Why Should I Buy A Pandora?

[zzaz3]

I've been doing some research on the Pandora for a few days now and I'm still not completely sold. From what I've read it seems to be a PSP, DS, and Linux all mixed in one. The only thing is, you can't play PSP or DS games. (Not quite sure about Linux games just yet.) So, it seems to be that if I were to cough up $330 for this, the only games I can play will be classic games with emulators.


Now that I've said my case, is there anything you guys would like to add in? Am I right? Or am I missing something? Convince me to buy this.

 

[Prometheus]

To be quite honest, if you feel that you need to be convinced, then I would personally suggest that the Pandora may not be the machine for you.

From my perspective, if you're curious at all, the Pandora represents a miniature computer, in addition to gaming functions - to me, that is, it's a truly personal personal computer.

There will surely be some interesting homebrew games (if this interests you, go and have a look around the Developers' Corner section - I've seen some interesting ideas being batted around in there), and the possibility does exist for some commercial titles - although I certainly wouldn't expect anything from any "big names" or anything like that.

Regarding what you said about Linux games, it's dependent on either the software being compiled for ARM processors, on the source code being available so that anyone can compile it for an ARM processor themselves, or on the developer deciding to do an ARM port of their own, since the Pandora uses an ARM processor.

Now, all of that said, I'll stress again: If you feel that you need to be convinced, I would perhaps say that the Pandora isn't for you - this isn't something like a DS, PSP, or EeePC, really. The real question is, does it meet your needs? Perhaps that's worth looking into.

 

[joseluisjazz]

No need to convince you for anything. Just leave it for the people that already feel this is the exactly device they were wanting for so many years. And after the first batch has shipped, there will be enough reviews, tutorials, and videos so you can have a more clear picture of it, and its possibilities, and then decide for yourself if you want one from the second batch, if anything.

cheers

 

[Azure]

Well, emulation-wise, "classic" would be PSX & N64 and practically everything before that (that's quite a lot of solid games that are just as good as, if not better than, the types of titles on the PSP & DS). However, there is still the possibility of DS & PSP emulators showing up on the Pandora (I think somebody expressed interest in working on a PSP emulator). Another thing to keep in mind is that the Pandora has a lot more power than the PSP & DS, so while you can say that it can do the same things as the PSP & DS, you should recognize that it also has the ability to do these things better. While the PSP has N64 & SNES emulators, they still need more work (this is much more obvious with the N64, but for the SNES look at special chip games like Super Mario RPG). In addition, the extra processing power of the Pandora will help much with DOSBOX (we've got Warcraft 2 running great! Try doing that via DOSBOX with the PSP). The QWERTY keypad is also great for Amiga, etc. When it comes to things that don't require so much power, the Pandora will benefit from extended battery life by being able to lower the clock speed. On top of everything there's the whole UMPC side, which to me is the icing on the cake

All of the potential in the Pandora is clear-cut to me and to others (I'm always seeing people being sold immediately just by reading the specs, realizing immediately everything this device will be capable of; this really is the handheld that many of us have dreamed for but never thought would be made), and like Prometheus said, if you actually have to be convinced to buy the Pandora, then maybe it isn't for you?

 

[cosurgi]

Pandora is for enthusiasts. If you don't feel enthusiastic enough, then you might be disappointed.

(longer) EDIT:

OTOH, ability to run OpenOffice, play all open source games and almost all emulators that I need (spectrum, amiga, commodore, DOS, qemu) is what convinces me. I plan to watch the movies who waited forever on my HDD, while I get to work by bus, I plan to listen 100h of music on single battery charge if I have a possibility (outdoor trip? nah, I prefer listening to birds )

Also I'm planning to simple replace Pandora (0.3kg) with my Laptop (3kg) and take it on all my conferences. So I will show openoffice and beamer presentations off my Pandora, and not off the heavy Laptop.

Pandora is great for those who know how to use it.

Just likeCODE
dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/hda
is great for those who know when to use it (e.g. selling a HDD )

 

[(naw)mcx]

If you have to ask, you shouldn't.

 

[Mithrildor]

Seriously don't buy it if you think you don't love it much. It is an expensive console.

Btw u only think about retro games, think again. you forgot the most important thing homebrew! and quake 3 and doom 3

 

[zzaz3]

No, no, no. I guess I didn't quite know exactly what I meant until now. I meant that, what if there aren't enough developers or all the developers don't make us what we want?

I mean, if I google Pandora, all I get is a bunch of PSP sites about the Pandora Battery. How many people out there know about this? Will it be advertised? I'm just afraid that I'm going to get it and then realise that there's no good homebrew/emulators/apps out there.

 

[Mithrildor]

You should ask craigix about further plans. The only thing I know is that they are going to fund devs(not all) to make homebrew. And if it would fail (which I dont think that that will happen) there are always plenty enough retro games to be played (Im sure some one will make a n64 Emu

 

[(naw)mcx]

No, no, no. I guess I didn't quite know exactly what I meant until now. I meant that, what if there aren't enough developers or all the developers don't make us what we want?

I mean, if I google Pandora, all I get is a bunch of PSP sites about the Pandora Battery. How many people out there know about this? Will it be advertised? I'm just afraid that I'm going to get it and then realise that there's no good homebrew/emulators/apps out there.

Plenty of people know about it! It's been on Engadget a few times, a massive gadget blog.

 

[mazza558]

Wait until the project's a bit more developed (i.e we have a finished machine to look at), then you can decide whether it's right for you.

 

[airbeckley]

No, no, no. I guess I didn't quite know exactly what I meant until now. I meant that, what if there aren't enough developers or all the developers don't make us what we want?

I mean, if I google Pandora, all I get is a bunch of PSP sites about the Pandora Battery. How many people out there know about this? Will it be advertised? I'm just afraid that I'm going to get it and then realise that there's no good homebrew/emulators/apps out there.

I don't see any problem regarding developer support for future apps - check out all the amazing effort that's been poured into the GP2X (a great if somewhat flawed open source based handheld console) and realise that the Pandora offers developers a raft more possibilities with its higher spec hardware.

Many devs have already commited to provide great emulators (do a search) but an important point is to ensure you realise these guys are doing this for free/love (aside from the influence of the dev fund) so its diffcult to predict a timeline for the appearance of certain aps (if at all).

Most of the my points for pre-ordering have been covered above, its seriously the answer to my prayers but please understand ownership requires some patience and the willingness to tweak and understand a little more about your console than simply putting a UMD in a psp for instance.

Hope that helps - just my two cents, hope you have been able to formulate an opinion,,,

EDIT - I should point out some guys are also talking about commercial games (such as Svartalf and an unannounce DC port from the GoodDoktor (sp?) - just to say its not only Homebrew and emu on the way...

EDIT - spelling dammit!

 

[zzaz3]

Wow. Ok, I just looked at the developers section. I can't believe there's already 'good' apps in progress. Thanks for the link Prometheus.

I just remember being in the PSP scene since it 1st started. There used to be nothing but hello world, Dr. Mario, Snake, Tetrix, ect... It took years to get where they are now. With so many different apps. I sold my psp a few months ago and I'm wondering if the developing possess will be as slow as the PSPs was or will they be as fast as the iPhone?

 

[Azure]

You also shouldn't expect a load of polished software on launch (definitely not on the first batch, and maybe not even on the second batch). The community will be making the software, and these sorts of thing take lots of time and most people code in their free time. Just thought I should mention it

 

[zzaz3]

You also shouldn't expect a load of polished software on launch (definitely not on the first batch, and maybe not even on the second batch). The community will be making the software, and these sorts of thing take lots of time and most people code in their free time. Just thought I should mention it

Thats the kind of answer I was looking for. Thanks! I don't need anything polished, I was just checking to see if I were to get it as soon as it releases that I would be able to customize it and put homebrew/emulators on it right away.

 

[Kimundi]

Well, I think the Pandora is certanly easier to develop for.
I mean, you could develop smaller Games directly on a Pandora!

Also, unlike the PSP, the Pandora is actually meant for Homebrew.

 

[zzaz3]

Well, I think the Pandora is certanly easier to develop for.
I mean, you could develop smaller Games directly on a Pandora!

Also, unlike the PSP, the Pandora is actually meant for Homebrew.

Good point. Having to look for new exploits and learning how to code for the psp probably took up a lot of time. Ok, I've decided to get the Pandora. I think this sounds a whole lot better than the PSP scene.

So, another quick question: Since this is meant for homebrew, will they release source codes and things like that to the public or just to developers?

 

[sterling976]

...I'm wondering if the developing possess will be as slow as the PSPs was or will they be as fast as the iPhone?

I'd guess we won't see as much development as quickly as the iPhone, since Craig, ED, et al just don't have the marketing juggernaut that Apple does -- the community will build itself rather than being pre-established and fanatical. The up side of this is that we also won't be seeing any ridiculous light saber, bubble wrap, or "I am rich" apps released for the Pandora.

But we will see some pretty quick development. As others have said, the Developer's Corner is rife with people steadily hacking away at various projects. We've seen some of the interface work ED and others have been doing, and it's pretty impressive. Most of the 'productivity' class apps you could want should work pretty well from the get-go. It's also important to note that anything developed for/on the BeagleBoard will run on Pandora, as well as much of the work that's been done for Maemo -- some of the apps written for the Nokia N810, for example, will run on Pandora with only minor modifications (N810 uses ArmV6 vs Pandora's ArmV7a, which should be backward-compatible -- I haven't tested this, so YMMV). If anything, I'm looking forward to having too much software to play with when mine finally arrives. It'll be less a matter of having nothing to install and more a matter of not having enough time to tinker with all of these great software packages.

So, even though it's a new device, its openness will lend us a pretty sweet suite of software from day 1 -- it'll just take some time to get it polished and shiny for the masses. Bearing this in mind, I'd say you shouldn't order a Pandora just yet unless you're willing to wrangle it into submission. Hold off until batch 2 or beyond when the software will do the hardware some justice, or be prepared to get your hands pretty dirty!


EDIT: I see that once again, a thread has moved faster than I can type. To answer this question:

QUOTE

So, another quick question: Since this is meant for homebrew, will they release source codes and things like that to the public or just to developers?



That'll be up to the individual developer, but I believe most of them have indicated that they'll be open-sourcing their efforts.

 

[RajTakhar]

Buy it coz its the dogs dubbberies!!

Nothing else will match it for size, quality or design

You'd be a muppet to miss out on it

 

[TaG]

Welcome aboard, zzaz3.

The above couple of posts from_Sterling and RajTakhar are both on the money, in different way.

There is going to be so much stuff to look forward to, it will be awesome.