Full Reverse Extension Of Lid


Soulkiller

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Joined
Mar 9, 2008
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Yes this is yet another discussion about possible design modifcations but I keep thinking about this and I'm very curious what you guys think :rolleyes:

I was wondering if it would be possible to let the lid (screen) be able to unfold ALL the way back so its flush with the underside and back in its rectangular shape with the screen and keyboard now facing out. I say this because I think of the possible applications of this. For one it would allow you to use Pandora in more of a "tablet" mode kinda like an iTouch/iPhone without being somewhat clumsy with two parts folded out. If the tablet feature isn't enough then maybe you can also see that this would create a interesting way to control games....because the controls would also be exposed on the opposite side this could be an interesting and new way of game controls where you hold it (thumbs on top/possibly on screen, other four fingers underneath it on controls) and control it (pointer fingers on anlog sticks? I dunno this is were things need to be thought out and applied). I think with enough thought, a comfortable game control mechanism could be thought up and also reduce the amount of space it uses. Also this could silence those that thought the clamshell design was a flaw by including the best of both worlds.

I do relize its probably too late in the dev cycle (maybe not?) to implement this but since the only elcectronic hardware that would need modification would be the detection if the lid is closed since it would be set off when its folded all the way back plus the progammer would probably want to know if the screen is fully exteneded. Other than that all we need is a redesign of the hinge which probably means a complete redesign of the shell and we should be good :p But seriouslly though, what do you guys think?
 
I agree. If the design was like this, it would not only be easier to play vertical games like ones in Mame, but it would also be easier to play DS games. Assuming that a DS emulator is created. As well, it would be easier to use it as a PDA. Btw will the Pandora be able to run Wine?
 
WINE is NOT (an) Emulator....
Well, if the pandora had an x86 CPU, it might work... but, if you were to hack the ever living crap out of WINE to make it emulate a x86 CPU in addition to it's windows abstraction layer, then it might become feasible, but in short... no
 
It can run WINE. But you have to find the ARM-compiled Windows libraries yourself.

I don't think that a hinge designed like this would fit into the design.
 
To say you have it working properly, would you be able to run no$gba?
 
I'd like it, but I don't need it, and MWeston has said before that (not least because of the hale effect sensor) it won't happen. Actually I think he said probably, but in context it was pretty definite.
 
Design like this = instant win, and would surely tempt my money a loooot more.

Thing is, without a design like this, I'm just way more tempted to wait for the MK2 of the Pandora.

Also, I think I overheard someone saying that a design like this wasn't considered due to patent issues.
 
Megagun said:
Also, I think I overheard someone saying that a design like this wasn't considered due to patent issues.
That is correct. That is also why if there is a "MK2", it won't have a flip over lid either.

And seriously, does anybody really expect there to be a radically different "MK2" version any time soon? Like within 5 years? If you are terribly unhappy with Pandora's design, that is your prerogative, but do not delude yourself that there is a better option just around the corner.*


*Edit: From Craig, at least. Some other company (maybe even Gizmondo) may have something in the works that better fits your needs.
 
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Chip said:
Megagun said:
Also, I think I overheard someone saying that a design like this wasn't considered due to patent issues.
That is correct. That is also why if there is a "MK2", it won't have a flip over lid either.

And seriously, does anybody really expect there to be a radically different "MK2" version any time soon? Like within 5 years? If you are terribly unhappy with Pandora's design, that is your prerogative, but do not delude yourself that there is a better option just around the corner.*


*Edit: From Craig, at least. Some other company (maybe even Gizmondo) may have something in the works that better fits your needs.

Well, I think they're just expecting a "MK2" because the GP2X had one. I guess it's just their way of saying "maybe next time."
 
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Plus making a radically different version of the Pandora would piss off most of the previous version Pandora owners.

Hopefully any hardware/software issues are delt with when the first units goes out to devs.
 
Well then since it is patented that does put a bit of a damper on the whole thing... I'm curious how hard it would be to mod it in yourself... I'm not thinking completely new after market cases, but depending on how the current hinge works it might be possible to hack your own together... then I would just have to worry about the hall effect sensor... and possibly do a little bit of circuit design to sense when its fully exteneded... hmmm I'm looking foreward to trying this out when I get mine :] btw does Pandora come with any kinda of warenty since the devs do support the modding of their console?
 
I think you'd have to do a whole redesign of the hinge as I don't think it would be able to perform such an action without a major redesign.

I'd like to know about the warranty as well, if it were to include modification then it would have to cover certain parts of the Pandora.
 
At first sight, this sounds like an awesome idea. However, when you consider it some more, you realize that it would make the hinge MUCH more complex. That's why it's probably not going to happen any time soon. As much as I'd like to have this, I don't want my Pandora to become much more fragile or expensive because of it.
 
This idea has been discussed many times already, just search through the mother of all threads above and the "Pandora Designs" thread.
 
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