A Pandora 2 Concept

[Kaepora Gaebora]

A lot of the design concepts being shown here look horrible. I love the form factor and the layout of the current Pandora. I just wish the casing was more solid, the hinge less loose, and the guts a little more powerful. Aesthetically, maybe backlit keys, but it has never really bothered me...

 

[b_o_b]

A lot of the design concepts being shown here look horrible. I love the form factor and the layout of the current Pandora. I just wish the casing was more solid, the hinge less loose, and the guts a little more powerful. Aesthetically, maybe backlit keys, but it has never really bothered me...

I agree. The Pandora is a very nice device and pretty well designed. IMO the form factor has proven itself and only small improvements could be made. The hinge and keyboard can be improved. Personally I would like the keys more flat, more clicky and when needed backlit.


Maybe an improved cpu, gpu, touchscreen and ram but keep the form factor the same.

 

[Korlithiel]

I'm with b_o_b on the keyboard, I rather enjoy the clickity of my laptops keys, though as I recall the current style was chosen because Ed favored it and so I've no real hope for a change in this regard. Form factor overall is good, though I do still wish for a smaller design, and something that can't realistically happen alongside that is a radio tuner.


So many little things to daydream about being changed. So very much time until discussion is particularly prudent.

 

[diligentcircle]

Fair enough!


View attachment 1490


Advantages:

• Backlit keyboard!
  

Backlights are not a part of an LCD screen. They're an extra part, e.g. an LED-based light source, which could just as easily be used with physical keys.

Disadvantages:

• Would need carrying case because of removable keyboard membrane and vulnerable game controls
  
• Extra screen increases price
  

And:

• Controls in a weird spot would strain your fingers
  
• Because of the above, we all get joint problems and can no longer play on our Pandoras
  
• Because of the above, OpenPandora dies due to uselessness of the Pandora 2 to users
  
• On a more serious note, a keyboard-like membrane is not the same as an actual keyboard (i.e. buttons).
  
• Also, this tablet-mode wouldn't be that useful. Why sacrifice the position of the gaming controls and an actual physical keyboard for it? It seems kind of silly and excessive. A manual hinge lock mechanism or even auto-locking at more of an angle would be much more useful.
  

 

[Esn]

The lid CAN be made a bit thinner, sure, but that would also make it more breakable.


Regarding keyboard design, it's not easy to change from a standard QWERTY-Keyboard to something that uses less sideways space.


The Pandora would have to be very wide (like the PSP) or the keyboard would need to have tiny keys to fit in there.

Personally, I think smaller keys could be nice. Right now, I find the Pandora's keyboard to be in that awkward range where it's too big to be really comfortable for thumb typing (your thumbs have to move too much) yet too small to work well for normal typing.

 

[FaeMinx]

I say if you intend to have a carry bag for extra peripherals... instead of the keyboard membrane, keep the current layout, and have an attacheable screen ... you could make it capacitive if you wish, and have it so it attaches on top of the closed lid (giving you your tablet) or above the opened lid (for dual-screen use).


Because it's detacheable - it could be wider and have a higher resolution than the built in resistive screen.


Problems here would be that in either configuration it wouldn't be very ergonimic. And in tablet mode the Pandora would be so chunky as to be embarrasing.


Personally if we were to go this route, I would like the screen to be wireless... and have it's own stand.


This would be ideal for productivity in graphics applications.


Possibly with the screen being wireless, you could have your Pandora in your pocket while using the second screen as an ultra thin touch only mini Linux Tablet... That could even be paired with an iControlPad!


Best of all, this would be an optional peripheral.


So if this is going to come about, we need a much larger user base to justify the expense of development.

 

[Binky]

How complicated would a wireless screen/tablet have to be?

 

[Kaepora Gaebora]

I'm with b_o_b on the keyboard, I rather enjoy the clickity of my laptops keys, though as I recall the current style was chosen because Ed favored it and so I've no real hope for a change in this regard. Form factor overall is good, though I do still wish for a smaller design, and something that can't realistically happen alongside that is a radio tuner.


So many little things to daydream about being changed. So very much time until discussion is particularly prudent.

I actually really like the silence of the current keyboard, as I can use during meetings at work or in classes without any noise distracting others. The size of the keypad works really well with the size of my hands, too.

 

[Kaepora Gaebora]

How complicated would a wireless screen/tablet have to be?

Honestly, for a project like Pandora 2, given past experiences and lessons learned, I would imagine that only proven and reliable technologies would be used. Although innovation may be given to the form factor, I doubt the next Pandora takes too many risks on the tech side.

 

[Zuk]

I don't like the idea of having add-on parts on a device. Those are 1) extra parts to carry around and 2) parts that will get lost. Anytime add-ons get brought up I can't help but think of the poor old SEGA Genesis with a CD add-on and a 32x. That monstrocity felt haphazard at best.

 

[F_Slim]

Honestly, for a project like Pandora 2, given past experiences and lessons learned, I would imagine that only proven and reliable technologies would be used. Although innovation may be given to the form factor, I doubt the next Pandora takes too many risks on the tech side.

I think so too. My expectation for the Pandora2 is not very spectacular, I imagine it to be an evolution of the current design, not a re-design! Keep what works well, improve what did not work so well, add more CPU power and RAM and maybe one or two more features.


Most obvious things are probably:

• improvements to the case, so it does not crack (unless this is solved with the current improvements being done)
  
• re-design of the battery and its slot (so it will have good contact no matter what)
  
• add 2 more shoulder-buttons
  
• socketable nubs
  

The latter would provide room for other hardware-features to be added at some point, like motion-sensor, bigger keyboard ... whatever people may want. Basically remove the nubs and plug in something else. Allthough it will require some thought to figure out which will actually sell. One could easily allow third-party parts that can be plugged in there as well, which would also improve the "openess" of the Pandora.


About loosing such equipment ... I don't really see a problem there. It's not like you would really have to buy additionaly stuff in the first place (or carry it around wherever you go), the standard setup is pretty good. It's just to provide a possibility for people who want a full keyboard, motion sensor or whatever you manage to design and plug in there ...

 

[diligentcircle]

I don't like the idea of having add-on parts on a device. Those are 1) extra parts to carry around and 2) parts that will get lost. Anytime add-ons get brought up I can't help but think of the poor old SEGA Genesis with a CD add-on and a 32x. That monstrocity felt haphazard at best.

Well, SEGA wasn't the only company to use add-ons. There was the successful Famicom Disk System and the Gameboy Player, for example. It's really not a proper comparison, anyway, because home consoles don't have to go anywhere.


But actually, a separately-sold tablet add-on could be useful to some people. Heck, maybe it could be made for the current Pandora. A touch screen that attaches via the USB port to the bottom would suit the purpose just fine (hypothetically; I don't know if it would actually work). The only question, then, is how much it would cost and how many people would actually want it.

 

[Zuk]

I wasn't trying to directly compare the two... I was just reminded of it.


Yes, add-ons might work out great for some people. It's just not what I want in a device.

 

[Binky]

Am I allowed to mention Expandora again?


Its not as bad as some of my other ideas :rolleyes:

 

[Zuk]

Am I allowed to mention Expandora again?


Its not as bad as some of my other ideas :rolleyes:

Binky, I give you many points for gusto!

 

[coreyjohnson711]

A lot of the design concepts being shown here look horrible. I love the form factor and the layout of the current Pandora. I just wish the casing was more solid, the hinge less loose, and the guts a little more powerful. Aesthetically, maybe backlit keys, but it has never really bothered me...

This. I sold my Pandora because I never could get "tolerable" Wi-Fi speeds, hinge was bugging me, and the internals really are behind.


As an alternative to the crazy redesign I also had another thought...why not just add a keyboard to the iCP? As in use a phone for all the processing power, but be able to have keyboard, dual nubs, shoulder buttons, ABXY, etc. when you want. To me this seems ideal. I would love to have a dual core CPU, quad core GPU, 720p screen and keyboard/gaming controls when I want them. It seems possible to install linux on various android devices already. Or the OPT could focus on making something more iCP like and works with a lot of android apps and emulators.

 

[Prometheus]

^ It's ideal *if you want a telephone*.


Believe it or not, quite a large part of the market *doesn't*. We have money too, and it's worth the same as yours is.

 

[Phelsumania]

The lid CAN be made a bit thinner, sure, but that would also make it more breakable.


Regarding keyboard design, it's not easy to change from a standard QWERTY-Keyboard to something that uses less sideways space.


The Pandora would have to be very wide (like the PSP) or the keyboard would need to have tiny keys to fit in there.

Personally, I think smaller keys could be nice. Right now, I find the Pandora's keyboard to be in that awkward range where it's too big to be really comfortable for thumb typing (your thumbs have to move too much) yet too small to work well for normal typing.

Really ive only got size 10uk hands (which aint that large) and i find that the layouts perfect for thumb typing.


i think astetically the pandoras spot on atm the design team have done really well with the current design, you can see a lot of thought and logic was used and it would be a shame to see any major layout changes. Possibly an l and r2 button would be nice but i wouldnt want see the pandora get to much thicker.


Hopefully it will just recieve a nice internal tune up improving the multi tasking, speeding up web browsing and giving developers more possibilitys with ports and more potential game engines to play about with.


Not that i have a grumble at all about any of the above on the current pandora, it still the mutts nutts.

 

[WizardStan]

As an alternative to the crazy redesign I also had another thought...why not just add a keyboard to the iCP?

Because that's an entirely different market.


My phone is a high end mostly modern smart phone and it cost more than the Pandora. While it has a more powerful processor, it also has a physically smaller screen and weak speaker (singular). I wouldn't want to work and play on it the same way I do on my Pandora even if a keyboard and game control addon was available.


It could be done, but it would not fill the niche that the Pandora does. There is an overlap, all other things being equal I'm sure some of the people buying the Pandora would probably buy such an addon instead, but not everyone. It would be another product, distinct from the Pandora line, just as the iCP is already distinct from the Pandora.

 

[diligentcircle]

I don't even have a smartphone; just an old 2G pay-as-you-go phone, mostly because I almost never use phones. Therefore, I highly doubt I would buy the Pandora 2 if it was a phone. Something tells me it would be MUCH too expensive.