The handheld Linux computer Pyra is available for pre-order

This would be really useful with Kali Linux >:D

Quoting: LinasEven if it powerful enough to run games, what exactly could you run on it? A few open-source games maybe. Gaming on ARM CPU on Linux is so niche that it's not even quantifiable. A low power i386 CPU would have made this way more useful.

Some examples from the predecessor's library:
Starcraft: Broodwar, Diablo, Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction, Warcraft, Albion, Jedi Knight, Jedi Academy, Arx Fatalis, Serious Sam, Serious Sam Second Encounter, Quake, Quake 2, Quake 3 Arena, Blake Stone, Blake Stone: Planet Strike, Fallout, Call to Power 2, Doom, Doom 2, Doom 64, Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate 2, Wolfenstein 3D, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Minecraft, Little Big Adventure, Jazz Jackrabbit 2, Heart of the Alien, Lemmings (all of the old 2D levels in one game with touchscreen controls), Open Transport Tycoon Deluxe, Battle for Wesnoth, Notrium, Scorched Earth 3D, and a lot more.

It has the best custom optimized PSX emulator around, running way faster in upped res on this old soc than it does on modern quad-core smartphones that waste/drain insane amounts of power. The NDS emulator DraStic was developed for Pandora and got to Android later, perfectly running emulators for tons of other systems including those that need a keyboard are there too.

Look for yourself:
http://www.repo.openpandora.org/

You were saying?

This community made a lot of ports and there are even some binary recompilations among them. The OpenSource world has profited immensely from this community, especcially from Notaz, Exophase and ptitSeb.

Then there's a vast amount of software for working and being productive as well as a sound chip that blows anything away quality-wise (confirmed by everyone who used/heard it) and you can actually use all this on the go since it has two proper SD card slots and the Pyra has all this and even more and faster.

How can you not love a system that gives you the ability to carry around (mass storage) and play thousands of games with proper responsive and versatile controls including a very precise touchscreen on the go - for about 10hours with one battery load at that? With the easily replacable battery giving you another 10 hours with a second one you never run out of power and don't need powerbanks. In addition to that it's the perfect music player, chat-terminal, eMail-prog and admin-station and the Pyra has GPS, faster hardware, a third SD-card slot (in form of microSD), mobile Internet, backlit keyboard, four shoulder buttons, 6 action buttons, better nubs and a lot more in addition to that.

Quoting: ShmerlI suppose you can play games that have open source engines. That includes anything playable in ScummVM, AGS adventure games (there are quite a bit of recent ones), and various open engines reimplementations. So it's not nothing. I wonder how playable is Full Throttle or Loom on such device with its controls.

All of those already run and play perfectly on the old OpenPandora, which is still an awesome and highly optimized system with no comparable device around.
Those devices have a resistive touchscreen with a stylus for a reason, you need precision in order to use desktop software nicely.


Last edited by Klumpen on 26 May 2016 at 7:54 am UTC

This is going to be the replacement for my https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asus_Eee_PC

Unfortunately this device is ways to expensive to be of any use. Too small to work and to expensive to game with it. A 1000 € Gameboy? Nice toy, but no, thanks man!

Quoting: cRaZy-bisCuiTUnfortunately this device is ways to expensive to be of any use. Too small to work and to expensive to game with it. A 1000 € Gameboy? Nice toy, but no, thanks man!

I guess you are either trolling or you didn't understand the device.

It's not a gameboy, as those have no full backlit keyboards, no touch-screen, no wifi, no 4G, no full Linux OS (Debian), no constant community input during it's making for mostly every aspect of the gadget, etc etc...

The Pyra is a device to supply a very niche market, which would pay €700, not €1000 as you said, for such a thing. It's made in Germany, has full keyboard and Linux desktop OS, not Android, combined with dedicated gaming controls and an awesome community. Doesn't sound like a gameboy to me.

Actually, doesnt sound like anything (except maybe for the Open Pandora). So that's why it's pricey and aimed at a niche market.

Regarding gaming, the predecessor, which was more than 4 times less powerful, could play N64, PSX and DS games, as well as Linux ports / wraps of many PC games, such as Diablo, Star Ward Jedi Knight 2 and 3, Eldritch, Super Hexagon, Half Life, etc etc. I guess the Pyra will probably be capable of running Saturn, DC, GC, PSP games, as well as more demanding FOSS and newer PC games.

Regarding personal computing, I've used the Pandora very often to send emails on the road, watch my movies while flying (the battery lasted for 6+ hours of PLAYBACK, yeah), streaming other stuff from laptop to a projector, even some coding and penetration testing with aircrack-ng. So, if you are looking for a gameboy, the Pyra is not for ya :-)
I'd describe both OpenPandora and Pyra as the Swiss Knife of the devices.


Last edited by khalismur on 26 May 2016 at 10:53 am UTC

Quoting: cRaZy-bisCuiTUnfortunately this device is ways to expensive to be of any use. Too small to work and to expensive to game with it. A 1000 € Gameboy? Nice toy, but no, thanks man!

Well even the priciest model is only 626 EUR(Without VAT)... but if you look at all the features and still think it's only a gaming device then it's not for you, there are plenty of cheaper "toys" if you only want to play games.

Quoting: ElectricPrismOh one other thing

Quote720p 5" LCD with resistive touchscreen

Why in the fsck doesn't this have a IPS display? I realize it would increase power output...

You answered your own question.

Quoting: KlumpenHow can you not love a system that gives you the ability to carry around (mass storage) and play thousands of games with proper responsive and versatile controls including a very precise touchscreen on the go - for about 10hours with one battery load at that? With the easily replacable battery giving you another 10 hours with a second one you never run out of power and don't need powerbanks. In addition to that it's the perfect music player, chat-terminal, eMail-prog and admin-station and the Pyra has GPS, faster hardware, a third SD-card slot (in form of microSD), mobile Internet, backlit keyboard, four shoulder buttons, 6 action buttons, better nubs and a lot more in addition to that.

Sounds like the perfect alternative to a smartphone/tablet. Like I said, I'd love to get one, but the price is a bit too steep for my budget.

Quoting: ShmerlYou can find cheaper computers with keyboards which you can fit in your pocket that can also run proper glibc Linux :) For example Sony Ericsson XPERIA Pro (you can run Nemo / Sailfish / Plasma Mobile on it)

The Sony ericsson xperia pro is a phone, meaning there are many issues to get over, first among which are,

* rooting, recovery and flashing, that puts it out of question for regular users right away.

This is where it gets to be a whole different device

* Desktop Linux|GNU isn't geared towards 480px vertical resolution, on a screen too small for comfort
* it has a weird bottom row stepping issue on the keyboard, with not enough keys, and only
* 25% of the battery.
* Underpowered for desktop use
* very limited storage and I/O options.
* No gaming controls, no analog mouse movement

The list goes on

* capacitive touchscreen, so you aren't getting any precision work out of it, with etc etc etc

Fun for the fun of it, but its not a Pyra, it isn't even a Pandora, the predecessor to the Pyra.
I ran X-server on a 320px vertical resolution xperia active (same cpu/gpu) it can be done, but it was a laughable joke.

I would understand it if the xperia pro was non-spying device made by a non-evil company for 700€ whereas the Pyra cost next to nothing, but that isn't even it. The Pyra is state of the art in terms of mobility, and the only niche thing is the price. Its not state of the art collect-and-sell-your-data. If you want the ethics, then its skilled labour, at fair wages and sane hours.
I'm not going to pretend slavery isn't cheaper, but then lets be real and not pretend German made is comparable.

Which begs the question, how much money aren't anyone spending on phones and computers, and if we are honest, how much time aren't we using on those. The price pales in comparison to admitting how much time goes into computing. ;)

One could buy a "flagship" phone device from anyone else, but in my eyes, its the same 700€ for a device you can't get anything done with. That being unless selfies is your use-case.
A status symbol that cost nothing to make, and is all markup. Doesn't matter how much you use it, it will only last a fraction of the time.
Before calling the Pyra expensive, notice the honesty of its pricing, and the openness behind it.

Quoting: ElectricPrismOh one other thing

Quote720p 5" LCD with resistive touchscreen

… doesn't this have a IPS display?

It has a AFFS/Hydis screen made by BOE, faster response times, and about the same viewing angles. It was cherrypicked for this reason. It is also backlit, and has hardware rotation. I think there was an IPS display tested to work, so if you want that, you could install it. I suppose it didn't say any of that in the specs.


Last edited by kingu on 26 May 2016 at 2:20 pm UTC

Quoting: GuestFor Germany:

* Pyra Standard Edition, 2GB RAM: 500 EUR without VAT (=595 EUR VAT included)

* Pyra Standard Edition, 4GB RAM: 529,41 EUR without VAT (=630 EUR VAT included)

* Pyra Mobile Edition, 2GB RAM: 600 EUR without VAT (=714 EUR VAT included)

* Pyra Mobile Edition, 4GB RAM: 626,05 EUR without VAT (=745 EUR VAT included)

For a 1.5 GHz DualCore(!) ARM CPU(!) system.
hahahaha ... no.

You can read the reasons for the price here:
https://www.pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/how-to-calculate-a-price-for-the-pyra.73755/#post-1288240
It's not made for profit and creating an upgradable, repairable, modular, open device with fair wages in Europe with so much stuff crammed into it at such low numbers could be way more expensive.
Of course if you are used to buying stuff made in huge numbers by Asian slave labour that is supposed to be replaced every year, it may seem expensive to you. It isn't.
If you'd apply Apple's profit calculations it would probably cost 2000€.