David opens Pandora’s box, and has a
peek inside.
The Open Pandora project is the result of a
dream shared by enthusiasts Craig Rothwell, Faith Kilic and Michael Mrozek, who
wanted an open source gaming handled that would still be a computer for the
masses.
The Pandora is a very impressive piece of
engineering. Within Nintendo DS-sized body, the developer has, presumably with
the use of advance witchcraft, managed to cram in a 600MHz ARM Cortex A8 CPU,
512MB DDR-333 SDRAM, integrated wi-fi, Bluetooth, a resistive touch-screen,
dual analogue game controllers, an eight-way d-pad with ABXY buttons and,
impressively, a 43-button qwerty keyboard. To make use of this little of, the
Pandora comes with a customised version of Ångström Linux that is specifically
designed for Pandora usage but doesn’t lose any of the Linux look and feel.
Open Pandora
In its default setting, the Pandora acts
very much like a standard Xfce Linux desktop PC. You can open up the internet,
download and install applications (via the Pandora software centre, called
PNDstore), change the desktop settings create new users, indulge in a spot of
word processing, play a video, listen to some music, and so on. In fact, it is
in essence, just a tiny computer.
Being a computer can lead to its own set of
problems, but the Pandora is a hard wee beastie and with an unbrickable design
it can take most computing tasks on the chin as well as any ‘normal’ desktop
Linux PC.
On the other hand, the Pandora is also a
gaming platform that’s capable of playing some impressive emulation, from the
classic ZX Spectrum, and other 8-bits, all the way up to more modern 64-bit
consoles, as well as the usual heap of Linux built games and a smarttering of
excellent homebrew examples.
All of this can be executed from the Xfce
desktop, or to make things easy, via an icon-driven GUI desktop mini-menu
called PMenu. The beauty of this is that both of the desktop environments can
be switched over to at any time, so once you’re finished with writing that
report during the daily commute, you could switch over to the mini-menu and
enjoy the rest of the journey while gaming away.
The auto-configuring dual analogue
controllers feel tough and robust enough to handle even the most frantic of
gaming experiences, and the 600MHz A8 whips along with enough grunt to spit out
decent visuals, plus the addition of a PowerVR OpenGL 3D GPU makes short work
of the more demanding graphics of modern Linux games and emulation. Games can
be downloaded via the PNDstore, or simply by browsing any of the
Pandora-related sites, although obtaining ROMS for emulators is a legally iffy
task.
The Pandora isn’t without its issues,
though. To get to that level of gaming and productivity bliss, a fair amount of
configuration is necessary and if you’re not too au fair with the nuances of
Linux, then the tinkering needed to get everything working may drive you well
and truly mad. Be warned: this isn’t a pick-up-and-play device. But, as long as
you respect the fact that this is a tiny Linux computer and a development
device that’s only a few years old, then you’ll soon come to love its compact
design and the vast potential that the Pandora can fill. However, should any
trouble arise, then the Pandora pages are chock full of advice and help to get
you going, and keep you on track. While it may not replace your current
handheld, it is possibly one of the most adventurous projects out there, albeit
a rather expensive one.
|
Details
Price: $560
Manufacturer: OpenPandora
Website: openpandora.org
Features: PowerVR 3D graphics, TV output, USB, unbrickable design,
kernel 2.6, 335g with battery, 140 x 83.4 x 27.5mm
Specifications
TI OMAP3530 processor at 600MHz
512MB DDR-333 SDRAM
512MB NAND FLASH memory
IVA2+ audio and video processor with TI’s DaVinci technology
ARM Cortex-A8 superscalar microprocessor core
PowerVR SGX530 (110MHz officially) OpenGL ES 2.0 compliant 3D
hardware
Wi-fi 802.11b/g (up to 18dBm output)
Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR (3Mbps) (Class 2, + 4dBm)
800x480 resolution LTPS LCD with resistive touch screen, 4.3”
widescreen
Dual analogue controllers
Full gamepad controls plus shoulder buttons
Dual SDHC card slots (up to 64GB of storage currently)
TV output (composite and S-Video)
Internal microphone
Stereo line level inputs and outputs
43 button QWERTY and numeric keypad
USB 2.0 OTG port (1.5/12/480Mbps) with charging capability
USB 2.0 HOST port (480Mbps) capable of providing the full 500mA to
attached devices (examples include USB memory, keyboard, mouse, 3G modem,
GPS)
|
Quality: 9
Value: 7
Overall: 8
Verdict
Possibly the ultimate open-source gaming handheld, but it’s not
for the faint hearted
|
