What can Pandora do that Note 3 can't?

[FaeMinx]

Guys, I've just been asked this on another forum:

For me and many alike, if it's not an i386 chipset, it's not useful for much except a few emulators and the Internet browser. Win32 and DirectX emulation are not at a high enough level to be exchangeable for at least Windows 2000 yet.What I'm trying to ask is: What can this device do that a Samsung Note 3 can't do besides installing alternate distributions. Android even has Gamecube and Dreamcast emulation, external controller support for a simple OTG USB conversion, an entire application store/tons of freebies, cheaper cost, carrier service, etc.The Pandora does have a full keyboard and attached joysticks, I'll give it that.

And I'm not the best person to answer this, and besides, it's late and I need to get some sleep.


I'm hoping some of you could make some good posts here so tomorrow I can copy paste and enlighten this fellow.


I'll keep you in the loop as to his response to whatever you have to say.


Thanks.


Goodnight and good posting!

 

[ekianjo]

It runs Linux natively and doesn't use crappy Android by default. For me that's enough of a reason.

And you can use it as a real computer, not as crappy smartphone that NEEDS touch input for everything.

 

[rygD]

Pocket sized device with resistive touch screen, integrated keyboard and game controller, capable of a full Linux desktop and associated software vs. a large Android phone.

That right there should identify the audience for each, imo.  If more details on either are needed you can look at the specs, but it really comes down to how you use what you have.  A better question might be "What do I want to do with my portable device, and which option will be better for it".

Edit: ekianjo hit most of my points while I was typing.  When I reread the original post it sounds like neither of these is suitable for what they want.  Maybe they should get a windows laptop.

 

[comradekingu]

It can do any number of things without being set up to spy on you. In my book thats inherently different from doing anything any other way.

• It is also a fine audio player.

• I suspect it is also slightly more ergonomic as a formfactor. Better sunblock. Screen not scratched.

• Using potentially 4 fingers to type is faster than 2.

• It can be easily repaired and customized. Off the shelf replacement parts, batteries cheaper than counterpart. Friendlier towards the environment.

• Its a better and more reasonable design, and its style isnt bland.

• It is populated and assembled in Germany.

• Supporting ED feels way better than chipping in for samsung to do their thing.

I dont know what other OP was thinking, but it is two different beasts. For what he mentioned id say the pandora is way better. We all have x86_64 systems at home. On the go we dont bring gamecontrollers and cellphones. Its possible, but its also possibly a equally weak an argument. We all have smartphones too for that matter, but i dont use any of mine much even though they are faster, because they dont have valid input methods and are tedious to use, rather wait till i get home or do it on a pandora or laptop. The HTC magic has a trackball and thats as close as it gets.

 

[Yoyobuae]

Root access out of the box.

Ability read NTFS USB HDDs after only a simple PND download/install (Android requires rooting for that)

Use as a joystick/mouse/keyboard either via USB or Bluetooth, ie. Master Control PND.(Android requires rooting for that)

Mass storage mode (this was dropped from newer Android versions, requires rooting to renable)

Mount an ISO file on SD card on Pandora as either USB HDD or USB Cdrom on PC (Android requires rooting for that)

Tether to PC via USB to use it's Internet connection (Android requires rooting for that)

Tether to Android via USB to use it's Internet connection (gets around the "no mobile data service" limitation)

High quality sound output and physical volume wheel control

So pretty much everything which requires rooting on Android, Pandora can do out of the box. ^_^

And physical controls ... physical controls! ... none of that touch screen BS. And physical keyboard also (physical keyboard= :wub: , virtual keyboards= :angry: )

Physical controls/keyboards make a ton of difference, just like the touch screen makes a ton of difference for Android. Not everyone (ie. not me) likes heavily touch screen based interfaces.

 

[ekianjo]

Mass storage mode (this was dropped from newer Android versions, requires rooting to renable)

Seriously, they dropped that? Are they out of their mind ?

 

[Hồng Thất Công]

...and Clamshell!  Yeah baby!

 

[Yoyobuae]

Mass storage mode (this was dropped from newer Android versions, requires rooting to renable)

Seriously, they dropped that? Are they out of their mind ?

Those were my thoughs exactly. People are supposed to use MTP/PTP instead:

http://forums.androidcentral.com/google-samsung-galaxy-nexus/134613-no-usb-mass-storage-support-only-mtp-ptp.html

...and Clamshell!  Yeah baby!

Of course. Gotta protect that resistive touchscreen, gaming controls and keyboard. ^_^

 

[Fzero]

Mass storage mode (this was dropped from newer Android versions, requires rooting to renable)

Seriously, they dropped that? Are they out of their mind ?

I'll always root my devices, but yeah I think this is common now. I first noticed it on ny mates Samsung S4, it was only offering my MTP mode instead. Don't know what the reasoning is for dropping it though

 

[Hồng Thất Công]

Mass storage mode (this was dropped from newer Android versions, requires rooting to renable)

Seriously, they dropped that? Are they out of their mind ?

I'll always root my devices, but yeah I think this is common now. I first noticed it on ny mates Samsung S4, it was only offering my MTP mode instead. Don't know what the reasoning is for dropping it though

Because these big ass companies don't give a shit about you.  Ed give some of his shit about us by listening to us and this is the Pandora can do that the Note 3 will never can do

 

[Exophase]

No offense, but why are we doing this? This same sort of thread is brought up all the time. And the unique aspects of Pandora should be pretty obvious to you.. either they're features that make you want it or they aren't. You're not going to convince anyone otherwise.

Although it is a pretty weird twist on the usual format to have a guy say that everyone wants x86 and go on to ask what it can do that Note 3, a decidedly non-x86 platform, can't..

 

[moxie]

A better question might be "What do I want to do with my portable device, and which option will be better for it".

That's the core question, that is.

 

[Hồng Thất Công]

No offense, but why are we doing this? This same sort of thread is brought up all the time.

Because humans are reactive creatures

 

[Yoyobuae]

Note 3 is a 2013 device while Pandora is from 2010~2011. So a more fair comparison would be with Note 1, which is no longer getting official updates (gotta install custom firmware to get Android 4.4). Pandora still gets SuperSaxxon updates. ^_^

With Pyra it will probably be the same, 3~4 years later it will still receive support/love from it's community.

 

[levi]

Fact is, despite having mass storage mode on my Pandora, I never use it as it's just as easy to direct Firefox to the download on the device, or if it's something I've already downloaded elsewhere simply scp it over, securely over the air.

One thing that comes to mind right now is that you can't easily play games like Oolite without plugging in a keyboard.  I can't imagine what the on-screen controls for pitch, roll, yaw, missiles, lasers, views, docking, boost, hyperspace, compass and all the other buttons I can't think of would look like, yet the Pandora handles all of that bar the docking computer and the views without recourse to the keyboard, thanks the the fact you can easily chord shoulder buttons and face buttons when they're real buttons.

 

[TrashyMG]

while Pandora is from 2010~2011

Designed in 2008, Prototype complete in early 2009., Winter 2009 it was pretty much complete. The Classic unit is closer to the original Motorola Droid than the Samsung Note 1. Getting the Pandora into full production was the biggest delay and why most people didn't get units until 2010+ 


We can get away with more with less performance in hardware solely on the fact that we're not running bloated Android.  

 

[elwing]

No offense, but why are we doing this?

We do that for the people who love popcorn!

 

[x1212]

I think I have never seen something like Code::Blocks, Blender or LibreOffice on Android (I'm aware, there are some Office replacements on Android ... but are they usable? At least the one on my Note 1 is nothing great ...).

On the other hand I prefer the Note when it comes to internet-browsing ... (but that's only because of the performance ... when the pyra is released, my Note will basically be useless to me, I guess)

 

[Ziz]

Did someone mention the resistive touchscreen of the Pandora? That is really awesome and not comparable to the finger painting like Android approach...

 

[WizardStan]

Mass storage mode (this was dropped from newer Android versions, requires rooting to renable)

 Seriously, they dropped that? Are they out of their mind ?

No, it makes perfect sense actually.USB mass storage mode has a design flaw. It exists on the Pandora as well: you must unmount the SD card in order to give the host system full control.

A lot of people complained about this. The solution they came up with was MTP. This allows you to browse your files without unmounting the SD card on the phone. This further allows for the SD card to be added to the phones internal storage as one contiguous virtual drive. No longer do you need to worry about whether internal storage is getting full and have to move stuff over to the SD card, it's all just one massive drive. The average user is not particularly tech savvy so this strategy is actually very good for them, everything just works with no thoughts about tinkering. This is also the reason why you need to root your phone: the SD card and internal storage are already treated as one massive drive (thus you can't just unmount the SD card to put it into mass storage mode) and teasing them apart requires root level access.

There are cases of companies that do things because they care more about bottom line than users and will cut corners and drop useful features to save money. This is not one of those cases. MTP was a well thought out solution to a problem that the majority of their users had. It doesn't work FOR YOU, it doesn't work FOR ME, there are a lot of people for whom it doesn't work, but that's compromise for you, to make the most people happy sometimes you need to annoy the minority. And that is all it is, an annoyance, don't get too hung up on it, you can either root your phone and split the drive back into internal storage and SD card, or get used to MTP which does the same job as USB mass storage, just in a slightly different way.