What Would You Test?

[RajTakhar]

Okay - this may have been posted before, as we noticed from the recent blog post from ED on OpenPandora websitethe first batch of 100 machine PCB's will be done sometime in later July 2009.

It was noted way back, by Craig that the initial 100 or so machines would be sent out to a lucky few to iron out any issues (if any build related)

I was thinking earlier on today as to what we would all would like to see tested on these initial run machines - in a way to probably add suggestions to the lucky buggers who get the Pandoras to play with.

I know there was a thread on what we would like to see Craig produce in a short YouTube video, this is different more aimed at seeing how low/how good the performance may be derived by initial system testers

My initial starter for ten:

• Battery charging - response times to fully charge at medium/low power on battery
• Web Browsing - medium settings - how long real dips take - could be done with wifi - USB 3G dongle
• Video playback real on medium settings - and how long on a wide range of formats .mkv, .wmv, .3gp, .avi.
• Possible video encoding - if such software exists.
• Editing - how long power dips normal editing then connecting via wifi/bluetooth or whatever - would like to test if feasible connecting via some form of terminal connection to windows/unix environments.
• Skype - interested in how long it may take using a bluetooth headset and wifi connection - clarity, duration tests

What would like to see tested? - just putting it out for suggestions - no flame throwing, there must be loads of valid testing solutions out there

 

[lulzfish]

post deleted.

 

[borgqueenx]

i would boot up firefox and reply nonsense to this thread

 

[kloplop321]

Skype is not Open Source. Do they have a release for a linux ARM binary/package?

 

[fiveseven]

Seeing people post here from their Pandora would be really nice to see, even if it doesn't demonstrate anything we haven't already seen.
Other than that, I'd like to hear how easy it is to customize/configure. I doubt it'll be that hard, but it'd be nice to hear people's experiences.

 

[Isaac702]

Skype is not Open Source. Do they have a release for a linux ARM binary/package?

No they don't. There was talk of reverse engineering the Nokia tablet build (Maemo) to get it to work on the Pandora though. Of course this would take quite a bit of work.

 

[WizardStan]

A dangerous part of me would really like to give it the real will-it-blend treatment. Or smashmypandora.com, or whatever.
But then I see pretty flashing lights and forget all about that.

 

[Lorkile]

I would go about testing the keyboard and what programs were available to me that seemed appealing. Throughout the first week I would likely stress test much of it just to get a feel for how comfortable I will be with the system and how concerned I feel I need to be for the hardware.

I doubt I would post about it here, as I rarely remember any important details to others. But in the case of the Pandora I would report back my feelings on typing on it after about a week of trying it out and trying to get used to it. Oh, and likely I would compare it to my PSP and my laptop for much of a pointless analysis, one in which is more likely to leave people wondering why I even posted.

 

[kloplop321]

I wonder, here is a test:
have people with peanut butter covered hands try to type whole emails on the pandora, and see how many words they get in before the keypad stops responding

 

[greendots]

I'd test maemo, mer, the garnet OS emulator, and play around with keyboard shortcuts to boost productivity for its controls.

 

[WhiteBat]

id post a video on how the pandora actually opens and closes, like if/how it snaps shut etc

there still isn't a video on this! craaaaaiiiiiiggg??

 

[jlepley]

I'd test to see how it would react to exposure to the Transformers cube-thingy.

In all seriousness, I'd probably test how high I could overclock the processor, and how well it plays videos. (because my computer sucks at video playback)

 

[kloplop321]

I wonder how many digits of Pi that it can compute within 20 seconds..

 

[gruso]

I'd undertake a challenge to do all my day to day computing on it for a week, and document the results. (Obviously work stuff like using AutoCAD would be exempt from the challenge.) On the move I'd be testing the keypad & controls, and a USB 3G dongle. At home I'd be testing other USB accessories, and using the wifi.

The gaming controls would need a good workout too of course. I'd probably break it up like this:

- Quake: For testing analogue nubs, general FPSability, and USB keyboard/mouse control.
- SNES: To see how good the d-pad and ABXY buttons really are.
- PSX: Just so I can make a GT2 video really.
- Any available homebrew: Because our dev community rocks.

I also have a Bluetooth GPS receiver, USB MIDI interface and all manner of other things to plug in and try.

 

[RajTakhar]

Skype is not Open Source. Do they have a release for a linux ARM binary/package?

i think skype is plausible ... there is a java version i tried to use on a square screen samsung worked bu menu was messed up

it does work on android, which can run un=optimized on beagleboard so theoretically on pandora albeit a closed source:

http://share.skype.com/sites/skypegear/skype_mobile/android/

 

[Vorporeal]

Skype is not Open Source. Do they have a release for a linux ARM binary/package?

i think skype is plausible ... there is a java version i tried to use on a square screen samsung worked bu menu was messed up

it does work on android, which can run un=optimized on beagleboard so theoretically on pandora albeit a closed source:

http://share.skype.com/sites/skypegear/skype_mobile/android/

It would only run on the Pandora if we got the Dalvik VM up and running, IIRC. There has been a lot of discussion regarding the possibility of Skype support through hacking a binary meant for another system to run on the Pandora. This is not out of the question, but it would require that someone actually decides to do it. This is also assuming that the Skype application for Android is a .dex, and not running natively on the hardware (very unlikely).

 

[RajTakhar]

point taken - without someone actually attempting to run Skype on Pandora either using Java package (with JVM) or under Android - we will never know - heck - there is a test in itself to try!

Was thinking about other stuff I would probably test:

• Running Dos-Box with medium screen settings and then playing Championship Manager (older DOS version was way more better than crazy over the top newer version) endlessley to see how long I got
• Repeat above test and play DUNE II, followed by Command and Conquer

I'd give the stress/will it blend testing a wide berth as it would probably have taken so long to get the Pandora - screwing it up for a silly test would seem illogical - does not compute

 

[Bosbeetle]

I'd play a round of minesweeper

 

[atomicthumbs]

I would test the basic functions first: screen, work, doing, etc.

Then I'd move on to more peripheral-type functions (stress test with old SD cards, battery fux0r test, USB charging, etc.) Then maybe I'd try Wi-fi and Bluetooth range/reliability testing. Then I'd test programs (and getting my Wikipedia reader working would work well as a stress test.)

 

[jormajoo]

First thing to test for me would be the speakers. With lid open and maybe closed. Alarm clock functionality would be nice. Hopefully there will not be any need for external speakers.