Well I recently put in an order for a Pandora which is a little handheld linux system. Wine unfortunately won't work directly because it doesn't translate the x86 instruction set to the ARM one. However Wine is now supported on ARM chips so maybe it would be as simple as compiling an exe for the ARM chipset. Any chance this could be tested? Unfortunately due to the typical wait time I probably won't have my Pandora anytime soon :P.
So has Lummox JR ordered one yet([link])?
ID:132476
 Oct 7 2010, 10:14 am
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Theodis wrote:
Well I recently put in an order for a Pandora which is a little handheld linux system. Wine unfortunately won't work directly because it doesn't translate the x86 instruction set to the ARM one. However Wine is now supported on ARM chips so maybe it would be as simple as compiling an exe for the ARM chipset. Any chance this could be tested? Unfortunately due to the typical wait time I probably won't have my Pandora anytime soon :P. I'd just like to say I've known about these laptops for a couple of years now, they look really cool. They're too expensive for my wallet. | |
"The most powerful gaming handheld there is."
"ARM® Cortex™-A8 600Mhz+ CPU running Linux" Uhhhhhhhh...? That's like advertising BYOND as the most powerful game engine there is! Running at 10FPS with 2D tiled sprites. | |
Falacy wrote:
"The most powerful gaming handheld there is." Except that it actually is the most powerful. Unless there is a gaming handheld more powerful than the PSP Go and 3DS, I'm not sure where you're going with that. | |
Considering the PSP is the next most-powerful system in handhelds, clocking in at a blazing 222mhz (possible to OC to 333mhz), I'd say they're correct.
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OrangeWeapons wrote:
I'd just like to say I've known about these laptops for a couple of years now, they look really cool. They're too expensive for my wallet. They're also not laptops; they're handhelds. Lummox JR | |
Keep in mind devices like the iTouch 4 and the iPhone 4 (which clock in at 1 Ghz) aren't considered handhelds.
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Are there even any games for the Pandora? Because it seems more like an averagely powerful web browser (running Linux?).
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Are there even any games for the Pandora? Because it seems more like an averagely powerful web browser (running Linux?). If you want a device primarily for gaming the Pandora really isn't the choice to go as it won't likely get much in the way of games targeted specifically for it. For me it's an extremely portable linux system with some gaming controls. However if something runs on linux and the source code is available it likely with some effort can be made to work with it. Such as GemRB for running the infinity engine games(Baldur's gate and Icewind dale series) or SCUMMVM for running stuff like Monkey Island. DOSBox apparently also runs since it emulates the hardware so old DOS games can be run on it. I think someone even has a video of someone running Windows 3.x through DOSBox. There are a large number of console emulators out there for that type of stuff. Since it can run a full linux desktop it can also be used for programming, or running OpenOffice to do work like that. So it might not have a slew of first and third party games like typical handheld consoles but it has a much broader range of use outside of gaming. | |
I ordered one nearly two years ago when shipping was supposed to be imminent, but my order was canceled by Paypal because they have rules about the time an item can be delayed before shipment. I never did put in a new order. It looks like the first batch is finally shipping only now. Hopefully the second won't be far behind. If this turns out well for people I may go ahead and order one again sometime.
I don't know if it would be possible to compile a Windows app for the ARM chipset, though I suspect it isn't. However because the frontend isn't really designed to be portable in the same way the backend is, I don't think it'd work regardless.
Lummox JR