I Need A Gadget To Tide Me Over Till The Pandora!


MaxSteiner

Member
Joined
Nov 19, 2008
Messages
168
Ok, first off, I know this isn't really a useful post, but if I can't tap the collective wisdom of likeminded geeks in a forum, where can I do it?

I honestly don't mind waiting till January, or maybe even feb to get my Pandora, and I can just about get by without whatever interest my bank would give me on it in that time :D
BUT I've realised alot of my christmas plan this year was involving a dinky little high tech gadget.

Im gonna be working pretty much all of christmas (6.30 AM start x-mas eve, no freaking over time!>!?!?!.... ah well at least the place is heated thats one better than my first job :D), but still hope to spend some time with friends I never really get to see dispite living in the same town (I quite like giving gifts so its a good excuse lol), and I was hoping to play some king of fighters (Im guessing Im not unique here, but the only time I get to play 2d fighters with willing opponants is round the hlidays).

And therein lies my problem.
I had some intricate fantasy, of me standing behind the counter at work, pandora proped behind the screen, monkey island running, solving puzzels between customers, finishing work and walking with my entire music collection on a couple of SD's, getting round a friends house and aweing them with the bleeding edge emulation tech in my hand, then dissapointing them when all I use it for is 80's arcade machines and Neo Geo games :D

Now Im gonna have to accept that it isnt gonna play out that way.
More likely is that I go to work, it drags and I want to actually die there and then.
I finish, and to deaden the pain of my deadend existance I drink enough alcohol to poisen my slender frame.
Wake up, sit around doing nothing, then the next day go to work, and repeat the cycle.

Obviously noone wants that, so Im gonna need to buy a shiny bit of grey/black plastic clad gadgetry to keep me ammused.
Now, dispite working in a deadend job, I am actually quite good at saving money, Im not Richie Rich or nothing, but I do have something approaching a disposable income, and a small stack in the bank (Was planning on running off to india for a year and living in Manili under the pretense of writing my book :D), so clearly I need to find something to spend some of it on too keep me happy over the most depressing time for service sector workers!

I had considered a Wii at some points, but honestly, I don't have time to play games at home these days, and I live about 2 miles from my friends (who for some reason think nothing of getting me to walk to theirs and back, but would never think of returning the favour...).

I also find myself considering a 360 or a PS3, don't get me wrong, I think they're completly cack, but they do have KoF12 coming out...

An Iphone? A bit pointless really...

An MP4 player.... gonna get dumped as soon as the Pandora arrives (although that said I've been without a dedicated player for months now, keep telling myself the Pandora ships soon, but its always gonna be like that till it arrives in my hand...), also, not exactly exciting.
Originally before I decided on a Pandora I was thinking something like a Gemei x760+ or SmartQ T5-II they seem like the happy middle road, but living in England I actually get raped if I try and import something electronic (And then I have to repay my postage so royal mail can get a slice...), added to that theres the fact that it will get absolutly NO use once I have a Pandora...

Um.... one of those T-shirts with a touch pad drum kit.... Not quite the same league perhaps, but could well keep me giggling till the Pandora arrives...

Or.... a massive Hunter S Thompson style drugs cache to keep me sedated till the Pandora arrives....

Ultimatly though I reach the same conclusion, with the possible exception of a novelty noise making Tshirt, I won't really get much use out of any of them :(

And so I turn to you, my fellow geeks, and ask what suggestions you may have to tide me over these long winter months?
 
maxSteiner said:
Now Im gonna have to accept that it isnt gonna play out that way.
More likely is that I go to work, it drags and I want to actually die there and then.
I finish, and to deaden the pain of my deadend existance I drink enough alcohol to poisen my slender frame.
Wake up, sit around doing nothing, then the next day go to work, and repeat the cycle.
:lol: Well put.
maxSteiner said:
Was planning on running off to india for a year and living in Manili under the pretense of writing my book :D
...
I live about 2 miles from my friends (who for some reason think nothing of getting me to walk to theirs and back, but would never think of returning the favour...).
So, get a notebook, start writing your book, save your cash, get new friends.

Dr T
 
Last edited by a moderator:
One of those cheap netbooks then? I've currently got too many gadgets lying around, hoping to use the Pandora to do some consolidation. Mostly gonna try to keep busy messing around with my old Nokia N800 I suppose.
 
Iphone. The best gadget I have ever owned. Now with over the air Podcasting.

I don't care what any of you say, as a very experienced gadgeteer, with enough debts to bear witness to this, nothing has given me so much pleasure in so many ways! Heck, it's my guitar tuner, ipod, tells me when speedcameras are approaching, plays great games, plays my movies, emails, internet, ebook reader, dictaphone, portable piano (essential for my job!), camera, photo viewer

Etc etc etc! The list is endless!

And it is a very good phone.

And it keeps my little girl happy in the car!
 
lubidog said:
Iphone. The best gadget I have ever owned. Now with over the air Podcasting.

I don't care what any of you say, as a very experienced gadgeteer, with enough debts to bear witness to this, nothing has given me so much pleasure in so many ways! Heck, it's my guitar tuner, ipod, tells me when speedcameras are approaching, plays great games, plays my movies, emails, internet, ebook reader, dictaphone, portable piano (essential for my job!), camera, photo viewer

Etc etc etc! The list is endless!

And it is a very good phone.

And it keeps my little girl happy in the car!
So does hard liquor.

See the point?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hmmm all good suggestions :D
Makes the choice even harder though...
One of those EEEPC would probably offer all the functionality of a Pandora in a larger package, and they seem really cheap (although the hard drive is a bit too small...), and would probably link up with the Pand' when it arrives. might have to look into it.
The Archos are alot more reasonable then I remember them being, and I suppose it could double as Pandora spare parts :D Would certainly be nice to watch films while I toil over the festive season. (Why the hell is it though that I can get an 605 80gb in the US for the price of a 4GB 405 in the UK!?!?! :( )
And that portable Genesis would be a definate buy if it just had a second controler! (Its a shame, its got the TV out, which is a step in the right direction!)

Iphone, Im still not sure, it does seem to be the ubber gadget of doom, but I get the impression that its pointless unless you are on a decent contract. I dread to think what it would cost to use it on pay and go... (although that said it's probably possible to get a ton of use out of the wi-fi).
 
^ There you have it - reasons we are buying Pandora, as nothing else seems to get it just right. ;)
 
Thats what swung it for me originally :D
I would have been 100% behind the Wiz (and actually stuck a preorder for one down as soon as they were available) on account of its size, the fact that a clamshell design is rubbish for reading E-books, and that I personally consider analogue sticks to be pointless (people say you need it for PS emu, but I honestly can't remember all that many games I'd want to play again which used them).

But, when I found out the Wiz wasn't shipping with TV-out and didn't have proper USB support I cancelled my order straight away.
Like you say, nothing but the Pandora offers the right mix of functions, all Im missing out on is a comfortable Ebook reading device, and for that I've always got the Zodiac :D
 
Why not get a GP2X? I'm sure you can find one in mint-condition on eBay or something. It's got an excellent software library to keep you entertained for a long time, and it's also good with movies and music. I'd have said get the Wiz of course, too bad it got delayed until February.

If the GP2X isn't for you, then how about one of those nice metal flasks? That's like 5 Pandoras ;)
 
I have been seriously considering a GP2x, with the USB hub add on it would do everything I want, the softwares tried and tested and alot of apps are likely to work out of the box.
But the thing is, its ultimatly redundant as soon as I get the Pandora. Realistically that could be three months+ of actual use though... and it would be there for the festive patch :)
 
maxSteiner said:
I have been seriously considering a GP2x, with the USB hub add on it would do everything I want, the softwares tried and tested and alot of apps are likely to work out of the box.
But the thing is, its ultimatly redundant as soon as I get the Pandora. Realistically that could be three months+ of actual use though... and it would be there for the festive patch :)
That's the sort of logic I was using when I decided not to get a GP2X and get a Pandora as at the time it was due within a month. That was March 2008. :blink:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Its also what I've been telling myself since my MP3 player died September :D
I think the other problem, is if I get a GP2x, I'll realise that I don't actually need any of the extra power to be able to play the kinda games Im into and cancel my Pandora order.
Then I'll start thinking how I need something to type on and get a netbook.
Then I'll start thinking how I need a dedicated music solution and get one of those.
etc, etc.

And finally I'll just sit amongst the huge pile of superfluous tech I've aquired and wonder why I didn't just wait a couple of months and get a Pandora for £200 :D
 
I am going to get a GP2X F200 from Ebay to spend the time with until the Pandora arrives. It has a larger screen than the Whiz, better controls (I don't know whether those strange action buttons on the Whiz that were once a second d-pad can provide an authentic joypad-feeling) , touch-screen, TV-out and it can do 60-70% of the emulation I want. What concerns other uses it seems a little outdated though. GPH shouldn't have dropped it so early Imo. With both the Pandora and the Whiz not around for Christmas, they could have still earned some money with it.
 
MiniSinisterMinister said:
I am going to get a GP2X F200 from Ebay to spend the time with until the Pandora arrives. It has a larger screen than the Whiz, better controls (I don't know whether those strange action buttons on the Whiz that were once a second d-pad can provide an authentic joypad-feeling) , touch-screen, TV-out and it can do 60-70% of the emulation I want. What concerns other uses it seems a little outdated though. GPH shouldn't have dropped it so early Imo. With both the Pandora and the Whiz not around for Christmas, they could have still earned some money with it.
Thats definatly true, if they'd dropped the price a little, then it would have been a no brainer for me, I would have snapped one up, then just adopted either a Wiz or a Pandora when they were a little more established.
Having to hunt for a second hand one on Ebay, and probably have to get it imported on top of that though makes the decision a little more difficult.

On the subject of controls though, am I the only one considering buying a neogeo pocket and attempting to transfer the thumbstick to their pandora? That is the best handheld controler EVER, and I've always wondered why noone else has gone with the steel shaft joystick route...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
maxSteiner said:
Hmmm all good suggestions :D
Makes the choice even harder though...
One of those EEEPC would probably offer all the functionality of a Pandora in a larger package, and they seem really cheap (although the hard drive is a bit too small...), and would probably link up with the Pand' when it arrives. might have to look into it.
The Archos are alot more reasonable then I remember them being, and I suppose it could double as Pandora spare parts :D Would certainly be nice to watch films while I toil over the festive season. (Why the hell is it though that I can get an 605 80gb in the US for the price of a 4GB 405 in the UK!?!?! :( )
And that portable Genesis would be a definate buy if it just had a second controler! (Its a shame, its got the TV out, which is a step in the right direction!)

Iphone, Im still not sure, it does seem to be the ubber gadget of doom, but I get the impression that its pointless unless you are on a decent contract. I dread to think what it would cost to use it on pay and go... (although that said it's probably possible to get a ton of use out of the wi-fi).
You can use 2 controllers (along with the TV-OUT) on that Genesis handheld ;)

http://www.segaretro.net/megadrive-genesis...d-twinpads.html
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I have found that if you want to get a GP2X-F200 from ebay, the best strategy is to have a browser window open with an ebay GP2X search all the time while you work on your PC and to reload the page every half hour. That is when ebay updates all the listed items. Thus you will be the first to grab a decent buy-it-now offer. I was so lucky. I had mine within an hour and from my national ebay site to boot!

Getting open source handhelds when they are a little more established isn't a bad idea. I have read a review of when the GP2X was released and it read like this: a little slow, too slow, bad sound, no sound etc. I wonder what the Pandora software will be like at the start.
 
Back
Top