I Feel Down

[Sploshi]

Pandora pwns.

I missed my chance to order 2 years ago (I found out about it just after the pre-order) and I've been waiting for the 2nd batch for ages. I've finally pre-ordered my own one - and yes, I hate waiting, but it'll be worth it. Easily. Also, the longer I wait, the more excited it'll be when it arrives, like Christmas coming early really really late

 

[silverspring]

I think there is a general lack of motivation and maybe with time that will change. I certainly don't mind helping out with developing, either porting or writing, but what do people really want? Obviously Im not talking about Amiga, PSX or N64 emulation as people are already working on these. And please nobody suggest PS2 and xbox as this will never happen, unless you like playing at less than 1 frame per second.

I really can't think of much that is actually worth porting - it might be my age because I've seen it all before over the years, or it might just be a general thing. I suspect it's partly because like everything, the Pandora is a gadget. I have quite a low threshold these days to gadgets where I will buy them, use for a few days then put at the back of the cupboard. It doesn't stop me from buying them however.

For me, the Pandora is not something I will necessarily never use. I do see it's potential for emergency use, but I can't see it being used as a mainstream tool for anything serious.

For those who have just recently received their Pandora in the last week or so, see how you feel after say a couple of months. Then 6 months. Will you use it often, or will it just become another ornament like most devices which end up collecting dust on the shelf?

 

[WizardStan]

It feels all very anticlimax to some people. The following, the waiting, the anticipation. Then.... well, it's just another device really.
Honestly, I feel the Pandora makes a really nice portable 8 and 16 bit emulator. If that's all you want, great. For me however, there has to be more.

Either you don't have a Pandora, in which case you have no ground on which to comment, or you did receive one but simply can't figure out how to take full advantage of it, in which case I will buy it from you at cost plus expenses because it does so much more than be just an 8 and 16 bit emulator that makes it well worth it to me and many others even if you don't see it.

 

[tony11]

I use my Pandora everyday. I don't think it really matters (for me) at the moment that there is a lack of software, as i am playing with what i have and hell that is a lot of games. Man, playing Baldur's Gate on a Pandora is amazing in itself, but then there are so many games on the megadrive and megacd i want to play, all the snes games, duke nukem, battle for wesnoth. I am going to be busy for a very long

 

[silverspring]

I havent canceled despite knowing that it'll still be awhile before my unit ships.

I wanted a Pandora for the trip that I went on this past week, but when I realized it wasnt going to be here in time despite the prediction of the ladies in the sales office, I figured I'd go and get myself a netbook which was roughly "the same" power as a pandora, at least for a windows machine with a 9 hour battery life, unfortunately I ended up with one with a 4 hour battery life since the one I wanted was sold out and wouldnt be instock before I actually had to leave. While it had a 10 inch screen and ran a bunch of emulators fairly well I still had to deal with windows related pains, spend hours uninstalling bloatware and installing more useful programs and figuring out how to get around with a device as big as it was. When someone asked me about my "cute little computer" I told them I had a smaller one on order and felt pride in that knowledge. Knowing that after buying a battery today that would give my netbook a 9 hour battery life I've still paid more for it than my pandora that is smaller and can do just about if not more than the netbook with better gaming controls and without the pain inherent in a widnows platform. Granted I dont feel like I wasted money on either device, I'm sure I can still find uses for it even after my Pandora arrives but I'm still eager for it and that makes me glad I put down my money.

(Quick point of fact! Windows starter edition doesnt even let you change the desktop image! I had to find a program online that lets you hack in your own image!)

So yeah, still proud to be a future pandora owner.

Just get rid of Windows. You don't need to use windows on your netbook you know. If I bought a netbook, I wouldn't bother uninstalling the bloatware - i'd just format the drive and get Linux on there.

 

[silverspring]

It feels all very anticlimax to some people. The following, the waiting, the anticipation. Then.... well, it's just another device really.
Honestly, I feel the Pandora makes a really nice portable 8 and 16 bit emulator. If that's all you want, great. For me however, there has to be more.

Either you don't have a Pandora, in which case you have no ground on which to comment, or you did receive one but simply can't figure out how to take full advantage of it, in which case I will buy it from you at cost plus expenses because it does so much more than be just an 8 and 16 bit emulator that makes it well worth it to me and many others even if you don't see it.

You are wrong on all counts. I regularly use Linux and write shell scripts, as well as C and C++. My comments are all in my opinion - I feel it is good for 8 and 16 bit emulation particularly, however the other things it does has indeed all been done before. It's not that hard to understand. If I say I am not making much use of the Pandora, then I am telling the truth. Do you want me to say I am glued to it 24 hours a day every day when I am not?

 

[WizardStan]

For those who have just recently received their Pandora in the last week or so, see how you feel after say a couple of months. Then 6 months. Will you use it often, or will it just become another ornament like most devices which end up collecting dust on the shelf?

While I continue to wait for my Pandora, I still frequently use my DS to SSH home and admin my box, just as I have for the last two years while waiting for it to arrive. If this were the only thing I had plans to do with it, it would still be worth it to me and will continue to be worth it for many years to come. Others have their own uses for it. If you're worried that it will "just become another ornament" then I suggest that it is simply not for you. No elitist remark intended: some people like to eat steak, others don't see the appeal and just want the hamburger. If you don't understand why some people prefer steak over hamburger (or vice versa, if that works as a better analogy for you) then there's no point in trying to convince you, and nothing you can say will sway the steak eaters to your way of thinking either.

 

[SomeGuy99]

I'm getting so bored and fed up with how slow development is in this thread. Where's the massive internet shouting match I was promised?

When I bought my Pandora, I imagined a constant rush of aweseome meme generating tantrums. What a let down!

 

[WizardStan]

You are wrong on all counts. I regularly use Linux and write shell scripts, as well as C and C++. My comments are all in my opinion - I feel it is good for 8 and 16 bit emulation particularly, however the other things it does has indeed all been done before. It's not that hard to understand. If I say I am not making much use of the Pandora, then I am telling the truth. Do you want me to say I am glued to it 24 hours a day every day when I am not?

It is hard to understand. Why purchase something when you know everything it can be done has been done before, and the only thing you seem to be interested in using it for is, as you said, 8 and 16 bit emulation? Why not get a different device if that's all that you want to use it for?
It doesn't matter to me that whether other devices have done something before or not: the Pandora is the only device which does the collection of things that interests me in a single package available right now.
If your opinion is that it will not be worth very much to you, why did you buy one?

 

[Viral18]

For those who have just recently received their Pandora in the last week or so, see how you feel after say a couple of months. Then 6 months. Will you use it often, or will it just become another ornament like most devices which end up collecting dust on the shelf?

As someone who fits that description, I understand what you're saying, but honestly, I don't see it happening. I can't generally afford to be a 'gadget' person, but the Pandora piqued my interest a bit more. I emulate games a lot on my desktop system, so psx and n64 whilst amazing on Pandora, might possibly not be emulated as much as time goes by for me, but I've never liked emulating handhelds on a desktop, so I have a lot of my childhood spent on GBP, GBC and GBA to re-live. Also I tend to have to travel about a lot and have nothing else suited to entertainment than the Pandora, in which I'm spoilt for choice in how to pass my time.

I think for a lot of the gadget lovers who own everything from iPhones to netbooks etc. the Pandora might 'end up collecting dust on the shelf' but for me, I can assure you, it will probably be in use for years to come

 

[Sarlix]

I think we have a nice selection of emus/games/apps already. Certainly enough to keep most people busy, and enough to make it worth buying a pandora. I think this is the first week since I got mine (May 29th) that there hasn't been anything new released.

At the moment I'm sitting on these forums hitting refresh and reading every new post. The only rest-bite was seeing new YouTube video's of emulators. And I haven't seen anything new in a while.

No wonder your feeling frustrated...Take a break, forget about it for a while. I mean blimey you don't even have one on pre-order!

If seeing some youtube vids would really make you feel better I'm sure I could put something together. Was there something in particular?


edit: did that last sentence rhyme? it wasn't meant to..

edit2: I think I just wrote a Haiku!

edit3: dammmn now that rhymes too!

edit4: Arrrrrgh sub edit: (I take it back, that last one didn't rhyme after all.)

 

[carlgeorge]

I have the exact opposite view to Prometheus regarding my Pandora. It arrived a couple of weeks ago and I have hardly used it.

 

[Alpha2]

Just get rid of Windows. You don't need to use windows on your netbook you know. If I bought a netbook, I wouldn't bother uninstalling the bloatware - i'd just format the drive and get Linux on there.

I'm not a linux geek though,It's not so simple to me as you make it sound. As much as it might sound easy to some to just switch out the OS, I see it as replacing the engine of a car, if I dont know what I'm doing I feel like I'm sure to destroy it and then it WOULD be worthless, I know how to get rid of Norton antivirus, I know I can get free virus protection, I know I can download open office and just start using it, I have old copies of photoshop that I can install. Plus as I said I wanted it for a trip and I would have to deal with a learning curve that comes with a new OS. Pandora, while it uses linux, it's in a way where it's friendly enough to non-native linux users that you can turn it on and just know what to do (I really like the PND system, it's like software cartridges). It's the best gateway into learning how to use linux when you think about it because it's a brand new platform, you're learning as it grows. I didnt even understand what a repository was until the recent debates over the Pandora having one were brought up and I'm still not sure I can comfortably say I truly understand it.

And then also like I said there's the price, size and battery life issues. for 330 bucks (or even 360 after shipping) I'm still getting a computer with a longer battery life, at half the size of the netbook I bought ($306 after tax with a 70 dollar battery to give it a possible 9 hour battery life compared to the 11+ confirmed hours of a pandora)

 

[Geuben]

I have the exact opposite view to Prometheus regarding my Pandora. It arrived a couple of weeks ago and I have hardly used it.

I'm in a similar situation. I can't take it to work and I haven't been on any long journeys (when I haven't been driving) to effectively use it.

I really want to develop for the Pandora but a lack of ideas and more so motivation are making it hard. Anybody got any tips on improving motivation?

 

[cbox]

I think there is a general lack of motivation and maybe with time that will change. I certainly don't mind helping out with developing, either porting or writing, but what do people really want? Obviously Im not talking about Amiga, PSX or N64 emulation as people are already working on these. And please nobody suggest PS2 and xbox as this will never happen, unless you like playing at less than 1 frame per second.

I really can't think of much that is actually worth porting - it might be my age because I've seen it all before over the years, or it might just be a general thing. I suspect it's partly because like everything, the Pandora is a gadget. I have quite a low threshold these days to gadgets where I will buy them, use for a few days then put at the back of the cupboard. It doesn't stop me from buying them however.

For me, the Pandora is not something I will necessarily never use. I do see it's potential for emergency use, but I can't see it being used as a mainstream tool for anything serious.

For those who have just recently received their Pandora in the last week or so, see how you feel after say a couple of months. Then 6 months. Will you use it often, or will it just become another ornament like most devices which end up collecting dust on the shelf?

I first ordered the Pandora to primarily be a music player (at work, lounging at home, etc.) and secondarily for emulation/games. With the proper software and SD cards it could be better than an iPod or other portable player. And don't tell me the iPod is a good music player, 1) it's tied down by Apples draconian rules and 2) does not offer removable/expandable storage. I've tried several different other non-iPod mp3 players and they all have their limitations as well. My current player is a 16 gig Creative Zen MX, it's nice and has a SDHC card slot for expandable storage, but you can't play from the entire library (internal + sd card), you can only pick from one or the other (it's also kinda buggy, crashes often). So I figure I get a Pandora, fill a 32 gig card with my music and put it in the 2nd card slot. Use the first one for utilities/games/roms/etc.

 

[cbox]

Just get rid of Windows. You don't need to use windows on your netbook you know. If I bought a netbook, I wouldn't bother uninstalling the bloatware - i'd just format the drive and get Linux on there.

I'm not a linux geek though,It's not so simple to me as you make it sound. As much as it might sound easy to some to just switch out the OS, I see it as replacing the engine of a car, if I dont know what I'm doing I feel like I'm sure to destroy it and then it WOULD be worthless, I know how to get rid of Norton antivirus, I know I can get free virus protection, I know I can download open office and just start using it, I have old copies of photoshop that I can install. Plus as I said I wanted it for a trip and I would have to deal with a learning curve that comes with a new OS. Pandora, while it uses linux, it's in a way where it's friendly enough to non-native linux users that you can turn it on and just know what to do (I really like the PND system, it's like software cartridges). It's the best gateway into learning how to use linux when you think about it because it's a brand new platform, you're learning as it grows. I didnt even understand what a repository was until the recent debates over the Pandora having one were brought up and I'm still not sure I can comfortably say I truly understand it.

And then also like I said there's the price, size and battery life issues. for 330 bucks (or even 360 after shipping) I'm still getting a computer with a longer battery life, at half the size of the netbook I bought ($306 after tax with a 70 dollar battery to give it a possible 9 hour battery life compared to the 11+ confirmed hours of a pandora)

You know, installing Linux is not hard. I used to be wary of that as well, then I got a laptop that crawled under Vista and I installed Linux on it as a dual boot, it was MUCH faster. It's as simple as downloading the ISO from the web, burning it to a disc, sticking it in the dvd drive, setting boot priority to dvd and then it pretty much handles itself. I set it as a multiboot because I figured I'd need Windows for something, but I rarely ever used Windows on that laptop after that.

 

[Grench]

It feels all very anticlimax to some people. The following, the waiting, the anticipation. Then.... well, it's just another device really.
Honestly, I feel the Pandora makes a really nice portable 8 and 16 bit emulator. If that's all you want, great. For me however, there has to be more.

Either you don't have a Pandora, in which case you have no ground on which to comment, or you did receive one but simply can't figure out how to take full advantage of it, in which case I will buy it from you at cost plus expenses because it does so much more than be just an 8 and 16 bit emulator that makes it well worth it to me and many others even if you don't see it.

You are wrong on all counts. I regularly use Linux and write shell scripts, as well as C and C++. My comments are all in my opinion - I feel it is good for 8 and 16 bit emulation particularly, however the other things it does has indeed all been done before. It's not that hard to understand. If I say I am not making much use of the Pandora, then I am telling the truth. Do you want me to say I am glued to it 24 hours a day every day when I am not?

So put it on Ebay and go do something else. There are many of us who have been waiting a long long time for the experience that underwhelmed you. Give us our chance.

 

[SomeGuy99]

Just get rid of Windows. You don't need to use windows on your netbook you know. If I bought a netbook, I wouldn't bother uninstalling the bloatware - i'd just format the drive and get Linux on there.

I'm not a linux geek though,It's not so simple to me as you make it sound. As much as it might sound easy to some to just switch out the OS, I see it as replacing the engine of a car, if I dont know what I'm doing I feel like I'm sure to destroy it and then it WOULD be worthless, I know how to get rid of Norton antivirus, I know I can get free virus protection, I know I can download open office and just start using it, I have old copies of photoshop that I can install. Plus as I said I wanted it for a trip and I would have to deal with a learning curve that comes with a new OS. Pandora, while it uses linux, it's in a way where it's friendly enough to non-native linux users that you can turn it on and just know what to do (I really like the PND system, it's like software cartridges). It's the best gateway into learning how to use linux when you think about it because it's a brand new platform, you're learning as it grows. I didnt even understand what a repository was until the recent debates over the Pandora having one were brought up and I'm still not sure I can comfortably say I truly understand it.

And then also like I said there's the price, size and battery life issues. for 330 bucks (or even 360 after shipping) I'm still getting a computer with a longer battery life, at half the size of the netbook I bought ($306 after tax with a 70 dollar battery to give it a possible 9 hour battery life compared to the 11+ confirmed hours of a pandora)

A) Go the Linux Mint website
B.) Download Mint 9-> http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php
C) Burn or mount the ISO. Open 'Mint Windows Installer' and 'install inside Windows'.
D) Reboot machine
E) Select Linux Mint on the boot menu
F) Create a user, settings etc.
G) Mess around with Linux
H) Does it work okay? If not ditch it.
I) Hardware all working? If not ditch it.
J) Working at a decent speed? If not ditch it.
k) Go into the software centre thingy. Install some programs and try them out.
L) Did you like the programs on offer? If not ditch it.
M) Linux too weird for you? Ditch it.

How to Ditch it:

Go into Windows, Control Panel->Add Remove Programs->Linux Mint and just uninstall. All gone! No mess.

 

[mvickers03]

I have the exact opposite view to Prometheus regarding my Pandora. It arrived a couple of weeks ago and I have hardly used it.

Wow! really? I use mine every day, too much in fact, Even on lunch at work! on the train, in bed, on the sofa. I love it to bits!!

 

[crade]

I have the exact opposite view to Prometheus regarding my Pandora. It arrived a couple of weeks ago and I have hardly used it.

I'm in a similar situation. I can't take it to work and I haven't been on any long journeys (when I haven't been driving) to effectively use it.

I really want to develop for the Pandora but a lack of ideas and more so motivation are making it hard. Anybody got any tips on improving motivation?

Start taking the bus?