Why should anyone buy an Open Pandora?


Franko said:
Edit1:  I trust that there aren't a lot of linux printer drivers out there that are compatible with our OS or what type of printer that you have?  I hadn't really even thought of this as something that people would want.  I just create the files through Libre Office, or GIMP or whatever type of software that I have on the Pandora and save it as a certain portable file type (usually pdf)..and just email it (via clawsmail) or save to an SD card for printing on another computer...


Great idea though  -  I'll definitely noodle with this.
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I run Ubuntu 10.20 on my main compy.. .and it prints fine to both the HP printers I have  (OfficeJet Pro 8500, and Deskjet 882c)... so at least I know the drivers exist in Linux.
 
ckblackm said:
Franko said:
Edit1:  I trust that there aren't a lot of linux printer drivers out there that are compatible with our OS or what type of printer that you have?  I hadn't really even thought of this as something that people would want.  I just create the files through Libre Office, or GIMP or whatever type of software that I have on the Pandora and save it as a certain portable file type (usually pdf)..and just email it (via clawsmail) or save to an SD card for printing on another computer...


Great idea though  -  I'll definitely noodle with this.
Click to expand...
I run Ubuntu 10.20 on my main compy.. .and it prints fine to both the HP printers I have  (OfficeJet Pro 8500, and Deskjet 882c)... so at least I know the drivers exist in Linux.
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Okay, thanks ckblackm.  I wonder what the hangup is then?  I need a refresher course, or maybe I need to start searching the forum threads again for hints...
 
CUPS takes too much space to fit on the NAND, and from what I'm told it's difficult to put in a PND for some various reason.
 
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Not that the means of data transfer would completely solve the problems of the printer DRIVER issue, but maybe somethings would work.  I'm gonna test some things over the next couple of days at any rate.
 
If your printing on a home computer, setup bittorrent sync between your Pandora and your computer, then print documents from you computer. (?) It's not as easy as printing directly from the device, but at least you don't have to futz around with thumb drives and SD card readers.

OP, it took considerable effort to parse your diction. What were you expecting from the Pandora in the first place, and what were the OS limitations you faced when you first had one?
 
TrashyMG said:
CUPS takes too much space to fit on the NAND, and from what I'm told it's difficult to put in a PND for some various reason.
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I wonder why THAT would be necessary for the individual user?  Why must it reside in NAND?  Can't it be run at certain times from the SD card as virtual memory?  Certainly just adding ONE printer driver into an accessible directory would be enough for the average user?  I'm not privy to the actual limitations, so I'm asking questions...

Edit1:  "CUPS is the standards-based, open source printing system developed by Apple Inc. for OS® X and other UNIX®-like operating systems."  That's what I "know" of "CUPS".  This Pandora is my first Linux PC....so I'm learning (almost everyday) about something related to my Pandy.   :)  
 
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Cups has many dependencies which are not in the original Angrstrom distro in the NAND. That's why it's a little tricky to include it (and there may be some conflicts with some library versions), and on top of that there is the issue of how to link to it if it's a PND and not in the NAND. 

It's far from being straightforward, from the conversations I had with a couple of porters. I will not disclose their names here :)
 
traylorpark said:
If your printing on a home computer, setup bittorrent sync between your Pandora and your computer, then print documents from you computer. (?) It's not as easy as printing directly from the device, but at least you don't have to futz around with thumb drives and SD card readers.
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Good alternative indeed, but if you want to treat the Pandora as a stand-alone computer (i.e. replacing the laptop) it remains a limitation. 

And having printing would be something great to tell to smartphone users : "see, you cant do that!"
 
SONY said:
Thanks mate, I didn't know about the 2nd screen attachment thing.
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He's kidding.

That or he's talking about DraStic's ability to put one of the screens over TV out..

But probably kidding.
 
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Well, I've got an Android-Smartphone and even though it has a physical keyboard, I prefer using my Pandora for email and website browsing.


Mainly because I haven't found a good Claws-Mail alternative on Android (K-9 Mail is okay, but missing some features I need) and I found quite a few websites not rendering properly on all Android browsers I tried.


I never tried gaming on my phone. Why should I, when I've got a Pandora? :)


Usually, I've got the Pandora tethered via Bluetooth via my phone.


As the phone runs out of juice after 6-7 hours of tethering, I use the Pandora to charge it at the same time via USB.


Right now, I'm away from home for one week (doing live internet stream of the Inline Hockey World Championship) and I got a foldable BT keyboard and mouse with me.


So in the hotel, I just use the Pandora with a normal keyboard and tethered Internet access to do my daily work. Works flawlessly. Couldn't be done as nice with my smartphone.


No laptop needed :)


And when I stop working, I can play a few games.


I've never used the Pandora as a mobile office before (always had a netbook with me), but thought I'd try this week.


And it works a lot better than I thought :)
 
ekianjo said:
EvilDragon said:
and I got a foldable BT keyboard and mouse with me.
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Off topic but what keyboard brand/model do you use? Any good recommendation ?
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Ah, sorry, it's actually no BT keyboard. I thought of getting one, but in the end decided to go with a wireless one with USB plug (cheaper and can also be used with PCs that don't have BT).

I'm using a Logitech one with an integrated touchpad. Works out of the box :)
 
brokemike said:
I have a question. I used to own a Open Pandora but traded it for a GPU for my pc. And now I can't seem to understand why I was ever into the little device. I feel like I can do much more on my galaxy s3. And of cource emulation isn't a problem with my pc. But the device has tons of potential. when I had it, it was if it had a broken os. And could only really game on emulators very well. which all android device do just fine. I guess I wanna know if there has been any improvement. Like I said the device has alot of potential. I sold it right around the time android was ported to it. And I was surprised that worked so well.
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There have been improvements every day, not only regarding the OS.

Too many to mention. For me, the Pandora was great already with Hotfix 6 and now it is just superb,

but I would not expect everyone to feel this way.

Was the big upgrade of pcsxreARMed out there already at that time?

Besides all the great new games/ports, it was one of the greatest improvements for many people, I think.

Playing smoothly PSX through romlike eBoots for 10hours in higher resolution than original without a need to be attached to a wall... awesome.
 
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Here's a small list of major improvements:

  • Pandoras have (nearly)  twice the clock speed and RAM of the original versions
  • Power management works well
  • We have a Libreoffice port, an nDS and a PSP  emu, a clean&useful packagemanager
  • There are several ways to improve wifi performance
Pandoras are a niche device, they may be less convenient to use, but they are far more capable that any smartphone.

This is because of:

  • A full desktop environment
  • USB host
  • A extremely wide range of utilities
  • Some excellent device-optimised emulators
  • All the GNU stuff is install out of the box
  • Having a cursor allows devs to fit far more controls onto the screen, and most software has been ported from the desktop.
  • The manufacturer has no control over the device after you've bought it.
  • A physical keyboard, however small, is always better than a virtual one that feels like a sheet of glass
 
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Good list Binky, but I wouldnt even mention the PSP emulator there. It's barely usable, even on 1Ghz. It's too slow for many games. The fact that it runs a couple of games well is irrelevant, 90% of games don't run well with it at all and have glitches. 

DraStic is much better in comparison, compatibility and speed wise, while it still lacks in performance for 3D-chips heavy scenes. 
 
Amiga, Freespace I & II, Homeworld, Amiga, Dune II, Wesnoth , Amiga, ScummVM, Baldur's Gate, Amiga, Planescape Torment, NES, SNES, GB['', 'C', 'A'], NDS, Amiga, MS, MD(Genesis), GG, Amiga, PS1, … LibreOffice, ClawsMail, Gimp, Inkscape, … Rockbox, Audacious, (combined with an AWESOME audio hardware), …

All in one device with a hardware keyboard that fits in a (large) pocket and can run for hours without any trouble on battery.

Those are the things that, if I didn't already owned a Pandora, would make me buy one.

Did I mentioned that the pandora emulates the Amiga without any problem? :D
 
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