Is Pandora the right product for me?

[rygD]

Something to consider is that you might not be able to get a Pandora.... the store doesn't sell any new ones so you would only be able to get one used.  Also something to consider is that the Pyra is coming out likely in less than a year. It will have more power, bigger screen, etc. It might be better to wait.

I noticed that the store didn't have any ready to order, I assumed they were going to restock? I can live with a smaller screen and low stats as long as the price is right. If Pyra costs close to 500 euros (As i read somewhere on these forums) I'm afraid I won't be able to afford that for a long time. Is there no chance for a restock? or do I have to start looking for used ones?

I am a bit confused by your reply.  The Pyra is not yet being mass produced and will probably be expensive.  The new 1GHz Pandoras may be sold out, or they could just not be assembled or in the shop yet.  There may be a couple people here selling their used ones, so check out those threads.  If you don't think you will miss out on much with a CC Pandora I would go for that.  Actually, I did go for it.  Except for a couple of recent game ports my Pandora has done everything I wanted it to do.  Web browsing is a bit of a headache since I am fond of tabs, so I haven't been using it for that lately.  It is great for the games and other tasks I use it for.  I haven't bothered trying to play dreamcast, N64 and similar games as I probably won't be happy with the performance, and it gives me another excuse to buy a Pyra.

 

[WizardStan]

 I noticed that the store didn't have any ready to order, I assumed they were going to restock?

Stock is fluctuating now, it's the end of the line and parts are getting scarce. EvilDragon hasn't said there won't be any more yet so expect them to show up sooner or later, probably a few per week. Just keep refreshing.
It may be worthwhile looking for a second hand one though, it'll be cheaper and you won't have to worry about checking back for the next production batch.

 

[TwistedTomZ]

Something to consider is that you might not be able to get a Pandora.... the store doesn't sell any new ones so you would only be able to get one used.  Also something to consider is that the Pyra is coming out likely in less than a year. It will have more power, bigger screen, etc. It might be better to wait.

I noticed that the store didn't have any ready to order, I assumed they were going to restock? I can live with a smaller screen and low stats as long as the price is right. If Pyra costs close to 500 euros (As i read somewhere on these forums) I'm afraid I won't be able to afford that for a long time. Is there no chance for a restock? or do I have to start looking for used ones?

 

I am a bit confused by your reply.  The Pyra is not yet being mass produced and will probably be expensive.  The new 1GHz Pandoras may be sold out, or they could just not be assembled or in the shop yet.  There may be a couple people here selling their used ones, so check out those threads.  If you don't think you will miss out on much with a CC Pandora I would go for that.  Actually, I did go for it.  Except for a couple of recent game ports my Pandora has done everything I wanted it to do.  Web browsing is a bit of a headache since I am fond of tabs, so I haven't been using it for that lately.  It is great for the games and other tasks I use it for.  I haven't bothered trying to play dreamcast, N64 and similar games as I probably won't be happy with the performance, and it gives me another excuse to buy a Pyra.

I just read what I wrote and doesn't sound that bright lol, what I mean was that I prefer a weak version of Pandora (I found the cheapest at 150 euros) than a stronger - and more expensive - model. As i've read Pyra is great in all aspects, it's just something i can't afford yet.

 

[TwistedTomZ]

 I noticed that the store didn't have any ready to order, I assumed they were going to restock?

Stock is fluctuating now, it's the end of the line and parts are getting scarce. EvilDragon hasn't said there won't be any more yet so expect them to show up sooner or later, probably a few per week. Just keep refreshing. It may be worthwhile looking for a second hand one though, it'll be cheaper and you won't have to worry about checking back for the next production batch.

Thanks a lot for the info! I was beginning to doubt if I could find one, should I assume that they will stop selling it once Pyra is out ?

 

[TrashyMG]

 I noticed that the store didn't have any ready to order, I assumed they were going to restock?

Stock is fluctuating now, it's the end of the line and parts are getting scarce. EvilDragon hasn't said there won't be any more yet so expect them to show up sooner or later, probably a few per week. Just keep refreshing. It may be worthwhile looking for a second hand one though, it'll be cheaper and you won't have to worry about checking back for the next production batch.

Thanks a lot for the info! I was beginning to doubt if I could find one, should I assume that they will stop selling it once Pyra is out ?

There still may be refurbished units around for a while when they become available.

 

[thatgui]

Thanks a lot for the info! I was beginning to doubt if I could find one, should I assume that they will stop selling it once Pyra is out ?

Hard to guess, but there is chance, that you can't get any Pandora "first Hand" anymore when the Pyra comes out. I could imagine that the second Hand market will grow somewhere around the Pyras release date. But Ed (=they) won't just stop selling them. The Pandora as sum of its parts is pretty much EOL, which is part of the reason the Pyra comes out soon - it would just not be viable from a business point of view to invest additional money to redesign a device from 2008.

 

[thatgui]

at least until somebody makes a nice reasonable enclosure for it all

But even then, wouldn't it be easier just to buy a current gen Netbook in the 300 bucks range and slap Linux on it? It may not have the runtime of the Pandora/Pyre but you can get at least 5-6 hours out of it nowadays. I think pocketability is the deciding factor in that case and just can't see that happening with "non integrated" design (still cool idea and impressive work though) like that.

 

[pmprog]

at least until somebody makes a nice reasonable enclosure for it all

But even then, wouldn't it be easier just to buy a current gen Netbook in the 300 bucks range and slap Linux on it? It may not have the runtime of the Pandora/Pyre but you can get at least 5-6 hours out of it nowadays. I think pocketability is the deciding factor in that case and just can't see that happening with "non integrated" design (still cool idea and impressive work though) like that.

Sure, but you can't find a sub 10" netbook... It really depends on your use case.

I still want an ASUSPRO BU201 (or some other i5 or above, sub-14" notebook), but I can only find German suppliers on Amazon with a german keyboard, and I like my double-row enter key. My Asus EEEPC 1025CE is still a nice machine, and that runs Mint these days, but just something a tad bigger, and a bit more up to date would be great. I also have issue with this trend of putting the mouse buttons inside the trackpad area, which means when you lift off and try to click the right mouse button, it moves the cursor. It's s**t. I did look at the Lenovo X240, but I've read a number of less-than-favourable reviews on it, and after Superfish, I'm kinda looking away.

My choices for a replacement netbook/ultrabook aren't very big, and I'm not super keen on any (which is why a year or so later, I still haven't upgraded it). In a way, I hope the Pyra is good enough that I don't need to consider a new netbook/ultrabook.

 

[thatgui]

Sure, but you can't find a sub 10" netbook... It really depends on your use case.

I still want an ASUSPRO BU201 (or some other i5 or above, sub-14" notebook), but I can only find German suppliers on Amazon with a german keyboard, and I like my double-row enter key. My Asus EEEPC 1025CE is still a nice machine, and that runs Mint these days, but just something a tad bigger, and a bit more up to date would be great. I also have issue with this trend of putting the mouse buttons inside the trackpad area, which means when you lift off and try to click the right mouse button, it moves the cursor. It's s**t. I did look at the Lenovo X240, but I've read a number of less-than-favourable reviews on it, and after Superfish, I'm kinda looking away.

My choices for a replacement netbook/ultrabook aren't very big, and I'm not super keen on any (which is why a year or so later, I still haven't upgraded it). In a way, I hope the Pyra is good enough that I don't need to consider a new netbook/ultrabook.

But if its so bulky, you need to use a rucksack, I don't see a big difference to something like that anymore.

Off Topic: I am currently waiting for the new Intel Skylakes getting put into Dell Notebooks. I currently have a Lenovo x201s, but with Lenovo following rather the opposite of their claim, their notebooks appear to me more like "for those who don't" by phasing out the interesting aspects that differentiated them from the rest of the market and going more mainstream. So I don't have a gripe anymore with my company beeing a DELL only customer. The 12" Latitute 7000 looks really nice, I will miss the keyboard and the trackpoint though :mellow:

 

[pmprog]

But if its too bulky so you need to use a rucksack, I don't see a big difference to something like that.

Well, at 14", it'll be tight squeeze into the rucksack, and consume all the space. Also, there's weight. I have a 14" Elitebook for work, and it's bloody heavy. My EEE1025CE is so much easier to carry in the rucksack, and fits better.

It's a difficult balancing act, which I've not really figured out my optimal yet, maybe I never will.

 

[TwistedTomZ]

 I noticed that the store didn't have any ready to order, I assumed they were going to restock?

Stock is fluctuating now, it's the end of the line and parts are getting scarce. EvilDragon hasn't said there won't be any more yet so expect them to show up sooner or later, probably a few per week. Just keep refreshing. It may be worthwhile looking for a second hand one though, it'll be cheaper and you won't have to worry about checking back for the next production batch.

Thanks a lot for the info! I was beginning to doubt if I could find one, should I assume that they will stop selling it once Pyra is out ?

There still may be refurbished units around for a while when they become available.

I hope so ! I'm really excited to try it out, I can't wait!

 

[Kumaki]

I'am not so sure about comparing the Pandora and the RaspPi.

I don't mean comparing them as devices, I know they are different and they are made for different people, I mean how are they for someone like me that wants to "code on the go", is one better than the other ?

Well, seeing as the Pandora is designed for such a task, I think you will find it better for it.  If you want to do the same with a raspberry pi you need to add a bunch of things to it, and it may not be so pocketable, or get great battery life.

If money is tight make sure you read up on the Pandora before buying so that you know the little things, like wifi can be flakey, some people think the keyboard is squishy (and layout is a bit odd for secondary characters), not all games and software run on the Classic Pandoras, and the nubs can give you problems.  I think the keyboard stuff will probably apply most to you, but there are some people that do a lot of text input with their Pandora and think it feels fine.

Well, I can't speak to coding on the fly...or to coding at all, since I could not code my way out of a paper bag, really....but I do use my Pandy for a lot of typig and other keyboard entry for business applications on the fly, and I think the keyboard is terrific.

Can't speak to the nubs much since I hardly ever use them.

I'm one of those people you mention that do a lot of text input with my Pandy.