Man, I had (and still have) a GP2x and was around in the forums when this was "being developed". Wow, it was a madhouse! Watching folks consider all the options, sourcing parts and manufacturing, and then watching them "being shipped". Good lord! All the pre-orders folks were ALWAYS in flux, and as the project dragged on and on, so many folks were demanding refunds, complaining about the delay, and every day in the forums was a trip to insanity town. And then, once they finally began shipping these, there were MANY complaints about DOA units, the controls, the screens, the card readers..you name it. That said, with all the madness, it was somewhat refreshing to see a project from the fantasy stage thru the planning to the shipping. I salute the fellas for shipping it eventually and after all the turmoil!
i wanted one of these so bad back in the day and it seemed so out of reach. Luckily now I have a steam deck and other handheld devices which more than makes up for that loss. I'd really like a GPD Win clamshell with Bazzite at some point though because that would be the ultimate version of this, granted on x86 instead of arm
Really nice video, i have not seen one of these before so its good to see it here, I love Mr Know it all wants to give his opinion lol. This looks quite a good machine so glad you got it going.
I had one of these. I messed with it a bit. Unfortunately, I ended up dropping it and the case cracked. Was still usable, but not good for using portable. Also, the controls were kinda dysfunctional on mine, especially the control sticks. We complain about stick drift today, but many of these shipped with stick drift. I remember the dpad being decent, but the buttons were pretty not-great. There wasn't much like it at the time though. Especially something with a full keyboard and able to run a full desktop. As with many ARM devices, it would be forever stuck on whatever kernel it shipped with, being full of closed source drivers and undocumented hardware.
Nice concept it was, but I remember it was already almost obsolete even before shipping all crowdfunded batches.... There were so many powerful, cheap ARM devices like android TV boxes under $50, and GPD was already in the field before OpenPandora becoming a thing.
Netbooks were becoming a thing when mine shipped. I remember I was going to be going to a family reunion and was hoping it'd arrive intime, but when it was still a week out I decided to buy a a Netbook which cost about the same amount as the preorder. Ultimately, I think aside from being a windows 7 device, it was just about as powerful as the Pandora when I got it, but not nearly as pocketable. I used it way more than the netbook.
I used to really, really want one of these and the GamePark devices before them. Now I have a Miyoo A30 which could be considered a descendant of this (in that the OpenPandora is a descendant of the GP32)
To be honest, I love this one But I still love x86-x64 architecture GPD Win was so expensive to me at that time, luckily now since Steam Deck came out, the other product competing for better product or better price with better specs from x86-x64 portable PC.
I still have mine! 1st edition too. The swollen battery was an issue I had for a while. Eventually, it broke the battery door and I had to order a 3D printed on from a company (not unlike what PCBway can do!) Thankfully, the CAD files for the case were/are still available online, and I bought a new battery from the German store. It still works today, and I'd still be using it for creative writing, unfortunately the hinge broke after all these years so I might need to order another 3D printed replacement, but it was a complicated assembly and the demo videos were pre HD, so I'm scared I might damage it more.
I always wanted one back in the day but then it rapidly turned into Pandora's box of vaporware. Also frankly it was overpriced for the specs that offered. Then again a lot of the super tiny game netbooks suffered from that. I eventually got a GPD win Max and installed Manjaro on it.
I had a preorder to the Pandora's successor, the Pyra, but after 4 years of waiting, I had it refunded. Now 9 years later, it looks like it still has not been released
@@oakeydokey2 Maybe a too overambituous project, when it still didn‘t materialize after 8 years in the working, who knows? At least you didn‘t loose the money!
I was on the forums a while back and it sounded like some of the dev units had gone out at the time. I seem to remember EvilDragon posting progress videos at least until 2022. The upside to the Pyra's design was supposed to be upgradability, so even if they took too long they could offer an replacement board that would be higher spec.
It's a baby! Love the little computers.
I always like it when Mr. Know-It-All shows up.
Man, I had (and still have) a GP2x and was around in the forums when this was "being developed". Wow, it was a madhouse! Watching folks consider all the options, sourcing parts and manufacturing, and then watching them "being shipped". Good lord! All the pre-orders folks were ALWAYS in flux, and as the project dragged on and on, so many folks were demanding refunds, complaining about the delay, and every day in the forums was a trip to insanity town. And then, once they finally began shipping these, there were MANY complaints about DOA units, the controls, the screens, the card readers..you name it. That said, with all the madness, it was somewhat refreshing to see a project from the fantasy stage thru the planning to the shipping. I salute the fellas for shipping it eventually and after all the turmoil!
I wanted one of those soooo bad lol, for the emulation possibilities
I made do with a Dingoo A320 c: was a fun little thing
wow i heard about this on the linux action show back in the day but i was poor and never got one : (
Great video
i wanted one of these so bad back in the day and it seemed so out of reach. Luckily now I have a steam deck and other handheld devices which more than makes up for that loss. I'd really like a GPD Win clamshell with Bazzite at some point though because that would be the ultimate version of this, granted on x86 instead of arm
Really nice video, i have not seen one of these before so its good to see it here, I love Mr Know it all wants to give his opinion lol. This looks quite a good machine so glad you got it going.
I had one of these. I messed with it a bit. Unfortunately, I ended up dropping it and the case cracked. Was still usable, but not good for using portable. Also, the controls were kinda dysfunctional on mine, especially the control sticks. We complain about stick drift today, but many of these shipped with stick drift. I remember the dpad being decent, but the buttons were pretty not-great. There wasn't much like it at the time though. Especially something with a full keyboard and able to run a full desktop. As with many ARM devices, it would be forever stuck on whatever kernel it shipped with, being full of closed source drivers and undocumented hardware.
Nice concept it was, but I remember it was already almost obsolete even before shipping all crowdfunded batches....
There were so many powerful, cheap ARM devices like android TV boxes under $50, and GPD was already in the field before OpenPandora becoming a thing.
Netbooks were becoming a thing when mine shipped. I remember I was going to be going to a family reunion and was hoping it'd arrive intime, but when it was still a week out I decided to buy a a Netbook which cost about the same amount as the preorder. Ultimately, I think aside from being a windows 7 device, it was just about as powerful as the Pandora when I got it, but not nearly as pocketable. I used it way more than the netbook.
I used to really, really want one of these and the GamePark devices before them. Now I have a Miyoo A30 which could be considered a descendant of this (in that the OpenPandora is a descendant of the GP32)
To be honest, I love this one
But I still love x86-x64 architecture
GPD Win was so expensive to me at that time, luckily now since Steam Deck came out, the other product competing for better product or better price with better specs from x86-x64 portable PC.
cool how mr. know it all have to wait 😂
I still have mine! 1st edition too. The swollen battery was an issue I had for a while. Eventually, it broke the battery door and I had to order a 3D printed on from a company (not unlike what PCBway can do!) Thankfully, the CAD files for the case were/are still available online, and I bought a new battery from the German store. It still works today, and I'd still be using it for creative writing, unfortunately the hinge broke after all these years so I might need to order another 3D printed replacement, but it was a complicated assembly and the demo videos were pre HD, so I'm scared I might damage it more.
@@TheRealAlpha2 hope you can save it!
@@THEPHINTAGECOLLECTOR One day I'll get up the courage to try!
give meritous a try ;)
I always wanted one back in the day but then it rapidly turned into Pandora's box of vaporware. Also frankly it was overpriced for the specs that offered. Then again a lot of the super tiny game netbooks suffered from that. I eventually got a GPD win Max and installed Manjaro on it.
I had a preorder to the Pandora's successor, the Pyra, but after 4 years of waiting, I had it refunded. Now 9 years later, it looks like it still has not been released
@@oakeydokey2 Maybe a too overambituous project, when it still didn‘t materialize after 8 years in the working, who knows?
At least you didn‘t loose the money!
I was on the forums a while back and it sounded like some of the dev units had gone out at the time. I seem to remember EvilDragon posting progress videos at least until 2022. The upside to the Pyra's design was supposed to be upgradability, so even if they took too long they could offer an replacement board that would be higher spec.