Comment by primitur | Hacker News Reader

Comment by primitur | Hacker News Reader

I have pretty much every Linux handheld ever made, and my original First Batch Open Pandora is still the one I go to for my casual gaming needs. The reason is that the community around this device continues to produce absolute gems for the machine, as can be witnessed in what would have to be one of the most underrated app-store/repo's around:

http://repo.openpandora.org

My next-favourite device is the GPD Pocket. Its simply a great Linux workstation - near-perfect hardware design (unibody: yay! shitty keyboard: boo!) and - since its Intel - pretty much everything you could want to run on a machine this size is just an "apt install" away. Paired with a couple of iControlPads' (lol!), this is pretty much the ideal portable gaming rig.

I can't wait for the Pyra, and if there's a GPDPocket2, I'm definitely in for that. I'd love to have a device that delivers the community and form-factor of the Pyra, with the materials (unibody) and architecture (Intel) of the GPD Pocket some day. In order that we get there, I'm supporting any of these companies that push us closer .. even though, of course, a Switch or an Android tablet would probably be a better investment for gaming needs. ;)

I really like the Pocket; everyone (including you) complains about the keyboard but it just takes a few days to get used to it imho. It has stellar battery life (ubuntu + i3wm gets me well over 20 hours while coding). For casual gaming my OpenPandora is still my go to. Indeed a Switch seems tempting but I like having a device I can code on, again, stellar battery life, and I have spare batteries for the thing so I can go hiking for days and do some gaming + coding at night. Can't wait for the Pyra indeed.

My ideal device would have unibody, swappable battery and 3g, so the Pyra. The Gemini seems great but not sure about the battery life on it. Or the Linux support although they seem serious about it.

I got used to the keyboard eventually, but it was devilish few weeks until I did. As a vim user, the placement was bonkers .. but a bit of retraining of muscle memory was, admittedly, in order anyway.

Pyra is going to be great - only wish it had the Pocket form-factor/design ethos. The chunky plastic is a bit gauche for my tastes, and if we think the Pocket keyboard is terrible, well .. Pyra ain't no better! (Have played with a prototype for a few hours .. that muscle memory thing ..)

I remapped the keyboard for Vim but as Vim user and i3wm user I actually imagined it would be easier for ‘us’ and to me to was.

And yes you are right about the Pyra but I love the community. The lifetime of the thing will be long like the Pandora. It costs a lot but he, it outlives all phones by quite a bit with my usage. But yes for the casing my dream would be Pocket unibody, Zaurus swivel, a Gemini/Psion keyboard and exandable and community like Pyra.

With this pocket pc revival it might happen.

The Pocket seems dubious to me - the article got my attention, but the price tag I'm seeing on Amazon ($600+) makes me shy away. Refurb 11" MacBook Airs are in that range, plus any other number of low-end Windows laptops, or even hacking away at a Pi-Top.

Yeah, it's expensive, but it has a pretty high resolution screen and it is pretty small. Definitely easy to carry compared to a laptop+charger.

I want something that fits in my pocket; the Pocket does. It is not phone size but for me it is comfortable and it has a lot longer battery life. The air is too big for what I use the Pocket for.

You can get it on AliExpress for under $500.

My entire argument in favour of the OpenPandora pretty much boils down to this: http://repo.openpandora.org/?page=detail&app=package.starcra...

I mean... what else do you need?

I've never had much success programming on it, though. Not for want of trying. I even ported Propeller IDE for giggles. I think I've just never given the keyboard enough time to build up any sort of muscle memory with it. This is the same issue I have with the GPD Pocket- as much as I love the size and aesthetic, I'm convinced the keyboard will render the thing useless and relegate it to the bottom of my plastic tub of technology remnants.

> I'm convinced the keyboard will render the thing useless

I find it quite comfortable for 10 finger typing after getting used to it. I am not much more ineffective using it than a full keyboard. But it definiteiy needs practice; I think being a touch typist helps, but the q/tab are definitely really annoying to finally get out of your system.

The Pandora is far worse for that but even with that I wrote games on the device itself. It does make me feel a lot better on train/plane trips than just fiddling with my phone, but ofcourse that's a matter of taste.

+10 for the OpenPandora, the community is incredible. It really gives me hope and confidence that the Pyra- while it may take a while to gain momentum- will be an incredible platform for many, many years. That said while I have a first batch Pandora and a silver 1Ghz unit I don't game much anymore and they're a little neglected. I enjoy breaking them out every now and then to find dozens of updates to various PND apps and check up on what's new.

I love having a complete set of Robert's visually consistent emulator front-ends.

Don't get me started on iControlPad :D I've never seen a "lol" so loaded!

I'm keeping a close eye on the Gemini since I love the form-factor and my phone is getting a little crusty. The GPD Pocket has definitely also tempted me.

The GPD Win 2 is taking preorders right now.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/gpd-win-2-handheld-game-c...

27% off too

Another Pandora fan here - I think this is really the unsung hero of the Linux handheld world. Such a great community!

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