Specs

Pandora:

General
The name: Pandora
Dimensions: 140 x 83 x 27 mm (slightly larger than a DS Lite: vs 133 mm × 73.9 mm × 21.5 mm)
Price: 199 GBP(incl. VAT) (approx. $330 USD, 212 € (excl. VAT)
Release date: April/May 2008 for dev units, summer 2008 for full production units (can and will be changed if needed)
Case will be a bit smaller the GP2X, and will be a mix of metal and plastic.
Core Hardware:
Texas Instrument's OMAP3530 System-on-chip. Specifications can be found at this link:
PowerVR SGX GPU (OpenGL ES 2.0, several million polygons per second). OpenGL ES demonstrated:
128MB of DDR SDRAM.
Real Time Clock (RTC) built in, to keep track of time.
256MB of internal flash memory.
Will be "unbrickable".
Display: 800x480 widescreen (5:3), 4.3 inches, touchscreen LCD
Brightness:300 cd/m2, Contrast ratio:450:1, Response time:tr+tf=30ms
Dimensions: 93.6 x 56.2 mm (4.3 inches, 5:3 aspect ratio).
TV-out included in hardware, A/V-OUT Port (similar in appearance to a large USB OTG port) outputs S-Video and Composite and inputs 3,5mm Headphone/Microphone cables..
Separate TV-out signals, picture-in-picture capabilities.
Powerful 2D and 3D hardware acceleration, see above.

Input:
Buttons, keyboard, microphone, and touchscreen. [12]
Directional pad will be a D-pad. [13]
Two real analog nubs, will have click function. Will have a rubber grip. A video of the analog nub to be used in Pandora's construction. Update: a custom designed plastic nub is now being used and will remain in the previously planned location.
QWERTY keyboard cellphone like thumb typeable. [14]
Built-In Microphone [15]
Connectivity:
802.11g (Wi-fi) included. USB host included. USB-on-the-go (one-port host and client) included. [16]
Integrated Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR (3Mbps)[17]
The USB will be fully powered (500 milliamps). You'll be able to use anything that has drivers. [18]
RS-232 will be included, but a level converter will be needed for the UART. [19]
Twin SDHC slots.

Software:
Open2X-type Linux firmware. [20]
One-click install system - Debian ARMEL packages probably compatible with minor work.
Potential Emulation: Nearly any game console which predates the Playstation for which an open-source emulator exists. Nearly any 8 or 16 bit computer system for which an open-source emulator exists.
Atari 2600, 7800, 5200, and Lynx
Nintendo NES, SNES, Gameboy, and GBA
Sega Master System and Genesis
NEC PCEngine (TurboGrafx-16)
SNK NeoGeo, NeoGeo Pocket, and Pocket Color
Sony Playstation [21]
Atari 400, 800, and ST
Amiga
PC (DOSBox)
Apple II
Possible Software:
Will be capable of running X11 with a window manager and desktop environment, and probably will by default.
There should be the ability to run normal programs you can run on Modern Linux builds as well, provided it does not exceed 128MB of RAM (excluding any virtual memory for performance reasons) and is ported. This includes a full build of Firefox! Firefox 3.0 uses much less memory and resources, and should run fine on the Pandora.
Macromedia Flash is possible on the Pandora with web browsers with some work. Maybe not full Flash support though, but http://www.gnu.org/software/gnash/ can be ported to the Pandora and run up to FlashV7 guaranteed, play Youtube videos (mplayer and VLC can play FLV files just fine, play other movie files from Firefox, and VLC can stream FLV easily) and can work with Firefox or as a standalone program.
Advanced multimedia support, including streaming: mplayer, VLC, xine and any other program that is open source is possible. For a general idea of file support for VLC see http://www.videolan.org/vlc/features.html, and for xine see http://xinehq.de/index.php/features.

Power:
Lithium-polymer battery, ~4000mAH.
Up to 10 hours battery life under reasonable load 8.5 hours under max cpu load. Up to 100 hours playing MP3s. [22]
Can charge through AC adapter or USB. [23]
Advanced power management capabilities: only need to set a max clockspeed, when the CPU is not doing anything it automatically HALTs and does nothing to save a lot of power.[24]
Will be able to suspend to RAM or suspend to disk for longer battery life and faster start up.


Wiz:

General
Chipset: MagicEyes Pollux System-on-a-Chip
CPU: 533MHz ARM9 3D Accelerator
NAND Flash ROM: 1 GB
RAM: SDRAM 64 MB
Operating System: GNU/Linux-based OS
Storage: SD Card
Connection to PC: USB 2.0 High Speed
USB Host: USB 2.0
Power: Internal 2000mAh Lithium Polymer Battery
Display: 320×240 2.8 inch OLED Touch Screen
Microphone Input
Physical size: 121 mm wide, 61 mm high, 18 mm deep
Weight: 98 g (without battery), 136 g (with battery)

Multimedia
Video
Video formats: DivX, XviD, (MPEG4)
Audio formats: MP3, OGG, WAV
Container files: AVI
Maximum Resolution: 640*480
Maximum Frame Rate: 30 fps
Maximum Video Bitrate: 2500kbps
Maximum Audio Bitrate: 384kbps
Captions: SMI


Audio
Audio Formats: MP3, Ogg Vorbis, WAV
Channels: Stereo
Frequency Range: 20Hz - 20kHz
Power output: 100mw
Sample Resolution/Rate: 16bit/8-48 kHz, in 8bit/22kHz


Photos
Supports JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP File Formats

Flash Player

The Wiz is planned to have Flash Player 7 support at launch.

WINNER: PANDORA

Form Factor and Size:
Pandora: 140 x 83 x 27 mm

Wiz: 121 x 61 x 18 mm

Sizeasy Link

WINNER: WIZ
its a matter of opinion. I like the wiz because it's smaller (but smaller screen ) and has more of a commercial style factor.

Features:

WINNER: Pandora
obviously haha

Companies:
Pandora: Craig, EvilDragon and others
Wiz: Gamepark Holdings

WINNER: NONE
about the same level of experience

PRICE:
Pandora: About $300 CDN
Wiz: About $180 CDN

WINNER: Wiz
It'll take me about ten months to make up the difference (i have no income except my $10 allowance), so this is when "hoping for a better selling price" for my stuff comes in.

sry i mean like a os with a cursor and desktop and taskar and stuff : )

You should get the Wiz. There are only 3000 Pandoras and I want one and I don't want anyone else getting it before I do in case it runs out of stock.

There will not be much games of pissdora (except emulated ones, old ports and Q3). Will you dev for 3000 spartians? (most efficent to let them die in the name of opensource) Pandora is done by distributers who prefer word "profit" instead of "gaming"

GPH did right to make Wiz homebrew-orientited. This is surely will be best gaming handheld.(even if some snake already have distorted it)

Haha.

I share your hatred for the Pandora and its users, even though I wont be buying either of the new systems.

so the pandora can run ubuntu? will anyone port it?

There will not be many games of pissdora's (except emulated ones, old ports and Q3). Will you dev for 3000 Spartans? (It's more efficient to let them die in the name of opensource) Pandora is done by distributors who prefer "profits" instead of "gaming".

GPH did right to make the Wiz homebrew-orientated. This will surely be best gaming handheld (even if some snake has already distorted it).

Don't forget the price when deciding, thats probably a big reason for allot of people getting the Wiz.

but you still won't have the screen or the battery life or the protective clamshell, or the processing power and 3D hardware

Darn, the functionality of a $600 device with the power of a $900 device and features that aren't available anywhere else at any price?

What the hell was I thinking, I should have noticed the price, it will be a big reason for me getting the Pandora.


Honestly, it is called a freaking budget, if you want the features you pay the price.

If you buy the wiz up-front and need a keyboard and wifi and USB and Tv-Out you will reach the price of the Pandora very quickly, but you still won't have the screen or the battery life or the protective clamshell, or the processing power and 3D hardware.

This works going the other way too, you can't make the Pandora cost less or be smaller.

I for one need the functionality of a keyboard/wifi/ and USB, and Pandora is an out-of-the-box solution for me. IF the Wiz would provide all of this in the box (or as a $20 bundle), then I would concede it may be a real alternative. The Wiz won't even ship with a power supply (I know it has a USB charge cable, but come on, the Pandora will ship with a power supply).

If you look on the basis of real functionality for the price paid the Pandora is way way cheaper. Just because the Wiz is $150 less doesn't mean that it costs $150 less to own one

If you compare the two you need to know more about yourself and your needs so that you can look at the devices properly, it is kind of like Zen in a way. (is anybody else anticipating the season premiere of Life on NBC next week? I love that show.)

Your post means that Nintendo DS have no 3D hardware too?

but if you start getting addons for it and realize you have surpassed the Pandora in price and size, but without reaching the same level of functionality, then you made the wrong choice

There will not be much games of pissdora (except emulated ones, old ports and Q3). Will you dev for 3000 spartians? (most efficent to let them die in the name of opensource) Pandora is done by distributers who prefer word "profit" instead of "gaming"

GPH did right to make Wiz homebrew-orientited. This is surely will be best gaming handheld.(even if some snake already have distorted it)

As I see:
1. It is a GP2X section of forum so GP2X should be protected here
2. potential pandora users are taking User Interface as a OS...
3. some potential pandora users do not know how to use forum quote feature
4. some potential pandora users asks me for drugs
5. me drink regular tea with honey (crafted by regular bees!)

By saing "potential users" I mean that pandora will not be released. Planes will crash, trains will be blown, factories burn, developers will become lepered ... just to protect world from some whore-named handheld device.

As I see:
1. It is a GP2X section of forum so GP2X should be protected here
2. potential pandora users are taking User Interface as a OS...
3. some potential pandora users do not know how to use forum quote feature
4. some potential pandora users asks me for drugs
5. me drink regular tea with honey (crafted by regular bees!)

By saing "potential users" I mean that pandora will not be released. Planes will crash, trains will be blown, factories burn, developers will become lepered ... just to protect world from some whore-named handheld device.

If all you want to do is play some emulated 8-32bit games, some homebrew and play media files, the Pandora is overkill.

If you want a hybrid UMPC/handheld gaming and development platform, then Pandora is probably your beast.

I just want to play a few emulated games and listen to MP3s on the bus to work. Wiz (or even GP2X) will do fine.

There will not be much games of pissdora (except emulated ones, old ports and Q3). Will you dev for 3000 spartians? (most efficent to let them die in the name of opensource) Pandora is done by distributers who prefer word "profit" instead of "gaming"

GPH did right to make Wiz homebrew-orientited. This is surely will be best gaming handheld.(even if some snake already have distorted it)

This is certainly an odd thread. I think its just talking nonsense for the sake of it. As far as I understand it, the Gp2x and Wiz developers know how to develop a decent handheld, but dont really understand gamers and what they want too well. This shows by originally developing the Wiz with 2 dpads, i mean come on.

The Pandora has been developed from the start BY gamers through the process of listening to the gaming community and trying to incorporate all the feedback they get into the ideal handheld. That doesnt sound like the tactic of profiteers to me, it just sounds bloody sensible.

If all you want to do is play some emulated 8-32bit games, some homebrew and play media files, the Pandora is overkill.

By your words, all gamers on the world share the same will.
Second Dpad (separated now) is don't liked mostly by old gamers who got used to gamepad round buttons and arcade machines. There so many posts about that just because most of users here is some sort of console veterans.

And most of gamers usualy want GAMES for existing hardware.

No, I think it's more that you can't hold more than two buttons down at a time with a D-Pad-style input. Even more restrictive, you can't hold two buttons down at a time that aren't RIGHT next to one another. It's divided into separate buttons on all those "console veteran's" controllers for a reason.

No, I think it's more that you can't hold more than two buttons down at a time with a D-Pad-style input. Even more restrictive, you can't hold two buttons down at a time that aren't RIGHT next to one another. It's divided into separate buttons on all those "console veteran's" controllers for a reason.

Are you talking about the fact that GPH paid developers to make software for the Wiz? The Pandora is a community driven piece of hardware. There will be plenty of homebrew projects started as soon as all the folks who ordered one get one.

No, I think it's more that you can't hold more than two buttons down at a time with a D-Pad-style input. Even more restrictive, you can't hold two buttons down at a time that aren't RIGHT next to one another. It's divided into separate buttons on all those "console veteran's" controllers for a reason.

Are you talking about the fact that GPH paid developers to make software for the Wiz? The Pandora is a community driven piece of hardware. There will be plenty of homebrew projects started as soon as all the folks who ordered one get one. Not only that, but there's a dev fund set up, which should encourage homebrew developers to do more; more than can be said for GPH.

Honestly, I'm with Dunny. I've had a GP2X f-100 since it was launched, and I 'upgraded' to the f-200 as soon as I could, and nothing was fixed. A whole slew of new options were available with the upgrade, but each new 'feature' was broken in some way. And in the process, it broke compatibility, and we had FLU+ BLU+ style incompatibilities as a result.

GPH had their chance, and even though I'd love to support every open source gaming project in existence, I've been bitten by them more than a few times. One tends to learn from his mistakes.

How can you press two non-adjacent buttons at the same time, with any kind of controller? I've seen this brought up a lot, what's the idea? Giant thumbs?

So now you hold it against GPH for handing out Wiz prototypes to the people who'll basically do the launch titles? Didn't the OpenPandora team do the same thing? So what's wrong with that?!

Do you use different-colored Gameboys to play different games?

I'm not holding it against them (its a good thing, actually), I'm simply stating that saying the Wiz is a better machine because it has software for it at launch doesn't make any sense. The Pandora will too. I was also mentioning the Dev fund that will hopefully propel homebrew development beyond launch and will probably kickstart community involvement a bit faster, something that the Wiz community would have to come up with on their own.

As I see:
1. It is a GP2X section of forum so GP2X should be protected here
2. potential pandora users are taking User Interface as a OS...
3. some potential pandora users do not know how to use forum quote feature
4. some potential pandora users asks me for drugs
5. me drink regular tea with honey (crafted by regular bees!)

By saing "potential users" I mean that pandora will not be released. Planes will crash, trains will be blown, factories burn, developers will become lepered ... just to protect world from some whore-named handheld device.