My impressions of the Pandora


^ Sure if they can cram some game controls with triggers and all on that style of case...
 
why not? Just make it deeper fornt-to-back.


@dionysus: Lots of murky green-yellow please :)
 
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It must be really glossy though, so you can't read the display if there is any ambient light but you instantly see where you touched it. You can't get more mainstream than that :p
 
Well the thing is I am sure the OP team isn't going screw the masses as they would prefer having mainstream people purchasing it. I honestly believe if they can make the device thinner and perhaps change the case to brushed aluminium and bam instant sexy device.


Hell they could offer two version a functional version and the Deluxe model if they wanted. While I like the size of the device myself every single person who commented on it said the exact same thing. "It looks chunky and dated". You want to change this to "That looks awesome" Sorry but this should be the number one priority if you ask me.


Now I honestly think this is the path they are taking with the Pandora as well. Look at the icontrolpad 2. Notice how much sleeker the unit is?
 
The masses wont buy the pandora. Its a niche product. The priority should be making it emulate the dreamcast because that also became something of a niche product and is possibly the most loved platform amongst the emulation crowd.


Brushed aluminum tho.. Cant really argue with that. Personally I'd rather keep the design as it is and spend the p2 development money on a new chipset and brushed aluminium casing. Remember that your comparing it to devices without anything like its battery. Often with batteries that cant be replaced. You cant beat apple in terms of small but you can take advantage of them screwing their customers with £600 disposable hardware by going a different way.


I think its great as it is but Saturn and dc would make it perfect and brushed aluminum would make it better still. Each pandora gen should jump to the next console gen and each time you expand your market to the fans of that platform.
 
I don't care about how the device looks, at all. I care about how strong the case is, and about the ergonomics of holding it. But how it looks, sorry, I really don't care about that.
 
See but people are just going oh well the aesthetics don't bother me so they should just leave it. However aesthetics matter to alot of people. Also you want people in the street seeing the device and wanting it. The Pandora as it stands only has a very small market appeal. Expanding that appeal can only help sales.
 
kasp is right...unfortunately aesthetics is the largest thing for the general market. E.g. look at Apple products. You can find more functionality in other systems on most Apple products, but people still go for apple because it's "pretty".


In regard to the original review... I didn't find too many issues with my pandora. I was a bit concerned about the back seam. I also noticed a little bit of graphic artifacts here and there..but largely it's been fine. I'm starting to think perhaps my LCD cable is a bit messed up, but will need to read more on what others have experienced first. In terms of WIFI, I haven't had too many issues with mine. Granted, I don't stream...I do some basic web pages, newsgroups, but little else.
 
Expanding that appeal can only help sales.
But could (not necessarily) lead to device with less appeal to the core user group. Like brushed aluminium - looks nice, but I just don't want a device where I have to worry about possible scratches everwhere I want to put it on.
 
I don't care about how the device looks, at all. I care about how strong the case is, and about the ergonomics of holding it. But how it looks, sorry, I really don't care about that.
Ditto.

See but people are just going oh well the aesthetics don't bother me so they should just leave it. However aesthetics matter to alot of people. Also you want people in the street seeing the device and wanting it. The Pandora as it stands only has a very small market appeal. Expanding that appeal can only help sales.
Not if you are sacrificing performance for "appeal" That is style over substance. the problem is...most of this country is stupid people who DO prefer style over substance, but not me. You want to give up the 10 hour battery life? You want to give up the full Linux operating system? All in the name of "Sleekness" not me.
 
Thinking about the themed pandora idea. If you had brushed aluminum you could charge extra for engraving. That way youd have custom themes and afaik trademarks dont cover what individuals choose to have engraved on things. It'd look good but in its own way not apples even tho remaining chunky enough to house a good battery.
 
The general philosophy on this board is that the looks don't really matter. Not sure about the rest of you, but I rarely use my Pandora outside the privacy of my own home.


I do agree there is an issue with Wifi and I also agree that the device is not for everyone. You have to invest some time to get the most out of it.


You also have to accept there might be hardware issues along the way. Can happen and support from ED is great.


My advise for every potential customer would be to spend some time on this board before buying. Read the wiki and support threads and see what kind of issues might come up. Check some video's on Youtube.


Don't buy it based on one nice video on youtube. If you don't want to invest some time and use your brainpower to understand how to use it, you are not suited for it. It is not something like a DS. On the other hand it is no rocket science either. Everybody should be able to learn how to use one. The real brains here on this board are the people creating and porting software for it.


If you still like to have own a Pandora after doing the research, buy it from EDs store. You will not be disappointed.
 
To me it's a beautiful device, but I'm generally referring to it's features, functionality and sheer awesomeness of what you can do with it. The Pandora case could be made of Particle board all I care.
 
I like my Pandora.


It looks much better than my Nintendo 3DS or all those shiny Smartphones.
 
Here is my impression of my Pandora.





Sold to the Highest Budda
 
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"Form follows function" and not the other way around is all that we want. Experience has shown that sleek design often introduces several downsides, so we get paranoid when someone suggests to change the design to make it more appealing for the mainstream-market. Because the mainstream market cares more about the looks and doesn't even notice the lack of functionality introduced by this.


If it can look cool without turning the screen into a mirror or making it uncomfortable to hold or reducing the size of the keyboard or introducing some other downside - fine, why not? If it must look like a brick so we can do all the things we want with it - fine, give us a brick and to hell with anyone who does not like it because it does not look cool/polished/glossy.
 
"Form follows function" and not the other way around is all that we want. Experience has shown that sleek design often introduces several downsides, so we get paranoid when someone suggests to change the design to make it more appealing for the mainstream-market. Because the mainstream market cares more about the looks and doesn't even notice the lack of functionality introduced by this.


If it can look cool without turning the screen into a mirror or making it uncomfortable to hold or reducing the size of the keyboard or introducing some other downside - fine, why not? If it must look like a brick so we can do all the things we want with it - fine, give us a brick and to hell with anyone who does not like it because it does not look cool/polished/glossy.

+1
 
Not sure about the rest of you, but I rarely use my Pandora outside the privacy of my own home.

I actually use mine a lot away from home. I ride the bus a lot, every day for about 30-50 minutes each way. When I'm in the mood to play games, this is the device I pull out. I also have a 3DS and DS, and rarely bring them compared to the OP. I use the OP a lot....but it is away from home, though.
 
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