Pandora handheld console dated and priced

Author: Joe Martin
Published: 2nd September 2008
Comments (21) Stumble
Pandora handheld console dated and priced

The Pandora handheld console will sell in the UK for just shy of £200 and should be out in time for Christmas.

The Pandora handheld console has finally been dated and priced by the manufacturer and the good news is that the homebrew-focused console, which claims to be the most powerful handheld ever, should be out in time for Christmas in the UK.

For those not in the know, the Pandora is a handheld console in the same vein as the GP2X from Gamepark, though much beefier. The handheld will likely see few if any commercial games getting released from established developers and publishers and is instead focused on the homebrew and bedroom coders market - something which has been steadily growing over the last few years.

The Pandora should hit shelves in time for Christmas in the UK, priced at £199.99, which is perhaps just a tiny bit on the expensive side, but then this is very much a niche product for many. There's no word yet of prices or shipping dates for the US, though we do know that the first batch for the UK will consist of 3000 units thanks to a recent PocketGamer interview.

The Pandora handheld system is definitely a powerful little beast though, packing an ARM Cortex A8 chip clocked to 600MHz, as well PowerVR SGX OpenGL 2.0 ES compliant 3D hardware.

Input-wise the Pandora is an impressive beast too, boasting a 800x480 touchscreen, SVideo TV out, and an array of SDHC card readers. On top of that the Pandora has Wifi 802.11b/g, Bluetooth and USB connection options.

Not bad for a platform that also sports a 43 button keyboard, analogue controls and a 10 hour battery life, eh? Let us know if you plan to pick one up in the forums.
Quote Liquid K9 2nd September 2008, 12:05
ugly, ugly machine.

it'll be hard to shift a fugly looking handheld like that
Quote CardJoe 2nd September 2008, 12:05
M'eh. I've been eyeing one up for a while.
Quote [USRF]Obiwan 2nd September 2008, 12:25
It looks like a Atari 2600..
Quote steveo_mcg 2nd September 2008, 12:29
I quite fancy one also, but i'm torn between it and a eee. Don't have the cash for both.
Quote DXR_13KE 2nd September 2008, 12:48
see it in action (same video, different resolutions):
http://www.gp2x.de/video/1080i.avi
http://www.gp2x.de/video/720p.avi
http://www.gp2x.de/video/Small.avi



* ARM® Cortex™-A8 600Mhz+ CPU running Linux
* 430-MHz TMS320C64x+™ DSP Core
* PowerVR SGX OpenGL 2.0 ES compliant 3D hardware
* 800x480 4.3" 16.7 million colours touchscreen LCD
* Wifi 802.11b/g, Bluetooth & High Speed USB 2.0 Host
* Dual SDHC card slots & SVideo TV output
* Dual Analogue and Digital gaming controls
* 43 button QWERTY and numeric keypad
* Around 10+ Hours battery life

they also say that it has enough battery to play MP3 for about 100 hours.

this might also be interesting:

http://www.gp32x.com/board/index.php?showtopic=43659&st=0
Quote Arkanrais 2nd September 2008, 13:02
I'd love a port of diablo/2/2X and starcraft/brood war for this. also an RPG maker PC client for this would kick ass. I'd love to pick one up anyway.
Quote Jordan Wise 2nd September 2008, 13:09
definately picking one of these up, they're incredible
Quote Akava 2nd September 2008, 13:58
That sounds like quite an awesome bit of kit, might be worth getting one when the price drops a bit and there is more content for them.
Quote Hustler 2nd September 2008, 14:50
This is very depressing, i usually consider myself well informed on this sort of thing, but im ashamed to admit that this is the first time i have EVER heard of the Pandora, and now i've read up on it...

I WANT ONE!!!!!!!

OMFG, how can i not of heard of this....been using Pc Emulators for 11 years now.......shameful
Quote DXR_13KE 2nd September 2008, 15:17
you also have the wiz:

http://www.gp32x.com/board/index.php?showtopic=43721

edit:

http://www.gp2x.de/wiz/Wiz%20introduction.jpg zoom in
Quote Hustler 2nd September 2008, 15:49
I did know about the wiz.....i still cant believe i let the Pandora slip past me...
Quote PQuiff 2nd September 2008, 16:47
Neeeeds...
Quote sotu1 2nd September 2008, 16:48
it looks like crap but the geek in me wants one.
Quote fuiuioufeiouwe 3rd September 2008, 00:05
it looks like a nintendo ds to me just with 1 sceen
Quote Skiddywinks 3rd September 2008, 00:33
OUCH! £200?!

For the price of a 360, this is just not worth it.
Quote hawky84 3rd September 2008, 08:32
I quite like the retro design looks like my old electric dictionary :D I am definetly interested in this little toy for christmas, lets face it, if the price was less and the screen was a little bigger it could be a good contender against the eee and eee-a-likes out there with the kind of connectivity it is sporting
Quote hawky84 3rd September 2008, 08:43
ha ha I like this part on the wiki under Specification about overclocking to 900MHz

wiki Pandora console

this definetly gets to the geek in me :D
Quote PQuiff 3rd September 2008, 12:14
I like the look , its looks chunky. Im fed up with all these shiny, round corner, easily scratched , hinges breaking cheap plastic pieces of junk.

GO GO retro. now if it was made out of brick and lava rock...mmmmmmm....lol
Quote DXR_13KE 3rd September 2008, 12:34
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skiddywinks
OUCH! £200?!

For the price of a 360, this is just not worth it.

unless you consider that there is no peace of hardware anywhere that can do what the pandora can do for that price and size.
Quote gpw111 3rd September 2008, 22:56
It is pretty tempting but I am put off a bit by the price. Although thinking about it I wouldn't be that fussed about spending £200 on a bit of hardware for my PC
Quote SinusRoris 5th September 2008, 13:01
I´m leon, 15 years old, from germany, and i will buy it as soon it will be available. first i wanted to buy the gp2x but compared with the pandora this is nothing
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