Why Is It Worth Waiting For Pandora?

[Raz]

Many reasons...

I don't really own any sort of mp3 or current gen console... I'm interested in the emulation and the portability... It'll give me something to do since I'm bored with doing stuff on my computer.... There's the whole learning experience involved... It's pretty sexy and has a lot of holes.... The time between actually getting the Pandora can be used to plan out what you need and learn about it... You get to see more vids to get you all turned on and whatnot

 

[Unfathomable Depths]

wip3out

 

[danielliu88888]

oh yeah, ED said he's going to make some of the holes bigger... that's a great reason.

 

[lulzfish]

Also, I think it will be cool to have an ARM device.
I can say, "look at this shit! It does general computing tasks for 8 hours on end without even trying!"
It's a glorious monument to the adaptibility of open-source software and to the potential of an entire architecture that has, until now, only been used in stupid shit like cell phones.

It says, "Break with backwards compatibility and you can buy this!"

 

[CCmachined]

Half a year since the preorder. >1 year since it was first announced to be released.

I still believe in the team for several reasons (CNC, general progress, their reputations on the line etc) but damn, even Craig himself once said "This isn't some far off into 2009 project". It is. And we're not only dealing with that, but their unjustified optimism. Projects like this hardly ever ship on time. It's pretty much a fact. Before i was convinced the Pandora would ship this month. Like before when i believed earlier. Right now I'm convinced it'll be pretty late this year or 2010. I stay away from the forums and blogs for days, even weeks sometimes, come back, and learn nothing interesting. Just that the date has moved. Again. Be realistic.

But shall be awesome. Eventually.

andora1:

 

[Cron_]

Great thread btw.

But anyways everyday when I check back on the forums and imagine getting mine and using it for almost everything. That makes the wait totally worth it.

 

[gp2.eXe]

Great thread btw.

But anyways everyday when I check back on the forums and imagine getting mine and using it for almost everything. That makes the wait totally worth it.

Thanks for all the posts so far! Much appreciated.


On another note:
I am going to use this thread to spread the word, please read my current sig, it's links are very helpful.

 

[Svartalf]

Half a year since the preorder. >1 year since it was first announced to be released.

Disappointing, isn't it?

QUOTE

I still believe in the team for several reasons (CNC, general progress, their reputations on the line etc) but damn, even Craig himself once said "This isn't some far off into 2009 project".



If he hadn't have had the little mishap with the bank stuff in 2008, it'd probably have been on the 2008 timeline. Live and learn. I'll admit I've had a few mishaps of my own involved with this project that certainly didn't push things forward like I'd hoped I would. Things just simply happen. They always do.

QUOTE

It is. And we're not only dealing with that, but their unjustified optimism. Projects like this hardly ever ship on time. It's pretty much a fact. Before i was convinced the Pandora would ship this month. Like before when i believed earlier. Right now I'm convinced it'll be pretty late this year or 2010.



I'm of the impression (For good reason...) that it'll be within the next month (May) or the following (June) at the latest- unless there's another total catastrophe like the bank deal in the way. Pretty much all of the delays we've watched happen with this project are stock in trade on new product development (Take it from a former CTO of a set-top box company...) and the only thing different between what you see with someone like Sony and the Pandora project is that you hear about some of the higher level details with this project and with someone like Sony, you mostly hear about when they think they're going to start and when they're about to put it in your hands.

 

[kin]

Because despite of the difficulties, the project seems to be healthy and reliable compared to corporates shooting blanks with money.

People shouldn't underestimate the level of difficulty the dev team is facing with in the Pandora project.

It's cool that the dev team interacts with the community here.


(It's unfortunate the banks caused so much confusion, tough I never use Paypal.)

 

[ljones]

Well IHMO it is definately worth waiting for the pandora!

So far - to date - as many others have pointed out there just isn't anything else avaliable right now like the pandora. There are some that might be similar, but not the same. Either they aren't built for games, or they don't have the keyboard, or the battery life is terrible.

Pandora does a lot for its size and price. But best of all it has been in at least part a community developed device, and as far as I'm aware (for its type) this is a first. So it is saying something - that not only is it possible, it can be done. I wonder how many out there who have read about the pandora or who glanced at the web pages or the forums, pulled a funny face and said, "Nah, that'll never happen. Can't be done. Gotta be some big brand with millions in the bank to start".

Yes there's those other awful corporate $$$ devices like Nintendo DS's and Apple iphones but the pandora team and the community here made this thing, and without an army of employees or lorryloads of cash. That's gotta account for something .

Plus thinking about it would any of those dull corporate brands, microsoft, nintendo, apple etc would they have shown you the hardware being made at every stage? Would they respond on forums and emails directly? Nope!

Really I'm looking forward to my pandora. A tiny little device which can be used for all kinds of stuff less phone calls which will do both 'serious' stuff (e.g. web browsing, WP etc) and gaming all in the same box which'll fit in your pocket. Can't be bad!

ljones

 

[Monk]

So far - to date - as many others have pointed out there just isn't anything else avaliable right now like the pandora.

Sadly the list of things that isn't available right now like the Pandora includes the Pandora, which is also not available. Technically my desktop/tower PC is a better mobile gaming system than the Pandora because I CAN use it, and I CAN actually move it if I want to. It's more mobile than my Pandora, and more powerful.

 

[ion]

By the time the Pandora comes out, the Nokia N900 will be out and there goes this.

 

[magicman5421]

i'm hanging around for a bunch of reasons:
1) the pandora is a crazy awesome device that does everything i want and makes toast for me in the morning.
2) the cool device factor is there, a lot of my friends are into retro gaming, and this will blow their socks off
3) At this point, i'm also hanging around for the sake of the pandora devs. they've put a hell of a lot of time into this project and i'm not going to belittle that by pulling out early.
seriously, you guys are great! don't let any of the haters on this forum get you down. most of us have faith in you!

 

[Alpha2]

the N900 still wont have decent gaming controls.

 

[Nik1]

The N900 wont be coming out for long time... Nokia is going to rename and relauch its tablets line, I doubt though that it will have gaming controls as superior to the pandora.

 

[gp2.eXe]

Possitive comments about the Pandora please. Thanks.

 

[marshal]

Won't be coming out for a long time ?? It is scheduled for this year.
(here is a recent article on brighthand: http://www.brighthand.com/default.asp?news...nternet+Tablet)

Concerning the pandora... well... the first batch might ship in two month... or not. And really it will take some time until the pandora will be more easily available! Before the second batch ships there will be some time gone by.

On the other hand once the nokia IT is out it will be much more easily available. It's definitely be lighter than the pandora and probably more polished software wise, not to mention it will have 3g connectivity which for some ppl at least is important.
There is a good chance it will be a really nice OMAP3 powered device.

Now the pandora is something special: good gaming control, a great community, huge battery, fully powered usb...
I believe it's the gaming aspect, the openness and the community that will make de difference at the end. The pandora is in a niche market.

The pandora might stay competitive versus other non-gaming oriented MID for some time but ultimately there will be a lot of other good options for someone that doesn't need the gaming aspect.

 

[Alpha2]

The pandora was built by a niche community for a niche market, if you want a nokia, buy one but if you dont want to buy into the generic consumer product market with it's generally sealed systems you wait for the pandora. and that's what I'm doing.

 

[worzyl]

Just out of interest - is there a reason why there are comparisons of pandora to mobile phones?
I understand the comparison to handheld consoles of the psp, ds and the likes, but I do find the mobile phone comparisons strange as they very much feel like different devices, unless I am missing something....

 

[Alpha2]

comparisons to the PSP and DS make just about as much sense as the comparisons to nokias. Smartphones and their increasing functionality mixed with portable game devices is a narrow category for comparison so it's going to be compared to a lot of things that arent particularly the same, especially since it's a one of a kind device.