After about 2 years of decommission, I was reunited with my Pandora.

[hybrid21]

In 2012 I purchased the Pandora with some graduation money, entering my freshman year of high school. I was attracted by its form-factor, hardware, software, capabilities as a gaming machine, a personal computer, and an everyday alternative to a smartphone. And for the longest time, this gadget was in my backpack every day. School, work, travelling, it was always with me, and it never let me down.



I noticed some problems within my first few months of owning it, namely the hinge, my touchscreen was completely unusable, and I found some of the roughly-cut edges in the case to be a bit of an eyesore. After about a year and a half of typical use, I finally dropped it for the first time. Slipped out of my hand from waist height, hitting one stair on the way down. I was confident it would survive, since it wasn't a particularly high drop, and my house at the time had spongey carpet on every floor. I wound up having a busted left shoulder button, and a screen which permanently turned green.



What I am now left with is a broken, outdated device which I still feel like I can utilize, even though I do have a smartphone now. This device never let me down, and I always felt committed to it, between in itself being an extremely powerful portable device, and a helpful community always ready to help or give advice.

The only thing I ask is, what should I do with it? I would consider repairs, if support for this device still exists. Or possibly receiving some kind of credit towards a newer 1GHz model, or possibly the Pyra. But please let me know if you have any ideas.

This model is (was) called the ReBirth edition, which was a slot below the 1GHz (which was $1000 at the time)

 

[drock]

Is it the case that broke? Or the internal switch? Does the screen change color if you move it? It's possible that the cable is damaged.

 

[Wally]

Looks like the LCD cable is defunkt. I dunno if EvilDragon has any in stock anymore

 

[comradekingu]

https://www.dragonbox.de/en/329-pandora-lcd-cable-replacement-parts.html

 

[Eight Bit]

I've had my shoulder buttons bent a little bit by a drop on the floor aswell. Opening the case allows you to quite easily access the shoulder button switch and bend it a little bit back towards the plastic of the button, or resolder it if needed/broken.
The LCD cable is a do-able fix. I think Ed sold me one for about 15 euro or something but there's a big chance it just needs to be re-seated.

Well worth a 5 minute screw-driver only inspection i'd say
[doublepost=1476178636,1476178438][/doublepost]Oh, and loosen the inner lid a little if the touch screen gives you troubles with mis-registered touch locations. It might seem like it's badly calibrated but it's also possible that the lid itself is touching the screen on some spots.
Otherwise Ed has new touch screens in his shop too

 

[atari_afternoon]

Repair of lcd cable costs only ca USD 35 (in Euro: cable alone:25, repair included:30)
Mine is just at the DragonBoxShop for this reason (but after 4 years of good service)

 

[jeeks]

my pandora just came back from repairs for the same reasons (dropped it onto the floor, busted the R trigger, and the screen showed some annoying purple lines when the lid was opened 90 degrees) we all should just stop dropping our pandys
btw, there was a time period of ~2 years when i didn't use my pandora at all. i sent it in for a new case and thought about selling it later, but when it came back it was all shiny and new so of course i had to play something on it. a bunch of games later, i decided to keep it and now it's pretty much the thing you'll always find in my bag (except when it's at the post office because dhl messed up ). so... if you can afford it, get it repaired and give it another chance

 

[hybrid21]

What I was really thinking about, is if I could possibly exchange my Pandora for a credit towards purchasing a Pyra. The ReBirth edition Pandora was $600 at the time I bought it, and the Pyra is looking to be sub $600. But it all depends on the repair costs. If it would be expensive to repair my Pandora and have to send it to Germany, I would go for the Pyra.

 

[Eight Bit]

I think your best bet is to sell it in the trading section of the forum.
With GHz models going for 250 to 350€ I doubt you'd get more than 200€ for your rebirth unit though.

My advise would be to have it repaired or do it yourself and just keep the unit. It might just end up as a collectors item if it isn't already