I'd like to get a Pandora, but the cost is offputting


RegretZero

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Hi there everybody, my name is Taylor Whaley. As I'm sure you can tell, I'm new here, I just joined a couple of minutes ago. If you want my question, skip to the bold text.


Before somebody gets angry, as I'm sure somebody will, I'd like to say that I love the Pandora Console, it just seems so cool. I'd love to get one, the only thing that's offputting to me is the price. My goodness, after looking at some pictures and then going to the buy it page the price hits you right in the face, and it hits hard.


I really want one, but the price is really high (I know, it's probably what it's worth but still). I am an aspiring video games journalist (And I've actually already started, I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post a link here or not, so I'll hold off for now) with a craptop as my sole computer, so I should really be buying a high end gaming desktop so that I'm able to review games properly, but I know that it won't happen for a while as the price is simply too high, and I have other things to spend money on in the meantime. So, I decided that I'd at least like to get into some less demanding stuff like learning my way around Linux, and perhaps learning a few programming languages as well. Just because that seemed like a fun and awesome thing to do.


So, I saw the Pandora Box and the Raspberry Pi, among other things. I decided that I wanted the Pandora Box, because it was just so much more unique seeming and powerful. However, the price may prevent me from ever getting one. Is there any possible way for me to get one for less than the whopping five hundred dollars? I'd be willing to spread the word if that's what you want, and my blog has been getting a decent amount of traffic so that may be an asset, or I'd also be willing to look into buying a used one or something. Any ideas? I'd love to hear them all, because I really think that having one of these things would be incredible.


Thanks so much for your time, and I apologize if I sound like a spoiled brat or something. I have been looking around for a job for months and have applied at many, many places, but no luck so far.


I look forward to your replies.
 
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Try going for a second hand unit in our Trading Section OR ebay. You should be able to pick one up for $200.


It's indeed a shame they're so expensive I agree but thats what you get for being a small company. Can't compare with the big guys like Sony, Nintendo or Apple (seems like these are the major players these days).


The battery life is enough to convince me that everyone should have a Pandora one day :)
 
There will be future plans of selling refurbished classic units (256MB) for considerable cheaper than the current models with 512MB of RAM. These units have the majority of the capabilities of the current models, but the Android experience may not be as stellar.


https://www.dragonbox.de/en/main-consoles-and-upgrades/93-pandora-classic-1.html


But yeah I know what you mean on price, but how small of a project this is and the manufacturing costs to make such a complex device brings the unit pice pretty high. Trust me I own two of them.
 
heh.. Save your $$$ then maybe :) ITs a pretty nifty device to have and is well worth the money if you want to do lots of gaming and productive stuff :)
 
start developing a major app or os dev. wouldnt be the first time someone received a free pandora out of their hard work they put in. other than that, follow advice and buy 2nd hand, or refurbished. some selling points made by the team are that you dont have to buy apps at $3 every other day and spend $60/month to use the device, and that its not made at a factory where workers commit suicide based on the working conditions. and as mentioned, many of the parts are made in small amounts, so price sky rockets from that
 
start developing a major app or os dev. wouldnt be the first time someone received a free pandora out of their hard work they put in. other than that, follow advice and buy 2nd hand, or refurbished. some selling points made by the team are that you dont have to buy apps at $3 every other day and spend $60/month to use the device, and that its not made at a factory where workers commit suicide based on the working conditions. and as mentioned, many of the parts are made in small amounts, so price sky rockets from that

Trust me, if I could be developing for this device I would be, but I'm not comfortable releasing anything that I've made, I'd only ever release my code if I knew it was A - useful, B - secure, C - clean. And as a novice, I'm really not comfortable doing that.


As for the refurbished thing, if I find one and I have the cash I'll buy it in a heartbeat.


And as for the price being justified part, I know. Believe me when I say that I understand and appreciate why the price is so high, the pandora is quality stuff and I'm not complaining about the price, just wanting to get one without having to justify paying THAT MUCH for it. Because half a thousand is a lot for me, especially since I need a new full size computer as well.
 
Why do you need a new full sized computer? That is the question you should be asking ;)
 
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not made at a factory where workers commit suicide based on the working conditions...

I'd be careful about making such claims. The News Media are always the first to jump on these stories to make it seem worse than it actually is. The truth is, people are still queuing everyday to work at Foxconn and other companies of the same kind, because They can Make a Better Life Out of It, simply put. Most people do not realize that there are huge amounts of very poor people in China who are willing to work hard to get out of their situation, so that they can save up, live some place acceptable and send their child to school.


Off-topic comment, but I think it's worth being clear that there is a lot "emotion" about this kind of things but the facts are not in the same vein.
 
Yeah the budget option will be the Refurbed 256MB models that EvilDragon is planning to sell. They are still quite a capable offering and my own Pandora is this original configuration and I love it!
 
Why do you need a new full sized computer? That is the question you should be asking ;)

I've already answered this question. I am a video games journalist, but my computer is not up to the task of playing games on and then writing about them. It's really just that simple. I need a full sized DESKTOP for many different things, playing games, writing about games, video editing, photo editing, etc.

TrashyMG already said it, you can get a refubished 256MB unit for about 295$ (excluding taxes) when it's in stock again. I also heard that they will sell boards with broken wifi modules or USB and such for an even cheaper price.


just keep looking out https://www.dragonbo...es-and-upgrades

Alright well thanks for that. I'll take a look.
 
The refurb units as stated above is a good call for money.


If you are into game journalism, I would recommend you do a few games to get a better feeling of the work involved.


GLBasic is a good call for fast coding, but will set you back around 100$ if you want to compile to mobiles/pads and pandora.
 
I use my pandora more than I use my lapop which cost more than twice as much.


.. in bed


.. on a park bench


.. on the loo


.. while pretending to listen to my girlfriend


Today I managed to tweak a game to be more playable, editing and compiling right on the pandora. I must say the feeling of power was intoxicating.
 
The Pandora is nice for coding. E.g. my Microbes game was completely coded on the Pandora keyboard (~4000 lines of code), mostly on the train to/from work, waiting for the train, on the loo, while taking a bath, during boring conference talks, in airports and planes, in bed, etc. Without the Pandora I wouldn't even have time for this sort of thing.


I'm writing this reply on the Pandora while taking a bath, by the way.
 
You could buy : a Bare board and buy a Icontrolpad , tv out or buy a monitor and the appropriate cable ( you either have to sauder it yourself or pay someone who can , yes I know it's spelled wrong ) and a bluetooth keyboard and a optional blutooth mouse ( optional because the circle pad like control stick(s) can be set to being the mouse ) so yes this setup can possibly be more expensive but if you have most of the stuff already it could be cheaper .


BTW : I appologise for the terribble grammar but there really was no other way to put that other than a run on sentence .
 
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If you decide to go for a defective unit - Get one with broken wifi. You really really want to ensure you have a functioning usb port... besides, with your usb port you can just get a mini wifi dongle. All problems solved.
 
The Pandora is nice for coding. E.g. my Microbes game was completely coded on the Pandora keyboard (~4000 lines of code), mostly on the train to/from work, waiting for the train, on the loo, while taking a bath, during boring conference talks, in airports and planes, in bed, etc. Without the Pandora I wouldn't even have time for this sort of thing.


I'm writing this reply on the Pandora while taking a bath, by the way.

hahaha I have nothing smartarse to say about this ;)
 
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