Skip The Queue

[quadomatic]

Also, yes, I know people have been waiting for ages for a Pandora, however hate to say it, but why not get a small PC notebook instead; they are tiny these days, have far faster processors, can use developed Windows emulators, and you can use a USB gamepad to play into one. Not pocket sized I know, but far more convenient and useful. Yes/no? Let me put it another way - the Pandora 2 years ago would have been quite cutting edge - is it still? Or that ugly phrase that people say these days on the net "how about a PSP dude" with and old firmware model - cheaper too than a Pandora.

Just thinking out loud... devils advocate...

Having a full keyboard, great controls, and a touchscreen in a small, clamshell design is incredibly convenient. It may not seem like it, but the Pandora is actually quite small. This might give a better idea of the size:


I have a 13" Dell XPS M1330, which is not that much bigger than a netbook, and certainly no more difficult to carry around, but it is far more powerful. My backpack's laptop carrying pouch has more than enough space for it. However, my laptop, and netbooks as well, are still far more difficult to carry around than the Pandora, and have much worse battery life, which make both much more difficult for use in enjoyable gaming. Both would require a tabletop or the full use of your lap, which can be uncomfortable, and makes gaming difficult in many situations (on a train, on a bus, or during travel in general). Having to lug around a controller just makes things worse.

I guess to a large extent it's a matter of preference. With the Pandora, you're sacrificing a lot of the capability that comes with an x86 processor and Windows. But, you get a lot more in convenience, controls and battery life. For a lot of us here, that's the big difference between having a handheld and having a notebook PC.

 

[Vlynndar]

Interesting; looks like the Pandora will run things far better, and games like Quake 3 - well, Yay!!

Concerned though that the early models will be buggy or have other issues, like with the GP2x. It was mentioned that the firmware and product has been developled by more than one source, after all, which never inspires confidence.

Also, yes, I know people have been waiting for ages for a Pandora, however hate to say it, but why not get a small PC notebook instead; they are tiny these days, have far faster processors, can use developed Windows emulators, and you can use a USB gamepad to play into one. Not pocket sized I know, but far more convenient and useful. Yes/no? Let me put it another way - the Pandora 2 years ago would have been quite cutting edge - is it still? Or that ugly phrase that people say these days on the net "how about a PSP dude" with and old firmware model - cheaper too than a Pandora.

Just thinking out loud... devils advocate...

First, it's good to hear the question asked in this way.

"Not pocket sized I know, but far more convenient and useful" is key. I have this neat netbook in front of me, but I have to take a bag if I want to carry it along. Even if it fitted in m pockets, I'd have to take a gamepad as well,
And what's very important to me is that the netbook's battery charge lasts two hours. The Pandora lasts about an hour for every ten percent of charge. That means that I'd have to bring a charger along as well, for some nice sessions.
Additionally, the Pandora makes it so I don't have to carry an MP3 player along as well, I could just prepare an SD-card with songs, my current library would fit in 8 GB, not even near the limit.

And honestly, I wasn't even interested in Amiga, Atari and emulation of older stuff (or emulation at all). But wow. Stuff like Loom and Another World blows me away.

Just the idea of a computer in my pocket. (Which comes pretty close to the/a design goal of the Pandora, portable Amiga. With the role of 'computer' taken by the Amiga, but doing so much more.)

 

[Snow-Okami]

Craig, The PM I sent you yesterday seems to have been deleted! . I was trying to delete one of my reply's and combine the message but it deleted the original message and the reply it seems. I resent the message. Hope this didn't completely ruin my placement in the 'faulty' queue. Sigh. Least I posted I had PMed you with a proper timestamp from yesterday.

 

[LineOf7s]

Craig, The PM I sent you yesterday seems to have been deleted! . I was trying to delete one of my reply's and combine the message but it deleted the original message and the reply it seems. I resent the message. Hope this didn't completely ruin my placement in the 'faulty' queue. Sigh. Least I posted I had PMed you with a proper timestamp from yesterday.

You know you're onto something when people get disappointed at the thought of possibly missing the opportunity to buy a broken one at full price.

Can't wait for my Pandora.

 

[Shaun]

Speaking of PMs, Craig said he'd respond today. Now I probably sound like a total nagger and I would agree! Can you blame me though? I've been checking GP32X frequently as the prospect of having one in my hands within the next week is almost too much to bear.

 

[MDave]

He be busy building them those Pandora's ! I suppose he'll answer after he's done with assembly for today ... he was on till 3am last night making posts on the forums

 

[Shaun]

Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Gee, the guy needs some rest.

 

[bacteria]

Ok, I see the attraction, seems like a nice gadget. I'll probably consider getting one in a couple of years time when they are in the second or third version, cheap and any problems are ironed out; will be cheaper then too when "the scene" are bored with them and selling them off!

OTST - you are right of course, I should have searched the forum, however there are hundreds of threads; and I got my answer quickly from asking the question here! To answer your other point, I wasn't on this site for a good couple of years, been too busy with modding console hardware rather than emulators; the old GP2x I had had a good layer of dust on it as it wasn't used for about 2 years! On the GP2x i'm only really interested in it for NeoGeo, MAME and a couple of other systems anyway (eg Psycho Pinball for Megadrive), for these systems it is excellent. I do like the idea though of a small unit to play Quake 3 on - that may well sway me to buy a Pandora in the future!

 

[meandu229]

anyone got a reply from craig, i havent

 

[Shaun]

Nothing yet.

 

[craigix]

Today! Not sure when, but today.

 

[SiegfriedCroes]

I hope these nubs will be fixable in the end. I could do with 1 nub myself but the problem is that sometimes you want it to be left (for games like mario 64) and at other times it has to be at the right side of the unit (for looking around in FPSs). I'm just going to wait and hope that mine will have 2 working nubs.

 

[meandu229]

I hope these nubs will be fixable in the end. I could do with 1 nub myself but the problem is that sometimes you want it to be left (for games like mario 64) and at other times it has to be at the right side of the unit (for looking around in FPSs). I'm just going to wait and hope that mine will have 2 working nubs.

I dont think the left will be THAT important in most games with such a good Dpad, although thats not analogue.wouldnt want to sacrifice quake and other things which rely on the right one though

 

[Screeny]

Today! Not sure when, but today.

Hopefully.

 

[GhostChaserUK]

Today! Not sure when, but today.

Good will be nice to get my hands on a pandora at last

 

[meandu229]

ahh well maybe tomorrow

 

[Shaun]

It has passed midnight. I've been on the fence about the Pandora. I really do want it, but I could do with the money I've spent on it for other things. Maybe some new clothes for my upcoming trip, staying a little longer on holiday, and saving the rest to go towards my flat deposit in the coming months for uni. The first batch is experimental. There have been many faults, and this is the first time I've been in this much of a rush to get something. Looking at my potential decision it probably isn't the smartest thing to do. I usually wait until games reach a certain price until I buy them. I needn't buy a Pandora immediately. I can wait until it's more widely available and fault-free. I have a GP32, GP2X and Tapwave Zodiac with plenty of homebrew and emulators I haven't played with yet.

So, with that said, I've come to the decision that I can wait. It was a really difficult decision to make, so I decided to base my decision on whether Craig got back to me today like he said he would. Since it is past midnight, it's now the following day and I'm glad this made my decision easier to make. Thus, I hope someone else enjoys a Pandora early instead. I hope my refund is processed in time for the holiday.

Thanks again.

 

[Mr.Confuzed]

I hope my refund is processed in time for the holiday.

Does that mean you're ditching us?

 

[quadomatic]

It has passed midnight. I've been on the fence about the Pandora. I really do want it, but I could do with the money I've spent on it for other things. Maybe some new clothes for my upcoming trip, staying a little longer on holiday, and saving the rest to go towards my flat deposit in the coming months for uni. The first batch is experimental. There have been many faults, and this is the first time I've been in this much of a rush to get something. Looking at my potential decision it probably isn't the smartest thing to do. I usually wait until games reach a certain price until I buy them. I needn't buy a Pandora immediately. I can wait until it's more widely available and fault-free. I have a GP32, GP2X and Tapwave Zodiac with plenty of homebrew and emulators I haven't played with yet.

So, with that said, I've come to the decision that I can wait. It was a really difficult decision to make, so I decided to base my decision on whether Craig got back to me today like he said he would. Since it is past midnight, it's now the following day and I'm glad this made my decision easier to make. Thus, I hope someone else enjoys a Pandora early instead. I hope my refund is processed in time for the holiday.

Thanks again.

I've been thinking about canceling as well, and while I have no fault with your reasons for canceling, you may want to take into consideration that the next batch (and probably the ones after that) of Pandoras will be more expensive.

 

[MDave]

If anyone is thinking about refunding ... pm me first!