Our New Machine, Pandora

Should this thread die?

  • Yes, kill it now!

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Maybe move it to off-topic?

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • No, let it live until its natural death!

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    0

Status
Not open for further replies.
I was checking out the wiki page for The Craiginator and I must say I was not thrilled. I've been a supporter for the GP line since very early 04 (I got my gp32 for xmas o3) and, for me at least, the big draw is the ability to play old school games on the go or without botherin my wife by taking up the tv. I also use it for when I'm on public transit which I use frequently to go to center city philadelphia. To me, buying a handheld with no commercial support to play modern 3d games seems pointless. The large, high res screen doesn't seem to lend it self to older 2d games. OTOH, if older 2d games is what you want, you could always stick with the gp2x as I suspect it will be supported due to the ease of porting linux games and emulators over to the gp2x. So really, who is it that will want The Craiginator? People who want to emulate newer systems and people who have no open source system already. But I'm really turned off by the price tag. Estimated at $350 + VAT (17% tax?), shipping from England probably around $20 or more if the dollar keeps falling. This could easily be a $400 investment when all is said and done and that doesn't include memory cards (unless you are upgrading and can use your old cards, but most likely you will want the larger cards). Add in a new battery charger and extra battery and you may be apraching $475 to $500 (american dollars). The weak dollar is making matters worse and the dollar is probably going to be worth even less by the time The Craiginator is available. Remember, that significantly increases price, as well as shipping. It just seems like this is a great piece of tech, but too expesnive and doesn't really know where it wants to be. Is this kind of money worth gba, snes sfx chips, psx and N64 (most likely saturn and jaguar won't work). It might be great if lots of pc games can be ported over and use the 3d hardware to play quake 3 and such. I'm not sure if the EEE is going to be competition or not. It is kind of big, but it is small compared to other laptops and should be able to run lots of emulators (but probably not 3d). If I had to choose, I'd probably grab the EEE. Where does the jxd 301 fit in all this? It seems the developers are jumping on to this and we should be seeing something soon. But if The Craiginator is going to cost $350 + 17% vat + $20 + dollars shipping, I will be forced to skip no matter what, because I just can't justify a $400 investment for a handheld video game system, especially when it really isn't ideal for what I want (2d games and emulators) I'll have to look at lots of black bars or scalled video which I think is ugly (at least on the other systems.) Maybe a chinese builder with an American distributer could help bring the price down in america.

Chris
 
Squidge said:
Yeah, that's just what you want - tiny dents in your screen from where you've been jabbing at the screen whilst emulating Area 51/etc under Saturn.
Well, anyone who doesn't get a screen protector for this console deserves tiny dents in their screen,
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I think this is really a case of "If you don't like it, don't buy it". It's clear to see from the "Our New Machine" thread, that there are people willing to drop ~$400 on this console, so it has an audience.

Remember, this won't just be a gaming console, but more of a miniature PC, even.

This kicks the EeePC's ass.
 
400 bucks is definitly off the price mark for a handeld. An EEE PC seems a better choice at that price.
 
The Craiginator (which is not part of the GP line) addresses problems with the GP2X - there's a lot of call for 3D games and faster emulators.

A lot of other games are hard to port because of the screen size (as I know from personal experience).

The JXD 301 interests a lot of developers because it is small, cheap, powerful and has an interesting processor and it's new.

Why it's appearing in the main forums rather than off-topic I don't know.
 
Squidge said:
Hey, if you think it's pointless and costs too much, don't buy it. It's really that easy :)
Thanks for pointing that out, I didn't realize I could do that.

What is wrong with you people, can't we just share our opinions?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Squidge said:
Cue the "buy?! It should be shipped with screen protectors!" people.
The screen protectors should already be on the screen when you open the box. :eek:

I don't mind buying the screen protectors, putting them on is way too hard.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Squidge said:
Yeah, that's just what you want - tiny dents in your screen from where you've been jabbing at the screen whilst emulating Area 51/etc under Saturn.
I'm sure most people can afford to dish out $10 on a decent screen protector..
 
Last edited by a moderator:
imec said:
Squidge said:
Cue the "buy?! It should be shipped with screen protectors!" people.
The screen protectors should already be on the screen when you open the box. :eek:

I don't mind buying the screen protectors, putting them on is way too hard.



Hori brand protectors are awesome for that(thick enough to leave out the bubbles, a screen protector for the screen protector for when you smooth it out...made seemingly of Kevlar).

Though, with the nonstandard screen size, getting one for the Craigle3xbee could be challenging:)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Pazuzu said:
400 bucks is definitly off the price mark for a handeld. An EEE PC seems a better choice at that price.
It's not expensive in UK terms, it's just that your economy is shit. Atm its roughly $2.1 = £1 and rising, so don't expect the craiginator to get any cheaper before release.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
realyst said:
imec said:
Squidge said:
Cue the "buy?! It should be shipped with screen protectors!" people.
The screen protectors should already be on the screen when you open the box. :eek:

I don't mind buying the screen protectors, putting them on is way too hard.



Hori brand protectors are awesome for that(thick enough to leave out the bubbles, a screen protector for the screen protector for when you smooth it out...made seemingly of Kevlar).

Though, with the nonstandard screen size, getting one for the Craigle3xbee could be challenging:)

I have Hori protectors on my DS phat, they are indeed kevlar like!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
If you can't afford the craiginator, buy a JXD or PSP. The craiginator is (will be) a high end open source handheld computer, and is priced accordingly.

What Sam has said about the US economy is sadly true (if a little harshly put), but be assured that Craig is using hardware which will mean that this machine is up to spec for a long while, you are getting the right bang for your buck.
 
Exophase said:
Saturn emulation maybe
I note very well the maybe, but seriously: do you think this might actually be a possibility, or something closer to, say, how PSX currently is on the GP2x?

Saturn would be out of this world (Guardian Heroes is amazing, and Nights would look very pretty indeed on a small screen), but I was under the impression that even though the OMAP eats each individual chip in the Saturn for breakfast, timing them all together is a nightmare that results in a need for modern machines.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top