My First Impressions...


socket

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Joined
Aug 25, 2006
Messages
451
Location
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
So, I finally got my Pandora (yeah I know many are still waiting) 14 days after my shipping email. I really wish I would have gone with the UPS shipping but I can´t complain... I have it now!

First impressions:

Accessories:

  • - Carry case is cool. I like the tight fit eliminating extra bulk with storage for a few cards. The graphic and url look nice. I saw in another thread that someone got a nice one from amazon with more storage, but this looks good with the logo.

    - Power cord is OK. It is short and requires an adapter. It will sit on my desk at work and I will use my PSP cord for the Pandora.

    - TV out... not included. Listed on invoice that it will ship later.

Pandora:

  • - I am really impressed with the build quality. It looks and feels great in my hands. So far I am really impressed with how the keyboard feels. Sure some keys are in awkward places but I´m alreday getting used to it. The controls seem to work fine so far as well and I haven´t had any problems with my shoulder buttons.

    - Quirks - I was early in the queue so mine didn´t get the in depth testing that some of the later ones got... on first boot it looked like everything was going smoothly until the Angstrom boot progress bar sat at what looked like about 98% for 45 minutes. I ended up reflashing the firmware (tips and tricks thread in help forum - quick response from ED pointing me in the right direction). The flashing took a few minutes and everything was good to go. I had a few problems connecting to my wifi but disabling and reenabling did the trick. Still shaky but that does the trick every time. once I connect it seems to hold until a reboot. I do have the slight bulge at the bottom of the screen but I´ll figure something out for that if it ever bothers me. Nothing too serious.

    - Software: I haven´t had too much play time yet but some stuff works great... some stuff is buggy. A great toy so far. I like the OS but minimenu seems a little cluttered... I´m enjoying Fennec so far. It works great and I´m writing this quick review through it on my Pandora right now.

I recorded an unboxing video and a first boot video (which obviously didn´t go so well) and will do some more tonight.... I´ll post links to the videos soon.

EDIT:
Another Unboxing Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHYrHIiuKoY
DOSBox - Playing Raptor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FPFXKybDMQ
 
Hmmm... I initially pre-ordered relatively early on but as many of us did I had the whole reorder hassle and didn't have final confirmation that I was squared away until January 27th (2009 of course ;) ) so I figure I've still got a bit of waiting to do. Care to show off your Pandora in-person at some point? :p
 
Mine arrived today but I missed it and I got my confirmation email on May 25th. Airmail can arrive in a week or up to 3 weeks for us in the USA it seems.
 
I actually had a delivery attempt yesterday... well... thursday, it's 3am and I don't plan on putting this down any time soon...
 
yes, very glad I upgraded my shipping, don't think I could make it another 2 weeks.

Thanks for the vids. Raptor looks cool, try any other dosbox games? Great to hear someone praising the build quality, seems like mostly negative stuff going around lately.
 
Nice videos. Would love to see a video of you using Fennec to browse the forums for a bit, with typing, or something like that.

Anyone know if Fennec is saving data to the SD card and not the internal memory yet?
 
MonkeyChops said:
yes, very glad I upgraded my shipping, don't think I could make it another 2 weeks.

I'd argue the even bigger reason to pay for more expensive shipping is the trackability/dependability.

I'm not going to wait months and shell out 300+ dollars and have no idea where my package is or risk it getting lost.
 
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MonkeyChops said:
yes, very glad I upgraded my shipping, don't think I could make it another 2 weeks.

Thanks for the vids. Raptor looks cool, try any other dosbox games? Great to hear someone praising the build quality, seems like mostly negative stuff going around lately.

Yeah, I'd upgrade my shipping for sure if I could choose again.

Anyway, yeah, Epic Pinball runs OK on dosbox, I need to fiddle with it more. I think it ran well with music on but with sound effects off, I was drinking and up until 5am, so it's kind of a blur. Rise of the Dragon runs perfectly, but it's an older point and click.

More to come...
 
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