I Am On The Bleeding Edge Of Decisions

[Shmargin]

Alrighty, I REALLY want a portable open source handheld, and I have been staring at Wiz, Caanoo, and Pandoras forums and webpages till my eyes want to bleed.

Between Caanoo and Pandora: I know that overall Pandora seems the best, BUT, it seems like I'm basically paying $200 more for potential N64 emu, and a keyboard and thats about it. (plus its super sexyness)

I think the Caanoo would keep me happy, but my biggest fear is lack of dev interest. Is that a valid fear, or does it seem like at least most Wiz software will be ported?

If Caanoo gets a web browser, NES, GB, SNES, Genesis, GBA, MAME, and some form of PSX emu, then I'll be happy. But so far all I see is MAME in any of the file archives. And as for a web browser, I dont think I have seen anyone talk about it.

I know its alot of begging in this thread, but before I invest, I want to make sure I'll be happy.

In a nutshell, I guess I want to know if the dev community is planning on embracing this handheld at least as much as the Wiz, or if I should mail away more than twice as much money and wait 4 months and hope a Pandora can do all my demands?

 

[RupeeClock]

Well right now, the devs are just receiving their first units and playing around with the systems, figuring out how it all works, etc.
GPH sent early units to games devs, reviewers, and some contest winners, but not to emulator devs like on here.

It'll take some time to see some more stuff come around, but it will come with time.

 

[DaveC]

Alrighty, I REALLY want a portable open source handheld, and I have been staring at Wiz, Caanoo, and Pandoras forums and webpages till my eyes want to bleed.

Between Caanoo and Pandora: I know that overall Pandora seems the best, BUT, it seems like I'm basically paying $200 more for potential N64 emu, and a keyboard and thats about it. (plus its super sexyness)

I think the Caanoo would keep me happy, but my biggest fear is lack of dev interest. Is that a valid fear, or does it seem like at least most Wiz software will be ported?

If Caanoo gets a web browser, NES, GB, SNES, Genesis, GBA, MAME, and some form of PSX emu, then I'll be happy. But so far all I see is MAME in any of the file archives. And as for a web browser, I dont think I have seen anyone talk about it.

I know its alot of begging in this thread, but before I invest, I want to make sure I'll be happy.

In a nutshell, I guess I want to know if the dev community is planning on embracing this handheld at least as much as the Wiz, or if I should mail away more than twice as much money and wait 4 months and hope a Pandora can do all my demands?

Pandora is more than a Caanoo with a keyboard. The OMAP chip in the Pandora is MUCH more powerful than the Pollux chip in the Caanoo. This means the PSX emu you mention will have more of a chance to be fullspeed than the Caanoo. Expect Caanoo PSX to perform like the Wiz.

The Caanoo is basically a Wiz with some minor changes. The lack of a D-pad and only having an analog stick hurts it to me. If you have ever tried playing games made for a D-pad with an analog stick you would know it can be not the greatest.

The Pandora has a bigger screen with much higher 800 x 480 resolution meaning apps and browsing will be much better and games designed for VGA PCs will work without scaling them down to the Caanoo's 320 x 240 resolution. There are other reasons but those are the main ones.

 

[Nova]

Pandora is more than a Caanoo with a keyboard. The OMAP chip in the Pandora is MUCH more powerful than the Pollux chip in the Caanoo.

The Pandora has a bigger screen with much higher 800 x 480 resolution meaning apps and browsing will be much better and games designed for VGA PCs will work without scaling them down to the Caanoo's 320 x 240 resolution. There are other reasons but those are the main ones.

Bear in mind that Dave C isn't at all biased in favour of the Pandora. It's not like he designed the case or the controls at all.


To me, if you are willing to sacrifice that N64 emulator and save $200, the Caanoo is the console for you. Dev interest is picking up, the Caanoo has only been out a week or two. But it'll be the next Wiz, for sure.

However on the flipside, if you can afford the extra for the Pandora, and you don't mind waiting 4 or quite possibly more months, I would go for that, as it'll have a much superior web browser. For everything else you are after though, the Caanoo is more than capable.

Hope that helps.

 

[Shmargin]

Thanks for the info guys, I still feel on the fence, but at least now I have a little more certainty that the Caanoo will see some dev support.

And yeah Dave, I know, I want a Pandora pretty bad, I was one of the first pre orders when the site went live for it back in what? End of 2008? I backed like 6 months or so later when the wife was critisizing me sending $400 over seas to people I don't know for a device that didn't exists yet.

Now that people are getting them, I want one again, but at the same time, I still feel like when I spend my money, I want it then. I'm a big "want it now" jerk like that.

 

[chickendung]

If you do decide to get a Caanoo, plan on seeing another GPH console get released in less than a year. There is a very good chance that GPH will abandon the Caanoo as they did the Wiz.

 

[RupeeClock]

If you do decide to get a Caanoo, plan on seeing another GPH console get released in less than a year. There is a very good chance that GPH will abandon the Caanoo as they did the Wiz.

GPH have not abandoned the Wiz, whilst they aren't manufacturing them now, FunGP still supports development for the Wiz system.
You'll find Wiz and Caanoo versions of most software on there.

 

[coldfish]

On the fence too, got an GP2X f100 so I dont need a new handheld, but lingering want-iness.

It'd be an easy choice if the Caanoo had a significant advantage over my f100 but it looks like I'd be swapping a huge software library for a few hardware improvements going from the GP2X.

Pandora needs more time to develop and iron out the build issues. I dont like the idea of having to wait till next year to see it in my hands.
Price is too high for someone who already has a smart-phone and netbook, I doubt I'd ever want to use it for any of the things those other devices already do, so its reduced to an expensive emulator.

 

[Shmargin]

Yeah, and to make matters worse, if I wanted to be a really high roller, I could get a Viliv N5 its only 20 mm longer and 3 mm wider than a Pandora, x86 processor, runs my choice of Windows XP or 7, and has a processor fast enough to run anything the Pandora can, and a ton it cant, like say, WoW or anything else that runs in Windows and within the tech specs.

That would mean a billion + apps already available for it too. More impressive than Quake 2 on Pandora

I'll probably keep not deciding until the next newest coolest thing comes out.

 

[Amon_Re]

The Caanoo is basically a Wiz with some minor changes. The lack of a D-pad and only having an analog stick hurts it to me. If you have ever tried playing games made for a D-pad with an analog stick you would know it can be not the greatest.

Frankly, sofar the only games i've tried that are affected by this are beat'm ups, and that might also be due to the fact i suck at them

The Pandora has a bigger screen with much higher 800 x 480 resolution meaning apps and browsing will be much better and games designed for VGA PCs will work without scaling them down to the Caanoo's 320 x 240 resolution. There are other reasons but those are the main ones.

The Pandora is technically superior to the Caanoo, but it has one big flaw, availability

 

[Amon_Re]

If you do decide to get a Caanoo, plan on seeing another GPH console get released in less than a year. There is a very good chance that GPH will abandon the Caanoo as they did the Wiz.

This is unfounded, between the GP2X & the Wiz we saw a period of what, 3 years? Yes, the Caanoo came out a year or so after the Wiz, but we don't know why (although one could speculate...), nor do we have any indication that the same will happen again. GPH went the extra mile to create fungp (with all it's problems that brought along) to support both the Wiz & the Caanoo, so i doubt they'll drop the Caanoo within the year.

 

[Amon_Re]

Yeah, and to make matters worse, if I wanted to be a really high roller, I could get a Viliv N5 its only 20 mm longer and 3 mm wider than a Pandora, x86 processor, runs my choice of Windows XP or 7, and has a processor fast enough to run anything the Pandora can, and a ton it cant, like say, WoW or anything else that runs in Windows and within the tech specs.

That would mean a billion + apps already available for it too. More impressive than Quake 2 on Pandora

I'll probably keep not deciding until the next newest coolest thing comes out.

I wouldn't buy that thing for the purpose of running games & emulators, to be frank, the battery autonomy on that thing must suck enormously .... :s

 

[Tetsuro]

If you do decide to get a Caanoo, plan on seeing another GPH console get released in less than a year. There is a very good chance that GPH will abandon the Caanoo as they did the Wiz.

This is unfounded, between the GP2X & the Wiz we saw a period of what, 3 years? Yes, the Caanoo came out a year or so after the Wiz, but we don't know why (although one could speculate...), nor do we have any indication that the same will happen again. GPH went the extra mile to create fungp (with all it's problems that brought along) to support both the Wiz & the Caanoo, so i doubt they'll drop the Caanoo within the year.

Probably there were problem with suppliers and some parts of the hardware wasn't stable as expected (like the OLED screen that must have been a hole in the pocket in repair costs).

Anyway it's just a moderate update of the previous console and the older is still supported by their site (new games developed for both) so I don't see the point to criticize the company. The Wiz must have been an unfortunate birth for GPH in terms of costs.

 

[Exophase]

This is unfounded, between the GP2X & the Wiz we saw a period of what, 3 years? Yes, the Caanoo came out a year or so after the Wiz, but we don't know why (although one could speculate...), nor do we have any indication that the same will happen again. GPH went the extra mile to create fungp (with all it's problems that brought along) to support both the Wiz & the Caanoo, so i doubt they'll drop the Caanoo within the year.

There's at least some precedence to it. GP2X F200, a pretty substantial modification, was discontinued less than a year after it was released because of Wiz. Fortunately, this time GPH didn't leave a gap of several months of no platform being sold.

GPH is pushing the platform harder than they pushed the Wiz so I expect they'll stay behind it for a while, but who knows.

 

[b1ueskycomp1ex]

Yeah, and to make matters worse, if I wanted to be a really high roller, I could get a Viliv N5 its only 20 mm longer and 3 mm wider than a Pandora, x86 processor, runs my choice of Windows XP or 7, and has a processor fast enough to run anything the Pandora can, and a ton it cant, like say, WoW or anything else that runs in Windows and within the tech specs.

That would mean a billion + apps already available for it too. More impressive than Quake 2 on Pandora

I'll probably keep not deciding until the next newest coolest thing comes out.

STOP TROLLIN'!

No, but seriously. The battery life on that thing won't be half The pandora is a no-brainer. But if you want just games that fit in your pocket, with your basice NES, SNES, Genesis/Megadrive, 8 and 16-bit home console game system support, you're better off with a Wiz or a Caanoo. With the pandora, admittedly for 200 dollars more, you get:

• A high resolution screen (800x480)
• internet browsing (Firefox, Fennec, Chromium, etc.)
• built-in wifi
• built-in bluetooth
• a keyboard (instant messaging, internet browsing, DOS games, etc...)
• dual analogue controls (PSX, N64, Mouse!)
• Steadily-improving PSX and N64 emulation
• Better MAME and arcade emulation
• Better Amiga emulation
• battery life EXCEEDING that of a Wiz or Caanoo
• near-unlimited expandability in terms of USB options
• Craigix

 

[Nova]

Uhm, the Wiz has nearly a fullspeed PSX emulator which I believe is currently better than anything on the pandora (YET!) And It'll probably be ported over very soon. So he also gets that.

 

[Keen]

Yeah, and to make matters worse, if I wanted to be a really high roller, I could get a Viliv N5 its only 20 mm longer and 3 mm wider than a Pandora, x86 processor, runs my choice of Windows XP or 7, and has a processor fast enough to run anything the Pandora can, and a ton it cant, like say, WoW or anything else that runs in Windows and within the tech specs.

That would mean a billion + apps already available for it too. More impressive than Quake 2 on Pandora

I'll probably keep not deciding until the next newest coolest thing comes out.

STOP TROLLIN'!

No, but seriously. The battery life on that thing won't be half The pandora is a no-brainer. But if you want just games that fit in your pocket, with your basice NES, SNES, Genesis/Megadrive, 8 and 16-bit home console game system support, you're better off with a Wiz or a Caanoo. With the pandora, admittedly for 200 dollars more, you get:

• A high resolution screen (800x480)
• internet browsing (Firefox, Fennec, Chromium, etc.)
• built-in wifi
• built-in bluetooth
• a keyboard (instant messaging, internet browsing, DOS games, etc...)
• dual analogue controls (PSX, N64, Mouse!)
• Steadily-improving PSX and N64 emulation
• Better MAME and arcade emulation
• Better Amiga emulation
• battery life EXCEEDING that of a Wiz or Caanoo
• near-unlimited expandability in terms of USB options
• Craigix

+ 6 months waiting minimum
+ possible surprise in the case when you open the package

 

[fishybawb]

Plus this is a Caanoo forum, so I'm not sure the blatant Pand-vangelism has a place here.

 

[b1ueskycomp1ex]

There was never a maxiumum waiting period mentioned >.>;

Edit: And all I was trying to do was justify the $200 dollar difference by listing some features. I personally think the Caanoo is a much better choice for playing games as you don't get all the bloat of full-blow linux, and lower resolution games won't need scaling, thus won't be as blurry (bilinear filtering, anyone?) on a Caanoo. I think of the Pandora as being more like a portable computer that has gaming controls, and less like a gaming handheld that happens to have a keyboard. I don't lean in one direction or the other simply because the two devices are so dissimilar in functionality and use that they're essentially different types of devices altogether.

And the Wiz is still a viable option that you shouldn't forget to consider, either. At this point it's looking like the caanoo is slightly slower, albeit without any screen tearing. As for the Caanoo having a web browser, I'm not too sure how much browsing you can expect to do on a 320x240 screen, but you never know.

Edit Edit: Also, just because this is a caanoo forum doesn't mean there has to be this 100% Caanoo mentality. The OP is trying to decide whether or not dropping the extra 200 on the pandora and waiting is worth it, vs. the Caanoo. This is all up to the OP, whether or not they decide they need those particular features, or if they'd much rather just play games and be done with it. I'm quite sure I made it clear that if you want to play games and not much else, get a caanoo, and if you want a handheld computer which also happens to have great gaming controls, get a Pandora. Had this thread been about the Caanoo and Only the Caanoo, I wouldn't have brought up the pandora at all.

EDIT EDIT EDIT: Also, Craigix isn't necessarily a positive feature.

 

[Shmargin]

Not trying to troll or cause a rucuss at all! Really just trying to make a decision!

Honestly though, I saw via a scrolling link in one of your guys signatures, a video for PS1 running on a Wiz, and it looked good enough for me.

I keep saying it, but I know the Pandora would be awesome. No one has to convince me of that, I know I would be happy with it, people just have to convince me that I want to wait an unknown ammount of time, and be out alot of cash that said ammount of time. (you dont really have to try to convince me.)

Reason I posted this in the Caanoo section is because I mainly wanted to know if the Caanoo was going to see support, like say, PSX4All, and all my other emulation dreams. And looking at more Wiz videos, it looks like it can, assuming Caanoo gets the same emus.

I suppose I might wait a little before I get one, but I think the Caanoo will be my traveling companion soon, especially once I see more software for it.