Now, I am sure you guys remember my GP2X portable, and going on about it's greatness. Well, it successor has finally hit the market, and good goddamn!

It is a thing of beauty.

Some info on it:

Quote:

The Pandora is a handheld game console designed to take advantage of existing open source software and to be a target for home-brew development. It is developed by OpenPandora, which is made up of former distributors and community members of the GP32 and GP2X handhelds. The designers of Pandora stated that it would be more powerful than any handheld video game console that existed when it was announced. It includes several features that no handheld game consoles have previously had, making it a cross between a handheld game console and a subnotebook. OpenPandora began taking pre-orders for one batch of 4000 devices in 2008 and after manufacturing delays, expected to ship them to customers in the second quarter of 2010. The Pandora began shipping to customers on May 21, 2010.

SPECS:
Texas Instruments OMAP3530 System-on-Chip with Cortex-A8 at 600 MHz
256MB DDR-333 SDRAM
512MB NAND FLASH memory
IVA2+ audio and video processor (based on the TMS320C64x+ DSP Core at 430 MHz) using Texas Instruments' DaVinci technology
ARM Cortex-A8 superscalar microprocessor core
PowerVR SGX 530 (110 MHz) OpenGL ES 2.0 compliant 3D hardware
Integrated Wi-Fi 802.11b/g
Integrated Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR (3Mbit/s) (Class 2, +4dBm)
800x480 resolution touchscreen LCD, 4.3" widescreen, 16.7 million colors (300 cd/m2 brightness, 450:1 contrast ratio)
Dual analog nubs; 15mm diameter, concave, 2.5mm travel from centre
Full gamepad controls plus shoulder buttons
Dual SDHC card slots (currently supporting up to 32GB of storage each, supports SDIO)
Headphone output up to 150 mW/channel into 16 ohms, 99dB SNR
TV output (composite and S-Video)
Internal microphone plus ability to connect external microphone through headset
43 button QWERTY and numeric keypad
USB 2.0 OTG port (480Mb/s) with capability to charge the Pandora
USB 2.0 HOST port (480Mb/s) capable of providing standard 500mA current to attached devices
Externally accessible UART for hardware hacking and debugging
Brick prevention with integrated bootloader for safe code experimentation
Runs the Linux kernel (2.6.x)
4200 mAh rechargeable lithium polymer battery
Estimated 8.5-10+ hour battery life for games, 10+ hour battery life for video and general applications, and theoretically 100+ hours for music playback (with backlight off and maximum power management)
Dimensions: 140x83x27mm (314 ml) (5.51x3.27x1.06 in)
Mass: 335 g (0.739 lbs)

The Pandora is designed to be a handheld game console with high-end PDA capabilities, but may also be run as a low-power full-featured Linux desktop. The system by default will come with a Linux OS based on Ångström.

The interface is custom themed to fit the small form factor and touchscreen, analogue joystick, and keyboard-based inputs available. Users can install and run their own desktop environment if they choose. Users may even install other Linux distributions like Ubuntu or Gentoo themselves.

The Pandora is intended primarily for homebrew gaming and for the emulation of older computer systems and video game consoles, which is possible through efficient use of the resources made available by the Texas Instruments OMAP 3530 SoC. The Pandora developers have already shown working emulators for Dreamcast, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Amiga, SNES, Atari Jaguar and Sega Mega Drive software, and the Pandora is thought by its developers to have the potential to emulate most if not all machines older than the Dreamcast.

The device is also intended for use as a portable media playback device with a storage capacity of up to 64 GB of data across two SDHC memory card slots.

The Pandora uses standard libraries such as OpenGL ES and SDL which are freely available, allowing anyone who wishes the ability to develop for the system. Many developers from the GP2x community have publicly stated that they will be developing applications for the new system.

At launch, the Pandora will be able to install Debian packages built for the ARM architecture using APT. A Git repository will be available immediately upon release of the system, allowing for download of the latest kernel source.



It can be yours for the fair price of: $330

It's a portable handheld (PSP, DS, etc.) that is open source (Which means there are no locks on it. Anyone can program for it.

It has the power of a netbook PC, two analogue sticks, full keyboard, and can emulate every game system from Dreamcast back. (Including MAME arcade emulation.) It also has bluetooth and WiFi, so you can use it as a PC/Game System/PDA/etc.

Well, seeing how it has a 600 MHz CPU and 256MB DDR-333 SDRAM, the thing could specwise, run Windows XP, let alone DOSBoX.

(XP Requirements: PC with 300 megahertz or higher processor clock speed recommended; 233 MHz minimum required (single or dual processor system);* Intel Pentium/Celeron family, or AMD K6/Athlon/Duron family, or compatible processor recommended

• 128 megabytes (MB) of RAM or higher recommended (64 MB minimum supported; may limit performance and some features))

I can still get them for $330. Maybe I need to come up with some dough, and make some bones?

The GP2X is a great system, and does everything up to SNES really well. If you do get one, definately get the SCUMM emulator for it. It works perfectly. I played through Full Throttle all the way with no issues.

I don't know a whole lot about the Wiz.

Based on the specs released by GamePark Holdings, the Wiz appears to have a considerably more slim and compact form factor than that of the GP2X. The Wiz also has a fairly large amount of built in flash memory. OLED screens are supposed to have a much faster response time than that of standard LCD screens, as well as increased brightness and an increased viewing angle.

By looking at it the pics, it looks like it has a far better button setup. The GP2X had very tiny buttons, and the digital stick wasn't the best for control. For $149, I would say go for it.