thanks for your interest,
OpenPandora? sounds juicy. do you have some footage of your handheld? I'd like to see this portentous named thing in action. What kind of emulators run on this badboy? and does it come ready to use out of the box?
I always wanted to shoot a short clip, but somehow did't do it. I put it on my TODO list. maybe I get the chance to record something by the end of this weekend, but don't pin me down on this.
Bootup time is about 12 seconds, but that really depends on how much stuff you have on it which needs do be loaded in memory. I remember something like 5-7 seconds after a fresh flashed image, plus I had no data and emulators installed yet. Shutdown time ~2-3 seconds.
Keen Games run really smooth with no noticeable flaws. Even Atroxian Realm shows no perceptible loading delays, compared to a more powerful desktop computer. I'm very satisfied with the results. NetKeen should work as well, but I haven't tested it yet...
In terms of emulation I can play nearly every
PlayStation One, SEGA CD, many
N64, some
PSP and
Dreamcast games. This should give you an idea how powerful the
Raspberry Pi CM3 is.
in terms of typing you have to either plug in a keyboard (via an USB port) or SSH to manually change stuff.
You can pretty much add as many extra buttons as you wish. My current build just uses the extra X&Y buttons, a PSP stick and L&R buttons on the back. but you could of course do a lot of funky stuff. remember: this is a DIY project. the only limit is your imagination, your will and creativity to bring your extraordinary thoughts to life... for e.g. one guy designed a
3D model (CAD) of the case, so you can print it yourself. btw,
sudomod.com has a very fine and exceptionally gifted community. I'd recommend to check out the forums. you can find nearly everything there from people who share their knowledge to guys who design and print their own circuit boards and sell them for a reasonable price.
you asked me about the total cost... well, let me see. can't really remember, but it might be something about this:
- aftermarket case ~ 15€
- extra buttons ~5€
- circuit board + raspberry pi cm3 + crisp screen + speaker ~ 125€
- gorilla screen ~20€
- custom 5000+mAh lipo battery ~15€
- SD-Card ~10€
- 3D printed stuff ~10€
Of course you need tools and glue. and it depends where you live, how much shipping and VAT you need to pay on top of it. but this should give you a ruff idea. and boy, it's so much fun building it! I made a couple custom handhelds and gave them away to family and friends...
EDIT:
I recently stumbled upon this awesome
wallnut woody shell and felt the instant urge to share this awesome project with you real quick.