# The Ubuntu Forum Community > Ubuntu Specialised Support > Gaming & Leisure >  Linux Handheld - too good to be true?

## Scarath

So i'm sure many of you already know about the open-source handheld the GP2X that runs on a linux kernel i believe (?)

Well i was planning on buying one as it seems to have a few of the classic games from the debian repos and seems like a good little machine to tinker with.

Anyway while doing some research on the GP2X i found out about this: the Pandora (not a very useful webo), which promises to be an open-source little bundle of joy. 

Great i thought, i'll just wait for this little monster to be released i though, but then i started reading the  GP2X forums where there has been some naysaying about the product and even claims that it will never be released or that the project was an april fools >.< (?)

Has anyone else heard about the OpenPandora project? 

If it is real then it looks like a serious piece of hardware  :Very Happy:  ... i hope its not too good to be true.

- hope this isnt a repost, i could find anything anywhere else on the forums -

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## Steveway

Is that the new name of the craginator or isn't it related to Gamepark and their GP2X?

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## Scarath

I know its not related to GP but i think it is the 'craiginator'

I think one of the most intriguing features is the supposed debian (apt-get style i assume???) style install system:



> Software: Open2X-type Linux firmware. [17]
> 
>     * One-click install system - Debian ARM packages probably accepted

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## Scarath

In case anyone cares i have found another interesting links on the new platform:

engadget

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## Sockerdrickan

> Linux Handheld - too good to be true?


no
www.openmoko.com

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## Luksion Knight

> no
> www.openmoko.com


big difference in the pandora (128MB of RAM @ 600Mhz default clock) and the openmoko (200Mhz, not sure how much RAM)

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## gigaferz

the only thing missing for the gp2x , is wireless internet connection..... but other than that its like a ultra portable pc!!!!

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## Sockerdrickan

> big difference in the pandora (128MB of RAM @ 600Mhz default clock) and the openmoko (200Mhz, not sure how much RAM)


It is ugly. </*>

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## Mikecore

Nokia N810 is what your looking for

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## Hortinstein

> big difference in the pandora (128MB of RAM @ 600Mhz default clock) and the openmoko (200Mhz, not sure how much RAM)


openmoko is gonna be 400mhz for consumer version

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## Vadi

Really lookingforward to this Pandora thing.

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## PoisonedV

It is not a joke, I am on the gp32x forums, formerly known as 'bumblebee' 'craiginator' and now pandora, they have been working on it ever since they disliked the new F200 gph was about to release. Personally I think the Pandora will bomb so hard. The design looks bad too

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## Sockerdrickan

It looks really, really, really ugly. I hope they change the design for the sake of Linux reputation.

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## BigSilly

So I'm the only person who likes the look of the Pandora then? I think it looks quite cute and very unique. I quite fancy the GP2X as well. The prices are very good for these little Linux toys aren't they?  :Very Happy:

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## Jay Jay

> I quite fancy the GP2X as well. The prices are very good for these little Linux toys aren't they?


Yes, very tempting! I saw a review of the GP2X a while back in one of the "Brit mags" and they made a point of mentioning it was Linux powered, which drew my attention. The Webmasters state that it offers the first opportunity for true open development since the days of the Amiga and that sounds heart warming to me.

From what I've seen, the GP2X offers much more scope than the closed-source rivals such as the PSP and at a better price mark too.

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## BigSilly

> Yes, very tempting! I saw a review of the GP2X a while back in one of the "Brit mags" and they made a point of mentioning it was Linux powered, which drew my attention. The Webmasters state that it offers the first opportunity for true open development since the days of the Amiga and that sounds heart warming to me.
> 
> *From what I've seen, the GP2X offers much more scope than the closed-source rivals such as the PSP and at a better price mark too*.


You know what? I agree, and I'm going to get one of these in when I get a bit of spare cash. It's a sweet little item. I'll keep an eye out for the Pandora too. 

More of these please!

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## Mikecore

Guess I should post info seeing as you ignored my post. 

Nokia N810 enternet tablet.
wireless 
camrea IP phoone calls
GPS built in
music 
videos
games
e-mail
web browsing
IM 
runs linux ( debian based )

http://maemo.org/
http://www.nseries.com/index.html#l=products,n810
http://www.internettablettalk.com/forums/

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## chronographer

I agree with previous poster nokia n810 is the way to go. I am going to get one as soon as they are cheaper and I have some spare cash, nearly bought one last night off ebay, used for a week and sold for $480 AUD including postage! 

I think that GPS is the killer app which sold me on the concept, that and wifi so I can run a server with music, torrents ssh etc and remotely administer it with web interface etc. all in the palm of my hand! I read an article on a guy who uses the nokia n770 to run his mpd box to p[ump music around the house! and they are about $100 - 200 australian now!

SO I think these small guys with linux handhelds are probably pipedreams, you need the critical mass of production and user base for price and community development which nokia has, also the eee pc and soon cloudbook are linux based, VERY small (suprisingly small, I saw an eee the other day, tiny!) and quite powerful!

So lets see what happens eh?

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## handy

I have a GP2x & it is a cool Linux based hand held, but compared to the Nokia N810 it is rough & prehistoric.

I will sell my GP2x & get hold of one of these N810's sometime in the future, they can run KDE 3.5 as though it was on a notebook!

*http://geekpenguin.blogspot.com/2008...op-lovely.html*

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## bobulator

Looks very nice!

People are comparing it to phones but it looks more like an eeepc for gaming.

Doubt it'll take off though. 

Surely they could put a bit more stuff on their site?

Looks very much in the concept stage so the case design will probably be changed, maybe make it a bit less bulky.

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## jacob01

reminds me of the psp

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## Sockerdrickan

How? The keyboard layout is horrible.

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## jacob01

yea i agree but other than that    also the touch screen kinda turns me off (i dont like them)  just think they pair a semi soft screen with a small tipped pointer that you are supposed to poke the screen with i mean it doesn't work, and the screen gets scratched and kinda ******

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## WebbG33k

Oldskool games will be fun to be played on such a thing  :Wink: 

Edit: But maybe better to buy something like PSP like someone said.

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## handy

> Oldskool games will be fun to be played on such a thing 
> 
> Edit: But maybe better to buy something like PSP like someone said.


Games are really about all the GP2X is good for.  You can store & play music/pictures/movies on SD cards that it accepts, but it is a bit clumsy really.  For playing quake & the like it is a great little thing, & it runs on rechargeable AA batteries which is really cool battery price/replacement wise.

I bought mine in the hope that someone would write a decent PIM package for it.  But as far as I know it never happened.  I'm long past playing those kinds of games on a hand held, so basically the GP2X is useless to me!

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## BigSilly

> I have a GP2x & it is a cool Linux based hand held, but compared to the Nokia N810 it is rough & prehistoric.
> 
> I will sell my GP2x & get hold of one of these N810's sometime in the future, they can run KDE 3.5 as though it was on a notebook!
> 
> *http://geekpenguin.blogspot.com/2008...op-lovely.html*


Yeah, but there's quite a price difference. The appeal of the GP2X and the Pandora is the cheap price for me. It makes them very attractive Linux toys. 

 I agree that the Nokia looks lovely though. Love that KDE!

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## handy

> Yeah, but there's quite a price difference. The appeal of the GP2X and the Pandora is the cheap price for me. It makes them very attractive Linux toys. 
> 
>  I agree that the Nokia looks lovely though. Love that KDE!


Your right about the prices, though the N810 surely has a lot more to it.

I've been checking out this N800 series forum, it is really great, it is where the KDE desktop comes from:

*http://www.internettablettalk.com/fo...splay.php?f=33*

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## Scarath

I really cant believe so many people are just saying "Dont get this get the N810" when they arnt even designed to be the same thing!

The Pandora is meant to be a for homebrew-gamers/retro-gamer/hacker/hobby/etc. Its not going to be a mainstream bit of kit like the N810 and the makers will know this. Its something for that community to take and make into whatever they want. 

On the subject of the way it looks, yeah its not some sleek phone/tablet but as above, thats not what it is being designed for, the case is utilitarian and has many advantages.

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## Jay Jay

> I really cant believe so many people are just saying "Dont get this get the N810" when they arnt even designed to be the same thing!
> 
> The Pandora is meant to be a for homebrew-gamers/retro-gamer/hacker/hobby/etc. Its not going to be a mainstream bit of kit like the N810 and the makers will know this. Its something for that community to take and make into whatever they want. 
> 
> On the subject of the way it looks, yeah its not some sleek phone/tablet but as above, thats not what it is being designed for, the case is utilitarian and has many advantages.


My thoughts exactly, regardless of their shortcomings, machines like the Pandora and the the GP2X are designed by enthusiasts within the open source community for the open source community. Ok, the PSP and the N810 are very impressive, but then with millions (if not billions) invested in their R&D that's hardly surprising.

Compare the frontier perspective of the designers behind the GP2X and Pandora with that of Sony and Nokia. They're celebrating the potential for open development by ordinary users whilst the latter place restrictions on what you can do with products that you've paid for and own.

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## Vadi

I heard that Nokia's documentation for Linux users is lacking (ie, it's geared towards Windows users primarily). Is that true?

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## handy

> I really cant believe so many people are just saying "Don't get this get the N810" when they aren't even designed to be the same thing!


I am speaking from personal experience with the GP2X.  It is not what I want.  The software that was started for it was never finished, so it is nothing but a hand held game box.  I don't want or need a hand held game box.  If you do want a Linux based hand held game box, then get a GP2X, that is all it is really good for, that & storage of digital media, which I mentioned before it is clumsy at dealing with.




> The Pandora is meant to be a for homebrew-gamers/retro-gamer/hacker/hobby/etc. Its not going to be a mainstream bit of kit like the N810 and the makers will know this. Its something for that community to take and make into whatever they want.


As per the GP2X. 




> On the subject of the way it looks, yeah its not some sleek phone/tablet but as above, thats not what it is being designed for, the case is utilitarian and has many advantages.


I agree.

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## handy

> My thoughts exactly, regardless of their shortcomings, machines like the Pandora and the the GP2X are designed by enthusiasts within the open source community for the open source community. Ok, the PSP and the N810 are very impressive, but then with millions (if not billions) invested in their R&D that's hardly surprising.
> 
> Compare the frontier perspective of the designers behind the GP2X and Pandora with that of Sony and Nokia. They're celebrating the potential for open development by ordinary users whilst the latter place restrictions on what you can do with products that you've paid for and own.


Did you look at that forum link I posted above?

The 810 is running Linux.  Hackers have already ported the full KDE desktop to it & the 810 is still so new there is a waiting list to buy it.

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## handy

> I heard that Nokia's documentation for Linux users is lacking (ie, it's geared towards Windows users primarily). Is that true?


That I don't know, but there is certainly a great forum community around the thing already, where many windows users are getting turned on to Linux!  :Wink:

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## Jay Jay

> Did you look at that forum link I posted above?
> 
> The 810 is running Linux.  Hackers have already ported the full KDE desktop to it & the 810 is still so new there is a waiting list to buy it.


Yes, I did look the forum link thanks  :Smile:  interesting reading, but I couldn't really find out any info about the Nokia EULA, will it grant the user leeway in what they do with the 810? I ask because of the horror stories of the iPHONE and PSP (where people have been prosecuted apparently for modding the hardware).

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## handy

> Yes, I did look the forum link thanks  interesting reading, but I couldn't really find out any info about the Nokia EULA, will it grant the user leeway in what they do with the 810? I ask because of the horror stories of the iPHONE and PSP (where people have been prosecuted apparently for modding the hardware).


iPhone & PSP doesn't surprise me one little bit.  :Sad: 

You could join the forum & post the question, I'm sure you will receive a quick accurate answer.

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## Scarath

> Did you look at that forum link I posted above?
> 
> The 810 is running Linux.  Hackers have already ported the full KDE desktop to it & the 810 is still so new there is a waiting list to buy it.


Yeah I did some research on the N8** series (I was going to get an N800) but I never really got too exited by them. 
I'm not really a fan of the KDE environment, however I read somewhere that someone got Openbox working on the N800, that IS a tempting idea.

I think the Pandora will have much more to offer than the GP2X, the USBx2 host is one of the things that seems very useful.

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## handy

After doing some research, I'm going to get the 8gig iPod Touch.  I will not be playing games & very rarely music.  I will use it as a PDA, it syncs with iCal, Address Book & iPhoto, which is all I need.  I can't see anythig that will do those jobs more effectively for me, so that's that for me.

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## days_of_ruin

wow the pandora's button/keyboard setup looks awful!
Are those to thumbsticks in the middle?Carpal tunnel city.

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## hessiess

> Guess I should post info seeing as you ignored my post.


Nokia N810 enternet tablet.
wireless -useless
camrea IP phoone calls -uesless
GPS built in -useless
music 
videos -useless -screen too small
games
e-mail -useless
web browsing -useless -screen too small
IM -useless
runs linux ( debian based )

i would say the same things to any device that offers these features, including the Pandora, which is ugly

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