Pandora Review In Linux Format

[WizardStan]

It does technically support flash. gnash is installed, Flash 8 is still flash

 

[DJWillis]

Interesting review. Light on details, was it written with or without a device for the duration of the review?

The pictures are really odd, they are of one of MWeston's pre-release unit (pretty sure it's the one I now have ). That would be fine but its also running a really old version of the firmware, I dropped the giant 'OpenPandora' text from the menu button quite some time before release . I assume this was not the unit used for the review?

Really nice to see the unit getting some positive press from people that seem to understand the niche and caveats it brings .

 

[CPUnltd]

@Peca: my usage will be for both gaming and productivity, and I honestly see it as cheap on both ends of that spectrum... agreeing with you on productivity, totally... on the side of gaming, there are two huge points that make it inexpensive from my perspective:

1st convenience - combined portability.. meaning that all the other portable game players combined will cost at least 3x more to acquire (even if you go as simple as a Wiz and a PSP, you're still looking at nearly twice the price)

2nd convenience - single unit... all that is in ONE device, so I don't have to change my wardrobe over to nothing but cargo pants and flight pants in order to carry all my mobile devices... my mp3 player, PDA, netbook, game station (no need to list ALL the systems it emulates) and voice recorder are all in my pocket, and don't make my pants buldge

so it is inexpensive as a gaming device in price and number of devices needed to carry in comparison. Kind of a left field perspective, but still accurate and valuable.

 

[Duddyroar]

Blimey, seems that this review has caused quite a stir. Time to do some explaining.

I wrote the review as I'm currently the only video game hack out there with a Pandora right now. I also did the Pocket Gamer and Electric Pig reviews, which have been linked to elsewhere in these forums.

Firstly, the review is short because that's the length that Linux Format asked for. I know some of you hardcore Pandora fans would love every single page of the magazine to be devoted to the device but sadly that's not how magazine production tends to work. In the massive world of Linux the Pandora is merely one element and the fact that such a high-profile magazine is willing to give it a single page is commendable.

I've noticed that some people seem to have a real problem telling the difference between web and net journalism. With print media you're always going to face limitations such as space and page count; the web is more flexible. If I had an entire magazine to devote to it then naturally I would have covered every single aspect of the machine, reviewing every emulator and detailing every part of the case design, but sadly no one has produced a mag called "Pandora User" yet

Secondly, the review wasn't written "without a machine". The images used are indeed the ones taken from the official site, but that's only because they needed to be print-quality and I don't have an SLR camera or the facilities to take high-quality shots.

Thirdly, the Pandora I have runs Flash. When you're viewing sites with animated Flash banners they are displayed perfectly. I also have Gnash installed on my device. At the end of the day the machine is perfectly capable of running Flash, unlike the iPhone/iPad which will never run it because Apple don't want it to.

Hope this clears up any confusion. Fire me any other questions you might have, but I think I've covered everything in the three reviews I've done of the Pandora so far.

 

[Spirit]

who said Pandora doesn't support Flash??

mplayer file.flv works beautifully here (it's flash, it's youtube)

flv is not Flash. It is a media container used by Flash. It is not Flash and it is not Youtube. Sorry!

 

[torpor]

Please test the ability of your Flash-running Pandora on homestarrunner.com ..

 

[DJWillis]

Blimey, seems that this review has caused quite a stir. Time to do some explaining.

I wrote the review as I'm currently the only video game hack out there with a Pandora right now. I also did the Pocket Gamer and Electric Pig reviews, which have been linked to elsewhere in these forums.

<snip>

Hope this clears up any confusion. Fire me any other questions you might have, but I think I've covered everything in the three reviews I've done of the Pandora so far.

Hi,

Sorry if my comments came across as negative, that was not my intention. I have a nasty habit of being blunt to the point of not really thinking (reason I tend not to spend much time on the forums these days I guess ). I am well aware of the restrictions of print mediums when it comes to word counts, column size and overlays. With that considered there is nothing wrong with the review at all and your right, you can't delve into to much of the specifics without alienating some of your casual readership, less of an issue with a blog/website but a big problem with print.

I am really pleased to see it getting press reviews, especially printed ones, the photos confused me somewhat as I was happily hacking on ScummVM on the device pictured while reading the thread thinking, hmmm, yep, that's my dev unit, what the hell is he using for the review . You answered that .

 

[Duddyroar]

No problem at all, my reply wasn't aimed specifically at you anyway, but one of the other "more vocal" posters on this thread

Besides I've gotten used to this kind of response, and I've been guilty of doing it myself in the past. When you want something to succeed so badly it's often hard to accept anything but perfection from reviews!

 

[neko]

Blimey, seems that this review has caused quite a stir. Time to do some explaining.

I don't think it's a bad review. It's a little short, but it's been explained that the print magazine had a page limit.

As for the "value for money", I showed my Pandora to a friend who said "I want one. How much is it?" and when I replied "$350" he said "Crap, I only have like $200 right now." It is a little expensive compared to an mp3 player or Nintendo DS or other pocket devices that people usually buy.

Flash in general sucks on portable devices. I know you can install gnash, but I never did because it's slow and annoying. I think saying that Flash works, while true, gives people unrealistic expectations.

I don't know what the "toggling settings" and "only seriously dedicated geeks need apply" is all about, unless you're talking about Flash being crap. It's not any harder to load emulators and roms on the Pandora than on any other PC. People who have never used Linux before might have a hard time figuring out what app to launch, but I suspect that wasn't the target audience of the article since it was in a Linux magazine.

 

[Duddyroar]

Even for Linux users, operating the Pandora is a hardly a straightforward process. Downloading apps is fine - certainly a lot easier than it has been on previous open-source handhelds - but many people will be approaching this as a emulation device and that requires more effort.

Sourcing ROMs is both awkward and legally questionable, so I think it's fair to say that the Pandora requires a lot more effort to get running than other machines like the PSP and DS. I know the Pandora is a different kettle of fish when compared to Sony and Nintendo's machines, but it will be compared to them regardless.

Still, 7/10 for ease of use is hardly me saying it's like pulling teeth.

 

[WizardStan]

Sourcing ROMs is both awkward and legally questionable, so I think it's fair to say that the Pandora requires a lot more effort to get running than other machines like the PSP and DS. I know the Pandora is a different kettle of fish when compared to Sony and Nintendo's machines, but it will be compared to them regardless.

Wait what? You're saying it's easier to play emulators on the PSP and DS than on the Pandora? Do you know something I don't, because those two things are not easy at all, especially once you factor in custom firmware and homebrew cart.

 

[Aninhumer]

Even for Linux users, operating the Pandora is a hardly a straightforward process. Downloading apps is fine - certainly a lot easier than it has been on previous open-source handhelds - but many people will be approaching this as a emulation device and that requires more effort.

Sourcing ROMs is both awkward and legally questionable, so I think it's fair to say that the Pandora requires a lot more effort to get running than other machines like the PSP and DS. I know the Pandora is a different kettle of fish when compared to Sony and Nintendo's machines, but it will be compared to them regardless.

Still, 7/10 for ease of use is hardly me saying it's like pulling teeth.

I wouldn't consider acquiring ROMs to be part of the device's usage.
That would be like saying a PMP was hard to use because there was nowhere to buy digital video.
And if you do it completely legally with something like the Retrode it's not difficult at all.

Not that I'm saying 7/10 is wrong, just that your reasoning isn't.

 

[Duddyroar]

Sourcing ROMs is both awkward and legally questionable, so I think it's fair to say that the Pandora requires a lot more effort to get running than other machines like the PSP and DS. I know the Pandora is a different kettle of fish when compared to Sony and Nintendo's machines, but it will be compared to them regardless.

Wait what? You're saying it's easier to play emulators on the PSP and DS than on the Pandora? Do you know something I don't, because those two things are not easy at all, especially once you factor in custom firmware and homebrew cart.

Did I mention playing ROMs on the PSP/DS? I was referring to the status of these machines as gaming devices. Your average joe on the street will compare the Pandora to a DS and PSP, and in that regard the Pandora is most definitely harder to get your head around.

Even for Linux users, operating the Pandora is a hardly a straightforward process. Downloading apps is fine - certainly a lot easier than it has been on previous open-source handhelds - but many people will be approaching this as a emulation device and that requires more effort.

Sourcing ROMs is both awkward and legally questionable, so I think it's fair to say that the Pandora requires a lot more effort to get running than other machines like the PSP and DS. I know the Pandora is a different kettle of fish when compared to Sony and Nintendo's machines, but it will be compared to them regardless.

Still, 7/10 for ease of use is hardly me saying it's like pulling teeth.

I wouldn't consider acquiring ROMs to be part of the device's usage.
That would be like saying a PMP was hard to use because there was nowhere to buy digital video.
And if you do it completely legally with something like the Retrode it's not difficult at all.

Not that I'm saying 7/10 is wrong, just that your reasoning isn't.

Then you obviously appreciate your Pandora for different reasons to me. I see it as a way of enjoying retro titles, so ROMs are most definitely an essential part of that picture.

 

[WizardStan]

Did I mention playing ROMs on the PSP/DS? I was referring to the status of these machines as gaming devices. Your average joe on the street will compare the Pandora to a DS and PSP, and in that regard the Pandora is most definitely harder to get your head around.

No you didn't mention ROMs on the PSP or DS, but you did mention it on the Pandora. I figured you were making equal comparisons, because I don't think it's fair otherwise. If you want to talk about the ease of playing games on the PSP/DS vs on the Pandora, you should really have used games: Wesnoth, Pandora Panic, ADD, BattleJewels, or Giana, for example; games that don't need any external resources, just drop and play as you would on the PSP/DS. Even the doom and quake engines come with their shareware data that you could have used to just drop and play. The emulators and extra engines are things that you couldn't do on the PSP or DS anyway (without hacking) so I don't understand how you can justify using that as reasoning that it is more difficult than the PSP or DS.
I'm not saying it was a bad article, it was a great article; nor am I disagreeing that it does take a little more effort to get into than the PSP or DS, because it certainly does. I'm disagreeing with your reasoning for it being more difficult, the seeming comparison of apples to oranges and concluding that oranges are better because baking an apple pie takes too much effort when you can't even make an orange pie. Except you can make an orange pie, but pretend you can't for the sake of analogy, please?

 

[Duddyroar]

An orange pie is a Jaffa Cake, surely?

I know what you're saying and it's a fair point, but my reasoning is that the Pandora is a gaming device first and foremost and in that respect most people will compare it to other portable gaming devices, and that means PSP and DS.

I know it's much, much more than that just as well as you do, but when you're writing for a mainstream audience (Linux Format is sold in places like WH Smiths so we have to assume it has a mainstream readership, despite the rather specialized nature of the subject matter) you can't get too complex.

 

[Wolfsclaw]

Sorry that I didn't read everything, but um, you say you got Flash working?

Umm, sharing with the community, please? And some sort of evidence video would be appreciated... It's hard to believe you without evidence.
Did you "just" use gnash (you'd be the first one to have it working AFAIK) or some other sort of Flash?

 

[WizardStan]

I know what you're saying and it's a fair point, but my reasoning is that the Pandora is a gaming device first and foremost and in that respect most people will compare it to other portable gaming devices, and that means PSP and DS.

That's the point I was making though: if you compare them as game devices, then you should compare them for the games that they play, right? An emulator is not a game; even though it lets you play games, it's still an extra step of indirection that isn't comparable to anything on the PSP or DS. The actual games people have written or ported for the Pandora are the only ones that are really comparable, in my opinion.
You'd have a better comparison between an emulator and a word processor: an intermediate program to get at what you really want to do, either play a game or open a document.

 

[Aninhumer]

Then you obviously appreciate your Pandora for different reasons to me. I see it as a way of enjoying retro titles, so ROMs are most definitely an essential part of that picture.

I'm not saying I won't use it for emulation, it's still one of the main reasons I ordered.
I'm just saying the fact that acquiring ROMs is difficult says nothing about the ease of use of the Pandora itself.
There is nothing the designers could have done (legally) to make it any easier.

When there are plenty of games available that aren't difficult to get hold of, comparing one particular (however important) subset that are difficult everywhere, against mainstream games is a little unfair.

 

[WizardStan]

Umm, sharing with the community, please? And some sort of evidence video would be appreciated... It's hard to believe you without evidence.
Did you "just" use gnash (you'd be the first one to have it working AFAIK) or some other sort of Flash?

Start Midori, Tools menu->Extensions. Scroll down and activate Shockwave Flash. It won't give you a lot of anything, really. Some old (3 or 4 years at least) videos on Newgrounds might work, and a year ago youtube probably would have worked, but I think they updated the player to require Flash 9. You'll probably see flash ads, which is why I don't keep it active. For the most part you'll probably just be disappointed, but it does demonstrate that it is possible, and we'll get Flash10 eventually, I'm sure.
The plugin apparently uses swfdec, actually. Gnash is better.

 

[Letalis Sonus]

Gnash got an update a few days ago, they claim it is 100% Youtube compatible now.