Thanks to all the devs.

[Robert Taylor]

Hi guys.


I just wanted to forward a quick thanks to Evildragon and anyone else contributing to this project!

I pre-ordered a few devices, I am now going to pay for the balance because you guys have not only managed to develop the perfect form factor with an amazing set of features but also somehow managed to keep us updated and even post videos online.

I showed this to the tech here in the office and while brainstorming they are now starting to think that this might replace our desktops and laptops for a whole bunch of workloads. All the heavy processing is offloaded to our servers already so this may actually end up being our mobile + thin client replacement. We will see how monitor resolution / performance over hdmi works out I guess.

In addition, having the gaming components built into the device makes this oh so much more interesting for us. We travel a lot and using laptops on planes and airports is NOT fun at all. We don't write many large reports, and when we do, we can always do that via bluetooth keyboards from our desks. We all play games and do weird things with our mobile devices anyway so being able to do that on the pyra will make it super fun to travel again.

Anyway, I just wanted to post some fanboy recognition from Canada. Being an IT department, we know how much effort is involved just doing the design work on a hardware project, never mind having to KEEP ON GOING to see this to the finish line. On top of that, you guys manage to keep engaged with the community and post videos to keep, which is amazing.

This is truly stellar work. Please keep it going.

If testing works out okay, we will be buying more for sure. And parts. We will be dropping these regularly for sure!

- Canadian Fans

 

[trix]

Hello!

So, let me get this straight, your IT department is considering getting a Pyra for your employees?

Are you hiring? I'll move to Canada instantly! I've already got a Pandora (and LOVE it) and am a life-long Linux user.

I'll even accept whatever the minimum wage is, if I can use the Pyra at work!

 

[directive0]

Just another canuck in here agreeing. Devs for prez.

 

[Xcl4m4t10n]

Damn I love Canada. If I could I would like to live there .

 

[sebt3]

I'll move to Canada instantly!

Damn I love Canada. If I could I would like to live there .

http://www.cic.gc.ca/ctc-vac/getting-started.asp

 

[directive0]

Its just a place like anywhere else; we got some things right and a lot of things wrong. But at least I got my Pandy and soon a Pyra with any luck.

 

[Askarus]

I suppose thy Pyra will be sufficient for you.
My Pandora was good enough to do a lot of things while studying for me except the heavy LibreOffice tasks.
The Pyra can handle those without any issues.

Go for it. That's what I want to see the Pyra used for
And maybe consider giving it a second chance after a year or so if a lack of Software might prevent you from using it. We have a great community

 

[Christoph.Krn]

[...] you guys have [...] also somehow managed to keep us updated [...]

On top of that, you guys manage to keep engaged with the community and post videos to keep, which is amazing.

EvilDragon is shouldering the risks and organizes it all, but he too is one from the community, and more or less got into it by accident like so many others. He's the spine, but the heart is in the numerous things that are done by people from all over the world, who have popped up either a long time ago or more recently, and whose names I wouldn't even dare to begin to list here, because I would be certain to omit plenty.

 

[trix]

Hi guys.


I just wanted to forward a quick thanks to Evildragon and anyone else contributing to this project!

I pre-ordered a few devices, I am now going to pay for the balance because you guys have not only managed to develop the perfect form factor with an amazing set of features but also somehow managed to keep us updated and even post videos online.

I showed this to the tech here in the office and while brainstorming they are now starting to think that this might replace our desktops and laptops for a whole bunch of workloads. All the heavy processing is offloaded to our servers already so this may actually end up being our mobile + thin client replacement. We will see how monitor resolution / performance over hdmi works out I guess.

In addition, having the gaming components built into the device makes this oh so much more interesting for us. We travel a lot and using laptops on planes and airports is NOT fun at all. We don't write many large reports, and when we do, we can always do that via bluetooth keyboards from our desks. We all play games and do weird things with our mobile devices anyway so being able to do that on the pyra will make it super fun to travel again.

Anyway, I just wanted to post some fanboy recognition from Canada. Being an IT department, we know how much effort is involved just doing the design work on a hardware project, never mind having to KEEP ON GOING to see this to the finish line. On top of that, you guys manage to keep engaged with the community and post videos to keep, which is amazing.

This is truly stellar work. Please keep it going.

If testing works out okay, we will be buying more for sure. And parts. We will be dropping these regularly for sure!

- Canadian Fans

Another thing to keep in mind is the Pandora. We all waited a long time for that thing to be designed, built, and shipped to all pre-orderers. Despite tons of setbacks and drama, EvilDragon succeeded and built the most amazing handheld I've ever owned. BUT THEN, they didn't stop there, they kept updating and updating and working on it for all the years since, making sure that not only could it live up to EVERY SINGLE PROMISE made, but in fact is now comfortably capable of quite a lot that were deemed practically impossible! Diablo 2, for example, and our very polished OS. (Thanks NOTAZ!) Not only THAT, but the extremely great advances made on behalf of the Pandora have very much benefited other embedded devices as well, like our extremely awesome PCSX emulator that is used on the Raspberry Pi as well (Thanks AGAIN Notaz!), or glshim used on many embedded devices (lunixbochs!).

In fact, the PND applications for the Pandora are still being updated every single day, and new things added all the time! Even after all these years of the Pandora being out, and even though new Pandoras are not being sold and there is no profit motive whatsoever to keep improving the old gal. I use the Pandora for everything from Messaging and Email to Games to bitcoin wallet to word processing to writing code on the go to spreadsheets to general internet browsing to Movies and TV Shows (Yay Kodi!), and it works great for ALL OF IT with awesome battery life, thanks to the endless efforts of TONS of awesome people. Oh and did I mention listening to music with quality headphones sounds WAY better than any other device I've ever listened to? (THANKS MWeston!)

I expect top shelf everything from the Pyra. Not instantly, because nobody is paying the software guys, but I have no doubt that over time the Pyra will impress me as much or more than the Pandora, and THAT is saying something!

You guys seem to be very impressed at the progress and updates on the Pyra, which is nice. I agree it's very impressive, but a lot of us take it for granted because that's the way EvilDragon has been doing it for years and years. What instills more confidence in me than any of that though, is the Pandora. Knowing the history of the Pandora makes me absolutely certain the Pyra will be every bit as fantastic as I expect, and I have extremely high expectations at this point.

Wow this really turned into a huge wall of praise. I didn't really intend that, I just wanted to point out the Pandora angle when considering the potential of the Pyra. It's hard for that not to turn into a whole bunch of praise though, given how great the Pandora is.
[doublepost=1497040424,1497039149][/doublepost]OH I almost forgot to mention... I have the old first batch Pandora with the old battery and slower CPU and less memory.

Not that it seems to affect anything though! I use my Pandora for everything it can do and not once did I feel like I was missing out on anything for having "the slower one". That says a LOT for the software guys that have done so much. I know how much easier it can be with certain applications and games to target the faster hardware and worry a little less about optimization, but instead it seems that everyone optimizes everything to make it work great on the First Batch model. When Notaz released Diablo 2 for example, I was SURE it would be like "I tweaked it to run pretty smooth on the 1GHz edition but sorry to first batchers". NOPE, Diablo 2 is smooth as glass on my old CC model. So is pretty much everything else.

Really out of the dozens and dozens if not hundreds of apps and games and everything I've used, the only ones that a 1GHz Pandora would significantly improve for me would be Firefox (Pale Moon) and Kodi. Both of which work great on my Pandora, but would be faster with more speed.

How's THAT for long-term support!!

 

[_jr_]

It should be remembered, though, that most of the support is dedication by a very small number of individuals. Most have been mentioned above personally already, therefore I'd like to add a especially big THANKS to ptitseb and Canseco for the large number of packages they are continually keeping updated!