Near-final Pandora handheld gets user reviewed, shown playing Super Mario 64

The long (long!) awaited Pandora gaming handheld is inching closer and closer to reality, with all but a few i's and t's left to dot and cross (respectively). It's so close to ready, in fact, that personnel from the device's production team invited a mere mortal (also known as a forum member) to their homes in order to test out and tinker with a pre-production model. Naturally, his hands-on experience was nothing short of glowing -- but really, we wouldn't expect anything less from a devout forum member who clearly digs even the idea of having a Pandora to hold and snuggle with. There's no denying the awesomeness that awaits you in the video past the break, though, and if the unit really does handle everything as smoothly as it does Super Mario 64, we're all in for a treat.

See more video at our hub!

[Dead1nside Posted Dec 22nd 2009 10:29AM]

Pandora outclasses the PSP in usefulness in many ways.

The Pandora is more powerful than the PSP and it already seems that the developers are energised enough to get this N64 emulator alone into a state that's playable on a good few popular games _before_ the Pandora has even come out.

It's a general purpose computer as well, reports are that the full XFCE Linux desktop environment is plenty fast.

Most importantly for me, the battery is huge (~10hr) and the controls for gaming look amazing.

[Extinction Posted Dec 22nd 2009 5:58PM]

@Dead1nside Except the most important part, games. PSP is the best handheld I've ever owned in terms of games. And it's not cause of emulation

Oh, and PSP does component out, Pandora is composite only.

[Dead1nside Posted Dec 22nd 2009 8:20PM]

@Extinction

I guess from your point of view but I don't see the Pandora as a commercial portable games console, yet at least. It has always been in the same vein as the GP2X, primarily emulation, in my view.

With the creation of an App Store there may be commercial games, or commercial quality games which will be a plus in my opinion.

As for the TV-Out I believe they put a lot of thought into it and there is an S Video out on there as well. Either way I'm sure the extension port itself contains some sort of high quality digital output as well.

[eGGnext Posted Dec 22nd 2009 10:44AM]

I want one. Bad. Hey, those of you who already preordered one, how much does it cost?

[renegadechic Posted Dec 22nd 2009 11:42AM]

@eGGnext

$330 for this batch but it could go up for the next batch of 4000

[atomicthumbs Posted Dec 22nd 2009 1:30PM]

@m2h

Not $350, unless you're ordering something else (like a TV-out cable) along with it.

[someone Posted Dec 22nd 2009 3:11PM]

@eGGnext $330, but the second batch will be $340 due to a change in conversion rates.

[Jigielnik Posted Dec 22nd 2009 10:54AM]

they sure spent a hell of a long time developing the PSP nubs but with an indent in the middle of it for your finger... how much is this thing going to cost anyway?

[renegadechic Posted Dec 22nd 2009 2:10PM]

@(Unverified)

what PSP nubs? theyre about as different as you could get from any other nubs anywhere. ive never seen anything similar. its not like a small joystick its more like a sliding pad. thats why its got the grips so your finger has something to push against.

its $330. its probably about right though, considering its not mass produced like the ipod touch. the 32 gig one is $299, but it has no gaming controls, SD slots and it isnt a completely open system. if its the combination of the latest ipod touch and a PSP i'd say the price was spot on.

[Extinction Posted Dec 22nd 2009 5:54PM]

@renegadechic "ive never seen anything similar. its not like a small joystick its more like a sliding pad"

Which is exactly like PSPs nubs

[renegadechic Posted Dec 22nd 2009 7:39PM]

@Extinction

well, my experience of the PSP nub certainly isnt favourable (its too small and too all over the place like the n64 analogue stick) and the videos for the pandora seem a bit more favourable. i guess we wont know for sure til we try it but it sure comes across better, not to mention the fact there are two of them, which is undeniably better than one of them and one of the many lamented aspects of the PSP.

[TareG Posted Dec 22nd 2009 11:41AM]

.... I'd rather buy a PSP off ebay for $90... will emulate everything (Except N64) BUT will have all the PSP library as well... And let's face it, if you're stealing roms to put on the Pandora, you might as well steal PSP roms for the PSP.

[SirNoDroin Posted Dec 22nd 2009 11:58AM]

Yay for openly supporting illegal activities!!!!

[OradFarez Posted Dec 22nd 2009 1:21PM]

@SirNoDroin It seems to be more of a grey area when you actually own the original games. I don't see why I shouldn't be able to play my games for as long as I want and beyond the original hardware when it breaks.

This thing should be much more than an emulator machine. It would be a shame if that is all people did with it. I'm going to learn how to code better in Linux when I get mine. It should make for a fantastic development tool. :)

[Loonie Posted Dec 22nd 2009 6:26PM]

@SirNoDroin : By that measure, you are equally "openly supporting illegal activities" by volition of owning a computer.

Lawbreaker!

[tandeh Posted Dec 22nd 2009 12:40PM]

this sounds very similar specced to the n900, barring the DSP chip?
would this make it possible to port the pandora OS onto the n900 as it is also linux based

[OradFarez Posted Dec 22nd 2009 1:18PM]

@tandeh It's the same chip so if someone were willing to put the effort in, I bet it would be relatively easy to port the software on each device both ways.

[someone Posted Dec 22nd 2009 3:13PM]

@tandeh It will already have software available with Debian ARM packages.

[stridermt2k Posted Dec 22nd 2009 1:03PM]

I'm ready!

Glad I'm on board for this! :D

[atomicthumbs Posted Dec 22nd 2009 1:44PM]

Note: for those who didn't see the link, the review is here:

http://pandorapress.net/2009/12/21/pandora-gets-a-hands-on-review/

[StriderNo9 Posted Dec 22nd 2009 2:02PM]

Looks great, but seriously guys lol wtf can we have one too.

[UhClem Posted Dec 22nd 2009 2:31PM]

Here's a great overview of the controls by Evil Dragon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dD6gytB1iw8

Note that that is not the final surface finish of the cases. That's an earlier prototype. Also, "Hellolo" is not a typo, it's an inside joke.

[Vorporeal Posted Dec 22nd 2009 3:55PM]

@UhClem It actually is a typo, the original was "Hellollo". ED should know better, as he originated the meme...

[UhClem Posted Dec 22nd 2009 9:23PM]

@Vorporeal I meant to imply that they spelling of the word was intentional and not due to a keyboard or software (debounce) defect.

[kenny goo Posted Dec 22nd 2009 3:11PM]

Here's to hoping Sony can rip off any good ideas that come from the Pandora, put them in the PSP2, and run Pandora into the ground.

Cheers.

[atomicthumbs Posted Dec 23rd 2009 1:39AM]

@kenny goo

yeah because sony's biggest competitor is a british guy in his garage

[kenny goo Posted Dec 23rd 2009 2:55PM]

@atomicthumbs

Yea because that wasn't a joke or anything.

And as an aside I didn't realize there were Pandora fanboys let alone Pandora *fans*. Every comment that's not 100% supportive of the device has been down voted. Man you kiddies disappoint me sometimes.

[Broderbund Posted Dec 22nd 2009 4:17PM]

FFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Give me this on my n900 its the same hardware almost!
I
Would
KILL for this

[Tunnelman Posted Dec 22nd 2009 5:55PM]

I think I'd order one if I was just able to get my hands on it for a bit first to see how it feels. But dropping ~350 on a device without getting to play around with it first is just really hard for me to do.

[UhClem Posted Dec 22nd 2009 9:40PM]

@Tunnelman I think when the first batch of 4000 gets in the hands of users, you'll have plenty of on-line reviews to go by. ;-) The design was created via massive input from the handheld game emulator system world (mostly GP32 and GP2X users) in the first place and was heavily tweaked over the past year by the team, so I expect it will be a dream to use.

And check this out:

http://pandorawiki.org/Projects_Under_Development

[bobsmells Posted Dec 22nd 2009 11:47PM]

I think when the article says "...Pandora gaming handheld is inching closer and closer to reality, with all but a few i's and t's left to dot and cross ...", it really means the opposite. At least that's what the rest of the article implies. If all but a few are left to do, then only a few are done already, which would contradict the point of the article which is that the device is nearly ready.

And yes, traditionally when Christmas falls on a Friday, two days before is known as Pedantic Wednesday.

[notuptome2004 Posted Dec 23rd 2009 11:54AM]

well the specs of the Pandora is the same as the iPhone 3GS and 3rd gen ipod touch so the Pandora is a very powerful gaming device so running any emulators should be no issue also your forgetting the Pandora is a full fledged handheld pocket computer with full OS WiFi the works.

iPhone/ipod Tocuh 3rd gen specs

3GS: Samsung S5PC100 ARM Cortex-A8[10]
833 MHz underclocked to 600 MHz
PowerVR SGX GPU[11]


Pandora


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandora_(console)#Technical_specifications