Jump to content

Pandora Preorders


Striker21
 Share

Recommended Posts

Has anyone else been following the development of the Pandora? It just became available for pre-order and only 3000 are being made this year. Those who miss out have to wait until next year for the second batch.

Check it out at http://www.openpandora.org

"How is it relevant?" is what some may be asking. Well, the Pandora prides itself on being one of the best ways to emulate all of your favorite consoles in your pocket. It has full analog controller capabilities, touchscreen, it even has a full keyboard for all of you Amiga lovers.

Just thought I'd spread the love.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Preordered mine this morning.

I've had my eye on Pandora for a while. As I'm a developer, I may port something to it (got my eyes on something already, but need to scope it out to see what's feasible) once I get my hands on it.

Worthy of noting is that they're not OUT, they are just taking preorders on the first batch - just 3000 units worldwide, first come first serve, and after that the next batch will be made in 2009. The current batch will be delivered .. november, I think?

Can't wait to start playing with this device. Atmuh will tell you how much of a Linux guru I can be at times, and this handheld is right up my alley.

What do you plan on doing with pandora? Anything big besides the expected emulation?

Edit: Here are some links:

Official Website

Wikipedia page

Preorder here

Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks and sounds interesting, but the price is a little high. Yeah, you don't have to pay for games, but still...

And it's a severely limited release, so I have to wonder about future support and service. What if it flops bigtime? It's hard enough to get support from the larger, more structured console companies as it is, and that's with current systems.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's more for linux games, general purpose usage, and emulators than commercial games written for it specifically - only a few companies port their games to handhelds like this (look at the GP2X for an example). It's not competing with Nintendo and Sony.

Even so, it's got some *really* nice features, and incredible specs for a handheld/UMPC - the most powerful device of its size at this time. Specs wise, it outperforms the DS, PSP, iPhone, Gamecube, and all similarly sized UMPCs. It's slightly smaller than a DS fat, larger than a DS lite.

And since it runs linux, has usb/wifi/bluetooth, plenty of storage via 2x SDHC slots, and all kinds of other goodies, it will replace my aging laptop as well. I'll probably end up carrying a small laptop mouse and keyboard (like the new apple keyboards) as typing on that and using the touch screen would be a bit inconvenient. The fact that a handheld can run a desktop OS (there are already vids of it running Ubuntu) speaks volumes for the amount technology has advanced in such a short time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And since it runs linux, has usb/wifi/bluetooth, plenty of storage via 2x SDHC slots, and all kinds of other goodies, it will replace my aging laptop as well. I'll probably end up carrying a small laptop mouse and keyboard (like the new apple keyboards) as typing on that and using the touch screen would be a bit inconvenient.

If convenience is your worry, maybe you'd be interested in a laser keyboard to go with it. Stylish and not nearly as bulky, though the drawbacks are the price, and the need for a flat surface.

Pandora looks like an appealing gadget, but like a lot of the other people here, I'm too broke to get one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

overpriced
If Asus, Apple, or other large companies in the UMPC business made this device, it would cost roughly twice as much. They won't, though, because it's not what *their* customers want.

Expensive? Hell yes. Overpriced? Not at all. You just have to be in the market for a device like this, and the market is very small.

Edit:

I am in the market for this device BECAUSE:

-I don't have an iPod or other portable media player. Pandora will serve as one.

-My laptop is outdated and I use Linux on it anyway. Pandora replaces it.

-I never owned a game boy or game boy color. Ability to run those now-dirt-cheap games, as well as all my retro classics without busting out my consoles is an opportunity that Pandora allows me to do on-the-go. One device for all my emulators.

-My cell phone is just a phone. All those features cell phone manufacturers advertise? Pandora does pretty much everything, except be a phone.

-I am a developer. I write programs, and the idea of targeting linux on a mobile platform is interesting. Pandora is an open platform for which there are no barriers (such as licensing) to overcome to develop for the device, and linux as a target is extremely well-documented and has excellent dev environments.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

But damn, if ever you wanted a micro computer (like I would actually) that's one sexy looking thing.

I might actually start saving up for the 2009 run now. I just hope they make enough off of this run to be able to make a second run

PS3/Wii/xbox360

asking a bit much for a $330 handheld that's the size of a DS, aren't we

Link to comment
Share on other sites

But damn, if ever you wanted a micro computer (like I would actually) that's one sexy looking thing.

I might actually start saving up for the 2009 run now. I just hope they make enough off of this run to be able to make a second run

asking a bit much for a $330 handheld that's the size of a DS, aren't we

Considering I have a PC/PS2/Wii and DS that does already what I want them to do, yeah I wouldn't mind it. Perhaps I'm just jaded by Pandora, but unless it can do what I've mentioned earlier as well as perhaps other things, such as burn dvds on the fly/vid record as well. I'm not impressed. But for those that don't have much in hardware/gadgetry/are tinkerers, knock yourself out. :)!!

I love any great multitasker as much as the next person, but its bad enough there are times I'm buying the same game over again, I don't really feel like buying the same hardware capability again until my original stuff had died... (namely most of the SNES titles/Sega I have :sad:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Considering I have a PC/PS2/Wii and DS that does already what I want them to do, yeah I wouldn't mind it. Perhaps I'm just jaded by Pandora, but unless it can do what I've mentioned earlier as well as perhaps other things, such as burn dvds on the fly/vid record as well. I'm not impressed. But for those that don't have much in hardware/gadgetry/are tinkerers, knock yourself out. :)!!

I love any great multitasker as much as the next person, but its bad enough there are times I'm buying the same game over again, I don't really feel like buying the same hardware capability again until my original stuff had died... (namely most of the SNES titles/Sega I have :sad:)

I'm not saying YOU need it, I'm just saying there is a market, however small, for which it is quite practical.

If your goal is video recording and dvd burning, you'd be better off with a desktop or laptop computer. That functionality doesn't require much portability and once you get to a certain size (Macbook air) you stop seeing DVD drives altogether. If you want a DVR that burns DVDs, ... I'm not an expert, but I believe a MythTV box will serve you a hell of a lot better than any of the other options out there in this regard.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...