PandoraPress

Damn if this fella isn't wearing the face of the community right now.

Yes, we’re back, and no, we don’t want to talk about it. So let’s jump straight into a summary of Pandora’s best week so far (and Pandorapress’s worst!).

EvilDragon and Fatih have joined Craigix, MWeston and a revolving door of volunteers at assembly HQ, and production is still slow and steady. The last few days have seen the first lucky punters unbox their beauties and share the explicit details with an internet full of drooling onlookers. There has been the occasional first-run hiccup, which if nothing else has allowed the extended dev team to show us just how well they handle user support (very). We’ve also learned that the TV cables will be shipping at a later date, and we don’t yet know the status of the next 9,000 cases. Not much we can do or say about that now, so let’s check out what some new Pandora owners have to say…

Laurens:

Right, pics will come in in a bit. First boot is a bit slow, thought it was hanging. I logged in, filled out my details and now its finishing installation. I did orrder the TV out cable, but that’s missing. Case is nice, screen seems awesome. First impression is that it looks really cool, typing is very nice, but I find it kinda odd to have the screen that far back – I’d prefer it if was a bit more laptop-like, but I think I can grow to use it More in a bit.

First impressions: feels pretty nice, keyboard is pretty good, shoulderbuttons are a bit tight. Screen is awesome. Browsing works nice. I hope to get q3 on there to see it show itself off

I did try openjazz, was very smooth, wolf 3d, same, I started dosbox, awesome, ran battle jewels – looks great Cdogs also looks fun.

Nubs are feeling good too – by default, to my taste, they are set in xfce to be a bit too sensitive; the clicking which ED demoed in a video is a bit hit-and-miss affair for me; working most of the time but not always. I’ll probably print an overview for L, R, yabx, and right nub.

OpenPandoraTeam, you did very well. Very impressed!!! Both with the hardware and the state of the software!

Good times ahead

I really like it sofar IT feels very nice, buttons feel good; the nubs are a bit too sensitive, but that I can tweak (haven’t yet). The text on the screen for chat & websites are larger than I expected, it’s all very readable. The .pnd system works VERY nice, really awesome. As you can read above, there are a few minor things I came across, but nothing major. The thing feels great, and I’m glad I got it. The Quick start guide is a very nice touch; unfortunately I did need it (as I didn’t know how to reset it), so it’s great that it was there. It even had a (printed) signature from Craigix, so that’s always nice

But the cripsness of the screen is something to behold The keyboard & controls are extremely nice, it’s good to have a real volume dial etc

I do need to clip my nails a bit further, as the number keys are very close to the hinge and I keep hitting that

Awesome device, really worth the wait

(Laurens)

Stuckie:

I’ve got mine as well

Though I’m at work just now so no pics for the moment!
Really isn’t that much bigger than a DS Lite, and the weight is pretty decent.

Kept hitting the space as if it’s under “b” though, heh.. and the placement of the shift will take a bit of getting used to, but it’s all good
The nubs are interesting as well, the right one is looser than the left on mine, but doesn’t seem to affect anything and I’m sure the left one will loosen up after some use anyway!

All in all, very pleased so far.. just waiting for my lunch so I can have a proper fiddle

(Stuckie)

Puppydee:

My pandora has arrived and it’s a thing of beauty. I thought it would be bigger but it’s a tiny little thing and it’s awesome, I’ve not done anything on it yet bar test if it’s working and just briefly checked out the 2 gui’s. I’m gonna check out some games on it now, just popped it on charge to charge it up first. It comes with about a half charge so you can jump straight in.

The case is really good, I was wondering how it would turn out but it’s cool.

The carry case with it is really nice aswell but it’s a tight fit but I’m sure once it’s been in and out a few times it’ll loosen up a bit. I did order a tv-out cable b ut it didn’t come with my pandora so I can only assume they’re not ready yet, either that or they forgot. I did ring up but couldn’t get an answer. The sd card was a Kingston 32gb class 4 so it should be ok. There’s even a cool battery box to stick your extra battery in if you ordered to, I only got the one. As you can imagine I’m dying to have a play so I’m off. The pics where taken with my iphone so they aren’t great quality.

All in all it’s a FANTASTIC thing of beauty and I can’t wait to see all the games and stuff fill up the apps store. I’d like to thank mweston. craig, ed and all the other guys behind this, it’s been a wait but it’s been worth it thanks guys

(Puppydee)

Parag0n:

Parag0n lets his camera do the talking: Flickr Gallery

SteveM:

Steve compiled and released Fuse (the Spectrum emulator) the moment his Pandora arrived; a clue perhaps, to what we can expect from many quiet devs lying in wait for their hardware.

Having received the thing only yesterday, I’ve not tried out anywhere near everything as yet, but here’s a quick summary of the most noticeable points. Note that this is an honest review and contains my own personal opinion of what must be one of the first 100 units produced. Having a sample size of precisely one, I have no idea how other people’s consoles compare to mine.

The Case: The paint finish on the case is a very nice satin black, and the thing fits pretty comfortably in your hands. Working at a desk is also quite doable. The screen may not click in an upright position, but it does stay put where you leave it. There are some minor build quality issues, what they’d call “fit and finish” in the auto trade. On my unit, the screen bezel wasn’t pushed completely home, but this was easily remedied with a little tweaking. Unfortunately the way it fits has resulted in some minor scuffing of the paintwork near the clips. The L and R buttons are also a little wobbly, to the extent that the tabs which keep them from jumping out of the case can catch around the edges. This may be due to the screw at the rear of the case not being fully tightened, leaving a gap between the two halves. The battery seems to push to corners of the cover up a little. Hopefully it’s just a matter of flattening out the “sticker” (for want of a better word) around it a little better. There was also a rough spot on the tip of the stylus. Users may want to give that a quick test and sand down if necessary before using it on the actual screen! Overall though, an ergonomic and nice-looking case.

The Controls: The D-pad is good, with nice travel and feedback. The ABXY buttons are pretty close together, but work great when you get used to them. The nubs are like nothing I’ve used before – very smooth and, although I’ve not used them in-game yet, moving the mouse pointer around with them is fluid and accurate. The keyboard isn’t going to win any awards but considering the limitations of this type of keyboard, it’s good. There are some minor imperfections visible under the clear sealant. The layout is however pretty terrible. Except for the letters, numbers, and major keys like enter and space, nothing is where you’d expect to find it, instead being scattered apparently randomly over the keys. Typing anything more than a couple of lines is going to take some getting used to.

Audio/Video: The screen is very clear and very sharp – you will not be disappointed! The resolution is also very impressive for such a small screen. Not a ghost in sight, either. It has a slightly rough finish, so can feel a little scratchy when using the stylus. Sound is clear and pretty good considering the size of the speakers. I have not tested with headphones yet.

Software: Although still early days, the xfce desktop is light and snappy. Unfortunately I didn’t get the alternative Minimenu to work yet. Reflashing the firmware (not usually necessary, I have been hacking away at this thing) and installing updates was quick and easy. There’s not an awful lot else to try out yet, but so far the Pandora has coped with everything I’ve thrown at it with ease, including full-screen video playback.

Overall: Although let down a little by the build quality issues, as a gaming handheld and computer: it’s great. Technically speaking, it’s a nicely spec’d machine and I can’t wait to see what it can do when the software catches up. Well done, OP team!

(SteveM)

Next, a series of unboxing & first impression videos from astewardson.

And another one, and another one.

And there’s no better way to end this post, than with a huge thank you and congratulations to the entire Pandora team:

Craigix (Vision, ambition, madness)
MWeston (Electroguru, designed the internals)
EvilDragon (Project support & testing, soothing public voice)
Fatih (R&D, logistics, international diplomat)
DaveC (Case & controls design)
DJWillis (Angström OS, drivers, ScummVM)
notaz (Angström OS, drivers, PicoDrive)
vimacs (Angström OS inc. PND system)
Squidge (Angström OS inc. PND system)
cpasjuste (Pmenu, numerous apps & ports)
Skeezix (PND system, Minimenu, numerous apps & ports)
Pickle (tireless porting machine)

There’s some road to tread yet, but those of us still waiting for our precious can rest assured that they’re doing everything they can to get the whole batch out, and they’re doing it well. Thanks also to our benevolent blog host atomicthumbs, who in the last few days has battled through server meltdowns, school work, family birthdays and Grubot tantrums to get Pandorapress back online.

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4]