Pandora Now available.

[davek22]

I have been keeping an eye on the new Pandora handheld for a while as I am big fan of the GP32/GP2X. It went on pre-order on Tuesday and appears to be a sell out already:

http://openpandora.org/index.php

Has anyone here ordered one? I am 50-50 about it at the moment. Its a lot of wonga for a sight unseen final unit

[ChrisF]

I was tempted but you're right - ?200 is a lot of wedge of something unseen. Plus it needs to do a whole lot more than the usual raft of CPS 1/2, Neo Geo emulators before I shell out.

Looks promising though.

[abigsmurf]

They've sold out the 3000 already? That's pretty impressive given the nature of the device. Personally after the fiasco of the 1st gen gp2x (awful d-pad, tendancy to self brick), I'd wait a bit first

[merf]

it looks nice but £200 for a promise nobody has ever held is a bit of a long shot.

may well be very good but I'll wait til somebody gets some hands on for build quality issues.

[ChrisF]

Looks like the first batch was increased to 4000... But then they've increased it to "whatever they sell by Sunday"... http://pandora.dcemu.co.uk/

[davek22]

Yeah I saw that. Not a bad start though for such a small set-up. They reckon the battery life is 10hrs plus. If that figure is accurate then it may swing the buying decision for me. I read they have PS1 Emu running at 100fps and Dreamcast *may* be possible

[ChrisF]

DC and PSX emulation are the sort of thing that would tip it into being more useful for me (than say using my PSP for the emulation).

Gotta wonder what conditions that 10hrs is under though - you can bet its with Wifi and Bluetooth switched off (not that you'd need 'em for emulation I guess, unless you're playing online)

[abigsmurf]

DC Emulation... I'm not sure it's feasible on the console although it has almost exactly the same graphics card which would save a lot of CPU time. There's not a whole lot of leeway in terms of CPU cycles. PSX emulation will be full speed though.

It uses an ULV SoaC solution so it's possible the quoted battery life may not be stupidly optimistic.

[davek22]

Yeah and that battery life must be with a lower spec emulator running. I cant see it running a PS1 emu for 10hrs. As you say earlier though, I dont want another machine to run SNES, MD, CPS2 etc as I already have other machines that do that. DC emu would be the killer app. Theres a new PSP and DS due out soon which can both be bought for the same price as Pandora+accessories. I think I will wait until the the machine is in hand and reviewed before I take the plunge. I still have memories of buying the first release of the GP2X which was a pretty shoddy unit. I have been reading the Pandora crew say this wont happen with this machine but I would rather wait

[mmcg]

As good as the emulation is, it'll be ruined by the crap controls.

[Duddyroar]

As good as the emulation is, it'll be ruined by the crap controls.

What are you basing this assumption on? The chaps behind Pandora are the guys who distributed the GP2X and they were always bugging Gamepark to improve the interface of the F100/F200. In fact it's due to the chaps behind the Pandora that Gamepark has recently dropped the terrible 'dual d-pad' setup for the GP2X successor, the Wiz. They're fully aware that the GP2X is less than perfect when it comes to this kind of thing.

The d-pad on the Pandora has been designed by a chap who modded GP2X machines to give them a brilliant pad. So I think in terms of control, the machine will be a winner.

And to say you don't want to put ?200 down on a machine you've never held - what's so different with preordering a Sony or Nintendo machine that has yet to be released? Let's not forget the issues Sony has had with its hardware being less than perfect just after launch...

[davek22]

The problem is its so hard to find hard info about it. I have been going through the forums and putting the pieces together about it. I am veering towards ordering one now. The more I read about it the better it gets. I would rather put my money into a British project like this for a unique machine than more cash to Sony or Nintendo for a tweaked version of a handheld I already own. Hell if it runs CPS3 SF3 ok then thats enough for me. I just think it would be an easier sell if there was a finished unit to be seen running something I havent seen running on a handheld before, like SF3. Also it appears the cash from the pre-orders is being used to manufacture the machines, which is risky to me given the current financial climate. Handing over £200+ for something thats not been manufacture tested worries me.

[Duddyroar]

There's plenty of info over at the main site (www.openpandora.org) and on various forums, like www.GP32x.com.

Although you make a fair point about paying for something that hasn't actually be made, but it's worth noting that Craig Rothwell - one of the main chaps - has poured thousands of pounds of his own money into this already. It's not like they've come up with an idea and then set up pre-orders to entirely bankroll it.

Given the amazing attention to detail these guys have I'm sure the final thing will be fine. There will be issues with hardware/software - even companies that spend millions of dollars testing their products suffer from those - but ironically the smaller and more dedicated design team, coupled with the small-scale production run could result in a machine that undergoes pretty strong QA testing. I'm sure Craig isn't going to push the Pandora out if there are seriou bugs or issues, because he would stand to lose a lot more than Sony or some other faceless megacorp would.

[gunrock]

I've got to say, that this project absolutely excites me. I love this kind of esoteric, unique hardware and if I had 200 sobs (and my wife wouldn't decapitate me) I'd been in-like-flynn!

This for me is as cool as the mini-mig and other such marvels.

[The Mole]

Has this got a touch screen? Looking at the screen shots its not the best looker is it? Still looks are not everything. But for ?200 unless it does at least full speed ps1, or n64 for me it will not be worth it, as all the good emus are still available on GP32 and Giz things have not moved on from them much IMO. They were very playable and some near perfect on those platforms (which i still own) negating the need for the ?200 spend.