Open Pandora Comparison Chart


Looks good, but isn't it pretty biased when you don't include things that Pandora doesn't have, that some of the other devices do? For instance:


- Phone voice capabilities


- 3G+ data capabilities


- Motion sensing


- High resolution display above X (this is playing games, but so is "battery life over 10h"


- Real analog sticks as opposed to nubs


- HDMI or other high quality digital TV out


- Ability to play 1080p or even 720p H.264 or similar quality video


- OLED display


- Multitouch capable touchscreen


- Extensive dedicated library, games and otherwise


Not going to touch much on the whole "emulation up to" thing, except that I don't fully agree with it. I think if Vita gets any kind of homebrew support it and iOS/Android devices will eventually noticeably surpass what you can emulate on Pandora. Or at least, I think they can, not sure if they will. This is of course ignoring all the other stuff that the more powerful devices are better at, but the tagline of the picture kind of already identifies that that isn't what this is about.
 
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Hm, well I see what you mean and I think it's useful, I just hope no one tries to use it out of context.


Of course I totally agree that Pandora serves a role that none of these other devices can.. but I really hope that the comment that no other device will serve it isn't true (not counting later devices from OPT themselves of course). I have my doubts that anyone will want to compete here, but competition is good. Good for the customer anyway.
 
Great chart! Nice layout and graphics, and loved the bit at the bottom. I suppose you could add in the on-line repository for downloading new software releases as another comparison line.
 
it is a very very nice graphic design, great work on that aspect.


the chart content itself however is zealot fanboy BS.


the omission of any bullet points of features present on the other consoles and not on the pandora says "the Pandora: a console for those insecure zealots who wants to wank to their awesome geekiness"


makes the whole thing lose any resemblance of credibility.


also, "Jailbreak required" == Pandora ????


you got that bullet point reversed, should read "NO jailbreak required".


that said, I love the graphic design, really, its the best looking chart I've seen in a while.
 
Ok, I like the design, but I do agree with others that there are features missing from the chart which several of the other machines present have, but the Pandora doesn't. (I am loathe to point this out due to the possible silly reactions it could get, but there are actually features offered by my 3DS that make it more useful for my work than my Pandora is, because it does them better or more easily... :p )


Also, I must admit that I don't quite see why the 3DS and PSP get a - for the "Analogue joystick" category - they both have analogue nubs, just as the Pandora does. If they got the - for having only one nub, then perhaps that category ought to be made more specific, such as "Dual Analogue Joysticks or Nubs"? After all, with the category named "Analogue joystick" as it is, both of those devices should have been given a green tick. Or, given that the Xperia Play apparently has two of those weird touchpad things, perhaps it should be "Dual Analogue Joysticks, Nubs, or Touchpads", since that got a -, too? ;)


Lastly, I would suggest dropping the "Useful after post-apocalypse" category altogether - I know it's meant to be humourous, but it just comes off sounding a bit fanboyish...
 
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should include a section for wireless capabilities


battery life should be as a number, not a tick/cross (Pandoras should be more like 20h with new power-management :) )


pandora TV-out should be a - (not cables yet :( )


and maybe replace iOS with iPod, then iPad or just iProduct ?


maybe drop the 'winner' bit, as ideally such a table should describe the way in which Pandoras have different, rather than fewer strengths compared to other devices


Also, What's an 'after post-apocalypse' ?


Sorry to sound negative - as others have said the idea, and the design is excellent :)
 
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Chart is looking good, I seen the art of jin so expect nothing less:)


Promethius, I am a bit intrigued as to what you use your 3ds for in work terms, I just assumed it was games only, does it have productive apps or something?


I'd like to see this chart grow and show all specs and abilities, even where the Pandora isn't top in the list, but would be a complete comparison, would be long as you say but a great chart
 
Promethius, I am a bit intrigued as to what you use your 3ds for in work terms, I just assumed it was games only, does it have productive apps or something?
Aside from stuff like alarm clocks, calendars, and calculators (I have those installed and do use them), the big one for me is Colors! 3D. It's a drawing application that lends itself to a pretty quick workflow, and which can use photographs (taken right then, or from your 3DS' album) for reference or for backgrounds. It can output at up to 1600x960, which is handy, and I can then e-mail the images to myself (sorry guys, the 3DS' WiFi is better than the Pandora's for my uses, and the browser is fine for what I need and much much quicker, too), or just plain take them off of the SD Card. For 2D art the output is JPEGs with a quality setting of 90, and for 3D art they're MPOs, which is an open 3D imagery format that contains left-eye and right-eye JPEGs. Sometimes it comes in handy for snapping a quick sketch of an idea and then digitising it, too. I'm a plush toy designer, and it's much easier to get this done on the 3DS than it ever could be on the Pandora - it's not really due to the software (after all, that's always improving on the Pandora), but more due to the hardware arrangement and layout.


I'm fully aware that this isn't going to apply to most people, of course (I'm almost certainly the only plush toy designer here :p ), but that's the answer to your question. :lol:
 
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I'm almost certainly the only plush toy designer here
Actually that's not quite true - I designed and made some soft toys many years back (I also did a lot of cross stitch). While doing research on dinosaurs for DinoDefense I came across some stuffed toy dinos that I would love to have a go at recreating; some were on this site - http://browse.deviantart.com/?q=dinosaur%20plush&order=9&offset=48
 
^ Most unbelievable thing I've heard all day. :blink: I almost said "probably", instead of "almost certainly", too...
 
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I'm not a fan of biased comparison charts like this. I HATE it when people try to actually sell you stuff in this manner.


In truth, the Pandora has a lot of disadvantages compared to other products. Off the top of my head:


- No phone or 3G/4G internet


- No current popular games


- Iffy Flash support at best


- Very few games that actually use the nubs properly


- Very few 3D games


- Resistive touchscreen (not capacitive) which is not quite as good as the DS (whether you prefer resistive or capacitive is subjective, but this is definitely worth mentioning)


- Position of the touchscreen (combined with it being resistive) makes it a bit awkward to use


- No control over the angle of the screen (hinge is too loose)


- Keyboard can't be lit


- Not x86 (lack of compatibility with a lot of PC stuff)


- Screen is incredibly difficult to see outdoors even at maximum brightness


- A bit difficult to hold comfortably


Of course, I still love the Pandora, and "fixing" some of these lackings would be a bad idea (especially the "problem" of not being an x86 processor), but they're still worth considering in a fair comparison chart.


Also, there's a couple mistakes in this chart: first off, the Pandora is only officially SDHC; SDXC sometimes works, but it's not official. Second, N64 emulation technically works, but it's quite slow for most games I've tried (at 800 Mhz, at least), so it's really more of a "kind of" than a "yes".
 
- Resistive touchscreen (not capacitive) which is not quite as good as the DS (whether you prefer resistive or capacitive is subjective, but this is definitely worth mentioning)
It's also worth mentioning that for quite a lot of uses, this isn't a disadvantage at all. :p


You're right that it definitely isn't quite as responsive (or as clear) as the touch-screen on the DS (or 3DS, which improves on the DS, DS Lite, and DSi touch-screens by quite a bit), though...
 
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The original UMPC description was too general and therefore inaccurate. The Viliv N5 is a pocketable clamshell UMPC with built in 3g. All round it's a pretty useful device especially if x86 compatibility is important to you. Also, you can buy that (ugly) add on stick for the 3DS so it can technically have dual analog sticks.
 
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