I Am On The Bleeding Edge Of Decisions

[b1ueskycomp1ex]

Not trying to troll or cause a ruckus 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 amount of time, and be out alot of cash that said amount 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.

Sure lots of PSX games are compatible, but it's not quite full speed or near perfect (though breath of fire 3/4 runs extremely well, I was impressed!) I wouldn't get the caanoo with high hopes that it will be a great PSX emulator. If that's your main focus, I would wait for a newer release of PCSX4ALL (not PSX4ALL).

Games I played a lot on the wiz were:

• GBA/GB/GBC games (Pokemon, Zelda DX, Wario, Kirby, etc on GB/GBC, Fire emblem, final fantasy, etc. on GBA)
• NES games (Base wars, Super mario bros., kirby, final fantasy, TMNT, etc.)
• SNES games (Super Castlevania IV, Castlevania Dracula X, Final fantasy, Super mario kart, f-Zero, Super metroid.)
• Genesis/Megadrive/Sega CD games (Sonic the hedgehog, Rocket knight, streets of rage, ristar, Gunstar Heroes, sonic CD, Lunar II, etc.)
• Sega Master System/Game Gear games (Sonic the hedgehog, alex kidd in miracle world, golden axe warrior, x-men, surf ninjas)
• and NeoGeo games (Metal slug, Magical drop II (Literally hours of magical drop II, it's addictive!)

I can say from experience with the wiz, that once the proper emulators are ported over and slightly adjusted for the caanoo it will be an amazing system for those games and I highly recommend it as the successor to the Wiz.

From what I've personally played and from what I've seen on the compatibility list I started is that many games on the PSX run well in PCSX4ALL. As far as I know, none run entirely full speed and properly, but they are playable. Breath of fire 3 to me was almost identical to how I remember it on my Playstation, with the odd slowdown due to 3D effects in battles. I'm not saying it has terrible PSX emulation, I'm just saying that if that's mainly what you're after you should consider waiting for it to improve, getting a pandora, or waiting for a better GPH handheld.

Otherwise, emulation for 8 and 16-bit consoles, etc. is amazing and works well, if my experience with the wiz (which is nearly identical in hardware to the caanoo) translates well into this new generation of console. I personally think that waiting and seeing where the software goes for a while would be the best course of action, but I can almost guarantee that the Caanoo will get the Wiz's full emulator library at least. Also, as I recall GINGE is being developed for the Caanoo which will allow you to use GP2X and (AFAIK) Wiz software, meaning you won't end up with a major lack of programs.

 

[jbrodack]

The Caanoo is not the best for browsing or other computing needs but seems to fit your gaming needs. GPH is readying the english sdk and I think devs here are readying their own toolchains and such. Once that gets ready you will see a lot of software ported over to the Caanoo as the differences between the wiz and caanoo are pretty minor. The caanoo has a tilt sensor which the pandora doesn't have that adds extra possibilities for control or at least some cell phone type games.

We can't make the decision of what you need but we can help set your expectations of what each system can offer in terms of what you need.

If n64 emulation isn't that important to you pandora might not offer too much more emulated systems you need. Still, it obviously offers more possibilities of systems emulated and should offer possibility of better performance. Plus if you need computing functions I would not expect much at all from the caanoo while you should be able to do a fair amount with the pandora. Though on the other hand the wiz already has a psx emulator performing well and the mame emulator works quite well too. I see no reason why either of these wouldn't be brought over to the caanoo.

You can't go wrong with either choice and both will be well supported. If you are primarily interested in gaming there are and will not be any other real options coming up soon. Any other devices out there will either not be gaming focused or not be up to the quality and performance of these devices. If computing is you primary concern look at other devices otherwise these are your main choices.

 

[Shmargin]

Yeah, not to disappoint the hardcore Pandora enthusiasts, especially since I consider myself a fan, I might have to go the more wallet and wait time friendly route of the Caanoo.

PSX emu isn't vital for me, just would like it for the few choice gems that run, and while n64 emu would be cool, i wouldn't miss it I don't think, not enough super titles for me there (but definitely some!).

Hell I'm even glad it has an ebook reader, even if its txt only as it is, I have had good luck converting my Barnes & Noble .epubs to .txt so I can even use that feature.

The only thing I will shed a tear over is no web browser, I cant see myself needing the wifi dongle unless it has one.

Thanks for all the killer feedback too, helps to talk to people playing with the toys already

 

[Shmargin]

And ok, not to cause another ruckus, but...Odroid-S I'm not trying to drive anyone crazy with all my stuff here, but anyone know much about this guy? Seems fairly capable and affordable to.

Having trouble finding out what, if anything, it runs? Everything programmed for Android? Only weird stuff that has to be ported to it?

 

[b1ueskycomp1ex]

Considering the price I'd say you'd be better off with a Caanoo or pandora.

 

[jbrodack]

I don't think the odroid has really caught on much. Specs are good but its trying to turn a phone operating system into a traditional gaming one. Most games are developed with phones lack of buttons in mind.

A lot of people have seemed interested in these kinds of things but I don't see any real community support for android gaming devices.

There are tons of other devices out there but unless you're wanting to go cheaper and have less performance (dingoo,letcool) or go more expensive for something that's more a computer, phone or whatever you are best limiting your options to pandora and caanoo. There have been many other devices discussed here and in the other consoles section and we've even taken in the dingoo. People have shown interest in the other devices but none have caught on the way caanoo and pandora have and have as much potential for the future.

We all like looking at the latest gadgets and if we have the money may even get some for the fun of having a new toy however anyone on a limited budget or just wanting to focus on one system would agree that pandora or caanoo are the only serious options here.

 

[Shmargin]

Yeah thinkin a Caanoo...Maybe. Sucks about its store launch having so many problems, but, I wasnt too worried about the app store.

 

[Tetsuro]

Odroid it's ugly too.

I too am waiting on the Caanoo... hardware wise it's a beauty but have still too few emulators on it.

 

[Shmargin]

Well, damn. New iPod came out. Now I'm not buying any of the open source systems and instead going for what I know I love.

Maybe next year I'll get an opensource handheld.

 

[rsuryase]

My hand aches from playing on the tiny Wiz, I need the bigger Caanoo but I will wait until emulators are ported.

 

[b1ueskycomp1ex]

Well, damn. New iPod came out. Now I'm not buying any of the open source systems and instead going for what I know I love.

Maybe next year I'll get an opensource handheld.

Don't forget to get the iControlPad ;D

 

[Tetsuro]

I would have understood going for a tablet, but just an MP3 player...

 

[rsuryase]

I read that some ppl are not happy with new nano. Bad for ppl with thick fingers. I'm happy with the prices though. I bought an iPod nano last year for $250, yikes!!

 

[rsuryase]

I would have understood going for a tablet, but just an MP3 player...

Correction iPod Touch is not JUST an MP3 player, it is IN FACT a mini tablet.

 

[Tetsuro]

I would have understood going for a tablet, but just an MP3 player...

Correction iPod Touch is not JUST an MP3 player, it is IN FACT a mini tablet.

With a 1.5" LCD I would say 'micro'.. :lol:

 

[b1ueskycomp1ex]

I would have understood going for a tablet, but just an MP3 player...

Correction iPod Touch is not JUST an MP3 player, it is IN FACT a mini tablet.

Correction, iPod Touch is not JUST an MP3 player, it is IN FACT complete trash.

 

[DaveC]

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.

Ok even if I was biased, what in my post was incorrect? Is the Pandora screen not really bigger? Is it not really 800 x 480? Isn't the Pandora SoC more powerful than the Pollux Soc? What did I say that was untrue? You call me biased just to try to discredit me but you can't give one fact of how what I said was wrong. That sounds kind of trollish to me.

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.

The Wiz PSX is not really any better than the Pandora one. I ran it on the Pandora with GINGE and my Wiz and it ran about the same in many ways worse in others. It is a great feat to have it run that well on the Wiz but you are bouncing up to the limits of the hardware. The one on the Pandora was a fairly fast port and not really too optimised yet. When/if the Pandora one gets worked on as much as the Wiz one it would run much better and most likely truly full speed due to the hardware not being as limited.

 

[dnlgreenwood]

 I feel your pain. I'm stuck between the Caanoo and the Pandora. I've been glued to this forum for the whole summer. I might get a Caanoo once I see some more emulators and applications for it, and a Pandora much later if I decide to get them both. I guess I will hold out with my Game Gear at home and my Gameboy Pocket on the go... of course I have a netbook for ferry rides and when I am looking around for old games and consoles... but its a pain to carry around. My netbook emulates Playstation 1, PS2, and N64 without any real problems.

 

[rsuryase]

Get the Caanoo. Pandora will take a year to arrive at your door steps. By then all emulators would have been ported to the Caanoo. CPU double in speed every 18 months, we have 1.3 GHz CPU now. By the time you get you 600MHz+ Pandora, there is already a 2 GHz CPU on the market and a 1.3 GHz handheld, hopefully the new GPH product

 

[Exophase]

Get the Caanoo. Pandora will take a year to arrive at your door steps. By then all emulators would have been ported to the Caanoo. CPU double in speed every 18 months, we have 1.3 GHz CPU now. By the time you get you 600MHz+ Pandora, there is already a 2 GHz CPU on the market and a 1.3 GHz handheld, hopefully the new GPH product

Next GPH product using a bleeding edge mobile SoC? I'll believe it when I see it.

Single-core CPU speed stopped doubling a long time ago. Now people are going crazy with anticipation over something like Sandy Bridge which improves single-core performance by like 10-20%. Sure the core counts go up instead, but that doesn't make everything faster.

We're going to be seeing the same thing with mobile. In fact, I think we already are seeing it - don't expect to see 1.5+GHz Cortex-A9s in phones and other handhelds, just an increasing number of 1GHz cores. The thing is, they'll top out on usefulness of extra cores sooner than in the desktop space, much less the server space. I think over the next few years we'll see mobiles really plateau in power, not continue to follow the huge performance boost they've seen over the last couple years.