A Positive Experience


tds48

Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2008
Messages
184
Here follows my pandora impression, experience, including the unit, service etc - I actually wrote this, this morning and then deleted it purely because I did not want to "rub salt" into the wounds of those still waiting. However Craig has made the point in another thread that only faulty units are ever mentioned. So to try and re-balance here is my view, which yes is more positive ...

I want to be clear I’m not sticking up for Craig / nor insulting him, and this applies to other members and threads as well, I know some have had pretty dire experiences. This is purely my experience.

When I ordered all those years back, I knew clearly what I was getting myself into, a start-up company attempting something for the first time. I had dealt with gbax before for all sorts of "carts" for the gba but never bought any of the gamepark kit. When I ordered I was after the be-all and end-all of emulation devices. I knew when I ordered xmas was not going to be possible, but had no idea on the extent of the delay. So yes I did get frustrated, but in the end it was worth it ...

In terms of queue I was around 1500 odd on Craig’s list. I saw the first units go out and was dying of anticipation so I literally lept at the chance to get a one nubber (which luckily turned out to be a two nubber). I am guessing I am much older than most on the board and come from the original generation of gaming consoles, so nubs where never a must-have in my book. My whole process of choosing the one-nubber, getting the email and delivery was smooth - all in a few days.

On arrival it was it was awe inspiring - Pretty much took me back a few decades to when I got my first G7000. It was that unique. Now I could at this point comment on the points mentioned before, one side was a little higher than the other, my 0 key was hard to press, the bezel bulged and the case was a darn tight fit BUT these issues were NOTHING at all. I focused on what had been achieved in my hands I had a full little computer with all the emulation power I could possibly want .. an unbelievable feat.

As with all things in my life I was excessive and loaded my pandora stupid. Everything went on and then I started feeling like a kid in a sweet shop - What sweet is next ? and then ? and then? and then ? Just plain overload !!!

At this point I was worried re the bezel, more because I would see dust starting to settle in the groove. I contacted Ms J and Ms D and the process was completely painless. Send the unit back RMSD, and one was dispatched to me. Turnaround was about 4 days.

My new pandora had less of a bezel bulge (still has a slight one BUT this adds character and is no issue at all!) and its left shoulder button was a little over drilled makes it a bit wonky. BUT again a brilliantly crafted and constructed piece of technology.

This time I started adding my pnd's selectively. So added fuse (manic miner, jet set willy and jetpac) / pandoraPanic (a must have! props to the team) / Game and Watch simulator (added of late) / Visual Boy advance (Game and Watch 1,2,3 and 4 - Kuru Kuru Kururin / Kururin Paradise / The Lost Vikings) [EDIT Neogeo and Metal Slug - How dare I have forgotten :)] and few movies and FBReader and a few books!

I am loving it to bits, I am using my pandora as an emulation device. Cant program for it, trying to understand pnd for scripts but that's where my "hacking" customisation will end!

So what are the not so good points - Well at some point I will need a new shoulder button. From a personal point of view I love the nubs for navigation on the desktop but have not used them in games. But I tend to shy away from nub games, like I said Im old-school.

The OS also has some bugs. But luckily we have a mad mallorcan german working on those. Luckily there are workarounds for the ones affecting me. On a separate point ED, you deserve a slap for putting your pandora in the sand. The picture showing all that sand near the SD ports sent a shiver down my spine :)

No matter how frustrated you are by waiting - Hold On - ITS WORTH IT!

If you are frustrated by a return PICK UP the phone and call in - You will find yourself talking to the two most helpful people from a service point of view. Bear in mind these two ladies are dealing with 8000 customers / returns / dispatching etc.

All in all this has been a really positive and enriching experience!

Oh and .... Kuru Kuru Kururin is undoubtably the best game ever :)

Please forgive any grammar and spelling mistakes ..
 
^ This was a very nice read. Reminded me of unboxing mine, and brought a smile to my face. :)
 
@Prometheus : which one :D

@TheDarkSpectrum48K : Thanks for this feedback.

As I have said many time, I love my pandora. The only bad side I can see is my wife is realy jealous of it :D
 
sebt3 said:
Both. :) I'm having a really great time with the whole experience, as TheDarkSpectrum48K is. Any "problems" are just early-adoption teething troubles, as far as I'm concerned, so I find it impossible to feel frustrated with it, as I'm having too much fun overall.
 
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Yes, I too went for a one Nub unit, which I think is more of a 1.9 Nub unit as the left nub just very rarely goes "Slow" after startup and is fixed with a reboot. Hat's off to the team for that, as it shows how tight their QA process is.

I have had brilliant & friendly communications with the sales team, and I too am delighted with my purchase. For me the device is the swiss army knife of Gadgets. The fact that the software is under development is half the fun.

I must also say that the Dpad is the best I have every used, and when playing platform games you come to appreciate that this gives are real advantage to your skills. You make edge of your pants twitch jumps and directions and you succeed where normally you would have failed due to a poorer Dpad not responding. Brilliant.

My first computer was a ZX Spectrum, and I have owned pretty much all the major 8bit/16bit machines since. The ability to re-vist my childhood memories with the Pandora is tremendous fun everything from Manic Miner to Mario64, all on the fantastic Pandora screen.

The team should be very proud of their creation & I just hope the final supply issues are resolved soon, so more people can enjoy the unique experience of Pandora. I was late ordering, but have followed the project since the start, and I can hand on my heart say that it was worth the wait.
 
What you got your pandora and you stay away from NUB games?!!
Really man that is some salt into my wound...
But the pain also reminds me why I keep waiting for this device,
very nice review indeed.
 
Bampt said:
What you got your pandora and you stay away from NUB games?!!
Really man that is some salt into my wound...
But the pain also reminds me why I keep waiting for this device,
very nice review indeed.

hehe I knew that would evoke comment :)

Well I shall try and conform over time .... at a nubber time (gawd that was awful :D )
 
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SomeGuy99 said:
My new pandora had less of a bezel bulge (still has a slight one BUT this adds character and is no issue at all!)

You people are crazy.

Nope just realistic - Nothing in nature exists perfectly, and expecting every aspect of a device put together by different people to be perfectly the same is crazy.

The bezel bulge now, is so slight it is not worth a return, and does not affect anything. If it turn into more I have 11 months left to swap it out/ have it fixed.
 
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TheDarkSpectrum48K said:
Nope just realistic - Nothing in nature exists perfectly, and expecting every aspect of a device put together by different people to be perfectly the same is crazy.

The bezel bulge now, is so slight it is not worth a return, and does not affect anything. If it turn into more I have 11 months left to swap it out/ have it fixed.

Completely nuts.
 
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TheDarkSpectrum48K said:
At this point I was worried re the bezel, more because I would see dust starting to settle in the groove. I contacted Ms J and Ms D and the process was completely painless. Send the unit back RMSD, and one was dispatched to me. Turnaround was about 4 days.
I'm note entirely certain how I feel about this. You skipped the queue by asking for a one nub (even if both did appear to work fine), but due to a problem unrelated to the nubs you got a replacement which (presumably) is not expected to be a one nub. Unless your original board with the "single" nub was swapped into a new case, or Craig had additional one nubbers sitting around for replacement.
It's not necessarily bad or doesn't really matter, but something about the exchange bothers me in a way I can't quite explain properly (mostly because I know if I tried, I would be misinterpreted I'm sure :p)
Just something to think about.
 
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SomeGuy99 said:
Completely nuts.

150px-Bit_no.jpg
 
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WizardStan said:
TheDarkSpectrum48K said:
At this point I was worried re the bezel, more because I would see dust starting to settle in the groove. I contacted Ms J and Ms D and the process was completely painless. Send the unit back RMSD, and one was dispatched to me. Turnaround was about 4 days.
I'm note entirely certain how I feel about this. You skipped the queue by asking for a one nub (even if both did appear to work fine), but due to a problem unrelated to the nubs you got a replacement which (presumably) is not expected to be a one nub. Unless your original board with the "single" nub was swapped into a new case, or Craig had additional one nubbers sitting around for replacement.
It's not necessarily bad or doesn't really matter, but something about the exchange bothers me in a way I can't quite explain properly (mostly because I know if I tried, I would be misinterpreted I'm sure :p )
Just something to think about.
Nothing to think about, and nothing to concern yourself about. My current unit has a nub that is quite a lot looser than the first (but works as the first did). Again I am satisfied, but I guess I am more easy to please, one could say reasonable?

EDIT - To add skipping the queue to get a one-nubber was an opportunity given to all - I just chose to do it. I believe one can STILL do it! You can do it TODAY! :)
 
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"A nubber time!"
...joker! :)

"Nothing in nature exists perfectly"
...Snowflakes? They pretty perfect I think :)


Nice positive review though mate, im still holding on and waiting patiently, one day it will be delivered and i know when that day comes, it will be a good day.
Get my SD sorted, ive not been in the app site for a bit, im trying to resist its lure and just give it a complete check through once i can actually make use of its contents.
 
TheDarkSpectrum48K said:
Nothing to think about, and nothing to concern yourself about. My current unit has a nub that is quite a lot looser than the first (but works as the first did). Again I am satisfied, but I guess I am more easy to please, one could say reasonable?

EDIT - To add skipping the queue to get a one-nubber was an opportunity given to all - I just chose to do it. I believe one can STILL do it!
I'm aware. Many a time I too had considered skipping the queue, but the risk/reward was higher than I wanted, or so I thought.
Consider the scenario if one of your nubs had been completely dead: fine, since you were expecting only one nub. Then you complain about a "bad bezel" or something. An exchange arrives and now you have a two nub unit. The potential for someone to take advantage of this seems very high. Obviously, with only a dozen or so single nub units out there, it isn't REALLY a problem, but I think about these things. Many little things have the tendency to build up into big things if you aren't careful.
 
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WizardStan said:
TheDarkSpectrum48K said:
Nothing to think about, and nothing to concern yourself about. My current unit has a nub that is quite a lot looser than the first (but works as the first did). Again I am satisfied, but I guess I am more easy to please, one could say reasonable?

EDIT - To add skipping the queue to get a one-nubber was an opportunity given to all - I just chose to do it. I believe one can STILL do it!
I'm aware. Many a time I too had considered skipping the queue, but the risk/reward was higher than I wanted, or so I thought.
Consider the scenario if one of your nubs had been completely dead: fine, since you were expecting only one nub. Then you complain about a "bad bezel" or something. An exchange arrives and now you have a two nub unit. The potential for someone to take advantage of this seems very high. Obviously, with only a dozen or so single nub units out there, it isn't REALLY a problem, but I think about these things. Many little things have the tendency to build up into big things if you aren't careful.

Do you also lie awake worrying about the satelites overhead and that they may fall on your head?

Sorry it may sound harsh, its not meant in a harsh way (so apologies if you are upset reading this line) but basically to point out worrying about things that may or may not happen is not particularly positive.

Rather focus on what you can control ... and DO IT (be it wait / or take the plunge). Either way be excited it is WORTH IT
 
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Single nubbers are replaced by single nubbers. We know which are which.

And it's nice to read posts like this. The Pandora is a very very complex machine and has been quite a journey.
 
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