Ahh sorry I thought the Pandora was made by Gamepark too. I had an original GP32 but not gotten any of the newer ones as my Custom Firmware PSP does everything I want.

Forget about it. You don't need to apologize to smart asses like me. :p

Actually I think Open Pandora was formed by disgruntled GPH employees so you might be half right anyway.

I have a Pandora unit (got it about 2 weeks ago by upgrading to Premium [$500]) and absolutely love it!

- I've installed DOSBox but I haven't installed any games yet so I can't comment. I've just seen the availability of a version that's set up to run windows 3.1 but I've not tried it. When/if a version can be set up to run win 95 I'll get more interested.
- ScummVM works great. I've installed both Loom and 7th Guest which was one of my wife's favorites and they run smoothly.
- MAME is working also. I use the version which runs the .36 ROMset but there's another using the .106 set that users have liked as well.
- An N64 emulator works "spotily" (I'm not sure that's a word). As I understand it, the emulator was developed to run the 3D version of Mario and it does that nicely. Other users are focusing on expanding this and Zelda OOT and Paper Mario are working now (still a ways to go in general, however).
- The big surprise was that a PSX emulator was developed and runs really well.

I'm still getting used to the controls and working with Linux but I'm playing a lot of GBA and PSX games smoothly.

So, it's pricey but it is basically a very small, Linux-based computer (has wifi and web capability). I think the money was well-spent.

Buy a used PSP. Then jailbreak it so it can run emulators. I mean, you can't run old DOS games, but you can run console ports of old DOS games.

I thought about that, but then decided against it mostly due to the fact that any keyboard built into the thing would be about useless, and with a touchscreen you could just as easily set it up with an onscreen keyboard for anything that needed one, saving electronics space and unit cost. Beside that, I designed the thing with two USB ports and a stand unit in mind specifically to allow users who were crazy enough to wish it to use keyboards and mice optionally.

Here's the specs I had worked up for it (if they could be done, no doubt they could easily):

-Intel Atom processor (not speed specific, really, since they tend to be pretty good overall and we're mostly looking at a unit designed to run games 2005 or earlier.)
-1.5 Gb DDR2 RAM
-60 Gb solid state HDD
-Seven inch capacitive widescreen touch display running at up to 960x600 resolution
-Dedicated graphics card (I would specify Nvidia, but it really depends on who could work one up) with 256 Mb DDR3 RAM and Direct X 9 compatibility. HDMI-out that would interrupt the normal display, transferring the picture to any external monitor connected and, on option, include the unit's audio as well.
-2 USB ports, 2 SD card slots, headphone jack
-Built in 1.3 MP webcam and microphone
-Wireless B/G/N
-Windows XP

This is, of course, ideally what it would have for building a good portable gaming rig that could play most games old and somewhat-new with little to no trouble. Heck, if it could manage what I've specified here it could run OBLIVION no problems. On the other hand, I also had ideas for a slightly cheaper version with only 1 Gb RAM and a 128 Mb graphics card, ditching the 60 GB solid state drive for a 30 Gb standard laptop drive.

With the "controls" shunted to either side of the screen, the area behind the screen would house the processor/hard drive/video card/etc. with two fans located at the top of the unit venting the no doubt fairly impressive heat production. One of the two USB ports would double as the unit's power supply port, the two of which would be located on the top of the unit to either side of the cooling fans. Rather than a single removable battery the unit would have two integrated batteries built into the "handles" under the buttons. Power saving modes could even be used that would only utilize one battery at a time, possibly adding as much as 50% to the unit's battery life when running in low power mode (maximum 32 Mb video RAM used, processor running at no more than 800 MHz. and screen at dimmest settings.)

I thought it would be a great unit to see. I've even got drawings of what I think it would look like, and a name for it -- the Overdrive :P

Of course, the Atom has a history of being less than optimal for DOSBox.

Sounds like a nice competitor to the Pandora though.

What would you suggest to replace it then? I figured an Atom would offer the best size-to-power ratio for the unit, but if you know something better I'd gladly change my plans to incorporate it.

Heck, who am I kidding, I'd never be able to make/afford one of these, but I would love to see someone else build one. Who knows? Maybe if they got popular they'd give me a free one as thanks for the idea -- that would be more than enough for me.

I don't know about being a competitor for the Pandora though. The unit I've designed should go for about the same price, but it's also significantly larger than a Pandora. Heck, when it comes to portable systems, this thing would make the Atari Lynx look positively svelte. It would still be far more powerful as a gaming device than, say, an iPad, though, and being basically a keyboard-less computer it could do a lot more than most gaming devices even now are capable of.

I'd wait with the Intel Atom and the dedicated graphics card for the tablet market to fully develop it's alternatives. If the on-board graphic chips that are being developed now make for a decent alternative, they could become considerably cheaper in the future. And I think you could easily reduce the SSD size in exchange for a bit more RAM to boost performance and reduce the monetary requirements. As for SD slots, why would you need two of them?
And despite the compatibility issues you're going to see with older games, I'd wait for the mobile version of Windows 8, given that it's likely going to have a decent tablet support (including booting into different 'states').
Just my two cents though ;)

Not sure, ARM isn't really a choice if you want to run x86/x86_64 binaries, even if Windows 8 comes along first, with its planned support for ARM intact (I'm sure DOSBox and ScummVM will be among the first non-MS Office applications to run on it, shortly followed by GemRB). For low-powered devices there isn't much choice really.

I'm surprised that anybody's admitting to that on a public forum. Some of us have been waiting for years, and from what I gather they weren't particularly honest when offering it up about the parts situation.

Not that I'm personally mad at those with the money to do it, I would have had I had the money, but there's a fair amount of hurt feelings that this hasn't sped up the process and that they never did explain how this resolved the wait time on the parts.

Well, I had a little extra cash and wanted to support the Open Pandora team. It was a nice benefit that I received the unit a little earlier than I would have normally...

I've never had any speed issues with DOSBox using an Atom (455). DOS games are pretty old, and the 1024x600 res isn't that hard to do.

I dunno about Windows 8, actually. What I've read online makes it seem like it'll require an active internet connection at pretty much all times to be usable, and if that's the case then I'll refuse to use it for anything. Windows XP would give good compatibility with most games, or at least better than 7 would, which is the only other reasonable alternative, and it would use very little RAM to run, lowering the necessary memory profile of the unit and potentially making the unit more energy efficient.

I set it up with two SD card slots for the same reason the Pandora has two -- memory expansion. With only a 30 or 60 gig hard drive, the unit's not exactly overwhelming in storage space, so SD expansion would give it enough of a boost to keep that from being an issue. Yes, those with the cash could just as easily open the unit up and replace the HDD with something bigger if they wanted to, but SD memory is a quick dirty way to get the same effect and have it more easily accessible.

I have been thinking that a netbook is prolly the best choice, But at the end of the day, It costs more than a laptop for one that plays TES 3 on high... Or med prolly

Yet saying that its always better if you order a laptop from the US if you live in the UK and you will save yourself more than £150 most the times for a better spec laptop.

Im gonna look for M11x's

But wouldn't part of that 150 go towards shipping and handling ? Hell, I was contemplating of buying a laptop from a fellow GoGer for old games but the damn shipping to Poland was $350!!!