A Thing Of Beauty, My Pandora Of Course!

[SomeGuy99]

Angle like the DS?

The DS hinge locks when fully open too, you know.

Hah, I know, I own one. But it seems to lock at a smaller angle than the Pandora (I know the DS hinge actually locks twice; I'm talking about the first angle it locks at). The Pandora seems to lock noticeably closer to 180 degrees than the DS; in addition, the Pandora's hinge seems to be designed to operate in this locked position as the lid is apparently rather loose and could close on its own when not in the locked position (I believe Craig or EvilDragon said this in one of their videos or posts).

Craig did a video demonstrating that the hinge is stiff enough to stay in position, and proved it (by... throwing pencils at his Pandora).

This one:

 

[Azure]

Angle like the DS?

The DS hinge locks when fully open too, you know.

Hah, I know, I own one. But it seems to lock at a smaller angle than the Pandora (I know the DS hinge actually locks twice; I'm talking about the first angle it locks at). The Pandora seems to lock noticeably closer to 180 degrees than the DS; in addition, the Pandora's hinge seems to be designed to operate in this locked position as the lid is apparently rather loose and could close on its own when not in the locked position (I believe Craig or EvilDragon said this in one of their videos or posts).

Craig did a video demonstrating that the hinge is stiff enough to stay in position, and proved it (by... throwing pencils at his Pandora).

Hah, I know, I've seen all the videos. I believe that was to prove that you can set it at an angle and place on a table or something in case you wanted to watch a video. There was a post somewhere where one of the developers said something along the lines of you don't want to walk around (or actually hold and *use*, a.k.a. not just let rest on a table) with the screen "unlocked" because it could close on you.

EDIT: You can actually see it in the video posted from 0:15 - 0:20. It appears that when in the "unlocked" position, the screen is loose enough that moving the Pandora can cause it to swing all the way open into the "locked" position. Also, when Craig is actually testing the resistance of the screen by pushing it, he's testing the hinge at rather small angles. It doesn't seem to take much effort to move the screen at 2:26-2:28, and this is approaching angles similar to the "locked" DS position.

Note that I'm not saying that this "loose" characteristic is a fault of the hinge; I've known all along that the device is meant to be played in the "locked" position, and that if you wanted to use it otherwise you'd best be wanting to watch a video and let the Pandora rest on a surface. I'm just trying to point out what I'm talking about; please don't mistake this as last minute complaining.

 

[fischju2000]

http://s198.photobucket.com/albums/aa99/MWeston_2007/?action=view&current=DSC01785.jpg ?

 

[Nintendo]

Angle like the DS?

The DS hinge locks when fully open too, you know.

Hah, I know, I own one. But it seems to lock at a smaller angle than the Pandora (I know the DS hinge actually locks twice; I'm talking about the first angle it locks at). The Pandora seems to lock noticeably closer to 180 degrees than the DS; in addition, the Pandora's hinge seems to be designed to operate in this locked position as the lid is apparently rather loose and could close on its own when not in the locked position (I believe Craig or EvilDragon said this in one of their videos or posts).

Ah, ok. 1st locking stage, I see now.

By the way, you know what pisses me off? The DSi XL's final locking stage goes slightly beyond flat.

 

[SomeGuy99]

I've known all along that the device is meant to be played in the "locked" position, and that if you wanted to use it otherwise you'd best be wanting to watch a video and let the Pandora rest on a surface.

I think it was Mweston who said something about not walking about with it. But I also remember it being said that the hinge is not at a 180 degree angle, but less. If you look carefully, you can see it locks slightly forward (but not as much as a DS.

I just sat here with my DS and you know what? I think I naturally hold is straight up, but the angle forces me to tilt it down slightly. I'm not sure I'll be bothered by the hinge angle myself.

By the way, you know what pisses me off? The DSi XL's final locking stage goes slightly beyond flat.

My DS Lite does the same thing, so I never use that mode.

 

[Azure]

http://s198.photobucket.com/albums/aa99/MWeston_2007/?action=view&current=DSC01785.jpg ?

Exactly what I'm talking about. The DS looks more natural to use with a slight angle, and apparently the Pandora has a tendency to swing into the "locked" hinge position if opened enough. This is why I was just asking puppydee for more thoughts and opinions on the screen angle when in use.

 

[Alpha2]

As I understood it the DS hinge wasn't made available to them so they couldnt get it anyway.

 

[Azure]

As I understood it the DS hinge wasn't made available to them so they couldnt get it anyway.

Err...I'm not saying that I wanted them to use the DS hinge. I've accepted that the Pandora comes with a different hinge than the DS (I'm not asking for a design change or anything either ). I'm just pointing out that as a result of using a different hinge, the Pandora seems to lock into a more unnatural and awkward screen position than the natural and comfortable DS screen position (brought up the DS as a point of comparison to show why one might say that the Pandora's screen position looks unnatural and awkward); I was wondering what actual Pandora owners thought about the Pandora's screen position when in use.

 

[Patrick R Ludvigsen]

As I understood it the DS hinge wasn't made available to them so they couldnt get it anyway.

I would hope so, all the DS Lites I have ever seen have had hinge problems eventually

 

[fischju2000]

Craig has said that it's a comfortable angle, we don't need the exact angles as on a DS because we don't need to get into the viewing angles of two LCDs.

 

[Nintendo]

As I understood it the DS hinge wasn't made available to them so they couldnt get it anyway.

I would hope so, all the DS Lites I have ever seen have had hinge problems eventually

You must have a lot of bad luck there, because I've had 15 DS varients (mostly DS lites) and all been perfect, hinge wise.

 

[Alpha2]

Right, I understand that, I mentioned it as being the only reason why they wouldn't have otherwise used a hinge people couldnt criticize.

Ultimately though isnt opening flat no more awkward than any other non clamshell device?

 

[Azure]

As I understood it the DS hinge wasn't made available to them so they couldnt get it anyway.

I would hope so, all the DS Lites I have ever seen have had hinge problems eventually

You must have a lot of bad luck there, because I've had 15 DS varients (mostly DS lites) and all been perfect, hinge wise.

Hah, yeah, I was just going to say I should show him my DS Lite to break his record

I've actually never seen a DS Lite in person that had hinge problems...:unsure:

 

[(naw)mcx]

As I understood it the DS hinge wasn't made available to them so they couldnt get it anyway.

I would hope so, all the DS Lites I have ever seen have had hinge problems eventually

You must have a lot of bad luck there, because I've had 15 DS varients (mostly DS lites) and all been perfect, hinge wise.

Hah, yeah, I was just going to say I should show him my DS Lite to break his record

I've actually never seen a DS Lite in person that had hinge problems... :unsure:

My DS classic has been through a hell of a lot and it's hinge is still perfect

 

[SomeGuy99]

I've actually never seen a DS Lite in person that had hinge problems... :unsure:

Mine has hairline fractures, and I've never even used it while walking around.

 

[SomeGuy99]

As I understood it the DS hinge wasn't made available to them so they couldnt get it anyway.

I would hope so, all the DS Lites I have ever seen have had hinge problems eventually

You must have a lot of bad luck there, because I've had 15 DS varients (mostly DS lites) and all been perfect, hinge wise.

Yeah, but surely you've used those DSs 15 times less than you would a single one?

 

[Azure]

Right, I understand that, I mentioned it as being the only reason why they wouldn't have otherwise used a hinge people couldnt criticize.

Ultimately though isnt opening flat no more awkward than any other non clamshell device?

I don't think so. With a clamshell device the screen is farther away from you. Ideally you want the screen angled such that it is "facing" you. This requires you to angle the device more toward you, resulting in possibly unnatural positions for your wrists or hands (i.e. you have to angle your wrists slightly upward). To decrease the amount that you have to angle your wrist upward you angle the screen toward you (which is what the DS does). As you open the lid, you have to have your wrists angle upward to get the ideal angle, and as you close the lid you have to have angle your wrists downward to the get that ideal angle. Having an angled screen helps find the sweet, comfortable spot for your wrists for extended playing sessions.

I don't know about you guys, but observing the way I grab my DS and the position my wrists assume, it's as if the top screen doesn't exist and I'm using a non-clamshell devices. My wrists assume a natural, comfortable position. Of course, the DS *is* a clamshell device...however, I don't have to adjust my wrists to align the top screen with my face (or at least not noticeably so) because the screen is already locked in such a position to correct for the angle of my wrists.

EDIT: I just realized I sound pretty crazy...I guess this is what happens when you try to explain minutia

 

[SomeGuy99]

EDIT: I just realized I sound pretty crazy...I guess this is what happens when you try to explain minutia

I'm not entirely convinced. I think the DS forces your wrists into a less natural position.

When I play games with lots of shoulder button action, my wrists ache - properly ache in pain - and no other handheld I own does this to me.

 

[danielliu88888]

we should make a thread for this.

 

[Sphinxter]

Please, it's not how it looks, it's how it feels and I don't see anybody arguing who has actually played one here so maybe we should wait until we've all tried one and actually have something to complain about.

FFS even Nintendo knows they have shit for a hinge design.
http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/21/nintendo-fesses-up-to-ds-lite-hinge-defect-will-fix-for-free/