Well, I just setup a card for press reviews, with everything properly working.
I could send you one as well to safe time.
I could send you one as well to safe time.
Pandora Review by Gamester81
- Thread starter vcoleiro1
- Start date
mcobit
Advanced Member
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What mame emulator are you using? There are several options.
MAME4All is very fast but uses an older romset.
PanMAME is more recent, has nice scalers but is based on a newer mame version so it is a bit slower.
If you have the old mame 0.11x port it will be very slow as the mameguys revised the renderingcode since 0.107 to be more accurate but a lot slower.
MAME4All needs a romset for mame 0.37b or something, can't remember right now.
PanMAME uses a 0.106 romset.
You can also use fba which supports recent mame romsets and supports newer systems like cps3 but doesn't play some older systems.
MAME4All is very fast but uses an older romset.
PanMAME is more recent, has nice scalers but is based on a newer mame version so it is a bit slower.
If you have the old mame 0.11x port it will be very slow as the mameguys revised the renderingcode since 0.107 to be more accurate but a lot slower.
MAME4All needs a romset for mame 0.37b or something, can't remember right now.
PanMAME uses a 0.106 romset.
You can also use fba which supports recent mame romsets and supports newer systems like cps3 but doesn't play some older systems.
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Ian J
Advanced Member
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I format on PC using the standard right click and format menu (default settings)
Then for how to set your card up watch EDs excellent video here:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZApSODcxouk?feature=oembed
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Be sure to get them from the right place, i.e. http://repo.openpandora.org , nothing else. Also, I think that the Jaguar emu is a bit of a lost cause or something (correct me if I'm wrong, people) - It is if I remember correctly more or less at a "proof of concept"-state, much like Saturn and Dreamcast.
MAME is difficult. The dizzying combinations of different romsets, different mame versions and whatnots makes my head hurt.
ZXDunny
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Ian J
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http://www.allgengamers.com/
Basically Pandora is too hard to use & too expensive.
AAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
People are so bloody lazy, they want everything handed to them on a plate.
RTFF (Read The Flipping Forums)
I'm mad as hell, there is NOTHING out there to compare to the Pandora and yet people still don't get it.
Don't all devices require some setting up to use emulators and roms? Be that PC or handheld.
Oh well that's me un-subscribed from this podcast and youtube feed.
Basically Pandora is too hard to use & too expensive.
AAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
People are so bloody lazy, they want everything handed to them on a plate.
RTFF (Read The Flipping Forums)
I'm mad as hell, there is NOTHING out there to compare to the Pandora and yet people still don't get it.
Don't all devices require some setting up to use emulators and roms? Be that PC or handheld.
Oh well that's me un-subscribed from this podcast and youtube feed.
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SNESFAN
Retro game fanatic
Saw a good review (one of the most honest I've seen to date) by some tweeter28 or something like that.
Its not a favorable review, but he hits all my personal +'s and -'s almost to a t. I feel all his points are extremely true, only problem with it was the overall negativity and disappointment with the device and the Pandora experience.
When I get home I'll see if I can't link the YouTube for it.
Its not a favorable review, but he hits all my personal +'s and -'s almost to a t. I feel all his points are extremely true, only problem with it was the overall negativity and disappointment with the device and the Pandora experience.
When I get home I'll see if I can't link the YouTube for it.
Ian J
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Do you mean this one, if so I think it's posted somewhere on the forum already:
http://tweetermanreviews.com/2012/11/pandora-handheld-console-review/
SNESFAN
Retro game fanatic
That would be the one
My first negative impression was that the emulators used different button conventions for operation - but then I remembered that all my emulators on the PC also use different keys.
It would probably help if PNDManager were installed by default.
It would probably help if PNDManager were installed by default.
thatgui
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Are you kidding ? That was the worst review I have ever seen - that guy did not even try to have an open approach, he was basically just whining about the fact that the Pandora was no Google Nexus 7" Tablet
SNESFAN
Retro game fanatic
take away the negative attitude he had, and that he was sad it wasn't a nexus 7... which I snarked at myself
just stick to the things he said about the pandora specifically and the project. I find them to be dead on point with my inital experience.
Frustration with getting emulators to work, sliding battery, broken left shoulder button, boot times, inconsistencies with the software.
difference between me and him is I didn't give up on this after a couple days of use, I have since learned to work around those quirks to get it to do what I want. Not harder to use than say jailbreaking a psp and learning that whole scene, but intuitive and user friendly it is not.
EDIT:
original thread seems to have been taken over by nonsense and by mods none the less (guessing they did not approve)
http://boards.openpandora.org/index.php/topic/10717-pandora-review-on-tweetermanreviews/
just stick to the things he said about the pandora specifically and the project. I find them to be dead on point with my inital experience.
Frustration with getting emulators to work, sliding battery, broken left shoulder button, boot times, inconsistencies with the software.
difference between me and him is I didn't give up on this after a couple days of use, I have since learned to work around those quirks to get it to do what I want. Not harder to use than say jailbreaking a psp and learning that whole scene, but intuitive and user friendly it is not.
EDIT:
original thread seems to have been taken over by nonsense and by mods none the less (guessing they did not approve)
http://boards.openpandora.org/index.php/topic/10717-pandora-review-on-tweetermanreviews/
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WizardStan
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And there is nothing left of his review. Every complaint about usability he had was in direct comparison to other devices. He didn't make any attempt to recognize that it wasn't a Nintendo, Sony, or Samsung device with their budget and decades of experience, but still held it to their standards. He made no effort to understand why someone might want it over a keyboardless tablet, for example, he simply did a blanket "not good for anyone". When I pointed out in the comments that he wasn't being fair to expect the first device a tiny company produces to be flawless, that it has many good points which are not reproduced in any other device and is perfect for someone who is looking for those exact features, I got banned.A good review is balanced, tries to figure out the the target audience, steers the non-target away while encouraging those that might find it useful to look into it. So no, tweeterman did not give a good review, he gave a good rant.
SNESFAN
Retro game fanatic
I probably shouldn't have said "good review" I should have said "accurate to my initial impressions" review rather 
It's not a fair review sure... esp when you consider where the pandora is comming from... I'll definitely give you that.
I'm more than willing to accept all the points you made, and as a hacker/enthusiast device, this is rock solid, on point, no competition, hands down, best your money can buy. Extremely well rounded for it's multitude of purposes.
however, and it's a big however... from the point of view he is making. Paying what amounts to being a premium dollar amount for what should be (at that price) a finalized polished end user focused device ... as a "homebrew/emulator game console".. it leaves a tad bit to be desired in terms of out of box/hit the ground running for a casual gamer.
I'm not going to lie, I initially got the pandora for one single purpose... SNES emulation.... I'm a purist in that respect and want the absolute best & accurate to original performance experience as possible. I was hard pressed at the time of purchase to find anything better or even in the same realm (dingoo a320 just got released) and still to this day, nothing that I know of does specifically SNES emulation as perfectly as the pandora. Some are acceptable quality, (audio&input lag/controller wonkyness) but none are at the same level or better than the pandora. The GCW does have me a excited though... it might be the best user friendly performing handheld yet. I'll hold my excitement till I see it first hand.
I regress though... I remember having this next point in discussion multiple times here. For these "common folk" (ie lazy gamers) an android firmware on pandora would probably suit their needs better than angstrom (and I don't mean running android inside of angstrom that is available). I honestly feel this tweeterman would agree as well, he even says so "I don't remember having these problems with android" It really is easier to just jump into and go, and less convoluted when it comes to setting up emulators and downloading games and "just playing" I know even the mention of an android only flashable firmware is like nails on a chalkboard to some. But it would go a long way to shut half these people up. "here, just use this, and go away" It's more limited in it's capabilities, but it's more suited for polish and user friendliness IMHO. I can honestly say I have seen less amount of "how do I get this damn thing to work" type of posts on the android gaming system forums than I do on this one. And the questions I get are just usually stuff that the manufacturer screwed up on. (bundled software/partition naming etc) not the question of "where do my roms go" & "I can't find a romset that works" "my emulator won't load/crashes etc" those are some points this guy made. I've seen those specific topics more than once on here.
It's not a fair review sure... esp when you consider where the pandora is comming from... I'll definitely give you that.I'm more than willing to accept all the points you made, and as a hacker/enthusiast device, this is rock solid, on point, no competition, hands down, best your money can buy. Extremely well rounded for it's multitude of purposes.
however, and it's a big however... from the point of view he is making. Paying what amounts to being a premium dollar amount for what should be (at that price) a finalized polished end user focused device ... as a "homebrew/emulator game console".. it leaves a tad bit to be desired in terms of out of box/hit the ground running for a casual gamer.
I'm not going to lie, I initially got the pandora for one single purpose... SNES emulation.... I'm a purist in that respect and want the absolute best & accurate to original performance experience as possible. I was hard pressed at the time of purchase to find anything better or even in the same realm (dingoo a320 just got released) and still to this day, nothing that I know of does specifically SNES emulation as perfectly as the pandora. Some are acceptable quality, (audio&input lag/controller wonkyness) but none are at the same level or better than the pandora. The GCW does have me a excited though... it might be the best user friendly performing handheld yet. I'll hold my excitement till I see it first hand.
I regress though... I remember having this next point in discussion multiple times here. For these "common folk" (ie lazy gamers) an android firmware on pandora would probably suit their needs better than angstrom (and I don't mean running android inside of angstrom that is available). I honestly feel this tweeterman would agree as well, he even says so "I don't remember having these problems with android" It really is easier to just jump into and go, and less convoluted when it comes to setting up emulators and downloading games and "just playing" I know even the mention of an android only flashable firmware is like nails on a chalkboard to some. But it would go a long way to shut half these people up. "here, just use this, and go away" It's more limited in it's capabilities, but it's more suited for polish and user friendliness IMHO. I can honestly say I have seen less amount of "how do I get this damn thing to work" type of posts on the android gaming system forums than I do on this one. And the questions I get are just usually stuff that the manufacturer screwed up on. (bundled software/partition naming etc) not the question of "where do my roms go" & "I can't find a romset that works" "my emulator won't load/crashes etc" those are some points this guy made. I've seen those specific topics more than once on here.
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