Pandora vs Nokia N810

[Rollie]

What makes a pandora more, or less, desirable than a Nokia N810?
I don't know the details about both machines but it seems pretty much the same thing.
OMAP processor, same screensize, keyboard, Both run a linux OS.

Opinions please!

 

[Kisama]

Different gadgets for different purposes. The N810 is just a mobile internet machine. The Pandora, while capable of that, is aiming for a mobile emulation box. Also, the Pandora has a more powerful processor, and I'm not sure the Nokia has the GPU in it.

 

[Tor]

The Pandora uses a newer and much more powerful chipset (omap3 vs. omap2).

The Pandora also has much better bandwidth between CPU and display (again due to the newer chipset), and unlike the 3D hardware in the N810 (which actually exists) the Pandora 3D hardware will be available to the software developer because there's a driver.

Then there are other differences too: 2 full-size SD slots (Pandora) vs. 1 mini-SD slot (N810), game controls on the Pandora, S-Video out on the Pandora, twice the RAM on the Pandora (256MB vs 128MB), more NAND (512MB vs 256MB), although the N810 also has an extra 2GB built-in flash. And the Pandora has 2 USB slots vs. the single micro-USB slot on the N810.

 

[PhillipJ]

I bought a n810 because it seemed (seems?) like Pandora wasn't going to ship until 2010. It's an awesome little device for cruising the webertubes, reading ebooks and playing music but it's fairly limited in other ways. It can't play video at 800x480 (native res), has terrible controls for gaming, no driver for the video hardware, no "normal" USB port and Nokia are no longer updating the OS (although the community is quite active) as they're working on the as-yet unnamed successor.

I love my n810 but I'll be selling it as soon as the second batch of Pandoras goes into production.

 

[arrrgh]

Check the date of the previous post :wink:

 

[Rollie]

I bought a n810 because it seemed (seems?) like Pandora wasn't going to ship until 2010. It's an awesome little device for cruising the webertubes, reading ebooks and playing music but it's fairly limited in other ways. It can't play video at 800x480 (native res), has terrible controls for gaming, no driver for the video hardware, no "normal" USB port and Nokia are no longer updating the OS

Exit N810.
Looks like we'll just have to wait for the pandora.

 

[lingenfr]

N810 - available now - reality, Pandora - available ? - fantasy. It has no specs until it is actually produced and available. Until then you can say that it is powered by a fuel cell and processes teraflops. It is all just crap. Enjoy your N810.

 

[Rollie]

I figured that the 'fantasy' part might last a bit longer than the open pandora people figured themselves last year. That's why I kept my money in my pocket. Actually pandora is reality, just not massproduced reality.

 

[lingenfr]

No, we don't even have a final prototype yet, so it remains fantasy. Not trying to be an arse, but it frosts me a bit when folks who were smart enough to actually purchase something are belittled by folks who have as of yet a paid slip and hope.

 

[Unfathomable Depths]

No, we don't even have a final prototype yet, so it remains fantasy. Not trying to be an arse, but it frosts me a bit when folks who were smart enough to actually purchase something are belittled by folks who have as of yet a paid slip and hope.

LOL. Idiot.

 

[Exophase]

No, we don't even have a final prototype yet, so it remains fantasy. Not trying to be an arse, but it frosts me a bit when folks who were smart enough to actually purchase something are belittled by folks who have as of yet a paid slip and hope.

You have a very limiting black and white mindset on this, apparently to you it's either all or nothing. Something which has reached the stage of development that Pandora has may not be comparable to something available, but that doesn't make it "fantasy." Besides, the core hardware to be employed in Pandora is already available in other forms so we have some good real world idea of what it is and isn't capable of doing.

And his question was perfectly reasonable. You come off as flaming this thread because you're defensive that anyone would talk down about the N810 you purchased.

 

[lingenfr]

I don't own an N810. Like the rest of you, I am waiting for my fantasy to become a reality. All I am saying is ease up on folks who purchased something that was available for purchase. I suppose it is pretty black and white, available for purchase, not available for purchase.

 

[Unfathomable Depths]

I don't own an N810. Like the rest of you, I am waiting for my fantasy to become a reality. All I am saying is ease up on folks who purchased something that was available for purchase. I suppose it is pretty black and white, available for purchase, not available for purchase.

The rest of US. Fucking heretic outsider freak.

 

[darkblu]

No, we don't even have a final prototype yet, so it remains fantasy. Not trying to be an arse, but it frosts me a bit when folks who were smart enough to actually purchase something are belittled by folks who have as of yet a paid slip and hope.

really? 'cause at the end it's just all perceived value. but i guess you are old enough to figure that out on your own, and just meant to be a little arse, no trying required.

 

[lingenfr]

You all need to lighten up. No caps, no potty mouth, no personal digs, and I'm flaming? The tolerance level for discussion about the Pandora is a bit low.

 

[Kramy]

You seem to be mixing up what Fantasy means.

Fantasy is crap like "I can fly and shoot fireballs from my hands."

Not stuff like "I want a new car, but until I buy it it's fantasy rather than reality."

Basically, you're saying that something that exists that you don't have doesn't exist.

 

[Unfathomable Depths]

You all need to lighten up. No caps, no potty mouth, no person digs, and I'm flaming? The tolerance level for discussion about the Pandora is a bit low.

You're right. We all need to lighten up and buy some stuff. Possibly from the internet.

Then we will be Zen.

And for the record, 'potty mouth'? Are you ten?

 

[Alpha2]

It's a real device. There are final boards, there are cases even though they arent final, the screens are ordered, the buttons have been ordered, even the batteries have been prepared. It's just a matter of finishing a few things for mass production. There are atleast 3 real pandoras, even if they arent final and mass production units, that are real enough to beat a person in the head with.

Eventually we'll have them but for the most part we just have to wait for the legal issues that would punish them for selling them to us to be ironed out and having them built. So all in all the only difference beyond what's already been mentioned about the differences between them is the fact that on can be picked up by people and the other can't... YET.

 

[trats20050]

N810 - available now - reality, Pandora - available ? - fantasy. It has no specs until it is actually produced and available. Until then you can say that it is powered by a fuel cell and processes teraflops. It is all just crap. Enjoy your N810.

I think this is the same guy who posted that video on youtube with the cardboard Pandora anybody remember that video?

 

[TheRain]

I think he just chose the wrong word, "fantasy". That's a bit extreme for this situation since much of the system has been prototyped and working for quite some time.

I think what a lot of people misunderstand is the spirit of this system (The Pandora). If you were waiting on an N810 before it came out, you were not exposed to the issues that came up in producing it. Not to suggest that Nokia had similar difficulties, they are a very large company with a much larger budget. But for those of us who are very entrenched in "Do It Yourself" communities like Make:, Hackaday, Engadget, etc... we have an understanding of the process it takes to make devices like the Pandora, and when we see people like ourselves working on such a device in a much more grass roots fashion than a device like the N810... I'd say we definetly don't have a sense that what we are seeing is fantasy. In fact, we are see much more of the realities of producing a device than we'd ever see with a much larger commercial company.

If anything, I'd say it's a marvel to see a handful of developers able to produce such a device at the level they have. It really points to the coming of age of "Do It Yourself" electronics when such a small group can put together something like this on such a small budget.