15th Preorder Confirmed?

[AireTamStorm]

Videos of the GUI. Videos of a complete working unit. Complete - as in keyboard, buttons, screen, mobo. Working - the device, in the case, powers up, the screen works, the buttons work, the audio works, the SD slot works, the BlueTooth works, the WiFi works... You know - a complete working unit - in the case.
I basically voiced this earlier in the thread:

Yeah, to date nobody has seen a fully assembled Pandora in a video, working 100% independently from another terminal. This is an absolute minimum requirement in my opinion in order to successfully show people what the device will be capable of and how it will behave.
Most of us agree that this is probably a must for many people to consider buying it. Sony didn't sell their PSP after showing off the mainboard for a year, they sold it having shown working, fully assembled prototypes.

Before everyone sets me up as the strawman, once again, saying "That's just what *chad* wants - that's not what the masses want!" Who wouldn't want these things? How many other people have asked for these things are similar in the past?
It isn't your views, it is your attitude. Every time someone on the dev team says something like this:

We know you want those videos, and don't worry, we are working on it.
You say something like this. Now what part of that comment doesn't SCREAM "Flame me!"?

 

[rmm2131]

I personally don't need another video of the completed case or of the screen running emulators. I can deduce with my brain that it will be some sweet tech to use already so no need for redundancy. Any new pics or videos will be just what i've seen before(keyboard--check!, game controls--check!, gorgeous screen--check!, ports and dual SD slots--check!-check!). Yes, my brain is remarkable.

The only thing i'm mildly curious about is what the GUI will look like, but even that will likely be terrific since I trust the Pandora team, who are all veteran gamers of this community.

I have spoken.

 

[DisgruntleElf]

Well, my personal opinion is: why not some mystery? Why not be surprised and enjoy the device when it shows up at your doorstep?

You like mystery? I suggest walking into a car dealership and throwing down $20,000+ and say "Surprise me and leave it in my driveway". I bet you'd wake up next day to a broken down tricycle or wheelbarrel. You wouldn't throw away you money like that so why would you ask the community here to do the same?

 

[WizardStan]

You like mystery? I suggest walking into a car dealership and throwing down $20,000+ and say "Surprise me and leave it in my driveway". I bet you'd wake up next day to a broken down tricycle or wheelbarrel. You wouldn't throw away you money like that so why would you ask the community here to do the same?

Bad analogy. It's more like you know what you want to get, you've read the engine specs, seen all the parts awaiting assembly, saw an unpainted chassi, you've done all the research, and now you want to buy it. It just hasn't been built yet.
The difference is between "assemble and delivery, here's my money" and "I want this, I intend to buy it when it's out next month, but I want to test drive it first." Because that's what I'm hearing a lot of.
Some people seem to say they're in for the long haul, that they're going to buy it no matter when it comes out, and then want video as if that will change their mind. If you're sitting on the fence, unsure of whether to get it or not, a video might help sway you, but I and many others have made that decision based on the known details for the machine, and a little bit of trust.
Or is that just me?

 

[rabidpoobear]

You like mystery? I suggest walking into a car dealership and throwing down $20,000+ and say "Surprise me and leave it in my driveway". I bet you'd wake up next day to a broken down tricycle or wheelbarrel. You wouldn't throw away you money like that so why would you ask the community here to do the same?

Bad analogy. It's more like you know what you want to get, you've read the engine specs, seen all the parts awaiting assembly, saw an unpainted chassi, you've done all the research, and now you want to buy it. It just hasn't been built yet.
The difference is between "assemble and delivery, here's my money" and "I want this, I intend to buy it when it's out next month, but I want to test drive it first." Because that's what I'm hearing a lot of.
Some people seem to say they're in for the long haul, that they're going to buy it no matter when it comes out, and then want video as if that will change their mind. If you're sitting on the fence, unsure of whether to get it or not, a video might help sway you, but I and many others have made that decision based on the known details for the machine, and a little bit of trust.
Or is that just me?

Nope, it's not just you, stan.
The only thing that would cause me to jump ship now is if a device with better specs, at significantly cheaper price, and with a great development community, were released before the pandora. Which isn't going to happen, especially if Pandora's released before 2009.
I already have the money set aside for it. Really, it's a pittance for the features the Pandora offers. I've spent ~$200USD on my DS getting it prepped for homebrew and whatnot, and its performance is ridiculous in comparison to the Pandora. And I hate having to fight the system to get homebrew on it. So it'll be refreshing to have an open source handheld that I can do whatever I want with.

Still, I'm really craving this machine (which is probably evidenced by the amount of posting I've done in the past couple of days) and any videos are welcome. But I've only been waiting for a month, so I haven't gotten antsy yet. Nov. is fine.

When I heard about Spore, in 2005, I was so excited. In 2007 I was a little less so, after it being delayed. Finally it's coming out in a few days, and I'm excited again! The creature creator is awesome! So even if my attention wanes in the coming months, I'll still be extremely anticipatory when the actual day comes that Pandora ships.

 

[socket]

You like mystery? I suggest walking into a car dealership and throwing down $20,000+ and say "Surprise me and leave it in my driveway". I bet you'd wake up next day to a broken down tricycle or wheelbarrel. You wouldn't throw away you money like that so why would you ask the community here to do the same?

Bad analogy. It's more like you know what you want to get, you've read the engine specs, seen all the parts awaiting assembly, saw an unpainted chassi, you've done all the research, and now you want to buy it. It just hasn't been built yet.
The difference is between "assemble and delivery, here's my money" and "I want this, I intend to buy it when it's out next month, but I want to test drive it first." Because that's what I'm hearing a lot of.
Some people seem to say they're in for the long haul, that they're going to buy it no matter when it comes out, and then want video as if that will change their mind. If you're sitting on the fence, unsure of whether to get it or not, a video might help sway you, but I and many others have made that decision based on the known details for the machine, and a little bit of trust.
Or is that just me?

Nope, it's not just you, stan.
The only thing that would cause me to jump ship now is if a device with better specs, at significantly cheaper price, and with a great development community, were released before the pandora. Which isn't going to happen, especially if Pandora's released before 2009.
I already have the money set aside for it. Really, it's a pittance for the features the Pandora offers. I've spent ~$200USD on my DS getting it prepped for homebrew and whatnot, and its performance is ridiculous in comparison to the Pandora. And I hate having to fight the system to get homebrew on it. So it'll be refreshing to have an open source handheld that I can do whatever I want with.

Still, I'm really craving this machine (which is probably evidenced by the amount of posting I've done in the past couple of days) and any videos are welcome. But I've only been waiting for a month, so I haven't gotten antsy yet. Nov. is fine.

When I heard about Spore, in 2005, I was so excited. In 2007 I was a little less so, after it being delayed. Finally it's coming out in a few days, and I'm excited again! The creature creator is awesome! So even if my attention wanes in the coming months, I'll still be extremely anticipatory when the actual day comes that Pandora ships.

I'm in the same boat. There's not much that could change my mind about buying at this point... Like poobear, I've spent a decent bit on my DS and while the touchscreen and some of the apps out (like nitrotracker and pocket physics) make awesome use of the touchscreen, it just has so many limitations. I rarely use my DS for anything other than homebrew and really just want a super upgrade which is the Pandora. Dual screen schmual screen.

 

[javaJake]

If people want videos, they'll get videos, but doesn't that take all the fun out of a product launch?

Now that I thought good 'n hard about this, I totally agree. Half of the sheer thrill of receiving a new gadget is not knowing what it'll do.

There are some concerns due to GPH's failing to live up to "bare-minimum" standards. I doubt, however, that OpenPandora Inc. are going to do the same. I have faith.

*cue the atomicthumbs worship pictures*

 

[TaG]

On the gaming side there are good specs, good looking controls and already decent emulators. Its loaded. No worries.

For £200 I also want the pocketable computer bit. I'm 99.9% certain it will be absolutely fine. But I can't afford to waste the cash. Given some of the grief BeagleBoard people have gone through I'd just like to see something working - browser, word processor or something along these lines.

I can't go into a shop like I could with PSP/DS/PDA/Laptop. I won't see a friend with one. It seems reasonable that we see something other than emulators. As I said before the devs have said they would, so thats cool.

(This is not meant as a complaint / plea or anything such as I am happy so far, this is just my view)

 

[White Demon]

Well, my personal opinion is: why not some mystery? Why not be surprised and enjoy the device when it shows up at your doorstep?

If people want videos, they'll get videos, but doesn't that take all the fun out of a product launch? GPH has shown nothing and even now that the press release has happened, there is still nothing. Everyone seems to think that is fine and I think it is kinda neat too because when you get yours, it will all be new to you.

In days before www was invented/the internet became commonplace, this may have been more acceptable (but even then at least a few pics of a completed unit would appear in magazines).

These days with info of new devices coming out generally 6-12 months (sometimes more) before the device is released, videos are always commonly posted on the net of fully working devices for people to see and make decisions on. Neither Sony or Nintendo have, in recent years, said 'no wait until it's in your hands before finding out what it looks/feels like'. They have always made videos available somewhere of their systems well before release. The same applies here.

Plus videos of working devices will appeal more to the common mainstream person who's never seen or heard of the devices before. I would say if a video of a full working unit were to be /.ed etc, pre-orders could well go wild.

As for what GPH do, well they've always done it this way, and look at the debacle that was the GP2X first edition release, with plenty of broken units to go around and so on. Enough said really.

The difference is between "assemble and delivery, here's my money" and "I want this, I intend to buy it when it's out next month, but I want to test drive it first." Because that's what I'm hearing a lot of.
Some people seem to say they're in for the long haul, that they're going to buy it no matter when it comes out, and then want video as if that will change their mind. If you're sitting on the fence, unsure of whether to get it or not, a video might help sway you, but I and many others have made that decision based on the known details for the machine, and a little bit of trust.
Or is that just me?

I don't believe that seeing videos will sway people already committed (such as myself) away from buying one, rather (for me at least) it will confirm that the Pandora is actually (finally) FULLY WORKING - and not longer just a picture of a motherboard or videos of emus with just a dev board running it - and that release is no longer far away. And to see a completed unit booting up into the GUI and maybe run a few apps would simply cement my commitment even further still.

 

[Clad]

While I understand the magic feels of having the dreamt unit popping out unexpectedly is nice, I'll be a bit "closer to the ground" with that.

Thing is, I don't browse those forums every day. Not even every week. What if by the time I notice the Pandora is released the first batch is all sold and god knows when the second will be produced ?

If there is a scheduled day, at least I could preorder on the first day.

 

[Kyo]

I just received a coupon for a pandora for my birthday! Hells yeah!

 

[TaG]

While I understand the magic feels of having the dreamt unit popping out unexpectedly is nice, I'll be a bit "closer to the ground" with that.

Thing is, I don't browse those forums every day. Not even every week. What if by the time I notice the Pandora is released the first batch is all sold and god knows when the second will be produced ?

If there is a scheduled day, at least I could preorder on the first day.

There is no scheduled day, but you can can sign up at openpandora.org and get email notification for pre-order.

 

[Clad]

I didn't know that ! I sign up right away ! Thanks for the info.

 

[chad78]

Well, my personal opinion is: why not some mystery? Why not be surprised and enjoy the device when it shows up at your doorstep?

If people want videos, they'll get videos, but doesn't that take all the fun out of a product launch? GPH has shown nothing and even now that the press release has happened, there is still nothing. Everyone seems to think that is fine and I think it is kinda neat too because when you get yours, it will all be new to you.

This is just my opinion. The masses will get what the masses want.
Two weeks later and the masses haven't gotten anything from you. Big shock.

 

[gruso]

Oh it's been announced Chad. We just didn't tell you.

 

[darkstorm classic]

Leaving aside chad's excessive rudeness...are there to be preorders here on the 15th?

 

[craigix]

I'm not that comfortable in taking preorders yet without showing you more videos of the Pandora running a GUI and videos of the final assembled unit.

That would just make me feel better and also I think stop any criticism about those areas.

Just want to confirm the 30th is still the date, that has not changed.

 

[darkstorm classic]

I'm not that comfortable in taking preorders yet without showing you more videos of the Pandora running a GUI and videos of the final assembled unit.

That would just make me feel better and also I think stop any criticism about those areas.

Mah, it's ready when it's ready. Just trying to make sure I get one of the launch models, as I've been putting off pmp/umpc/abcde purchases in favour of the grand unifying poobah that is the pandora. ^_^

 

[_VWV_]

I'm not that comfortable in taking preorders yet without showing you more videos of the Pandora running a GUI and videos of the final assembled unit.

That would just make me feel better and also I think stop any criticism about those areas.

Good to hear that! I'll be waiting for the content. To be honest I still have a worm inside my soul telling me "they're gonna delay it once more" but I know it's a parasite inside me and I shouldn't listen to it.

 

[Kyo]

just 20 more days max! hooray!