Pandora Vs Acer Aspire One


giovanni

Member
Joined
Nov 5, 2008
Messages
202
Good morning!

I've a little problem.
I saw the capabilities of the Acer Aspire One: its CPU, its screen, its RAM.... It has the power doubled respect to the Pandora.
Not speaking in terms of size: why should I buy a Pandora when I can install a lot of emulator and games on it, it works like a Netbook and it's more powerfull?
This is an ignorant Topic I really don't know the answer so don't think i'm arrogant...
Thank you very much
 
1. The Pandora is a handheld, the Acer is a netbook. Look at the Pandora's size specs (a little smaller than the fat DS); it is *MUCH* more portable/pocketable than the Acer.

2. The Pandora has dedicated analog & digital gaming controls. Unless you hook up a USB gamepad to the Acer (decreases portability), Pandora has better controls for games.
 
  • Battery life: 10h and more against 3 to 7 hours for the aspire.
  • Price except for the cheapest models.
  • Weight
And there are already some threads comparing it to netbooks
 
hey

Yep, for me it's the battery, controls, size and development community. I look forward to original, or not so original, games and such that make nice use of the controls :).

Also, assuming the Aspire has an intel gfx, then I think the Pandora would have a much better gfx.

edit
I guess the biggest selling point of the Aspire is that you can get it right now, so I think, hehe.

cyas
 
QUOTE
Not speaking in terms of size: why should I buy a Pandora


Not speaking in terms of size, why should you waste your time with an Acer Aspire when you could have a giant desktop with a 24" screen, SLI high-end Nvidia cards, a full-size keyboard and mouse, and a speaker system with giant subwoofer?

Oh wait--maybe size DOES matter when you're talking about something you want to carry with you.

Not trying to be too snarky there--but the Aspire is a subnotebook; the Pandora is a handheld. Just as a subnotebook gives you a certain amount more freedom than a desktop, so does a handheld over a subnotebook. The reason you should buy a Pandora is for the small form factor, bult-in game controls, etc. That's the whole point of the beast!
 
Heat can also be a problem with netbooks, especially when they are running cpu intensive stuff. It would be unusable on your lap after about 30 mins so unless you have a good setup, it will get very uncomfortable to game with.
 
Thank you for the fast answers
Then...

JerryG20 said:
2. The Pandora has dedicated analog & digital gaming controls. Unless you hook up a USB gamepad to the Acer (decreases portability), Pandora has better controls for games.
nearly ok

billykater said:
[*]Battery life: 10h and more against 3 to 7 hours for the aspire.
ok

adtbm said:
Touchscreen !
ok

vputz said:
QUOTE
Not speaking in terms of size: why should I buy a Pandora
Not speaking in terms of size, why should you waste your time with an Acer Aspire when you could have a giant desktop with a 24" screen, SLI high-end Nvidia cards, a full-size keyboard and mouse, and a speaker system with giant subwoofer?

Oh wait--maybe size DOES matter when you're talking about something you want to carry with you.

Not trying to be too snarky there--but the Aspire is a subnotebook; the Pandora is a handheld. Just as a subnotebook gives you a certain amount more freedom than a desktop, so does a handheld over a subnotebook. The reason you should buy a Pandora is for the small form factor, bult-in game controls, etc. That's the whole point of the beast!


Yes but that system can cost billions... Aspire One costs 200€; it costs 200€ and also aganist the 255€ of Pandora...



I really can't decide.... :( :( :(
 
Last edited by a moderator:
What do you want to do with it? Ask that question first and then look which of the 2 does it better.

If you want to play windows games I would go for the acer. If you want to play retro games on a very portable machine I would go for the pandora.
 
giovanni said:
I really can't decide.... :( :( :(

Oh, for pete's sake buy the Pandora.. It's a hundred times cooler than the Aspire One. <_<
 
Last edited by a moderator:
giovanni said:
Thank you for the fast answers
Then...

JerryG20 said:
2. The Pandora has dedicated analog & digital gaming controls. Unless you hook up a USB gamepad to the Acer (decreases portability), Pandora has better controls for games.
nearly ok

billykater said:
[*]Battery life: 10h and more against 3 to 7 hours for the aspire.
ok

adtbm said:
Touchscreen !
ok

vputz said:
QUOTE
Not speaking in terms of size: why should I buy a Pandora
Not speaking in terms of size, why should you waste your time with an Acer Aspire when you could have a giant desktop with a 24" screen, SLI high-end Nvidia cards, a full-size keyboard and mouse, and a speaker system with giant subwoofer?

Oh wait--maybe size DOES matter when you're talking about something you want to carry with you.

Not trying to be too snarky there--but the Aspire is a subnotebook; the Pandora is a handheld. Just as a subnotebook gives you a certain amount more freedom than a desktop, so does a handheld over a subnotebook. The reason you should buy a Pandora is for the small form factor, bult-in game controls, etc. That's the whole point of the beast!


Yes but that system can cost billions... Aspire One costs 200€; it costs 200€ and also aganist the 255€ of Pandora...



I really can't decide.... :( :( :(

it's very simple
do you want a laptop that you carry around in a bag, that has an x86 cpu, and will run windows or so, go for the acer
do you want a handheld, with arm cpu, that you can carry around in yoru bag, but is ofcourse weaker in cpu, and no x86 compatibility (so far less compatibility with lots of programs), then go for the pandora.

the aspire one is just a size larger and more powerful for the same price, decide what you need/want and buy it
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Here comes a comment by an aspire one owner:
That device is quite good for working, and I would recomend it to everyone who has a normal PC at home, but want's to do
office stuff or networking on the go, but I cannot recommend it for gaming due to the fact that its keyboard isn't big, and it is
uncomfortable for longer gaming, I think the gaming buttons of the Pandora are much better.
Another thing is that you cannot take the Aspire in your hands link a Pandora, so you always need a table or, in the train,
you need to put your shoes on the seat in front of you to rest the Aspire on your knees, which drives ticket collectors mad.
One thing which is also annoying while gaming is the mentioned heat problem, because the Aspire has a very annoying fan.
So much about that, as others already said, think about what you want to do with the device and be patient if you want to get a Pandora.
 
the aspire is a nice device but there are so many new subnote books in development just now that buying a 1st wave device isnt always the best choice as you will see much better mid09.if you want the coolest most powerfull handheld money can buy that doubles as a portable computer the the pandora is for you.and the cpu ARM is taking over,new subbooks will have ARM
 
The Pandora is a handeld. You can hold it in your hands and it needs no extra space when you carry it with you. It ifts in every pocket. On the other hand, I do not see the point in netbooks. If I had to choose between an Acer Aspire One and a 13" notebook, I would go for the latter. The first is laughably small but you still use it like a notebook. I cannot think of any situation in which a 13" notebook would be cumbersome and a netbook wouldn't.
 
Buying a netbook only makes sense, if you don't own a notebook, so far. A netbook is smaller than a notebook, but it has the same weaknesses compared to a handheld(dismal battery-life, size, weight, inability to be used without a surface to put it on). To be honest, a normal notebook is the better choice, regarding ergonomics and computing power. A netbook is a nice toy, but if you try to type longer texts on that small screen and keyboard, the fun fades away. I would buy a netbook for my children to chat or surf the web, but I wouldn't use it myself. A full-sized Notebook and Pandora combo is my perfect config.
 
giovanni said:
Yes but that system can cost billions... Aspire One costs 200€; it costs 200€ and also aganist the 255€ of Pandora...
200 euro's? Odd, but most off the prices that i see are higher then 200€.

I see, you are comparing the price off the A110 serie ( what uses a VIA cpu ), and has totally different specs then the A110L. In other words, you end up with a VIA for 200€. If you want a atom, you are looking in the 350€ or higher price range. No offense, but dont expect to do more then a basic word processor for the 200€ A110 serie.

Differences using the A110L ( aka, the more "powerful" 350+ euro Atom version ).

Acer Advantage:
- Screen Size: 8.9" vs 4.3"
- Screen resolution: 1024 * 600 vs 800 * 480
- Laptop Keyboard vs Calculator Keyboard ;)
- 8GB internal storage vs 512MB
- 512MB Memory vs 256MB memory
- Several USB2 ports
- ...

Disadvantage:
- 8GB storage = slow speed class
- GMA950 Graphic card vs SGX530 ( The SGX53x serie is also used in Intels GMA 4500 Serie, so, you can tell its a old gpu ).
- Cpu Power usage: Atom 1.6Ghz 2.5watt vs Pandora 600Ghz ( default clocked ). This is not even a contest ;)
- GPU power usage. Same deal
- 950g vs 350g
- Battery capacity / runtime:
-- Average usage: 2 a 3h, pandora 10h+.
-- Peek power usage ( cpu ) your looking at 1h40 for the Acer, and 8.5h for the Pandora.
-- 5h a 6h with a extended battery ( see added cost, weight, volume ), no announced extended battery for the Pandora yet.
- No gaming controls on the Acer Aspire.
- CPU fan used vs no CPU fan needed ( Pandora ). Aka, the Pandora is silent.

And the list goes on. Lets not even try to compare the VIA ( 200 euro range ), because those results are going to be even worse for the Acer Aspire.

Price well, the Pandora is +-260 euro's, where the Acer goes from 200 to 400€'s depending on the model, cpu, and other configurations.

Lets face it. Its not designed for gaming in mind. Its a basic small portable laptop with the typical few hours battery life at best. If you want something to carry to school, and use a full day for typing, then sure, get the Acer Aspire One..

If you want a gaming device, that also functions as a full blown linux os, that does not need a power socket every few hours ;) then its the Pandora. I dont think the Pandora is useful for a full days typing ( unless you get a external carry keyboard ), not taking in account the amount of stress from viewing a 4.3" screen whole day typing.

And then there is the community here. Where people will try to get the maximum power out of the Pandora. Forget it when your running the Acer, but then again, why will anybody try to get maximum power out of a system designed for "work", not gaming/multimedia ;)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
It's the battery life that kills my choice for notebooks. Lol in the meantime hardware technology is taking a big leap forward... battery is practicaly the same old technology?

I'm glad my cellphone could hold out like 4 days.
 
I bought an Asus eeePC this time last year, and a lot of people scoffed at its size, etc.
Nowadays, most of those people are eyeing eeePC's/Aspire's as the laptops they own are a pain to travel with.

Hopefully in a few months, I can upset the applecart again with my PANDORA!!!
 
Back
Top