Selling my 1ghz Pandora after all these years

[phi6]

I'm done with the thing, there's so many emulation handhelds out there now I can't justify it. I've put it on my UK Ebay account.
Everything still works, hope anyone is interested here?

 

[TeDaDeS]

I assume this is your listing: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/22586718...=2047675&ssuid=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

[phi6]

That's it yeah

 

[Askarus]

Honestly, to me it is a bloody joke how those new emulation handhelds can barely emulate more systems than what the Pandora could 10 years ago.
They cost way too much if that is factored in and I do not see how those still sell.

 

[PowerGod]

Honestly, to me it is a bloody joke how those new emulation handhelds can barely emulate more systems than what the Pandora could 10 years ago.
They cost way too much if that is factored in and I do not see how those still sell.

You can't just fall by luck on a device like this, you must actively search for it... not so many people have the will to do so.

 

[phi6]

For the systems I want to emulate, modern handhelds are good enough! I get what you're saying, but I'm starting to get too old for the amount of tinkering required for the Pandora

 

[Askarus]

For the systems I want to emulate, modern handhelds are good enough! I get what you're saying, but I'm starting to get too old for the amount of tinkering required for the Pandora

I did not have to tinker at all with the Pandora.
Once set up, the Emulators are rock solid and no tinkering required.

You can't just fall by luck on a device like this, you must actively search for it... not so many people have the will to do so.

I understand that a new customer will most likely get a new device instead of looking for a Pandora.
All I am saying is, that I am quite disappointed by all those retro handhelds, which most of the time can emulate the same or less than the Pandora could.
Most of the time, they even come with way worse battery life. Remember the almost 10 hours of PS1 play time on the Pandora? Good luck trying to get that out of any of the modern ones.

 

[TeDaDeS]

It's pretty hard to get your hands on a Pandora these days though, compared to the bunch of cheap Chinese ones. Where the Pandora shines in it's execution those modern ones are pretty cheap and available.
The Steam Deck is a real powerhouse but it's very big, lacks a physical keyboard and the super long battery life (the new OLED model will improve a bit but still).
Like my NeoGeo Pocket Color, the Pandora was usually available if I needed it due to it's long battery life.

 

[phi6]

I did not have to tinker at all with the Pandora.
Once set up, the Emulators are rock solid and no tinkering required.


I understand that a new customer will most likely get a new device instead of looking for a Pandora.
All I am saying is, that I am quite disappointed by all those retro handhelds, which most of the time can emulate the same or less than the Pandora could.
Most of the time, they even come with way worse battery life. Remember the almost 10 hours of PS1 play time on the Pandora? Good luck trying to get that out of any of the modern ones.

I mean, that's not true for everything especially as various ports of game engines and open source software are no longer updated for the Pandora, especially now that the Pyra exists.
For example ScummVM is not at the latest version, and trying to get Pico8 to work was a pain as it involved compiling box86 myself, getting required libraries from another Linux machine and then being stuck with bad performance due to the ancient chipset and GPU on the Pandora.
That's the benefit of more modern handhelds, the software is much more current.

 

[phi6]

This has now been sold!

 

[cador]

Honestly, to me it is a bloody joke how those new emulation handhelds can barely emulate more systems than what the Pandora could 10 years ago.
They cost way too much if that is factored in and I do not see how those still sell.

I'll never sell my 600 MHz OpenPandora. It's a wonderful retrogaming device and one thing that makes it stand out over its modern competitors (such as the Anbernic RG350) is the keyboard. Moreover, it can connect to the internet and it has its own app store that still gets new titles or updates of existing ones from time to time. And I like to read usenet and surf the web with the minimalist apps. I almost consider it to be a time capsule in how 1990s/early 2000s computing and web surfing used to be like.

Sure, I've acquired more modern devices and I've hacked a Nintendo 3DS, But it will always have a place in my plastic tote box which is practically a museum of handheld gaming history. In it, I even keep venerable devices like the GameBoy Pocket and a Tiger version of Super Street Fighter II.

 

[netcat]

That's the cool thing about retro gaming: there aren't (m)any new games. Your Pandora doesn't need to change. Constantly evolving tech is a scam.

 

[TeDaDeS]

That's the cool thing about retro gaming: there aren't (m)any new games. Your Pandora doesn't need to change. Constantly evolving tech is a scam.

I thought about that and I guess it should be a healthy balance. Without new stuff the rate of improvement would be way lower, but with new stuff we also raise the bar of expectations.

Remember there was a cartel for light bulb longevity, you couldn't exceed a certain amount which was agreed as a industry wide limit which eventually was the reason to label it a cartel. But the perspective of the companies who made light bulbs might have differed from what we expect, that it was related to making money (we all know they probably did this for the money anyway though). A light bulb just has a maximum capacity of light it can emit, less light makes the lamp last longer but you're also not using the optimal amount of power vs. light. It makes sense companies made light bulbs that provide the optimal amount of light. This also determined the average life-time of a light bulb.
We could have made light bulbs last a very long time but we might not have aimed for light bulbs that would have been more efficient. Making light bulbs that break super fast, like the first cheap LED bulbs from China that last only a few weeks/months, is super wasteful and we don't want that either.
So a healthy balance between a good durable product and innovation is needed I guess. The Pandora is the more expensive durable product compared to the wasteful throwaway cheap handheld, but there are many cheap ones to buy easily.

 

[b_o_b]

So a healthy balance between a good durable product and innovation is needed I guess. The Pandora is the more expensive durable product compared to the wasteful throwaway cheap handheld, but there are many cheap ones to buy easily.

I agree.

The Pandora isn't the most durable product though. I've had mine repaired several times and even after repair none works perfectly. That said, it is still my main mobile device for gaming, reading and study.
I understand the lure of better hardware and more impressive software but I've stopped playing the rat race for new stuff years ago. Not because of ideology but because continuously buying something new doesn't make sense to me. Why spend money and additional time on new products while you haven't used 99% of the potential of the device you have. Some folks still use their C64 and don't need any new device. I get that, the gaming library of the C64 is more than enough to keep you busy for a lifetime.

I am still interested in new (gaming)devices though that can be used for health and exercises. Also VR is something that has my interest but then the technology should be improved and you don't depend on wearing a bulky set.
So I hope folks will keep buying the latest to pay for innovation and make my ideal device possible. Until then I will keep using my Pandora, it still should have a few years left in it

 

[mvickers03]

I agree.

The Pandora isn't the most durable product though. I've had mine repaired several times and even after repair none works perfectly. That said, it is still my main mobile device for gaming, reading and study.
I understand the lure of better hardware and more impressive software but I've stopped playing the rat race for new stuff years ago. Not because of ideology but because continuously buying something new doesn't make sense to me. Why spend money and additional time on new products while you haven't used 99% of the potential of the device you have. Some folks still use their C64 and don't need any new device. I get that, the gaming library of the C64 is more than enough to keep you busy for a lifetime.

I am still interested in new (gaming)devices though that can be used for health and exercises. Also VR is something that has my interest but then the technology should be improved and you don't depend on wearing a bulky set.
So I hope folks will keep buying the latest to pay for innovation and make my ideal device possible. Until then I will keep using my Pandora, it still should have a few years left in it

I really enjoyed hearing you still use yours.

Serial number 74 1st batch still going strong here.

 

[trix]

Same! I use my OG first batch Pandora every day.

I used to wonder, back when I was waiting for it to be made and delay after delay and then getting screwed by Craig etc, if it would be obsolete before I got it.

Now I've had it for years and years and it's still my favorite device by FAR. I plug it into the AUX cable at work for music, I emulate games galore, I play tons of native games and recompiled games (Diablo 2!!), I use it for coding, for repairing PCs (using an ISO and USB to boot into the ISO), for freaking *everything*.

Nothing else has such a great combination of physical keyboard, game controls, form factor, LONG battery life, customizations, able to run my favorite distros (Gentoo and Slackware), and still fit in my jeans pocket. And the polish! The most optimized and polished device I've ever encountered. Y'all are amazing!

I paid a higher premium price to "skip the queue" with Craig way back when, something like 600 or 700 USD, that one got stolen, I bought a second one from a board member, which got broken (my fault!), and now I'm on my third first-batch OG unit, still the"weakest" one, and despite all of that, I've gotten more value per dollar from the Pandora than anything else I own by FAR.

I am quite glad I stumbled into that old thread on the gp32x forum, way back when!