Pandora Console?

[J.D]

I've heard and dome some research on this open resource hand held console called the Pandora. I would get it, but it's too expensive. Could I get a bit more info on it? It is supposed to be better then the DS and PSP technologically, and is can even run PSX emulators. It sounds good, should I get it, even with the high price tag ($350)?

[lifeisbetterwithketchup]

Pandora is vastly superior to both DS and PSP from a hardware standpoint. PSX emulation is already on it without a sweat. If you're into what it offers, I'd say it's worth the price tag, but who am I to say how you spend your money?

[AfroLH]

Well its is a Linux-based handheld.
It is basically a do-whatever-you-want-on-it console. It is not like other handhelds because it can also run things like GiMP and other linux apps along with pandora-only programs.

I was gonna get it, still might.

[XCVG]

It's pretty cool looking, but it's probably going to have NO 3rd party support.

I'm still holding out for an x86 based handheld. Come ON Nvidia, release that friggin' ION.

[nightwheel]

I'm still holding out for an x86 based handheld. Come ON Nvidia, release that friggin' ION.

Uhh ARM was chosen since it conducts almost no heat what so ever and very power efficient. Intel's newest versions of the Atom still are nowhere near as power efficient as ARM cpu's. And they still put off a nice bit of heat.

[vskid]

It's pretty cool looking, but it's probably going to have NO 3rd party support.

I'm still holding out for an x86 based handheld. Come ON Nvidia, release that friggin' ION.

What do you mean? It is an open source system, almost everything will be 3rd party.
I agree with the ION handheld (specifically something similar bic's concept). Pandora will be a nice emulating and media machine, but an ION UMPC would probably destroy it with commercial games, internet browsing, and other computer stuff.

@J.D-It just depends on what you want to do. If you want something that will fit in your pocket and emulate older system/play videos and music, its about the cheapest option you have (unless the PSP will work for you). If you really wanted to surf the web on it, it might not be your best option. It could do the job, but 800x480px isn't the greatest for web surfing. A netbook is kind of an option, you'll get a larger screen and keyboard, but also larger size, less battery life, and no game controls.

[J.D]

Thanks for the comments guys. I'm still deciding if it's worth it, or just go the hard way and use the PSP.

[palmertech]

A year ago, I would have said yes (I was very active on the GP32X forums)

But the market is moving really fast, and the PSP already has a good PSX emulator. Not to mention the fact that the Pandora STILL has no concrete launch date.

So, I say wait till E3, and see what happens. Not like you have much of a choice, you cannot even pre-order a Pandora till the next batch, anyways.

[tom61]

Since this came up, might as well post a question I've had, which relates to whether I think it might worthwhile to get, once it really exists in a practical standpoint. How is the application side progressing? I'm curious if they've gotten GNASH to run on it, and how well it runs, because without running Flash, you're out of luck on a wide variety of websites. Also, is there any talk of licensing, or somehow making available some of the commercial video codecs for the OMAP3 that allow it to handle 720p H.264 and other MPEG 4 codecs? Video playback on it using the main processor should be decent, but getting the DSP and media accelerator involved (which buying the commercial codecs seem the path of least resistance) would make it more capable than any portable media player I know of that's out.

My Nokia N800 is slowly coming up in usefulness to me, and a more powerful successor that could also play games is what I'm looking for. Something I could get on DarkOrbit.com and do quick things on (like the auction), and also play NES, PSX and other games on without having to have series of adapters or somehow binding the Wiimote to it (which I haven't yet been successful at on my N800), all the while being more powerful, is what I'm searching for.

[bacteria]

Rather than having to endure reading through hundreds of fanboy posts in the GP2x forum, I think it would be useful if someone posted a summary of the differences in real terms of the Wiz and Pandora models; against the humble GP2x; in regards to best emulation without frame rate skip, what one can do in the real world that the others don't etc. It then makes it easier to see if it is worth bothering with or not.

[tom61]

Rather than having to endure reading through hundreds of fanboy posts in the GP2x forum, I think it would be useful if someone posted a summary of the differences in real terms of the Wiz and Pandora models; against the humble GP2x; in regards to best emulation without frame rate skip, what one can do in the real world that the others don't etc. It then makes it easier to see if it is worth bothering with or not.

Might as well add the Dingoo to that list as well.

[bacteria]

From what I read, the Dingoo isn't in the same league ...

[ShockSlayer]

I'd tend to say it qualifies.

SS

[tom61]

PSX on Wiz: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWvyDG7pdxM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
PSX on Pandora: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xXtYmZa4yM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I couldn't find a PSX emu for Dingoo being demoed, but I've heard that one is in the works. Judging by SNES and other emulators, the Wiz and Dingoo are close to the same power, but it's difficult to tell how optimized the emulators it comes with Dingoo are. If they're not optimized, the Dingoo is likely more powerful than the Wiz, based on video of emulators I've seen on the two platforms.

The first demo I saw on the Pandora of a PSX Emu, with no optimizations and not using the 3D accel, games ran faster than normal PSX speed with no frame skip, so it seems to beat out the Wiz in sheer and utter power. Of course the Wiz is cheaper and you can actually buy one. Then there's the issue of the PSP having full speed PSX emulation anyways if that's your main goal (though it is less powerful than the Pandora, and possibly the Wiz).

N64 emulation would seem to be the sticky point at the moment, but no demos of N64 emulation that I've seen for Wiz, Dingoo, or Pandora. The Pandora would have the best shot at doing it full-speed. N64 on PSP was still fairly slow last I checked.

Edit: Now this looks promising, NullDC being run on the beagleboard (same platform as the Pandora runs on) with some optimization: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o4y9k0s_Xc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;