Oh my.... If there is a god watching over the Pandora project protecting it from being compared to other devices, he needs to be fired. This might turn out to be the nail in the coffin. There is build instructions and source as well !? Oh my some more....
Looks really neat on it, but looking at the video I have the same impression as Levi: this cryies out for a Keyboard.
Another factor (for me) would be pocketability. Do you have both, a Shield and a Pandora ? I would be interested in how they compare on that regard.
lengthy post, but I do have both a pandora and a shield. I did a comparison some pages back in this thread,but I'll summarize all the points I made from several posts.
It came down to on the hardware side the shield lacking a keyboard and max potential storage (shield 64GB ext + 16GB int = 80GB total vs pandora's 128GB ext + 128GB ext + 512MB int = 256.5GB total) and the pandora lacking in processing & GPU power, ram, real joysticks vs nubs, analog trigger buttons, HDMI vs composite video out, 720p display, GPS, and as powerful wifi.
So yea, I agree, the lack of a keyboard is the killer feature the pandora has still. However there's very useful things the pandora is lacking as well. If you're more of a gaming centric person the shield is maybe a better fit because of the better and more control inputs, if you're more computer based the pandora might be a better fit because of the keyboard. You can still do both with both usb or bluetooth joypad on the pandora or a usb or bluetooth mini keyboard on the shield. It really comes down to how much you use those inputs, and how much you want those other things as well.
The size and weight of both put both devices into the same catagory of portability use cases for me personally. I don't find either to be pocketable and I carry both in a bag in a protective carrying case. The weight difference is there, but I find neither to be uncomfortable to hold for extended periods of time. The shield weighs as much as a 1st gen ipad.
But the main glaring difference that I found most people on here were focusing on (besides the keyboard) was they saw android as a "phone OS and not a big boy operating system" (paraphrased)... and that's cool... I understand, and agree to some extent... but I made a point that it's just software, and a situation like what is seen on the video was inevitable given enough time and someone skilled to work on it.
and there's still the very significant price differences and build quality differences in favor of the shield.
I'm not saying this is going to completely kill off the customer base of the pandora. What I am saying is in "round one" of gaming centric pandora owners (or potential owners) they would rightfully be more enticed by the shields much beefier specs and better gaming experience. And those kinda in the middle of gaming and PC might prefer the pandora's straight linux over android. But here in "round two" we see that line between the two sort of fading away completely. Except the pandora still chroots android instead of booting into it natively, unlike the shield that was able to chroot linux from day one, but it now able to boot it natively. While you may not think there's a big difference, the difference is there and the experience IMO is significant be it performance or stability or function.
and I also made the point that the segment the pandora will always have the upper hand over the shield because of it's keyboard is it's pc like experience. The shield doesn't lack in function (software) anymore, but the pandora's "smallest usable netbook" experience is still the key to it's success. The pandora needs to stop focusing as much on it's gaming experience because at this point that battle is fought and lost badly IMO, turn your sights completely on the PC aspect as it's whats going to give you the advantage. Keep in mind the only thing really differentiating it from anything else and thusly being obsolete and overpriced is a keyboard that some (like myself) don't use much anyway.
