Pandora handhelds start shipping

[haflore]

This seems pretty awesome, if it ever releases I'll probably get one.

 

[Supersonicmonk]

I remember seeing a video of it booting google android (albeit slowly and with no touch screen support) so if it gets perfected you could have a nice system on your hands

 

[nutella]

I know this emulates up to the Dreamcast, but is PSX/N64 emulation any good? Like full speed? If so, I'd consider it.

A very interesting piece of technology that has gotten my interest, but not $300 worth of my interest. If I had lots of extra cash to spend and bought everything I'm desiring right now, I'd consider it. But at the moment, not even in range.

PSX is pretty much perfect and N64 will get there some day (the majority of games run fullspeed, it's just a matter of fixing compatibility issues really than further optimizing). There are videos of pre-production models running them. Even Dreamcast may get to fullspeed one day.

By the time 6 months comes along and we can finally order from the second batch, you can expect to see fullspeed N64 emulation or very close to it.

 

[Awdofgum]

haha They've delayed this so much that all the new users here have never heard of it.

 

[Arwen20]

This looks really cool. I wish N64 emulation would be available or perfected on the psp, I already have one of those. Anyway, I think I will wait to see how things go with the first batch before spending $330 on one of these. Plus, it looks like we may see a new nintendo handheld (or console) in the near future.

 

[m3rox]

So it's a watered down PSP with extra buttons?

 

[DeMoN]

No, it's definitely better than the PSP. It can even run Linux and Firefox, but the emulation so far is about the same as PSP (not that great).

 

[TwinBlades]

OMG I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS!!!. My friend pre-ordered it. it's basically an ipod touch 3g (same hardware but pandora is a bit better) best portable homebrew ever made

 

[dib]

No, it's definitely better than the PSP. It can even run Linux and Firefox, but the emulation so far is about the same as PSP (not that great).

You say that like it amounts to something. I have a crappy 1GB mp3 player that can run Linux too, that doesn't mean it does anything. Anything with a basic processor and few necessary resources like I/O memory can run Linux, so I'm sick of seeing that boasted as a selling point to these things.

And running Firefox could be equally meaningless when you know the first thing people are going to say is "Where's the Flash player? I want to play Youtube. Why can't I play Youtube on it?" Assuming of course that current Flash does work, and web browsing is sensible (how good is the wifi? How long will the battery last?) then things might be different.

And PSP emulation is superb, I have all the SNES, SEGA, Gameboy systems, C64, Atari, CPS2, PSX, and N64 is getting closer with every new release (Daedalus is actually updated frequently) The difference here is that the PSP is a major platform that's readily available in all stores and has been around for about six years, and continues to be supported by developers. Even the DS, despite the popularity, has been dead in the water for most of its lifespan.

There's no question that the Pandora has the potential, but of the few that exist and are being shipped how many are going into the hands of anybody capable of writing or porting an emulator? How many will ever adopt it between the price and rarity? And how long will it take to see anything worthwhile come out? Will any of this matter with the next generation of handhelds due any year?

 

[nutella]

No, it's definitely better than the PSP. It can even run Linux and Firefox, but the emulation so far is about the same as PSP (not that great).

Will any of this matter with the next generation of handhelds due any year?

The Pandora has much greater potential than the PSP, being opensource and much more powerful. By linux, we do mean a full desktop linux OS. Firefow runs, just like a desktop would, though you're right, flash won't run anytime soon. Will this matter when the next gen comes out? Sure it will. The Pandora is opensouce, with no chance of homebrew being blocked because it was made for that purpose. There's no guarantee that the next gen handhelds will be hacked in any time soon when they come out and whether it will have the same capabilities as the Pandora.

Then again, the rarity issue. Its not that there won't be any great developers, because they already have them. Its just that if you want one, you might not even have a chance to get one this year if you haven't preordered. The Pandora WILL be a great handheld. Guaranteed. The N64 emulation is definitely better than the PSP's. Even if it isn't, the PSP has had years to optimise its emulator, but the Pandora has done this with little optimisation. I know everyone on this forum would love one, but the price, wait time and arguably, not so pretty design is definitely going to throw people off and that's justified.

I'm not a Pandora fanboy, I was thrown off by all these things thats why I got a nVidia ION netbook instead.

 

[Bladexdsl]

i can see this getting sued from every company from google to nintendo

 

[nutella]

i can see this getting sued from every company from google to nintendo

Again, why would they get sued. What are they doing that's illegal?

 

[Bladexdsl]

you think emulation isn't illegal well it isn't as long as the emulators are free like they are on the pc, wii etc. BUT once you start charging for these things that's when the companies dig their claws in.

 

[WhoRuJudge]

The software is free. They are only charging you for the hardware +shipping.

I thought that is how all these things work now.
Buy the hardware, then download the software off of the site once you have it.

At least, as far as I know, that's what is goin on.

 

[fgghjjkll]

If they are going to sue, it would be the emulator programmers that gets sued. Remember that SNES emulator in that nokia n900 ad?

 

[ericling]

What Pandora is?

I read all the post you guys post, no full description about this hardware.
From post information, I guess it is a game console can emulate SNES PSX and more and more?

 

[nutella]

The software is free. They are only charging you for the hardware +shipping.

I thought that is how all these things work now.
Buy the hardware, then download the software off of the site once you have it.

At least, as far as I know, that's what is goin on.

Not only that, but the emulators themselves are not associated with the Pandora team at all. Other people develop therm, just like how other people develop emulators for Windows. The emulators themselves may be illegal but that's not the point.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

The software is free. They are only charging you for the hardware +shipping.

I thought that is how all these things work now.
Buy the hardware, then download the software off of the site once you have it.

At least, as far as I know, that's what is goin on.

Not only that, but the emulators themselves are not associated with the Pandora team at all. Other people develop therm, just like how other people develop emulators for Windows. The emulators themselves may be illegal but that's not the point.

Emulators aren't illegal, they just can be used for illegal things. People who make emulators "assume" that you're just backing up copies of your older games so you can play them on your computer. It's kinda like when flashcart companies say that they're not supposed to be used for piracy, only for homebrew and backups of your own games. Yeah, they know people buy them for pirating, but it's this disclaimer that gets them off the hook of many a lawsuit. And if emulators are illegal, then many video game companies are breaking the law. How do you think games run on the Virtual Console? Or how PSOne classics work on your PS3? It's all Nintendo and Sony's respective emulators. Even some retail games (namely arcade compilations) use emulators. I'm pretty sure the upcoming Sonic Collection is emulation. Thought I'd point that out.

If the price ever drops to anything

 

[Sterling]

I might just start saving for this.

 

[computarman]

I'm with you in that if there is ever a nice price decrease in the Pandora I might be interested, but at the current price I don't think I will ever buy a Pandora. It remains to be seen what the Pandora will be able to do. I admit it could get to be a bigger temptation purchase for me. While I have been interested in the Pandora and I will watch it from afar, I have gotten a little disgusted with all of the long delays in getting the Pandora to market. I might wait until I can buy a Pandora for $200 used on Ebay in a few years. I waited several years for the thing to get to market so I suppose I can wait another few years to get the device at a used price. By the way, are you sure the Pandora is really really out as I just checked the official site and the status is still listed as shipping not started. I will only believe it when I actually see the device for sale at GP2X store.