Which Will You Buy?

[Eolair]

I'll wait for the Pandora. I'd buy the Wiz if it had a bigger screen, better gaming controls, longer battery life and WiFi. Basically all the shortcomings of the GP2X are still there, so no thank you.

 

[Prometheus]

Pandora for me, as it meets my needs at this time. I also know people who may find the Wiz to be of interest.

I'm not bothered by the Wiz's double d-pads, incidentally - I'd much rather that than, say, two sets of buttons (anyone who's used a WonderSwan will easily identify with this - a d-pad in that style doesn't seem to be much good for anything above the pace of navigating through menus). I would have to see if the Wiz overcame the issues I had with the GP2X, though (those being; self-bricking, migraine-inducing screen, and the thumbstick's numerous issues), if I were to give it a serious look. I'm certainly not going to write it off without trying it.

 

[chad78]

Here are some things I like about the Wiz.

• 1GB of onboard storage
• Small Size
• Powerful CPU
• OLED Screen
• Multimedia Support
• Built-in mic

Some things that don't like are the double D-Pad, it just makes some moves impossible. The lack of WiFi - both the DS and the PSP have WiFi (not to mention the Pandora - I'll get to that comparison in a moment). The lack of an analog stick! that limits not only what systems it can emulate - but the kind of native games it can play. All that CPU power - and no 3D games? What's the point?

The Price - yes, I know it's more powerful than either the PSP or the DS, and I know it comes from a smaller company, and I know it comes with free games - which the other two don't.... However, in reality it is competing with a $129 DS Lite that for another $25 can play every DS game ever - and a ton of emulated systems. Throw in another $25 add on -and you get all the GBA games as well. PSP - well for the price of admission and a little time surfing the web - you can get every PSP game, every PS1 game, every SNES, NES, Genesis, Atari..... So, yeah, the PSP (at $169 brand new) is a better deal.

The thing is, raw power means nothing if you don't have the software to use it. And the games I've seen for this don't come across as power hungry. I mean, they are 2D Anime games. Unless they come out with some awesome games - the power is going to sit unused. Plus, going back to the lack of an analog - I don't think 3D games would even work on this thing. Sure, you could use one D-pad for movement and the other D-Pad for looking - and the should buttons for fire and switch gun or something - but aiming it going to suck. No FPS on this thing. And, as per man discussions on the Pandora forum, all that power doesn't mean it will be able to emulate PSP or DS games. (And, actually, the size of the screen kills that idea anyway on the Wiz. And the lack of an analog stick.)

Which brings me to the direct comparison between the Wiz and the Pandora. The Wiz wins on portability, onboard storage, price, simplicity, and the maturity of the company behind it. Sure, GPH has had its problems - and so have the GP2Xs, (so does the Wiz, as I've pointed out here). But they have delivered thousands of systems. At least 3 different versions. The Pandora is one delay after another after another - with nothing actually being produced.

That aside - The Pandora, as designed, wins in every other category. It can do 3D. It's got not one, but two analog controls. Bigger, better screen. Better designed game controls. A keyboard. WiFi, BlueTooth. More expandability. Can emulate more systems.

And that's just the gaming side. The Pandora is also a much more powerful device - as it can be used as a pocketable computer. The lack of a keyboard and wifi really limit how useful the Wiz would be at that. Let's face it - a large percentage of what full-blown computers - desktop or laptop - are used for is web-related: email, web surfing, internet radio, watching online videos, podcasts, news feeds, online gaming, chat, VOIP, etc... And a huge chunk of what else the computer is used for requires a keyboard. You might be able to take one of those away (iPhone) but not both. Not and still be able to market yourself as a multipurpose computer.

I'm not saying the Wiz is marketing itself that way. But when you compare it to the Pandora - that's an area that needs to be addressed.

So - in conclusion, if I get one - it will likely be the Pandora. Just because I don't need a game system that can't do 3D. I've got a PSP and a DS. The Wiz, (just like the GP2X and the GP32 before it) brings nothing new to the table.

 

[housemonkey]

I am much, MUCH more excited about Pandora. But knowing myself, I am probably going to get both at some point. I am a little gun shy about the Wiz considering out of the 3 GP2X units I have owned, every one has had at least some hardware fault major or minor.


Still, by the time it comes out, I will probably be looking to replace the JXD 301 I bought with some other compact player. And just like that one, it looks like I'll probably use it as a media device that happens to play games and Pandora a game device that happens to play media.

 

[cherrycyanide]

I am still getting a Pandora.
I am curious about the Wiz. I want to see if the dual d-pad makes it hard to play games before I make my decision on buying it.

 

[Mutilator]

i voted the pandora as im would like a little internet browser in my pocket and the ability to play amiga games and text based games without using some virtual keyboard

 

[TaG]

I really want a Pandora, for most of the reasons others have already stated.

(And as I criticised his posts the other day, I'm going to level the score a little and say "good post Chad".)

 

[Morwynd]

Pandora for sure. Possibly the Wiz as well (I like the small size), but not until either A) they change the 2nd d-pad to buttons, or B) I see substantial feedback that the 2nd d-pad works just fine as is for buttons.

My litmus test, as always, is how well you can play SNES FF3 on it. The Wiz definitely has the horsepower, so now it comes down to the controls.

 

[centrlink]

Being the hopeless gadget freak I am, I see room in my life for both, so have already pre-ordered a wiz. I like the portability of the wiz, and most of the fun comes from watching and being a part of the community, and seeing what the devs can come up with by squeezing every ounce out of these things.

I wish wiz and pandora the greatest success, and I reckon they'll be able to co-exist quite nicely.

 

[ljones]

Definately a pandora. Just for me personally I'd have little use for the wiz; by and large I've hardly used my GP2X for the exact same reason - that reason being I'm not a major gamesplayer.

From what I've seen of the wiz it looks like it's going to be largely targeted at kids too judging from what I've seen of as well - lots of anime-styled games.

At the right price this device could do well, but it would have to be at the right (read: cheap) price. It's in competition against big corporate brands like nintendo and sony, so gamepark (is that who is making it?) they will have their work cut out.

If the wiz can run GP2X stuff "out of the box" then that would make it a lot more intresting. It would make it quite a worthwhile upgrade.

For me right now, I'll have to say pandora the pandora ticks a *lot* more boxes for me than the GP2X,Wiz or other devices do.

ljones

 

[b._.o._.b]

Pandora for sure, and Wiz maybe.
Keyboard is really important for me, because I love the emulators for computers from the 80/90's and like to use it for a couple of more serious applications.

I like the Wiz being positioned as an homebrew device. If the software stack is big enough and is different enough compared to the Pandora I might buy it too.

However... 2 Pandora's might be a better choice...

 

[gaterooze]

and I know it comes with free games

I believe those "free games" really are free -- you could download them all(?) now for free on the GP2X, and there is always the possibility of them also being available on the Pandora (I hope so - and I hope the creators get lots of donations for them!).

btw I'm not knocking GPH for that, it's great to promote the homebrew.

 

[sam fisher]

and I know it comes with free games

I believe those "free games" really are free -- you could download them all(?) now for free on the GP2X, and there is always the possibility of them also being available on the Pandora (I hope so - and I hope the creators get lots of donations for them!).

btw I'm not knocking GPH for that, it's great to promote the homebrew.

The games are actually mosty unreleased improved versions as far as I know...

 

[christo930]

I'm a little curious to know if the recent announcement of the Wiz has influenced your decision to purchase the Pandora (if you have even made that decision).
Personally I plan to get both, in which order I still haven't decided. I want the Pandora for the power and excellent controls. The Wiz seems like it will have a large library from launch, and (appears to be) nice and small.

EDIT: Hmm, there's supposed to be a poll here.
EDIT2:Nope, I can't add a poll after the fact, could a mod do it with options like Pandora/Wiz/Both/Neither kindof thing? Thanks

EDIT: Poll Added -Chip



You really can't tell from the ad's but it looks like the wiz will be backward compatible with gp2x which will give it a nice library to start off with, especially for emulators that don't quite have the speed (dosbox, psx emu...). The additional ram and presumably better controls, with a rechargeable battery (though I really prefer AA's). It looks like the processor speed has been upgraded to 533 and the nand to 1gb. If they upgraded the video that would be great. Ether way, I'll probably get the WIZ as it's more in my price range than the Pandora and with that new screen it should be great for book reading. Some websites say it's shipping now. Is there any hard core shipping data? Does it still have the second processor? I figure as multi-processor machines pc's are becoming the standard, developers should be getting better at taking advantage of multi-core systems, so it might be a loss to lose it.

Chris

 

[sam fisher]

Its an entirely different SoC. It is NOT directly backwards compatible in most cases and it does not have the 940t coprocessor. It has a 533mhz ARM 926 I *think*.

 

[CronoTriggerfan]

I think it's not announced to press because then everyone interested in preorder would just sign up to the forum...

As stupid as I think the Wiz is in many regards, if Pandora gets delayed past November, I'll most definitely pull the trigger for it. I haven't had a portable game console in over a year, I need SOMETHING before I go on vacation in December!

 

[waffles]

Im planning on the pandora for now, but if this thing gets rave reviews, it might be enough to get me to switch over. Also, does 169$ seem a tad bit high to anyone else?

 

[sam fisher]

Im planning on the pandora for now, but if this thing gets rave reviews, it might be enough to get me to switch over. Also, does 169$ seem a tad bit high to anyone else?

No, you Americans are just used to getting everything too cheap. Besides, isn't it $180?

 

[CronoTriggerfan]

Im planning on the pandora for now, but if this thing gets rave reviews, it might be enough to get me to switch over. Also, does 169$ seem a tad bit high to anyone else?

No, you Americans are just used to getting everything too cheap. Besides, isn't it $180?

"OHH YES, STUPID AMERICANS" :lol:

Just because we haven't yet surrendered our souls to bureaucratic, Socialist overlords like many of our European friends have done doesn't mean we shouldn't expect the same kind of price consistency you do.

The Wiz IS overpriced for what it is, but only because they need to turn a larger profit per unit because of the limited sales numbers they'll receive. You can't honestly tell me that, when compared to something like the PSP, the Wiz is a viable purchase for the price it's set at now.

 

[chad78]

Im planning on the pandora for now, but if this thing gets rave reviews, it might be enough to get me to switch over. Also, does 169$ seem a tad bit high to anyone else?
No, you Americans are just used to getting everything too cheap. Besides, isn't it $180?Some places have it for $169.99, from what I've heard - but I can't find it at that price. But, still, even if it's $169 - it's still too much. PSPs are are $169 - and they come with WiFi, an analog stick, and 3D games. And the DS is only $129 - and it also have WiFi.