Worth buying Pandora after Pyra announcement?

[WizardStan]

Who knows if a secret PS2 emulator is currently in the works exclusively for Pyra

Shenmue is working on a secret PS2 emulator!

 

[TrashyMG]

Well we kind of already have a PS/2 emulator...

 

[bloodfalco]

Who knows if a secret PS2 emulator is currently in the works exclusively for Pyra

Shenmue is working on a secret PS2 emulator!

Thank heavens, if it is true.

 

[TrashyMG]

Thank heavens, if it is true.

Shenmue is our only hope for a PS2 emulator. It's all up to him.

 

[sswam]

The PS2 emulator relies on the quantum computing co-processor in OMAP5.

 

[Hồng Thất Công]

haha!  Didn't know WizardStan and TrashMG have some sense of humor

 

[Neelix]

You've been here how long now?   You've obviously not been paying attention.

- Neelix

 

[Kumaki]

There are many folx who may want a Pyra...and be willing to sell their old Pandora's in order to raise the money to get one.

So you MAY...wait around for Pyra to come out, and then grab a Pandy off EBay or even trading here - get a used one and get it cheaper - this could be an option if you miss the last batch of new-produced Pandoras.

Others may decide to just keep their Pandy's...others may even want both a Pandy and a Pyra.

For me, the one thing I might want a Pyra for is if there is more screen real estate.  Beyond that, there's nothing my Pandy does not do that I actually need.

Am wondering if ED might be convinced to put out a special batch of Pandora's with extra screen real estate.

That or...since the Pyra will be running Debian as a default...wondering if some could be produced that would run the default Pandora OS...Angstrom.

I am totally up in the air about what I might want to do with this...but I am definitely considering stocking up on a few extra spare Pandora batteries in case they stop making those at some point.

Can anyone tell me if the Pyra is actually going to have a bigger screen?

ED, if you're watching...what's the chances on a bigger-screen Pandy being released?

I know I don't speak for everyone, but, for me, at least...that is the one thing I might really want from Pyra - and if I could obtain a bigger-screen Pandy...that would make me just as happy...because there really is nothing my Pandy does not do that I actually need.

 I know I am repeating it here...BUT...the one thing that would make my Pandy even sweeter than it is now...is more screen real-estate.

Sorta like the difference between a DSi and a DSiXL.  I actually traded in the DSi on a DSiXL.  Still own several DS Lites...which I use in the event my Acekard ever needs to get re-flashed, LOL.  Never use the Lites for actual playing, because I like the bigger screen.

The advantage of the Lites is that they cannot EVER undergo over-the-air "upgrade" (reprogramming) which would make them not accept an Acekard.

 

[Kumaki]

Of course, this is the beauty of Pandora...and Pyra.

No Nintendo or anyone else to try to stop you from doing what you want with it.

 

[Jumpman]

I would get the Pandora NOW, as the Pyra may not happen for awhile. Also, supporting the Pandora now, is helping ED pay down debt, which can only help insure the Pyra somewhere down the line.

Chris

 

[thatgui]

Can anyone tell me if the Pyra is actually going to have a bigger screen?

Yes, it will have a slightly bigger screen > 5" Pyra vs. 4.3" Pandora

ED, if you're watching...what's the chances on a bigger-screen Pandy being released?

Not Ed, but an absolute no:

The Pandora is almost out of production: some parts that can't be just replaced aren't available anymore (like the WiFi Chip). So extending the lifespan of the Pandora would mean ED spending money on a redesign of the board, and additionally spending money on a rather large batch of boards which may not all be sold (the Pandora clearly distincts itself from the market, but its getting old). Making a PandoraXL would mean additional costs as the circuit for outputting video to the display would need to be redesigned (you can't just use another display), and at least a part of the case would need to be redesigned, which would mean: pay a designer, pay for the mold, pay for testing and modifcation, order a large batch to keep the price per unit down

This would leed to a PandoraXL with an XXL price tag on it > not very desireable for ED

 

[ekianjo]

That or...since the Pyra will be running Debian as a default...wondering if some could be produced that would run the default Pandora OS...Angstrom.

There's really no reason to want to use Angstrom on Pyra. All relevant applications from the Pandora should be ported to the Pyra anyway in a matter of... very short time. 

 

[levi]

Still, a chrooted Angstrom environment might end up being the quickest hack to supporting old PNDs with no source and no maintainers. It's really not that big when we've got many gigabytes of internal storage to play with, and while I'm not actually familiar enough with chrooting gui apps, I can't currently see any downsides to that approach.


The pyra should not only have more screen real estate in terms of physical dimensions, but also be a higher resolution, those two facts combining to mean busy apps like GIMP or LibreOffice should be easier to use, and the days of shift-dragging windows to get to the OK button at the bottom should be over.

 

[robohappy]

Thank you for your input guys, i am still seriously thinking about getting a Pandora. Found out its on sale for $589, is it still worth it at that price or should I still wait for the Pyra.

So I have decided that if its going to take 3-4 years for the Pyra to come out then im getting a Pandroa right now! But if the Pyra is coming out next year, then ill wait.

 

[WizardStan]

I don't know about 3-4 years. Probably more like 1-2. In order for there to be a nice flow from Pandora into Pyra it'll have to be sometime in 2015 at the latest.

But this is exactly why EvilDragon refuses to provide time frames: it's a huge undertaking and things can change, so maybe it will take 3 years.

 

[matzesu]

Well, at the time, where the Pandora was apple to preordered, ED had some GP2 X Wiz to sell, but i tought; the Pandora will be ready in 2 Months , and i ditnt had the money to buy both..,

The 2 Months were finaly about 3 Yeahrs, and maybe, if i dit know at this time it will left this long, i think i did used my Spear Book or something to buy a GP2 X Device like the Wiz or Caanoo..

Now, i allready have my Pandora hear so it will sho4ten the time until the Pyra..

The Dragonbox Shop also offers some cheaper Homebrewhandheld like the gcw zero, so maybe this would also a good thing to shorten the waitingtime..

But a Pandora isnt useless, when the Pyra Arives : Maybe until then, Drastic supports Multiplayer, or you can use this Pandora Programm which let the Pandora be a Bluetooth Controller to have a second Controller in Pyra Multiplayer Games

 

[ekianjo]

Still, a chrooted Angstrom environment might end up being the quickest hack to supporting old PNDs with no source and no maintainers

Do you think the PNDs using Notaz's SDL will work out of the box ? Somehow I don't think it's likely, but I may be wrong.  

 

[Kumaki]

Still, a chrooted Angstrom environment might end up being the quickest hack to supporting old PNDs with no source and no maintainers. It's really not that big when we've got many gigabytes of internal storage to play with, and while I'm not actually familiar enough with chrooting gui apps, I can't currently see any downsides to that approach.


The pyra should not only have more screen real estate in terms of physical dimensions, but also be a higher resolution, those two facts combining to mean busy apps like GIMP or LibreOffice should be easier to use, and the days of shift-dragging windows to get to the OK button at the bottom should be over.

Not sure what "chrooted" means, I am not the same sort of computer geek" that might normally buy a Pandora, I bought one more for the gaming and the movies and music aspects than the other many things a Pandora could be used for.

But if such an environment would run the old PND's with no porting required, this could be a good thing.

I know most of the mainstream emu's and apps would likely get ported to Pyra pretty quickly, but I do have a few custom apps, and one in progress (well, two in progress) for the Pandy...and don't know if I can GET them ported or not.  Thus an environment on Pyra that runs old PNDs would be useful to me.

I guess it sorts depends on the price tag, because, like I said...for what I use a Pandy for...well, there's nothing I really want to do that can't be done with my Pandy.  Just the extra screen real-estate is attractive...and I do worry about the possibility of running out of replacement parts or batteries (even these batteries eventually "die" in that they will not take a charge any more.)

So I am a bit up in the air about what I'd want to do with the Pyra...I guess, for me, it comes down to price and also the ability to run old PNDs on the new Pyra in some manner that is not too difficult.  And by that I mean not to difficult for someone with a very low skill level, like myself.  For me, it would just plain be better if the new Pyra could be made to run an operating system by default...that just accepts all the old PNDs.  But I am probably not the main target audience for this device, so I am not sure my desires would be incorporated.  But if there's a not-too-difficult way to do what I want...and the price is okay, I could be in line for a Pyra.

 

[lunixbochs]

Still, a chrooted Angstrom environment might end up being the quickest hack to supporting old PNDs with no source and no maintainers

 Do you think the PNDs using Notaz's SDL will work out of the box ? Somehow I don't think it's likely, but I may be wrong.

If there's not a decent compatibility layer at launch, I'll probably make one. It's right up my alley. I don't see any reason why we can't get close to 100% backwards compatibility.

 

[levi]

Not sure what "chrooted" means, I am not the same sort of computer geek" that might normally buy a Pandora, I bought one more for the gaming and the movies and music aspects than the other many things a Pandora could be used for.


But if such an environment would run the old PND's with no porting required, this could be a good thing.

Yep, that's the idea. I'm only really throwing around terms like 'chrooted' as I only started using it myself fairly recently Fundamentally, it's a way to run one Linux inside another, and to make apps that are run under the chrooted environment pull all their libs from a new location, which is a handy trick when all PNDed apps need softfp linked libs, whereas the Pyra OS will probably use hardfp. If you have a copy of Angstrom including all it's softfp libs in a subdirectory of the root, by chrooting to that subdir and then running the PND it'll look for its libs in that subdir, and find the Angstrom softfp ones. It ought to be possible to make the system automatically recognise Pandora PNDs and set that up for you.