Pandora VS Smartphones


Viking

Viking

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Here's the situation, me and a friend of mine are arguing about why I would want a pandora instead of a smartphone (like samsung galaxy S).


And why I think the pandora is better than any phone whatever he throws at me.


So I tell him the main thing is that I can watch movies in a bigger screen, listen to music and MOST important,


play plenty of games with a physical gaming controls.


So he replies that I can do all that on the same phone he has, a samsung galaxy S.


And his main argument is, that his phone has better SPECS!


I tell him that why would I need a 1 GHZ snapdragon prossesor when I can't use it, and I have all the power I need in the Pandora.


But he wont give up, and he also mention that why don't I just wait for the fudgin PSP phone, most likely get it before to.


So any help about how I can convince him that power ain't all and physical gaming controlls will rule over touch.
 
Tell him to play a game on his phone that you KNOW would be a major pain in the ass without real controls. A fast-paced action game of some sort, not Advance Wars. Make him do it in front of you. Offer to pay for the game if you must. Then, make him play the same game with real controls. (Just make sure that it's a good game; load Sonic the Hedgehog in an emulator or something.) Oh, and show him the battery life. Also, what emulators come for the Galaxy S? Ask him of that, then compare to the Pandora. (Make sure to show him the Apps store, File Archive, AND the Wiki entry!)
 
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That's a great idea! I have a Dingoo A320, should do the trick, and Sonic ready to rape his ass!


Thx Proto!


PS: Still don't know what to tell him why power isn't everything thought...
 
I myself have a Smartphone, not one of those high specs one though... (ZTE Blade here.)


Smartphones and the Pandora are two totally different things, first of all Smartphones run on Android or iOS and while Android is a free plattform, it uses Java for its applications.


You are loosing a big buck of efficiency by using Java... means a lot of CPU cycles are wasted there, aswell as memory...


As the Pandora is using a non-vm-ed linux, we can run native code here, without a inbetween layer slowing us down... making the Pandora more efficient in emulation, etc. than any Smartphone I know.


The gaming controls are just the cherries on the pie. A little goodie you get in addition to the obvious power the console has to offer.


I wouldn't compare Smartphones to the Pandora however... I'm using my Android Smartphone with 2.2 Froyo mostly for browsing the net, keeping my schedules in order, taking notes real quick or for keeping in touch with my buddies over Instant Messenger.


I do have a few fungames on there, like Bust-A-Move + Super Nintendo Emulator... but thats only for when I got 5 minutes to waste inbetween classes.


Also... another thing to add is that Android launches a new VM for each app... and each VM is limited to a fragment of the real RAM of the phone... (usually 24MB, sometimes 32MB) - so thats the maximum a Android App can really utilize... on Pandora Ängstrom you can utilize the full memory in a single app, if you really feel like it.


Means about 200MB RAM for a single app.


As for getting him to understand, why bother? He seems to be fixated on his point of view.
 
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In regards to Cold's post, tell him that the Pandora can use its own power more efficiently than his smart phone can because of various technical reasons he wouldn't understand (make sure to show him the post, though!).


EDIT: You ARE making him play the game on his phone too, right? If you don't, the whole purpose will be null.
 
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Blue Protoman said:
In regards to Cold's post, tell him that the Pandora can use its own power more efficiently than his smart phone can because of various technical reasons he wouldn't understand (make sure to show him the post, though!).


EDIT: You ARE making him play the game on his phone too, right? If you don't, the whole purpose will be null.
Click to expand...

That isn't really true. There is a Java VM available for Pandora and it's the choice of the developers what language they wish to use. Also there is the NDK for Android which allows for native development (in C++). I don't really think a comparison between a Pandora and a smartphone is a fair one anyway, they are two devices aimed at different consumer bases, granted there is some overlap (mainly gaming) but I still find the comparison fairly redundant. To me it'd be like comparing your DS to your friends laptop, yes they can both play GBA games but they are designed for completely different tasks. The only smartphone I can see ever being comparable, in terms of consumer base and daily usage, would be the upcoming PS Phone. They both have physical gaming controls, they both will be used by predominately gamers and both have digital and analogue control, however the result of that fight is a long way off I reckon.
 
Thanks guys, your replies have enlighten me more about the subject.


I don't hate smartphones, have one myself to, but I can't imagine it's the same..


And proto, Ofc will he try both the Dingoo and on his phone :p
 
To me, the best thing about pandora is the fact that it is open, Some wise guy once said something that I always think about:


"All we need are options."


Freedom equals options but some people don't understand. Why do I need options? Isn't the market standard the best option? So I ask you, are you sure?


Because we are never offered options, we tend to think we don't need them. My first contact with open embedded systems was an OS made for MP3 players of several brands, called Rockbox. I was amazed by the quality and possibilities, and, most of all, by the options available. I spent quite a lot of time adjusting everything to what "I" thought it was the best option "for me". I was already a Linux user but I had never seen it in any other hardware other than a PC. The idea that some hardware could become a whole new other juice just with intelectual work struck me pretty hard. Eventually I found my way to Pandora.


You see... Any comercial gadget will be limited by market constraints, they cannot improve their current smartphone because there's always a new one coming. I'm not sure about you, but to me, that's a pretty strong argument over any smartphone, but again, All we need are options, I've choosen mine, what are yours?
 
I got a couple things to say here about this


Little background; I have tons of handheld consoles (dingoo, caanoo, nds, odroid, palm pre, ipod touch, ipad, multiple netbooks, and soon to be pandora) I also have several android phones, htc hero, htc evo 4g, and a samsung galaxy s (epic 4g variant [the one with the keyboard]) I'm all across the spectrum, I try to come off as un-biased but I do have a particular fondness to android, but for obvious reason as I will state below.


let me just start off and say as far as an interface the multiple functions of a mid android is completely where it's at. It may not be the most efficient when it comes to coding as some people have pointed out previously. But as far as just mutitasking limited real estate touch screen centric environment, the tip of the hat definitely goes to android. I can't say I've used a pandora yet so take my opinion as just that, but please note I have used linux in multiple forms in the past. I just can't imagine that being too useful on such a small screen, especially moving windows around. Android gets rid of those windows and makes everything you run a full screen app and you can switch between them at a push of a button. Litterally.


As far as horsepower, yes there are things alot more powerful than the pandora. But as you can see on things like the psp and the nintendo ds, power does not equal potential. The software is what a device great. Just because you have a strong processor doesn't make your code any more efficient it can make it run faster but more can be done with a talented coder i think when comparing things like the galaxy s phones and the pandoras soc. I'd say by comparing the performance on my pandora era specs (palm pre/motorola droid) to that of the samsung galaxy s, while faster it's not night and day as far as what can be ran on them, things just generally run better on the galaxy s but that's because it's more powerful, but it's not the difference say between a 486 and a pentium, i'd say it's the difference between say 1.6ghz and 2ghz processor, it's just generally faster but not mind blowing.


So all that being said it comes down to software because the hardware at this time with what's out there right now in the game is not that important in my eyes. It's about to get real with the dual core procs I think, but I'll hold my opinion till then. Software titles quality, quanity, and polish. I know I'm going to catch some flames but all this talk about how linux does things better than android, I honestly see no difference in the speeds of emulators from the pandora to any of the other android phones. I know the emulators for the pandora might not be as optimized as possible but the ones for android must be then because with the layer of fat people are wanting to stay away from with android the emulation speed going full on all the emulators. The number of emulators is equal to or greater on android and the number and quality and polish of software titles are also much greater on android as well. Alot of the problems I've heard with putting a normal linux desktop on a nand based handheld I've seen completely worked out already for android. Some of the issues that has arrisen aren't necessarily firmware and driver issues but actual OS problems. Most reviews I've read are saying the OS is in pre-alpha, I don't think they are talking about the drivers for the installed hardware either.


Battery life is moot, I've never stopped myself from using a peice of software due to worrying about making it throughout the day before I got back to a charger. YMMV


What it comes down to and most have a very valid point, gaming on a touch screen sucks, at least a good portion of games you would want to play. The flip of the coin touch screen oriented stuff isn't quite so good with physical controls. Also physical controls is also where I think the pandora is lacking a bit. The linux desktop was designed for a mouse input. While an alternative has been found it is less than ideal. Much like virtual dpad on a touch screen. The gui interface needs to be redesigned to take advantage of the physical controls. A command line driven computer can work with just a keyboard, the pandora should find it's nitch interface that makes the most efficent use of available controls. It's the only device out there like it and it needs an interface that there is nothing out there like it as well. Untill that time is found though, android with it's touch screen/dpad centric navigation would be a better fit.


that's all I got, thanks for reading.
 
moz said:
someone didn´t watch the whole video!


2 or 3 minutes in he uses a Wii controller. But who cares about that, the Pandora can use a PS3 cotroller, which is far superior.
Click to expand...

I don't see convenience, do you?
 
But yeeeeeeaaah... But the thing is that the Samsung did have a pretty neat psx emulator + "physical controll"


Have no idea how to counter attack that move
 
Try to use a phone with a wii gamepad while sitting on a bench or while walking.


You'll need a second pair of hands
laugh.gif



I don't think that on-screen controls qualify as real gaming controls.


Even more when they block the view in-game.
 
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