Pandora As A Netbook

[seifer8ff]

hello, I was wondering if there is/is going to be any microsoft office-compatible software for the pandora?
and i was also curious what everyone's opinion is on the general suitability of the pandora as a netbook...It'd be easier to justify a 300+ purchase to my boyfriend if i could also use my gaming system as my college netbook!! I would mainly want to use the pandora for gaming, but also doing some internet research and writing up papers would be great side uses as well; I've got my fingers crossed for some good news lol




EDIT: Merged thread from GP2X forum - Chip

 

[mindlord]

Depends on how compatible you mean. Open Office is more or less compatible to MS Office, but is not EXACTLY the same. There are some minor differences that crop up from time to time, but for general word processing, you'll hardly notice the difference.

Typing a paper right on the Pandora would be a different matter. You would probably want to invest in a fullsize bluetooth or USB keyboard.

A USB keyboard would require a small USB 2.0 hub or USB A to Mini USB adapter, but both are cheap.

Aside from those two minor details. There is no reason that I can think of that the Pandora couldn't make a fine Netbook replacement. I will be using it exclusively for all my mobile computing needs.

 

[benjymous]

If office compatibility is an issue, you can download the Windows version of OpenOffice, and try it out with any MS office files you've got lying around.

From personal experience, I've never noticed any problems loading OpenOffice saved word powerpoint and excel docs in MSOffice apps

 

[mindlord]

As a weird example of incompatibility between MS office and OOO, I present this oddity.

My wife wanted a watermark image behind the text of her resume. No problem, fired up OOO put in the watermark and printed out nicely on my Laserjet 4000 printer at home. My home printer has a dying fuser which leaves black smudes on the page, which is of course unsuitable for a resume.

So I popped the file on a flash drive and took it to the Office which has MS Office 2007 on the machines. Went to print it on the HP Laserjet 4000 at the office and the watermark simply refused to print behind the text. The transparent background would block out the text. I had to install OOO on the work machine to get it to print properly.

Like I said for general word processing it's usually not an issue, but sometimes when dealing with images under text, or other advanced publishing oriented tasks, you might need to do some fudging to get it to display and/or print properly in both programs.

 

[seifer8ff]

so im not 100% clear...open office will work on the pandora? for sure?

 

[Exophase]

OpenOffice should work on the Pandora. Pandora should be able to run most of the software a typical netbook can, but bear in mind that the form factor is much smaller and there's going to be less CPU power than what you'll find in a current netbook with a 1.6GHz Atom. Also, instead of a touchpad there's a touchscreen, although you might consider this an asset.

 

[femngi]

The pandora will have Abiword which should be compatible with all MS office formats. IIRC Open Office requires Java which may or may not be difficult to implement, others can tell you better.
Basically the pandora is running Linux, many netbooks do too, if you want a netbook with gaming built in then this is probably your best choice due to the GPU and gaming controls.

 

[Username]

I'm not sure how much fun you'll have trying to type up papers on it. Keep in mind the size of the keys, though you could plug in a USB keyboard if you really wanted.

 

[RajTakhar]

Out of the box there are a few office apps already shown in various YouTube videos

Abiword - Word compatible word processor
Gnumeric - Excel compatible (ish) spreadsheet
Calender
Contacts

There were some others like mail program.

If you want openoffice - I think the earlier versions which use less RAM the 256MB should work better than current version which seems more memory hungry

There is a MS-Exchange email app somewhere - forget what its called - but there is one.

I guess it will only be a matter of time before everyone starts to use either the apps from Angstrom repository or attempt to port office apps to the Pandora

The future looks very good, even more so when more netbooks will appear with Arm processors

 

[conso]

java won't really be a problem because a ) it is optional for open office b ) there are java-implementations for arm-linux, that should have enough functionality for what ooo needs (gnu-java runs on arm. openjdk+icedtea compile just fine, but are not officially supported, yet)

edit: some further information:
CODE
http://elinux.org/BeagleBoard#Java

 

[Eliminex]

OpenOffice will be ported on the pandora,although it might not be available from release day.
Also,some in the german forum said that openoffice will run slow because of it being a resource hog.
What Office parts do you use most?
If you don't need a presentation app on the pandora then you could try Abiword as a word processing app and gnumeric as a spreadsheet app.
They are already ported and will surely run fast.
There should be windows versions of the two so you can try them out.

@Mods:
please close/delete this thread since it's a double thread.

 

[lulzfish]

The Pandora is not the one laptop you get for college.
It's made to be portable. The keyboard is for thumb typing, not touch-typing papers, the screen is comfortable, but not nearly as useful for school stuff as a 15 or 17 inch screen would be.

It is nothing like a netbook, and if you need to play anything resembling "Windows games", you certainly should not get one.

If you want a low-power gaming device for any sort of Windows-based games or for doing any schoolwork at all, just buy a netbook or a full-sized notebook, and buy one of Logitech's USB gamepads.

I got a 17 inch notebook for college, and I can honestly tell you that the screen and the keyboard greatly outweigh its pathetic battery life and the fact that I need a special backpack just to carry it.

 

[borgqueenx]

The Pandora is not the one laptop you get for college.
It's made to be portable. The keyboard is for thumb typing, not touch-typing papers, the screen is comfortable, but not nearly as useful for school stuff as a 15 or 17 inch screen would be.

It is nothing like a netbook, and if you need to play anything resembling "Windows games", you certainly should not get one.

If you want a low-power gaming device for any sort of Windows-based games or for doing any schoolwork at all, just buy a netbook or a full-sized notebook, and buy one of Logitech's USB gamepads.

I got a 17 inch notebook for college, and I can honestly tell you that the screen and the keyboard greatly outweigh its pathetic battery life and the fact that I need a special backpack just to carry it.

its almost like you're saying the pandora aint powerful.
the pandora is 3 times better then a psp. and with the complete keyboard, its very able to use instead of a notebook to me.
I'd use a notebook for school, but for making small notes at a conference or something, i'd use the pandora.

 

[gp2.eXe]

@Mods:
please close/delete this thread since it's a double thread.

Or merge both, since there are interesting points in this thread too. That can be done, right?

 

[WizardStan]

Get a piece of paper or cardboard and cut it to 93.6 x 56.2 mm (3.7 x 2.2 inches). That's the size of the screen
Can you visualize yourself using that screen for taking notes? Maybe write some words on it to see how small you can make them so they're still comfortable to read; can you get enough on the "screen" at that size to make it worth typing?
If yes, you can comfortably do so, then the Pandora might be excellent for you. While the Pandora's keypad is too small for touch typing, I can achieve almost 50 wpm on cell phone's QWERTY thumbpad and it's even smaller than the Pandora's. With practice, I don't suspect the thumbpad will be as great a hinderance as some would suggest.
On the other hand, there are portable fold up/roll up keyboards to be had for $20-$30 that are excellent for touch typing and just as easy to carry as the Pandora.
I can speak from first hand experience: I used an old Palm III and a fold up keyboard for taking notes when I attended university and it was a godsend! All course material was usually available via PDF, so I was able to download slides and text for the day onto it, such that when I went to class that's all I took: palm pilot in one pocket, keyboard in the other. At the end of class, while my classmates were struggling with getting text books and binders and loose sheets into backpacks, I'd just put on my jacket and walk out the door. Good times.
If I had had a Pandora back then, it would have been even better!

 

[Butterman]

Get a piece of paper or cardboard and cut it to 93.6 x 56.2 mm (3.7 x 2.2 inches). That's the size of the screen
Can you visualize yourself using that screen for taking notes? Maybe write some words on it to see how small you can make them so they're still comfortable to read; can you get enough on the "screen" at that size to make it worth typing?
If yes, you can comfortably do so, then the Pandora might be excellent for you. While the Pandora's keypad is too small for touch typing, I can achieve almost 50 wpm on cell phone's QWERTY thumbpad and it's even smaller than the Pandora's. With practice, I don't suspect the thumbpad will be as great a hinderance as some would suggest.
On the other hand, there are portable fold up/roll up keyboards to be had for $20-$30 that are excellent for touch typing and just as easy to carry as the Pandora.
I can speak from first hand experience: I used an old Palm III and a fold up keyboard for taking notes when I attended university and it was a godsend! All course material was usually available via PDF, so I was able to download slides and text for the day onto it, such that when I went to class that's all I took: palm pilot in one pocket, keyboard in the other. At the end of class, while my classmates were struggling with getting text books and binders and loose sheets into backpacks, I'd just put on my jacket and walk out the door. Good times.
If I had had a Pandora back then, it would have been even better!

Dude, that's fucking tiny. I just cut one out.


Yea, the keyboard won't be a problem for typing, I can type for hours on my blackberry.

 

[lulzfish]

The way this person put it, they want a gaming device / netbook for college. They need to understand that it's not a "college" laptop at all. It's not the one computer you use for 4 years on end. And they certainly need to know that the gaming is all native Pandora games and the emulators.

If they get a regular netbook, it will be easier to type papers, it will play WINE games, and they can buy a gamepad for it. I don't think the Pandora is a "college netbook" at all. It's just not the "set up on your desk and use for hours on end" kinda computer.

 

[conso]

hehe. i just cut out a peace of paper of that size from a chocolate package. then I realized i cut out the list of indigrents in several different languages. There is a LOT of text on there and it is perfectly readable from the distance you will hold your pandora

 

[gp2.eXe]

hehe. i just cut out a peace of paper of that size from a chocolate package. then I realized i cut out the list of indigrents in several different languages. There is a LOT of text on there and it is perfectly readable from the distance you will hold your pandora

Hmmm... Chocolaaate Pandooora...

I remember in the GP2X a writing app, although it wasn't what you would call awesome, you could view .txt documents and edit them(once you got used to it of course) with the keyboard mapped on the gaming controls. Now we have a keyboard that you may not be used to yet, but with time you'll get the hang of it.
And a screen with very nice resolution. So, some people will find it useful for different purposes, that's all.


Hey lulzfish, weren't you the one who said Pandora could do anything? You confuse me mister...

 

[lulzfish]

I like the Pandora, but I wouldn't use it for 4 years of college. For writing papers and stuff like that.
I think it's too portable for that. Too small of a keyboard / screen.

I mean, they could do that as long as they understand that the games are emulations and native games, but I don't think the Pandora is big enough to replace a notebook as a full-time computer for college use.