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/vr/ - Retro Games

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4494408 No.4494408 [Reply] [Original]

What's /vr/ thoughts on Pandora box and similar devices?

Been tempted to get one for a while and it looks like the newest one has HDMI output which makes life a little easier.

I don't need 100% accurate reproduction just like mostly good enough. Seems a lot less effort and cheaper than setting up a mame machine.

>> No.4494493

>>4494408
>I don't need 100% accurate reproduction just like mostly good enough. Seems a lot less effort and cheaper than setting up a mame machine
then buy a sub $100 used TE stick off ebay and connect it to your computer and call it a day. these things are garbage.

>> No.4494496
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4494496

>buying a pandora's box for any reason other than its jamma rgb connector

>> No.4494809

>>4494408
There are so many shit versions out there you'll likely end up with useless garbage. Especially "the newest one has HDMI output" kind of shit. Just get a fucking cheap ass pi or computer and put litterally 5 minutes of effort into it.

>> No.4494860

I mean what's bad about it? People just say it's shit but if it works as well as a pi 3 it's pretty much the same price with a lot less hassle.

My biggest issue with doing it with a PC is you end up spending forever getting it setup, I never found a good mame frontend for Linux. Maybe things are better with RetroArch.

Don't people buy these things to put into cabs?

Probably should just suck it up and put a weekend into getting a rpi 3 configured with a ro mount and put it in a enclosure.

>> No.4495851

Vg

>> No.4495854

>>4494408
I like the developer of Big Blue.
The guy is real as fuck.

>> No.4496686

>>4494408
What is your opinion on Alienware pcs or laptops?
exactly thats your answer!

>> No.4497385

>>4496686

They cost more than building yourself but they work just as well?

Are you telling me that spending $100 I'm going to get something decent I could build myself for less?

>> No.4497386
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4497386

>>4494408
If you don't get a raspberry pi you lose rights to brag about it like faggot vegans and crossfitters do.

>> No.4497404

>>4497386
I mean I have built mame machines, I have done this shit on rapspberry Pi's and x86 just the UI is always shit, you end up spending a silly amount of time configuring it and it never is great experience. It's been a few years though so maybe there is a good front end / rpi image?

Has anyone on VR actually bought one of these pandora boxes and tried it or are people just parroting what others have said? The YouTube videos I have seen of gameplay it looks as good.

>> No.4497410

>>4497404
Funny enough I have to admit to owning one to answer your question, the tinkering needed to do on a pi is never ending, thanks to installing CMS backend and linux font-end programs.

I opt to just use retropie which has the ability to change up the UI to many, many themes made readily available. Personally the default one is fine but having to scrape your entire library to get game box art, info, and number of players takes time yet is worth it in the end.

Also, fuck heat sinks. Biggest meme ever made. Had to settle on just buying the flirc case which acts as one big heat sink in itself at the cost of weakening the wifi due to the whole thing being made out of aluminum.

>> No.4497418

>>4497385
It's pretty clear you're incapable of building anything but what he means in that it can be done. Especially since you want HDMI and not the 15khz RGB that's the only advantage of a pandora box. Someone with the ability to screw together a box and connect some wires could build something several times as powerful as a pandora box for under $50.

>> No.4497462

>>4494408
Pandoras Box systems are "alright" if all you want is barebones, sometimes questionable emulation with nearly zero setup. Just don't overpay or get a bootleg. I know that sounds like a joke but there are so many knockoff systems out there it's insane. Get them from the official storefront on 3A Games' aliexpress page

https://www.aliexpress.com/store/all-wholesale-products/937838.html

Keep in mind that you will still need a supergun or Jamma cabinet setup. If you don't, this will get extremely complicated and expensive very fast.

>> No.4498274

>>4497418

Please price out the < $50 build that includes the PSU, case, HDD/sdcard.

>>4497462

Cool, why do you say it gets expensive? Don't I just need a jamma connector / solder the power and buttons on since all the Pandora boxes I have seen have at least vga out?

>> No.4498340

>>4498274
https://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-ThinkPad-R51-15in-Type-2888-Intel-Pentium-M-Processor-1-5GHZ-512MB-40G-No-OS/372178149541?hash=item56a78be0a5:g:hZMAAOSweZJaFGD5

Use with CRT emu driver for 15khz RGB, or use the included S-Video out.
Will play everything on the pandora box.

>> No.4498376

>>4494493
This is the only answer you need, OP. Don't even bother reading any of the other replies.

>> No.4498529

>>4494496
>Using a tripcode to maintain some pointless identity

>> No.4498632

>>4498529
>using a social security number to maintain some pointless identity

>> No.4498680

>>4498274
>i'm too retarded to check a few prices on my own
Maybe you better just stick to watching LPs. I don't want to see questions in the mod/repair thread about how you can't figure out how to run windows update on your pandora box

>>4498632
>my trip is important to me as my SSN
I believe you

>> No.4498721

>>4498680

Why so mad Anon?

>> No.4498994

>>4498721
>he won't spoon feed me so he's mad

>> No.4499000

>>4498994

> constant negativity, makes retarded claim, can't back it up, claims asking to back it up is spoon feeding

Did someone piss in your cornflakes?

>> No.4499092

>>4499000
>kid: 1+1=3
>teacher: no it's 2
>kid: prove it
>teacher: it's in the book
>kid: i refuse to read the book
No one was surprised that the dumb kid never learned anything

>> No.4499706

>>4499092

> Nonsensical analogy

Okay

>> No.4499776

>>4499000
>>4499706
Why are you kids pissing in the wind when someone already checked ebay for you? >>4498340

>> No.4499956

>>4499776

Shipping makes it cost more than $50.
Also trying to figure out if Anon has a brain injury or is just mad.

>> No.4499983

>>4499956
>Shipping: FREE Expedited Shipping

I'm going to assume you're blind and your screen reading software didn't catch that, and not that you're a fucking retard.

>> No.4500768

>>4499983

Or you know not everyone lives in America

>> No.4501032

>>4499956
Electricity to run it also costs money bringing the total cost to hundreds of dollars eventually. You might be looking in the wrong place for that brain injury.

>> No.4501429

>>4501032

I'm in the right place.

>> No.4503718

>>4494408
For a cabinet? They're alright. It's an easy way to get a lot of games in a JAMMA form factor. I have one, although I changed the opening video [1] from the shitty I CAN SHOW YOU I CAN SHOW YOU reel to a NoeGeo boot screen. They're literally arm boards running MAME on Linux with a Qt3 interface.

Rip it open, take out the SD card, dd it to a larger sd card and repair and expand the ext2 (or maybe ext4, it was a while ago) partition. Then you can stick pretty much any arcade game you want on it with a little tinkering.

One downside is that they aren't JAMMA standard. There are solutions like the JNX Atlas, which'll convert it to real JAMMA+Capcom kick harness. Or you can just make your own harness, which is fun.

[1] https://youtu.be/SvFiuzW3eBM?t=271

>> No.4505017

>>4503718

For real? That's awesome what's the specific model you have?

>> No.4506226

>>4505017
Some variation on the Pandora's Box 4, with a yellow case. Other people have done similar things - the Q&A section of this github repo is pretty good.

http://mengxipeng1122.github.io/PandoraBoxHacking/

>> No.4506321

>>4506226
>i didn't actually do it i just read this link

>> No.4506478

>>4506321
>I don't understand what you said you did, so I'll assume you just followed the instructions in the link.
>Even though the instructions were for the PB4X with lemonlauncher. Not the original PB4 with the stock launcher.
gj you caught me - that's some real detective conan shit you pulled right there.

>> No.4508023

>>4506226

Cheers man, that's really awesome I'm definitely considering getting one of these things now :)