Pandora cases start arriving, production enters 'so close you can smell it' stage
By Darren Murph 
posted November 25th 2009 10:10PM
posted November 25th 2009 10:10PM
[Thanks, Andrew]
posted November 25th 2009 10:10PM
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I still say this is the biggest trolling since Anonymous rick-rolled the Church of Scientology headquarters.
@(Unverified)
I'm sorry you feel that way
@atomicthumbs Eviltradon is a known troll.
once claimed to have mac o on a sega genesis/32x setup.
Totally impossible for a number of reasons.
In any case, they're gonna get their money, and everyone who gave it to them will be too ashamed to press charges.
@(Unverified)
who the hell is eviltradon
@atomicthumbs I think he's friends with graigex.
@atomicthumbs An acquaintance of typo.
LOL at Gabriel Iglesias joke
That pic still has some of the rapid prototype pieces in it. Still waiting on a fully assembled one. :(
@cloud858rk
Check the read link, there's practically the whole thing spread out over about 5 or 6 photos. It's not assembled yet, but all the pieces are there.
@cloud858rk
http://pandorapress.net/2009/11/25/testing-testing-123/
There are photos of more parts (which the factory people took at the factory and sent to CraigIX).
@atomicthumbs Already saw those; pieces are nice, but I want to see one assembled. And even then it won't have the production-quality gloss. /sigh
@cloud858rk
We were just discussing this on the forum. This is the second or third time when the OP team have released a sneak peak which was caught by Engadget, only to release a much better update a few days later which was not. It'd be nice if whomever keeps leaking these updates to "the press" would just wait a couple days for Craig et al to bust out the good stuff. :D
I feel bad for all the preorder people waiting, but this is AWESOME.
@(Unverified)
I don't know. After all this hype for how many years, this thing has just got to be extremely disappointing...
One more year and maybe it'll be out.
@(Unverified)
the joke is actually "two months", but thanks for trying
"The finishing is missing on those, as finishing test cases doesn't make much sense"
Every time I see an update, the first thing that catches my eye is how cheap it looks, especially when you take into account the retail price on these babies.
Still, they look like they're finally getting there, so hopefully we'll see an actual finished unit soon.
@gofthick
Shiny is expensive. The prototype cases were done using Fused Deposition Modeling, a sort of prototyping technique that uses plastic filaments, and the pictures in the link don't have the final finish on them yet.
@gofthick
What up, Tom.
Dang, I'm so ready.
The molds should be perfect now, if MWeston gets the rest of the case sample made with them (parts of which are seen above) and says it's 100%, mass production of the cases begins. Which means a few customers (And maybe the press, Engadget) will see units before Christmas. We have software that's progressed very far, like the WIP N64 and Dreamcast emulators which might not be ready for launch, but once developers get actual hardware things may pick up. Exciting times for the Pandora
@(Unverified) How's EvilDragon's Genesis OS 7.4 install?
Still fake?
Looks cool, but $330? That's asking way too much. Not like I'll not buy it though. Want it so bad now...
It's really not, not for what you're getting. It's packing power similar to that of the iPhone 3GS. Though I'm sure the Pandora guys aren't getting the parts as cheap as Apple is
@EGOvoruhk They're not getting the parts.
It's a scam.
@EGOvoruhk And as a bonus over the iPhone 3G S, it has a big screen (in size and resolution), expandable memory, and buttons/analog nub for playing games.
@cloud858rk And a downgrade would be resistive rather than capacitative screen...
@stab244
Depends on your definition of "downgrade". The benefit of capacitive is that it allows multi-touch, true. On the other hand, resistive allows for better accuracy, and can be triggered by anything solid, not just something conductive. A resistive screen also has different levels of pressure sensitivity, whereas a capacitive screen does not (I think).
So to summarize, there are pros and cons to both, and it's not a fair statement to say that one is strictly better than the other.
Because we know that multi-touch resistive screens are better than both :P (too bad they didn't exist 2 years ago)
@EGOvoruhk
And the 3GS has no gaming controls.
Well, except for the iControlPad, by the same guys who are making the Pandora. forgot about that for a sec
@cloud858rk
Kind of like a $169 PSP?
I mean, the PSP will run pretty much any emulator the Pandora will (at first, anyway), and it's got the benefit of costing less, having a large supply that is readily available if you need a replacement or repair, and having a ton of third-party accessories at every game store on earth.
The WiZ will run most of the emulators a Pandora will, and costs $179, with a gorgeous OLED touch screen and smaller size.
I really don't see the value in the Pandora over what's already available. Even a Dingoo is a better value in the end; Low price ($80), most of the same emulators, much smaller and more compact, more people in the community who can get one and thus more people developing for it...
Pandora has a lot to prove before I'll consider it worth $330 of my cash.
@ZeroCorpse
I think you're missing the point. Yes, PSP can run all the emulators you want. Yes, PSP has a crapload of accessories. Yes, the Wiz is cheaper and runs a lot of emulators. Yes, Dingoo costs $80. Yes, Pandora is $330.
But Pandora's pretty much built by the community, for the community, with community money and community support. It runs the emulators all the others do at full speed or better. It's an open platform so you can tweak it to your heart's content without worrying about the next firmware update.
I have two PSPs with CFW. One has 3.80 M33-5. The other has 5.00 M33-6. I can't play the newest commercial games on it without resorting to pirated/hacked ISOs, else I'll lose my ability to play those emulators you speak so much about. Sure, you can argue that the PSP hacking community will eventually work around that problem, but DarkAlex hasn't been putting out any new CFWs since 5.00 (I think), and it's starting to look like the hackers are falling behind in terms of keeping up with Sony.
Pandora's expensive, there's no away around that. But it's a niche machine for gadget and emulation lovers. I preordered a Pandora after I saw the Odroid and couldn't stand the button arrangement. I'm tired of missing out on the newest games because I'm afraid to lose my homebrew abilities on my PSP. I'll consider myself lucky to own a Pandora, and I'm sure almost everyone else who ordered one feels the same.
I don't know about anyone else, but I'm buying it because it is a nice little computer that I can used for Firefox, Abiword, VLC, Pidgin, Transmission, XBMC (eventually), XMMS. Oh, and as an add on bonus I'll be able to play some emulators and homebrew games. I'm really looking forward to playing LERP.
That's why the WiZ and Dingoo are a better choice if emulation is your thing. Cheaper, community-based, and pretty much open. They're also smaller, and most emulators run great.
As a little computer the Pandora has potential, but again, it's an unsupported homemade device that won't have anything in terms of parts availability. Give it a little time, and the guys involved will start overcharging for simple things like replacement buttons, before abandoning it and moving on to another project. I'd much rather grab an ASUS if I want a portable computer; I know they'll come through if I need anything for it.
@stab244
it's the economy of scales. they only have 4000 cases and a few 100 boards so definitely it will be hard even to break even and make some profit
Sadly I was a late preorderer (Oct 2009) and I don't expect I'll be one of the lucky ones to receive mine before Christmas. It's very encouraging that we're in such a final stage and I expect this post on Engadget will probably sell all the remaining units.
if this thing is so cool , how come i don't even know what it is? Im a huge nerd, i browse this and other tech sites everyday, never heard of it.
@brandoshido
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandora_(console)
community blog for news on stuff on the forums, as well as community projects:
http://pandorapress.net/
@brandoshido
I guess you haven't followed Engadget religiously enough then. They've covered it a few times.
If you want to know more the easiest place to get info is http://PandoraPress.net
This is gonna kill. ...Finally make up for my GP2X purchase!
still might try to get one eventually. had a chance at grabbing one, but couldnt wait with all the other gizmos i wanted to get. hopefully there will be extras, or that even a pandora2 will be released.
Pandora is very powerful way more powerful than the PSP/PSPgo
i would love to get a Pandora play all of my ROMs for Dreamcast, N64, Mame,SNES, NES, PlayStation and Sega.
i all ready have a corsair voyager 128gb waiting.
It's really worth $330 to play last-gen or older games?
I love my WiZ, and it plays just about everything from Atari 2600 through PSOne, but it was only $179 and has an OLED screen and actual support from a large corporation.
By my math, the ability to play N64, and maybe GameCube or PS2, isn't worth an extra $151 quite yet. The OS features are nice, though I don't see the point when other devices do those things, too.
I could mod my PSP for less than $15 and it would handle N64 and everything before that. The PSP itself only cost me $120 used.
@ZeroCorpse
I don't think the PSP runs any N64 games at full speed. Super Mario 64 outside the castle, maybe.
Yeah. Keep waiting guys. Meanwhile I'm playing all the same stuff on my GP2X WiZ.
Oh, I'm certainly interested in Pandora, but I'm not going to hold my breath for it. I'll believe it's real when I see it available to order with the promise that the product will arrive within three weeks.
And they've still not really covered things like warranty issues, dealing with defects, where to get it repaired, the lack of accessories, and getting the price to a reasonable level.
For the price of a Pandora, you can get a PS3 and a game. It's kind of pricey for an emulator platform, which is what most people will use it for.
I just have a feeling that the whole project will be deemed too overwhelming for the developers once they start getting crap-tons of support request emails and forum complaints when buttons break, screens crack, pixels burn out, and all the things that would be sussed out with proper QA come up from their first crowd of Alpha testers/customers.
They addressed the warranty issue long ago. It'll get the same coverage as any other gadget as required by law. And these guys are GP2X/Wiz distributors, so they've had more than their fair share of experience over the years dealing with returns and repairs. Which is one of the reasons they set out to build a better machine.
Anyway, I'll let you get back to enjoying Quake 3 on your Wiz.
@ZeroCorpse
A game! Wow! One game.
@ZeroCorpse It's not just an emulation platform, at least in terms of software most users will be using. The OMAP3 chip is in the N900, Palm Pre, and other devices, which gives a much larger developer pool and more software opportunities (even commercial ones). You can say the Wiz does a lot of the same, but it's vastly outclassed in power and usability. Playable N64 and Dreamcast emulation may never be possible on it, and the community has less developers at it's disposal. $330 is a lot, but compared to a $2000 x86 handheld with about the same power and 1/3rd the battery life, it's a bargain.
@grruse
Dude. Quake 3 is no more interesting than Quake 1 or 2. . . But if you'll pay $330 just to play an old FPS away from your laptop, then more power to you, I guess.
If I want to play a crappy FPS like Quake, the WiZ can do that. And if I want something more "modern", I can jump to the PSP.
But I don't get these consoles to play yet another FPS. I get enough of that repetitive garbage on the PC and home consoles. I certainly wouldn't consider the price of Pandora and the risk that the guys involved won't just cancel the project and go home worth it to play Quake III.
I'm certainly interested in Pandora, but I'm no sucker. I'll let guys like you test everything first. You enter the cave first and find out if the air is poisonous. You alpha test the Pandora and find all the bugs. You deal with a defective device and tell me how long it took for them to get you a new one or a replacement part. My hat's off to you, because while I may be a gadget guy, I'm not brave enough to throw $330 at something that has been "coming" for three years now, which hasn't seen a proper QA testing, and which may end up being a total disappointment once it does arrive... IF it ever arrives.
I bet you invested in the Phantom, too, didn't you?
Your bravery is noted.
@ZeroCorpse
the Pandora and a PS3 are two different things. This isn't just for games, it can run ARM OSes like ChromeOS for example with some work.
and unlike the GP2X it doesn't have underpowered hardware or the restricts that Gamepark puts, this thing is made by the developers who were unhappy with the GP2X. Just to compare hardware, I think they are still charging like $180 for the Wiz which has an ARM9 and no GPU and a QVGA screen. Pandora is more expensive yes, but it a Cortex A8 CPU, PowerVR SGX GPU, WVGA screen, a query keyboard, and full developer openness