Pandora's Ports, Dust & Lint Covers


Grench

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The OpenPandora is set up to be a pocketed device. Like anything else shoved in a pocket, it's due to come into contact with lint, ends of keys, etc.

The SDHC slots wind up being pretty well covered by putting cards in them.

The back ports though, require some more attention IMHO.

The USB A and USB B ports have options out there - not easy to find, but they're there. It would be nice to have OpenPandora supply something like this in the box, but I can understand if the additional cost/time/effort seems silly at this point.
http://bestbyte.net/merchant/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=CBUS01CAPF&Category_Code=CBUS&Store_Code=BB

However, the special port for the expansion cable - other than running a piece of electrical tape over it - any ideas?
 
Grench said:
The OpenPandora is set up to be a pocketed device. Like anything else shoved in a pocket, it's due to come into contact with lint, ends of keys, etc.

The SDHC slots wind up being pretty well covered by putting cards in them.

The back ports though, require some more attention IMHO.

The USB A and USB B ports have options out there - not easy to find, but they're there. It would be nice to have OpenPandora supply something like this in the box, but I can understand if the additional cost/time/effort seems silly at this point.
http://bestbyte.net/merchant/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=CBUS01CAPF&Category_Code=CBUS&Store_Code=BB

However, the special port for the expansion cable - other than running a piece of electrical tape over it - any ideas?
Hey, those are great. I admit the same thought crossed my mind, but I figured I'd deal with it when the time came.
 
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You ever go over your friends house and the mom bought like one of those plastic covers that went over the monitor. It also had the monitor stand that was also the power strip.
 
I had several of the powerbases come into my possession over the years. I can't tell you how many suckers I got to buy those dust covers when I worked at Radio Shack back in the day,
 
I carry and have carried portables and I just hit the ports with some compressed air once in a while to keep em dust free and make sure everything stays dry.

I love the thought of some covers for this little beauty though. :)
 
isnt there "fake" sdcards, that are plastic that you get with dell laptops and such, anyone know if they can be bought somewhere?
 
I keep worrying about SD cards popping out into a pocket, etc :) I always liked the idea of a SD-cover like on digicams .. stick the media in the slot, and pivot a door down over it. I hate when ports get all gummed up :)

Electrical tape or hockey tape ftw!

jeff
 
I don't see the SD card slots as an issue - those will be filled with cards. This leaves very little room for stuff to sneak into them.

I'm more concerned about the back ports - the USB A, USB B, the power port and the funky OpenPandora AV expansion port. Since these are potentially hot (powered) ports, they might be an issue.

Worst case scenario... Think it through. You get some pocket lint in the type A port and not realize or see it before you plug something in that powers the port up. The next thing you know there is smoke curling out of the back of the unit. 5V@500mA on the USB A could do it.

A piece of black electrical tape over the 3 ports might take care of the issue. It would be an ugly option. A better option would be to have blank plugs/caps to plug into the ports when not in use. Those are hard to source for USB ports. They're pretty much impossible to find for the AV plug.

Maybe a set of 4 plugs (USB-A USB-B AVport Power)?
OR
A single rubberized strip that has all 4 port plugs on it, made out of a similar material as the keyboard? This would also make a rubberized grip surface on the back of the console.

If something like this could find it's way to where OpenPandora consoles are sold for $10+shipping as an option, that might be cool.
 
Perhaps some nice chaps with all the right connections, like the OP Ltd team could source the assorted caps for us, package them up in a neat little ziplock baggie and sell them to us for a small markup. ;)
 
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