Pandora: The Open Source handheld

[famicommander]

[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandora_(console)[/url]

I am getting this. There are limitless illegal uses for this, but I'm getting it for the legitimate ones. For all you people interested in emulators, you'll be able to run a PS1 emulator and every system before it at full speed.

A Linux handheld means that you'll be able to play hundreds of Linux games for free, and legally.

I know most people don't think "gaming" when they think "Linux", but there are actually some very good Linux games. Here is a directory of just a small sample of Linux games.

There are also legal clones of cIassic games like Pac Man, Space Invaders, Galaga, Galaxian, Jezzball, Breakout, Tetris, Doom, Wolfenstein, Pong, Asteroids, Bomberman, Centipede, SimCity, Civilization, Quake III Arena, and many others.

Standout titles include SuperTux, SuperTux Kart, Frets on Fire, and Open Arena.

One could also conceivably run DOS games via DOSbox, an open-source DOS compatibility layer.

The system is a bit pricey at 330 USD, but I think the price is more than justified because of the wealth of quality, free titles available.

The system is barely larger than a DS, and it runs a complete Linux OS. That means you'll be able to run web browsers like Opera and Firefox, which works out great because the system has WiFi. It's basically a desktop computer for your pocket. You'll have word processors, chat programs, web browsers, video players, audio players, image editors, calendars, calculators, games, and even your own game development tools.

This system is more powerful than the PSP, allows for 10 hours of video playback, 100 hours of audio playback, 800x480 resolution, TV output, and up to 64GB of storage via SD.

Is anyone else interested? Check here for a list of the best free Linux games.

 

[famicommander]

I forgot to mention that this system runs on the ARM architecture, so not all Linux games would run. Most are for x86 processors (AMD and Intel), but there are currently many games being ported as we speak. There are also many available already.

 

[BIG]

if it can emulate both the ds and psp then i *might* be interested.

 

[Ghost-Dog]

This looks very cool. Thanks for posting info on it. I had no idea anything like this existed. I really dig the dual analog sticks/nubs. Dual SD card slots, qwerty keyboard? Awesome.

If they can really emulate PS1, SNES, NES and Genesis at full speed I am sold on one of these.

 

[famicommander]

if it can emulate both the ds and psp then i *might* be interested.

There's no way it will be able to emulate the DS or PSP. The DS still can't be emulated correctly on an x86 PC, let alone an ARM handheld device. As for the PSP, the Pandora is more powerful, but not nearly as powerful as it would have to be to emulate the PSP at any reasonable speed.

No, with this we're talking old-school. PS1, Genesis, Master System, Game Gear, Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Color, SNES, NES, Neo Geo, NGPC, Atari 2600, Turbografx, etc. They said a Nintendo 64 emulator would be possible, but also very difficult.

 

[Mushiki]

LOL Linux games

 

[One-Up]

The first batch of 3,000 units will be produced soon and it can be pre-ordered. I already did and am very much looking forward to it.

 

[Gotenks326]

Got my pre-order in as well. They've actually upped the 3000 limit to however many orders they get by Sunday (production will begin on Monday). I believe it'll launch with full speed Genesis/Megadrive (and Sega CD), SNES, Amiga, MAME, and PSX emulators, along with DosBox.

 

[sliceypete]

it looks pretty cool but the cost right know is to high for me . ill try and pick one up on the second batch hopefully. also i really want to see some hands on videos, so ill wait till they post some.

 

[One-Up]

I'll post some impressions as soon as I get mine.

 

[djjimmyjames]

I have been following this since its start. I will get one when they go down to around $250. I cant afford the high price and im sure bugs need to be worked out. There isnt much that it can do right at the moment. Six months from now it will have so many apps and games, thats when ill get one.

 

[AppleiDog]

The Guys making this said that it could *in theory* Emulate the Sega Dreamcast, but to be honest, the psp is great for homebrew and has more games, i mean the pandora is more powerfull then the psp but i doubt that we are going to see Homebrew software come out that can beat the psp, but for the pocket laptop im all for this, That is why im going to preorder it just for the mini laptop idea,.


though the psp has started to emulate the Dreamcast though slow, but still totally cool.

 

[BIG]

since fba4psp is coming along rather nicely, i think i'll just stick with my psp.

 

[Gotenks326]

I have been following this since its start. I will get one when they go down to around $250. I cant afford the high price and im sure bugs need to be worked out. There isnt much that it can do right at the moment. Six months from now it will have so many apps and games, thats when ill get one.

Right now, about a month and a half before the handheld will even be released, it already has some nice apps/games running (Ubuntu, Firefox3, FBA, Quake 2, PSX, SNES, Amiga, DosBox, Megadrive & Mega-CD, MAME...).

The Guys making this said that it could *in theory* Emulate the Sega Dreamcast, but to be honest, the psp is great for homebrew and has more games, i mean the pandora is more powerfull then the psp but i doubt that we are going to see Homebrew software come out that can beat the psp, but for the pocket laptop im all for this, That is why im going to preorder it just for the mini laptop idea,.


though the psp has started to emulate the Dreamcast though slow, but still totally cool.

You sure the developers of themselves said that it could emulate the Dreamcast "in theory"? I think that came from the community. I personally don't think it'll emulate the Dreamcast or Saturn to anything playable or beyond a proof of concept.

The Pandora likely won't get homebrew software to push its hardware (at least not for a really, really long time...), but its emulators already prove its power over the PSP. It will have superior PSX emulation (some nice filters & better controls with better battery performance), much better SNES emulation (PSP is pretty far from full speed SNES emulation, particularly for special chip games), and more power for stuff like DosBox, Amiga, Quake 3, etc.

 

[AppleiDog]

Right now, about a month and a half before the handheld will even be released, it already has some nice apps/games running (Ubuntu, Firefox3, FBA, Quake 2, PSX, SNES, Amiga, DosBox, Megadrive & Mega-CD, MAME...).


You sure the developers of themselves said that it could emulate the Dreamcast "in theory"? I think that came from the community. I personally don't think it'll emulate the Dreamcast or Saturn to anything playable or beyond a proof of concept.

The Pandora likely won't get homebrew software to push its hardware (at least not for a really, really long time...), but its emulators already prove its power over the PSP. It will have superior PSX emulation (some nice filters & better controls with better battery performance), much better SNES emulation (PSP is pretty far from full speed SNES emulation, particularly for special chip games), and more power for stuff like DosBox, Amiga, Quake 3, etc.

It was a Interview, with the German guy. but you could be right i can't exactly remember what was said, though he said that if they twicked coding that dreamcast could be run.

 

[Joe West]

Looks real good, but ill wait until someone gets theres & they run a review about it

 

[NeoSneth]

you never know if the open source community going to pick things up, or let them pass.

This is def a wait and see. The form factor looks very lack luster

 

[arfink]

Yeah, I'm waiting for the MK1 revision, which is supposed to be reduced in price to about $175 or so.

And I must say, having done some things with ARM chipsets, that this thing could certainly do Saturn and Dreamcast emulation. ARM is a much more efficient processor architecture than x86, which is quite wasteful in terms of CPU times. So don't let the clock speed fool you, this thing is quite a bit more poerful than you think. It can already run all the things mentioned above without any code optomizations for the ARM system and running at half clock speed and still be getting close to 200FPS.

I think a clever programmer could do Saturn or Dreamcast emulation quite well on this system, and anything older than DC would be pretty easy to do. Plus, if a Linux program doesn't use any special x86 only libraries it can just be recompiled and it will run just fine. Heck, you can get ARM Debian packages for almost anything in Linux now. It'd be a snap.

 

[Gotenks326]

It was a Interview, with the German guy. but you could be right i can't exactly remember what was said, though he said that if they twicked coding that dreamcast could be run.

Ah, that was an interview with Michael Mrozek (EvilDragon), the German distributor. He said that some people in the community think it would be possible with a dynarec, but he personally doesn't think it's possible.

Yeah, I'm waiting for the MK1 revision, which is supposed to be reduced in price to about $175 or so.

And I must say, having done some things with ARM chipsets, that this thing could certainly do Saturn and Dreamcast emulation. ARM is a much more efficient processor architecture than x86, which is quite wasteful in terms of CPU times. So don't let the clock speed fool you, this thing is quite a bit more poerful than you think. It can already run all the things mentioned above without any code optomizations for the ARM system and running at half clock speed and still be getting close to 200FPS.

I think a clever programmer could do Saturn or Dreamcast emulation quite well on this system, and anything older than DC would be pretty easy to do. Plus, if a Linux program doesn't use any special x86 only libraries it can just be recompiled and it will run just fine. Heck, you can get ARM Debian packages for almost anything in Linux now. It'd be a snap.

The Pandoras that will be in the first batch will have MK2 PCBs. The MK0 and MK1 boards were only for testing & developers. There is no information available that indicates that the Pandoras in the second batch (which should ship late March 2009) will be revised (though there probably will be some alterations), let alone a price drop (especially a reduction to $175). I'm not sure where you got your information, but nobody involved with the Pandora has said anything about a price-drop for the next revision Pandora (let alone giving a specific cost). Such a drastic price-drop is ridiculous.

 

[arfink]

Hmm, funny. I remember them saying on their front page that they wanted to drop price to around that mark sometime in future production runs. I have not looked recently. Ah well. It's still a kick ass little handheld.

 

[StealthLurker]

Been keeping tabs on this one for a while now as well. Should be a good successor to the Gameparc handhelds. Though the PSP is nice, I'd have to tip my hat to my F100 & GP2X. Those little bad boys were able to run Cave shmups etc with awesome speed and sound waaaay before the PSP could even barely run them.

.

 

[Moose]

ive been keeping an eye out for these for a while. Am quite excited! Don't forget, this lil system is boasting TV Out, and Host USB too! Hook it up to your tele and use a 360 stick to play games on the big screen. This unit will truly be a do-it-all.

 

[Gotenks326]

It was just confirmed earlier today that the RAM has been upgraded to 256mb and that the NAND Flash Memory is now 512mb

 

[J. Max]

What would be the advantage of buying this over a netbook (like the Lenovo Idea Pad S10) and using standard emulators on it? Seems to me that the netbook has a faster processor and a more standard architecture, although I suppose that you'd need an external controller. They look to be about the same size, too.

 

[Gotenks326]

What would be the advantage of buying this over a netbook (like the Lenovo Idea Pad S10) and using standard emulators on it? Seems to me that the netbook has a faster processor and a more standard architecture, although I suppose that you'd need an external controller. They look to be about the same size, too.

Netbook is larger. The Pandora is supposed to be a little smaller than the fat DS. Portability is the main factor, especially since you have the gaming controls right on the machine (versus lugging the larger netbook and having to put it on your lap or table and connect a USB game-pad for controls).