Pandora Gaming Consoles

[Govmnt_Lacky]

Has anyone bought or played with the Pandora gaming consoles? The ones that come pre-built with the joysticks, buttons, etc? I am on the fence to get one and was wondering if anyone has any feedback on them. One issue I have seen quite a few times is that the gameplay is a LOT faster with these machines than in the arcade.

Models and places of purchase recommendations are quite welcome as well 

Thanks

For reference (may not be the actual unit I get):

[alanp]

Greg, is that a MAME emulator?

[Govmnt_Lacky]

Greg, is that a MAME emulator?

No idea. I am not smart on these things. I am hoping someone who is 'in the know' can direct me.

I am looking for a way to play games with my son. In this day of on-line gaming and FPSs it is hard to find something we can play together at the same time. I see this as a solution but I do not want to get something that will crap out after a week or month.

[thesmokingman]

it is a SoC emulator running off an sd card ... however the hard bit (making it look less utilitarian) has all been done for you.

[matmosphere]

Kids and I Played one for like ten minutes at a doctors office. Worked really well. I read a little about them. Apparently some have a really bad indexing system so it's near impossible to find games but some decide it by genre and are way easier to use.

Let me know how it goes if you get one. Was thinking one might appear at my place around Xmas.

[Willybomb]

I think I want one...

[Govmnt_Lacky]

Most of the online chatter about these is that the knock-offs do not run as smoothly and are not built as well (physically and programming-wise) as the originals from 3A games. The downfall to this is that the 3A games products often cost 2x as much.

Could really use input from someone with experience. Where is Juansolo when you need him? 

EDIT: Just looked up the "official" 3A games version. $104 for the unit BUT....... $106 for shipping!!! WTF??

[mjg]

Each console is shipped on a silver platter, placed on a pillow, carried by 4 postal workers.  Hence the cost. 

Yeah that is a bit much huh?