toastylynx
Still Fresh
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2013
- Messages
- 12
Hello again! I've been absent quite a while, and I thought I'd share my views on the Pandora, now that I've had some time to see how it goes. Judging by the current banner of the website, it looks like I've been away too long.
First, a recap of my initial feelings. I thought the device was wonderful, and I really liked the idea of a proper, open Linux PC in my pocket. There was nothing else quite like it, so the price was easily justifiable. So many buttons, great battery life and it emphasised all the functional things I like about computers, but it was pocket sized and played PS1 games brilliantly.
My view now's a bit different. I still love the thing, and I'm glad I bought it, but I just don't seem to be the kind of person who uses a pocket-sized computer, even for the games. I also got a smartphone sometime after getting the Pandora and that seems to have absorbed what little computery things I'd actually want to do on the go. But, such is how things are.
I found the interface a bit clumsy for a portable device, the screen's resolution's a bit low for most of the ported desktop programs too. I found I just wasn't using it much at all. It's large too, and when I got a Note 3, I could no longer fit it in my pocket. Whenever I'm carrying a bag, I do still put it in on the off chance it'll come in useful, and it has on a couple of occasion, just not as often as I'd like it too.
As for play, the PS1 emulation of WipEout 3 is just about dead on, and I did play that quite a lot on it for a while, but the nubs are utterly useless in my opinion, and I only ever play games, even handheld or mobile games, at home, so I'm just playing it on a real PlayStation now. I still play NeoGeo games every now and again, and games for consoles that didn't have analogue sticks and it still works well for those. The emulators on the Pandora are quite often better than ones I can find for my desktop, so I am very glad of that.
All in all, I still like the thing and I'm very glad I bought it, I just don't find it as useful as I once thought I would. I'm still going to keep it, and continue using it occasionally. It's a nice party piece too, since most have never seen anything like it. I look forward to the successor, should there ever be one, and in the meantime I'll probably install Arch Linux on my Pandora since I do think the thing lends itself much better to a portable bash prompt.
Thanks to the community for their tremendous work, though I wish I could've enjoyed the fruits and contributed my own a bit more. Attached is a picture of me with my somewhat neglected unit.

First, a recap of my initial feelings. I thought the device was wonderful, and I really liked the idea of a proper, open Linux PC in my pocket. There was nothing else quite like it, so the price was easily justifiable. So many buttons, great battery life and it emphasised all the functional things I like about computers, but it was pocket sized and played PS1 games brilliantly.
My view now's a bit different. I still love the thing, and I'm glad I bought it, but I just don't seem to be the kind of person who uses a pocket-sized computer, even for the games. I also got a smartphone sometime after getting the Pandora and that seems to have absorbed what little computery things I'd actually want to do on the go. But, such is how things are.
I found the interface a bit clumsy for a portable device, the screen's resolution's a bit low for most of the ported desktop programs too. I found I just wasn't using it much at all. It's large too, and when I got a Note 3, I could no longer fit it in my pocket. Whenever I'm carrying a bag, I do still put it in on the off chance it'll come in useful, and it has on a couple of occasion, just not as often as I'd like it too.
As for play, the PS1 emulation of WipEout 3 is just about dead on, and I did play that quite a lot on it for a while, but the nubs are utterly useless in my opinion, and I only ever play games, even handheld or mobile games, at home, so I'm just playing it on a real PlayStation now. I still play NeoGeo games every now and again, and games for consoles that didn't have analogue sticks and it still works well for those. The emulators on the Pandora are quite often better than ones I can find for my desktop, so I am very glad of that.
All in all, I still like the thing and I'm very glad I bought it, I just don't find it as useful as I once thought I would. I'm still going to keep it, and continue using it occasionally. It's a nice party piece too, since most have never seen anything like it. I look forward to the successor, should there ever be one, and in the meantime I'll probably install Arch Linux on my Pandora since I do think the thing lends itself much better to a portable bash prompt.
Thanks to the community for their tremendous work, though I wish I could've enjoyed the fruits and contributed my own a bit more. Attached is a picture of me with my somewhat neglected unit.
