Questions About The Pandora

[dabridge]

Okay, so I got my GP2X for christmas, and I'm happy with it and stuff. I'll probably buy the Pandora for the next christmas, since it just looks so awesome, but, first off, questions:

Loading Screen - Will it be gone on the Pandora? It just annoys me so much on the GP2X. :/
Wi-Fi - Okay, so all I know about this is that it's used on the Nintendo DS to interact with other DS'. Will any of the emulator developers use this for 2 player games(smash bros if it ever runs fullspeed on the N64, game boy pokemon games, ect.)?
Nintendo DS Emulation - This is probably just asking for too much, but will it ever happen? I'm sure the two screens could be shown side-to-side on the Pandora's display, so that shouldn't be a problem...

Happy answering!
And thanks.

 

[JakeK]

I read in the Wiki of Pandora that DS emulation might be possible but will take a long time to get it going and may not be fullspeed.

I hope the loading screen isn't as long as well. But I would in a split second sacrifice no loading screen for the other things that the Pandora can do.

I also got a GP2X for Xmas and now this is coming out. But I plan to purchase this anyway as if I get the job I want purchasing this won't really matter (money wise).

 

[Zarneth]

Loading screen: So you want a blank screen? or are you asking for instant loading? If anything it may take a little longer. The pandora's practically a full pc, just compact and with an ARM CPU.

I suspect an Instant on style loading would likely take a half if not a completely custom OS specifically for that device. And a custom OS like that would break compatibility with all the linux apps that can otherwise be easily ported. We'll just have to wait and see really.

What we can hope fore though is loading status bar at least.

 

[Squidge]

Loading screen: So you want a blank screen? or are you asking for instant loading? If anything it may take a little longer. The pandora's practically a full pc, just compact and with an ARM CPU.

Don't forget GPH are muppets and wasted a lot of time doing stuff that wasn't necessary. You'll probably find the Pandora is faster.

 

[zacaj]

My comp loads faster than my GP2X, and it runs Windows

 

[Zarneth]

My comp loads faster than my GP2X, and it runs Windows

3.11?

 

[JakeK]

My comp loads faster than my GP2X, and it runs Windows

You must have an extremely good PC (my brother has dual core and over 2GB of RAm and it takes longer than the GP2X F200) or you have a really old one with nothing on it.

You can say anything on the interweb.

 

[Squidge]

Or his gp2x is broken

 

[gruso]

Windows sleep mode is AMAZING.

 

[Squidge]

Windows sleep mode is AMAZING.

That's cheating!

 

[nubie]

To be fair most of the slowness of windows is how long it takes the drivers loaded on boot to respond, I have a system that works perfectly, but mini-hangs on boot every time, I could track it down to the stupid driver causing it, but why bother, it only takes 10 seconds.

If we are to run Open2X on this then we can seriously optimize it to load with our hardware.

Streamlining it for the Pandora and losing compatibility aren't necessarily mutually exclusive.

 

[zacaj]

Windows XP, 4GB RAM, 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU

 

[Squidge]

Windows XP, 4GB RAM, 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU

I sense someone is compensating for something....

 

[atomicthumbs]

Windows XP, 4GB RAM, 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU

Windows XP/Kubuntu/BeOS, 1GB RAM, 2.1GHZ AMD Athlon 64 X2 CPU, Sapphire Radeon HD 2900 GT video card.

*phphpphtbptphtbp*

 

[Game_over]

To kind of echo Nubie's response:

You kind of have to but it into perspective that the Pandora does not have to initialize a disc drive or check a hard drive (unless you use an external one) and all the other trappings in between the moment you press the "on" button and start using a PC. It may take longer than some other handhelds that just need to boot up the BIOS or just check the firmware for updates. I'm guessing it will take as long as a hacked psp.

EDIT: I forgot to take in account the OS, how long does the OS we are using will take?

 

[dabridge]

So from what I've gathered, there will still be a loading screen, but won't be as slow?

Either that, or I suck at reading.

 

[nubie]

Windows XP, 4GB RAM, 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU

Windows XP/Kubuntu/BeOS, 1GB RAM, 2.1GHZ AMD Athlon 64 X2 CPU, Sapphire Radeon HD 2900 GT video card.

*phphpphtbptphtbp*

Hmm, $91.83 for a Celeron Core2, VIA PCI-E mobo, and 1GB of Dual channel DDR2 @1066 fsb 2.4Ghz stable (2.78ghz stable 2 hours Prime95 and still not hot, need to strap up the voltage from 1.3v, probably go to 3.2 no problem). WinXP, Sabayon, Geexbox, and Minty 4.0, 7900GS Copper/Alu Zalman Ramsinks and Voltmod 650mhz on the core.

EDIT: I forgot to take in account the OS, how long does the OS we are using will take?

I know the people involved in the OS are looking to reduce boot time (Is it DJWillis and Open2X?), so I am thinking the default will be a minimal system suitable for launching games.

So from what I've gathered, there will still be a loading screen, but won't be as slow?

Either that, or I suck at reading.

Well, it will still be a computer, but the people involved now have full access to the system (they are building it, and the software), unlike with the GP2X, where they were being ignored by Koreans who were mucking up the firmware.

They also seem to have a good relationship with Texas Instruments, and their blessing to make this thing take off.

The GP2x was doing weird stuff and no-one was really trying to make it better (officially, I know that alternate firmware was good, but broke the lousy Divx decoder in the original firmware because it came from "MagicEyes" and you couldn't have the source to it).

The final word is that we just don't know yet, and it will change over time, and you will probably have a choice, and it will probably get better.

 

[Zarneth]

So from what I've gathered, there will still be a loading screen, but won't be as slow?

Either that, or I suck at reading.

Your best bet is to wait till the first beta units are made and look out for the video clips.