Pandora: Really Out This Month?


Ugh. I've been dying for this thing since February. With fewer information releases, I've been feeling ants in my pants. I get a "If only I had the Pandora" moment just about every day now, and, whether or not these moments are unique, they sure do stack up. :p

It was easier to wait during the thread-is-our-forum days last year, when there was much information to debate, speculate, and get surprised with.
 
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javaJake said:
Ugh. I've been dying for this thing since February. With fewer information releases, I've been feeling ants in my pants. I get a "If only I had the Pandora" moment just about every day now, and, whether or not these moments are unique, they sure do stack up. :p

It was easier to wait during the thread-is-our-forum days last year, when there was much information to debate, speculate, and get surprised with.


Hopefully we'll get a new blog post very soon. It's always so exciting when there's something new posted on openpandora.org :)
 
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CronoTriggerfan said:
Sphinxter said:
Just a bit longer and it'll be perfect timing for the holidays, they'll make terrific Christmas gifts.
If they take that long, I'll just say "screw it" and keep my iPod Touch. :lol:


Not touching your ipod b-) A minor setback or two, I'm not going to panic yet.
 
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Karel Jansens said:
Some LCD ribbon horror stories from the past:

- Apple "designed" the eMate in such a fashion that after a certain period of use, the spring in the lid would puncture the LCD cable. Users had to devise a "washer and lubricant" fix to prevent this.

- Psion's 5mx had a LCD ribbon that would break if the lid got opened one too many times. Eventually an enthousiast manufactured an replacement ribbon that was sturdier.

- Having apparently learned nothing, Psion made the Series 7/Netbook with a LCD ribbon that had a "useless" little hole in it by design (rumour has it the hole was a leftover from the early testing boards and got faithfully copied into the final design). Repeated strain (as in: opening and closing the lid, obviously something Psion thought a user wasn't supposed to do B) ) caused microfractures to expand and breakage to ensue. Again, aftermarket solutions came from the users themselves.

Not that I want to give you the idea that you can f*ck up all you want, the users will fix it eventually. But yeah, LCD ribbons are a b*tch...
Whoa, sounds scary. :ph34r:
I've never used one of these Devices so I hope it is not impossible to make a durable Clamshell-Device. Maybe instead of a fragile, bending ribbon cable from the case to the lid, there could be some kind of sliding brush contacts inside the hinge to make a connection between the board and the LCD? (something like this, only in very very small :D : http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bild:Astropei...eifkontakte.jpg ) Could be the most durable Solution in theory. :)

I hope the Hinge itself will be durable and stable. Maybe realized with a Metal interior, I can't imagine that a Hinge completely made out of plastic will be durable enough. (Is GBA SP or NDS (lite) hinge a pure Plastic construction? )
 
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fusion_power said:
Whoa, sounds scary. :ph34r:
I've never used one of these Devices so I hope it is not impossible to make a durable Clamshell-Device. Maybe instead of a fragile, bending ribbon cable from the case to the lid, there could be some kind of sliding brush contacts inside the hinge to make a connection between the board and the LCD? (something like this, only in very very small :D : http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bild:Astropei...eifkontakte.jpg ) Could be the most durable Solution in theory. :)

I hope the Hinge itself will be durable and stable. Maybe realized with a Metal interior, I can't imagine that a Hinge completely made out of plastic will be durable enough. (Is GBA SP or NDS (lite) hinge a pure Plastic construction? )


It's actually not that difficult to produce a durable LCD ribbon; the Psion Series 5mx aftermarket replacement doesn't crack (well, you can make it crack, but it requires something beyond normal use); the eMate's ribbon itself is fine, it just gets puntured by sharp metal bits (which, to be fair, will damage any ribbon), the Psion Series 7/Netbook's ribbon was badly designed.

Brush contacts, while obviously the nec-plus-ultra of video connecting possibilities, would definitely be overkill, both in design and in price. What the examples I provided show is that bad design and/or ergonomics are as bad as sub-standard equipment.
 
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fusion_power said:
Karel Jansens said:
...
- Psion's 5mx had a LCD ribbon that would break if the lid got opened one too many times. Eventually an enthousiast manufactured an replacement ribbon that was sturdier.
...
Whoa, sounds scary. :ph34r:
I've never used one of these Devices
...


Yeah, I had a Psion 5 (no mx). It was a wonderful device: very long battery life with two AA, real instant on and a perfect keyboard for the size...

The problem with the ribbon is true, it got broken by to many opening and closing, but I think the problem there was part due to the fact that the psion was no normal clamshell... it was "growing" when opening the lid. So I think in a normal clamshell design this problem should be less as it was for the psion 5 (at least I hope ;-))

edit: fixed typo...
 
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Most clamshell devices are very durable. I haven't had one fail on me yet.
 
JakeK said:
Hell if it gets delayed till end of September I'll be one happy man.
How come?

Or would that just be because the delay would presumably mean better controls?
 
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Tobriand said:
JakeK said:
Hell if it gets delayed till end of September I'll be one happy man.
How come?

Or would that just be because the delay would presumably mean better controls?


Maybe he thinks it will be delayed even longer and a late September release would be like a gift? Just a guess. Even if you are not planning on buying it right away, the sooner it gets released, the more software will be available when you do get it. I just hope the GP2X software keeps going, because I won't be able to afford a Pandora for at least a year. Maybe I'll get lucky. My iPaq just broke (I dropped it by accident and it won't power on) and I won one on ebay for $4.95. Not exactly cutting edge (well, it was in 2001 or so), but it's got the nicest screen you could ask for (front lit reflective lcd, works equally well in the dark and direct sun) and uses CF for extra storage and there's even a gps sleeve available, complete with spoken directions and color maps. Best ebook reader I've ever used. Who needs a new $400-500 ppc? The only thing I wish it has is wireless, but how well would it work on a 240x320 screen?

Chris
 
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coisbot said:
OK I've been speculating as to whether or not the Pandora will be ready for shipping this month, or even next month. So far no one has even received a real unit, and I doubt one has even been produced, so I believe it's safe to say that we won't be seeing a Pandora this month.
But is next month even feasible? I'm just wondering as to whether or not this is going to be delayed. Some reassurance would be greatly appreciated.

There is no way it is shipping this month or next month. They keep having one delay after another. USB controllers - WiFi adapters - and now stupid plastic nubs....
 
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chad78 said:
There is no way it is shipping this month or next month. They keep having one delay after another. USB controllers - WiFi adapters - and now stupid plastic nubs....
Here he is, the epitome of optimism, folks!
 
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Rayek said:
chad78 said:
There is no way it is shipping this month or next month. They keep having one delay after another. USB controllers - WiFi adapters - and now stupid plastic nubs....
Here he is, the epitome of optimism, folks!Are you reading any other threads on here? The nub issue is pushing it back to September or later. It's called "Reality" and as the epitome of realism I live there.
 
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It might push it back to september. Unless there's no way around a custom nub being made. No need to lose hope yet.
 
chad78 said:
Rayek said:
chad78 said:
There is no way it is shipping this month or next month. They keep having one delay after another. USB controllers - WiFi adapters - and now stupid plastic nubs....
Here he is, the epitome of optimism, folks!Are you reading any other threads on here? The nub issue is pushing it back to September or later. It's called "Reality" and as the epitome of realism I live there.

Well...
MWeston said:
Sorry Kyoss, I didn't make it to the end of the other thread before starting this poll and you might have been creating it at the same time I made this one :)

This poll has fewer options and are just the two options that present little to NO delay so I guess we can just leave them up until a mod finds one too redundant. ;)
BTW, little to no delay means production in August and delay means September-October.


Production in August can easily mean release in September, if production starts in the second half of August.
 
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christo930 said:
Tobriand said:
JakeK said:
Hell if it gets delayed till end of September I'll be one happy man.
How come?

Or would that just be because the delay would presumably mean better controls?


Maybe he thinks it will be delayed even longer and a late September release would be like a gift? Just a guess. Even if you are not planning on buying it right away, the sooner it gets released, the more software will be available when you do get it. I just hope the GP2X software keeps going, because I won't be able to afford a Pandora for at least a year. Maybe I'll get lucky. My iPaq just broke (I dropped it by accident and it won't power on) and I won one on ebay for $4.95. Not exactly cutting edge (well, it was in 2001 or so), but it's got the nicest screen you could ask for (front lit reflective lcd, works equally well in the dark and direct sun) and uses CF for extra storage and there's even a gps sleeve available, complete with spoken directions and color maps. Best ebook reader I've ever used. Who needs a new $400-500 ppc? The only thing I wish it has is wireless, but how well would it work on a 240x320 screen?

Chris


Hold on, you got an iPaq for $5? Seriously? Does it actually work? Are there more like this?
Sure, I thought you could get 5-10 year old technology for maybe, $20 at the lowest, but $5!?!? That's incredible.
Am I overreacting, or is everything this cheap now?
 
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jbr said:
Am I overreacting, or is everything this cheap now?

You are not overreacting - everything is this cheap now. That's the way tech works. $600 this year, $400 by the end of the year, $250 by this time next year - $5 in 7 years. The reason being, someone would be willing to sell you their 5 year old gadget for $20 - so I have to give you a reason to buy my 7 year old gadget instead.

The best time to buy tech is usually about a year after it comes out - it will be much cheaper than it was on opening day, but still pretty up-to-date. There might be a newer model of two - but they will cost more. Plus it gives people time to work out the bugs. I bought my N800 about a month after the N810 came out - for less than half the price.
 
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