the case so this becomes a squeeking issue untill the buttons have been run in ,could mean 3/4 weeks of use before they don't squeek ,apart from this the buttons are tops.

The headphone jack - perfect in every way sound wise and nice and clear and loud at the same time ,one thing i notice is theres no click when you insert the jack in ,it just seems to go in and stay ,doesn't move around or anything and feels just like anyother jack but just that there is no click home.

Power button - don't like it at all ,it is fiddly and tight feeling ,i really don't like this kind of switch design ,it's like the psp one where there is no actual slot/pot for the switch and it just flicks to the on/off location ,some people might like it but i don't.

SD Slots - can say anything more than that they work perfectly and seem to be very well built ,when a card is inserted it stays locked and out the way ,doesn't stick out and just looks very cool.

Misc ports on the back - all the ports for usb,usbhost tvout and power are all perfect ,nothing more to say apart from perfect.

Battery cover and battery unit - the cover is nice and when the lid is closed it smaps into place perfectly ,the battery holds in there nice and tight ,no rattle or anything like that and just well looks spot on ,the battery to me is poor looking ,the wrapping of the battery has become slightly lose on the edges from taking the battery cover off as the cover hinges seem to pluck away at the battery covering.

(for OPT to read - battery wrapping ,change the wrapping to a back to front wrap and it means the wrapping edge will not be at the top where it can be seen when the battery is inserted but also it means the wrapping edge will be under and not over the top close to where the battery cover hinge is)

Speakers - loud and crystal clear ,i listen to online radio when i am inthe kitchen cooking dinner and it is perfect ,i also sing along with my pandora :eek: :p and have great fun cooking ! yep speakers are perfect.

Overall finish of the case - i do not like the black matt finish but it IS a very nice looking finish, i have a few light smudges on it and i had to ask Ed if it was ok to clean with a damp cloth as i really was not sure ,scared incase the paint comes off ,he said yep a damp cloth is fine ,well i have not tried yet but i will do soon ,apart from that i can see very light scratches on the unit ,i think i made those scratches so i don't think it's coated in anything to protect the paint job ,but hey look the matt finish is still very nice looking and i think the case finish is good enough for the purpose ,more cases in the future means we can recase with a different colour and so not really a problem and i am sure not a deal breaker ,some people who have seen my pandora really like the finish.

Software - i am very (very) impressed with the OS ,the boot up and general background work that has been done to the software/OS and bios is outstanding ! it's really like the real deal very professional looking and works a treat ,the OS for the most part is bug free and i find it very easy to use ,there is just a lack of software for apps ,this kind of thing but really this is nothing as we will all be adding to this and before long we will see new stuff daily.The driver code for hardware functions like brightness ,volume ,nubs and display calibration are all there and work perfectly and the overclocking feature is quick and easy to use ,i think we can thank Evil dragon for alot of this stuff ,he has done a wonderfull job for sure and things will really only get better and better.

Emulators & homebrew games - well the homebrew games rock ,i really like Battlejewels and Pandora panic! really nice games to see on the pandora and quake 3 is pretty cool but needs work for controls but we will see more of this in the future ,Emulators are a mixed bag for me ,i don't want to come across as ungrateful but some of the emulators would be better off unported or unreleased in my opinion ,some emulators are great to test while others are very quick ports that i would not show to anyone that i would want to impress/convert with the pandora as the sound emulation can be really bad ,the framerate can be very slow and in other cases games do not run at all ,add to this a lack of controls and a small unscaled display ,if others do not agree then fine but this is my point of view and i have the pandora in my best interests ,i am not complaining about a lack of emulation but more the sort of quality of some of the emulation so far.

LCD Display - super bright ,very clear high resolution and just awsome ,the touch screen calibration is second to none ,well done Ed ! yep we have a real winner with the LCD ohh and i can't see any ghosting so far.

hope this helps some folks who wanted to know stuff

Paddy
 
Thanks for taking the time out to review guys.
I might have to wait a little longer for mine, but hopefully I wont have to deal with some of the small annoyancies that you guys have had to put up with. All in all it seems like the Pandora will be worth the wait though.

How about marks out of ten from you both ;)
 
Hey Paddy, excellent review! Everyone here is going to have a slightly differnat review IMO! I own a DS lite(gloss finish), and I also own an XL (matte & gloss finish) I like both in a differant way, so I'm interested to see how I like the Pandoras finish.

The one thing you mentioned that got me excited was that you said you where playing starfox! How does it run?

That is one of the games I wanted my Pandora for, but I figured since the SNES emu isn't optimized it wouldn't run well, but you can say for sure. Thanks!

Chris
 
Crashy? I actually find that surprising -- apps sure, not firmware issue; but the firmware itself should be pretty solid -- ie: over the last year, I've not found it actually crashy at all. Sometimes screwy for sure, but never crashy. The worst I see is a fullscreen nonSDL app (ie: framebuffer), gets wedged up, so no easy way to get out of it (ie: can't force it to go windowed, so you can't get back the screen.) But thats an app bug.

If you do get crashes, let us know, because (to me at least) thats pretty surprising :)

jeff
 
hehe ,in that other post ,i said i could point all the good things but i needed things to be addressed by OPT and some of those points are also in this post but i wanted to clarify them properly ,the Pandora is awsome.


PS ,playing picodrive that was released today ,no vertical sync issues at all but there is a stange ghosting when running something like sonic 1 ,it's not ghosting as such but the backgrounds are strange ,mabe it is ghosting as i am not sure ,i think this is what i saw on the early code Ed had on his pandora(Ed also had a gama fix on his pico code) and yes possibly there was vsync issues or framerate issues - pico is running really good on pandora ,there are a few slight frame losses on some games ,not all games for instance revenge of shinobi ,it seems it is harder to run for some reason ,virtua racing blows me away when ever i look at it ,im so excited becase when i have time tonight i will be kicking the hell out of it.

Ok ,just to clear something up ,i have realised the game i was playing at Ed's was actuly sonc 2 ,not sonic 1 and even on this version of pico ,there are a few stutters here and there ,the ghosting on it can be seen on the bushes and trees in the background ,there doesn't seem to be any framerate drop so far but yes this is just like it was on Ed's pandora ,sonic 2 doesn't run correctly from what i see ,sonic 1 has background flicker ,could be ghosting but again i am not sure this actuly is ghosting ,i know what ghosting looks like but this is more certain types of background flickering ,i am not in any way complaining but this would be why i said the things i did in another post about pico ,i think all it needs is a filter and better emulated timing from what i can see ,great emu overall and loving it Notaz is the man.

Edit - pico wasat 500mhz - 860mhz and there are no stutters in game ,i recon all it needs is 550mhz for no stutters ,same issue with revenge of shinobi at 860mhz tho.

right update again - i played sonic 3 at 860mhz ,knowing it's the hardest sonic to run fullspeed ,it's not perfect ,it's ok but some parts slow down and when it slows down you can see tearing ,i also think this is true on sonic 2 if you run it at the default speed of 500mhz ,it's not always apparent but it is there ,again i am not complaining but i want to get my point across when i said there was vertical sync issues on pico when i played it on Ed's pandora ,i can actuly understand why Notaz didn't want to release pico yet ,it is awsome but i bet he is a perfectionist and wants everything perfect including 32x/sms support complete.



I played Starfox at craig's hall and it was good but a bit slow in places but i now have the latest version and starfox is brill ,it could be fullspeed not fully sure and sound is great so i am sure will be very happy with starfox ,we can all thank Skeezix for his hard work ,beer to you Skeezix !


9/10 overall rating ,it would get 10/10 if it didn't have these small build issues ,i can't rate it anyhigher unless i start doing daft numbers.
 
I enjoy these honest reviews, and hope that OPT get the build issues fully sorted for the 2nd and 3rd batches. Being an early adopter I expected a few minor build issues, but none of this sounds like show stoppers to me. I actually look forward to my quirky first run Pandora. :)
 
paddy said:
I played Starfox at craig's hall and it was good but a bit slow in places but i now have the latest version and starfox is brill ,it could be fullspeed not fully sure and sound is great so i am sure will be very happy with starfox.
Paddy, you just made my day! :lol:

Hopefully I will be able to play tommorow, and I'll let you know how close to full speed it is.

Chris
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I cant wait to play starfox...Thanks for the reviews guys ..Much appreciated
 
paddy said:
right update again - i played sonic 3 at 860mhz ,knowing it's the hardest sonic to run fullspeed ,it's not perfect ,it's ok but some parts slow down and when it slows down you can see tearing ,i also think this is true on sonic 2 if you run it at the default speed of 500mhz ,it's not always apparent but it is there ,again i am not complaining but i want to get my point across when i said there was vertical sync issues on pico when i played it on Ed's pandora ,i can actuly understand why Notaz didn't want to release pico yet ,it is awsome but i bet he is a perfectionist and wants everything perfect including 32x/sms support complete.
Huh?
I can play Sonic3 with 200 MHz full speed onto GP2X Picodrive. (High quality settings). I really hope to play it also with 200MHz onto the Pandora and get insane battery life. :)
ED sayed, the GP2X and the Pandora screen are very similar in Quality, and I never seen any ghosting, tearing or slow downs when I played pico Drive. And believe me, I played ALOT PicoDrive. :D
Maybe it is just a matter of settings. I canÄt imagine you need more than 300MHz to play Sonic 3 Full Speed. Otherwise, the per-MHz power of the Pandora would be worse than the per-mhz power of the GP2X. hard to believe. ^^
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Back
Top