Replacement Pandora Mini-Review


Prometheus

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 8, 2008
Messages
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After the left-hand analogue nub on my previous Pandora developed a fault, I was asked to return it. A few hours ago, I received its replacement, which I'm seeing fit to do a small write-up on (both literally and figuratively).

Many of my points from my original review still stand. However, my replacement unit is obviously a later one, and the difference in build-quality is quite noticeable. Both shoulder buttons feel - and look, cosmetically - pretty much the same (as those who read my initial review may remember, the right shoulder button on my first unit was a little bit stiffer than the left one), and, of course, the new one also has both lightpipes. And obviously, the nubs are fine, too (and I still stand by my assertion that they are fairly close to a TrackPoint as far as mousing goes). :p As you may know, I found the build-quality of my initial Pandora to be excellent - that it is now clearly even better speaks well for the team's improvements in quality-control, in my opinion.

Spookily, the serial number of this Pandora is 246 - a rearrangement of my original's, which was, if memory serves, 426. Given the obviously better QC here, this also suggests to me that a unit's number perhaps does not necessarily reflect the order in which it was built. :p

I'm also delighted that my new unit clocks to at least 850MHz stably. I have not tried to go higher yet - I just wanted to see if it could clock the same as the old one, which it can.

Of course, this mini-review wouldn't be complete without me mentioning the excellent service I received from Jacquelyn and Debs. I contacted them last Thursday, sent in my original unit on Monday, was told that it arrived on Tuesday and would be inspected later on Tuesday or on Wednesday, and today a new Pandora was brought to my door, and all is well. If you're reading this, ladies, thanks so much to both of you. :)
 
Very cool to see good service with such a small outfit.. keep up the good work OPT.
 
WOW, that was a quick turn around.

Glad to see the fixes are up to standards. Get back to gaming ASAP! :lol:

Chris
 
Congrats again :p
Prometheus said:
Spookily, the serial number of this Pandora is 246 - a rearrangement of my original's, which was, if memory serves, 426. Given the obviously better QC here, this also suggests to me that a unit's number perhaps does not necessarily reflect the order in which it was built. :p
Yeah, I thought so too when another member got 905 recently. Also IIRC Craig said they spend the first days putting on the stickers and the like.
 
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I really can't stress enough how excellent the service was, here. I've experienced far slower and far less positive turnarounds from some much bigger companies - Jacquelyn and Debs should be proud. :)

Alerino said:
don't forget your promise!
Give those PSP games a go again. Thanx!
I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about. I don't own a PSP (and have no interest in it or its software :p), and I've made no promises to anyone. I did make a promise in a thread to snap some screenshots, though, which I will do later. :p Perhaps you have the wrong person?
 
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Both light pipes? Bah, how very work-a-day. ;)

That's a nice turnaround time though. I imagine the only thing worse than not having a Pandora yet is having one and having to give it back. :)
 
Prometheus said:
I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about. I don't own a PSP (and have no interest in it or its software :p ), and I've made no promises to anyone. I did make a promise in a thread to snap some screenshots, though, which I will do later. :p Perhaps you have the wrong person?
I'm pretty sure he meant PSX.
Congrats! You've now received two Pandoras and I'm still waiting on my first one. But I'm not jealous, no siree :p
 
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Alerino said:
PSX emu, sorry, my bad
Haha, this just occurred to me while I was off playing Donkey Kong Country for a bit. :lol: I will re-test all of my games later! Sorry about that. :)

However, I expect the results for at least The Misadventures of Tron Bonne to remain the same, unless zodttd pulls off some sort of miracle. That game doesn't work with any emulator - I believe it may have something to do with the game's fantastic lip-syncing, since that's what all of its misbehaviour appears to be connected to.

WizardStan said:
Congrats! You've now received two Pandoras and I'm still waiting on my first one. But I'm not jealous, no siree :p
It's the sort of fun I wouldn't wish on any other orderers. :p
 
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Wow. Quick turn around!

Was it a different unit to the one you sent? Was it a new one?
 
Prometheus said:
Top Tip: My mini-review answers that. ;)

It's a new one. :)

There are many different uses of the word new (ie, newly in your possession, new to you / newly built). Don't make me pull out the giant smilies again!
 
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Thanks for that, Craig - I was curious, I must admit. :)

I guess that puts an end to the theory I'd seen bounced around about the serial numbers.
 
craigix said:
The first 100 units were done in order with the stickers, after than it's not ordered.

What's your number order?
 
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Sphinxter said:
I would think serial numbers in manufacture order would be a very good thing. What were you thinking?
Probably "we've got to put all these stickers on these cases? Ok, 2 days putting on stickers but we're done. Now we can start assembling... where'd sticker number 1 go? At the bottom of the box? Huh... just grab the ones on top"
 
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WizardStan said:
Sphinxter said:
I would think serial numbers in manufacture order would be a very good thing. What were you thinking?
Probably "we've got to put all these stickers on these cases? Ok, 2 days putting on stickers but we're done. Now we can start assembling... where'd sticker number 1 go? At the bottom of the box? Huh... just grab the ones on top"
This is so true.
I ran into this exact situation back when I was assembling solar panels.
We just kept track of serial number ranges, the order was unimportant.
 
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