All the nubs are there! (2011 - 01 - 11)

[benji_stein]

The orders for all parts have been placed and they should be available when we give them the call that we need them.

Haven't we learned anything from the past two years? "Should be available when we give a call" usually means there will be additional delays. Under what circumstances will you give the green light? How much advance notice needs to be given?

CC does know they should produce Batch 2 when Batch 1 is done ASAP as well (yes, as long as CC is now producing fast and reliable, there's no need to move to a new company).

I was under the impression that you were going to start progress with a new company regardless, as a backup, in case sh!t happened again (it always does). Better to have two places going, so things don't come to a screeching halt if there's miscommunication again. Weren't you at least a month into planning with the new place? Why the change of heart?

What semi-transparency? Everything that can be said about the second batch has been said already. We told ages ago that the parts have been ordered and that it should start shortly after Batch 1... so what else do you need to know?

I guess the difference is between "Parts have been ordered and are set to be delivered on <date>" and "Parts have been ordered, and will (supposedly) be shipped to be delivered once we give the go-ahead." The latter makes me wonder if the parts are really there, and if you'll get them as soon as you want.


Other transparency? I've still seen no official update about the status of the TV cables, despite seeing the question many times - you'd said they would be green-lighted after CC sent out more boards. Have they?


I'd also really like to know what the resolution with CC was after the fiasco a month ago. What was their official statement? Clearly, something must've happened right, because OPT was ready to leave as soon as the replacement was set up. Or maybe it's the same as when you were finding a replacement for the case company, and then mysteriously decided not to, anymore.

Not yes, Clint (the CEO) mailed MWeston today that he's working on a definate reliable (hopefully!) schedule for ALL the remaining boards now that they just got all the nubs at once


We'll try to find out more each day

It's been a month (that's right, a whole month!) since the CC fiasco. We *still* don't have a revised schedule yet? And now you've stopped looking at alternatives. I just don't under it. I'd like to hear their response about the whole thing, but if, for some reason, you can't tell us, can you at least tell us if it was a *good* (read: DAMN good) excuse? What did TI say when you updated them about it, like you said you would do?

 

[Valpskott]

What semi-transparency? Everything that can be said about the second batch has been said already. We told ages ago that the parts have been ordered and that it should start shortly after Batch 1... so what else do you need to know?

It takes a great man to admit when he is wrong, I'm not a great man... Just kidding, my bad... my appologies. I'm not 100% active in the forum(trying to "have a life" to take my mind of the wait), so that info had escaped me and I got the feeling you where holding out, I mean, I can understand that most of the focus is on batch 1 now, and it's not that you guys don't deserve a vacation from all the stress, but until just now, I had no clue about the status for Batch 2(did find info for it in your "Status summary (2010-10-31)" thread so that confirms your statement above).


Also, just for clarification, since I havn't been around here from the start... the often mentioned "1 nubbers"... are those pandoras with only one analog stick, or is it ment as "first nubbers"?

 

[Wrath Of Khan]

It takes a great man to admit when he is wrong, I'm not a great man... Just kidding, my bad... my appologies. I'm not 100% active in the forum(trying to "have a life" to take my mind of the wait), so that info had escaped me and I got the feeling you where holding out, I mean, I can understand that most of the focus is on batch 1 now, and it's not that you guys don't deserve a vacation from all the stress, but until just now, I had no clue about the status for Batch 2(did find info for it in your "Status summary (2010-10-31)" thread so that confirms your statement above).


Also, just for clarification, since I havn't been around here from the start... the often mentioned "1 nubbers"... are those pandoras with only one analog stick, or is it ment as "first nubbers"?

1 nubbers are pandoras with one faulty or less responsive nub.I have one.There are no more.The nubs have since been redesigned and are now much better.

 

[benji_stein]

Also, just for clarification, since I havn't been around here from the start... the often mentioned "1 nubbers"... are those pandoras with only one analog stick, or is it ment as "first nubbers"?

Back in days of the the first 900, when there was much strife with the nubs, there were many that arrived dead. There were a number of boards forged that had a single faulty nub. These were the 1-nubbers. (The amount was never released, but I suspect on the order of 100.)


Craig offered these up first to preorders - the deal was that you could get your Pandora now, and jump queue, but you'd only get one working nub - and then sold some more on ebay (no discount). Some got the second nub working with some compressed air or disassembly, some with repeated use, and some just didn't mind only one nub. The warranty was only supposed to cover the one working nub (this is now being questioned).

 

[pisiiki]

Hello guys this is my first post, I have just ordered a pandora and I am a bit confused about what I am reading in this forum. They told me in a mail before purchasing that the unit will be dispatched in february/march. What is all this madness about delays, console parts, nubs and all this stuff? I apreciate transparency but this is nonsense and it is going nowhere. I just want to know when will I be able to have the damn thing at home to play a bit with ogl es 2 guys...


My respects to the people that move this project but please I think we need solid information about WHEN will the units arrive to our homes. If you can't properly estimate it just give it a worse case that's all.

 

[levi]

Excellent news - time for a signature change. No more trickeware jibes from me

 

[WizardStan]

My respects to the people that move this project but please I think we need solid information about WHEN will the units arrive to our homes. If you can't properly estimate it just give it a worse case that's all.

Even the worst case would have been optimistic, way back when they first started building these. Between volcanoes, car explosions, and questionable factory obligations, they finally started shipping last May. After a month of Pandoras in the wild, it became obvious that the failure rate of the nubs was way, way too high, around 10 or 20%, which is sheer madness! So they immediately halted production. The nub manufacturer got very apologetic, offered to replace them all at their expense, furthered their research, experimented with some different materials, and after about three or four months of testing (which included shipping back and forth between Canada and wherever the nub company is and weeks of company testing) they finally landed on something that should last for years of even the most vigorous use. Those began production, and the first shipment arrived late in December. Those were turned into the Pandoras that were sent out this past week. They have now completed the entire run of nubs and gotten them to the company soldering the boards together. That company has said that with all the nubs available, they can complete 500 boards a week. Assuming they stick to this "promise", you should easily have yours by end of February. Push it 3 or 4 weeks for minor slow downs, you should still get it by mid or end of March. That's the scenario they're currently working with. Of course, this is the same company that said all the boards were already done and just waiting for nubs, only to be discovered that the boards were not all done.


And that's part of the problem: they give us estimates based on the estimates the companies they're working with give. When that company fails to meet it's obligation, OPTs estimate slips as well, and it has slipped many times for that reason.


The plastic moulding company said it could complete the mould in 45 days, and then pump out 1000 parts per day, meaning they should finish everything within 55 days. 6 months later they finally finished the mould and started producing plastic parts. 3 or 4 months after that, they made the last one. It's hard to give solid information when the information you have is so muddy to begin with.


edit: wait a second, no, it was a YEAR and six months before the mould got finished. Cripes, what were those guys doing? I lost an entire year there!

 

[Jumpman]

Hello guys this is my first post, I have just ordered a pandora and I am a bit confused about what I am reading in this forum. They told me in a mail before purchasing that the unit will be dispatched in february/march. What is all this madness about delays, console parts, nubs and all this stuff? I apreciate transparency but this is nonsense and it is going nowhere. I just want to know when will I be able to have the damn thing at home to play a bit with ogl es 2 guys...


My respects to the people that move this project but please I think we need solid information about WHEN will the units arrive to our homes. If you can't properly estimate it just give it a worse case that's all.

Hi pisiiki, and welcome to the community.


You are new here, but over the last 2 years, there has been one delay after another, week after week, month after month, and year after year. So many here a frustrated, and sceptical when good news arrives(myself included), But I wouldn't worry to much, the last month has been the most productive since this project began, and unless something major goes wrong in the next few weeks, february/march sounds about right.


Chris

 

[TrashyMG]

Hello guys this is my first post, I have just ordered a pandora and I am a bit confused about what I am reading in this forum. They told me in a mail before purchasing that the unit will be dispatched in february/march. What is all this madness about delays, console parts, nubs and all this stuff? I apreciate transparency but this is nonsense and it is going nowhere. I just want to know when will I be able to have the damn thing at home to play a bit with ogl es 2 guys...


My respects to the people that move this project but please I think we need solid information about WHEN will the units arrive to our homes. If you can't properly estimate it just give it a worse case that's all.

Well, this project seen many odd delays and such.. for now things seem to be flowing at a good pace production wise. But I wouldn't rule out any future unseen delays..Lets see what delays happened.... Odd bank stuff at first, the first anolog stick(nub) factory went bust. Communication problems / case issues with the plastic case factory... Chinese New Years.. A FREAKING VOLCANO... Cases delivered to the wrong address... Wifi issues.. LCD Cable placement issues.. Van catching fire... Nub design issues.. the Open Pandora Team got all past that... so now if nothing else comes along we "should" be set..


Edit: I'm prob missing a few delays..

 

[WizardStan]

Edit: I'm prob missing a few delays..

Technically the wrong delivery address, LCD cable issue, and van catching fire didn't cause any delays, just headaches.


The van fire may have caused a one day delay, I think.

 

[snostrebla]

Was it ever determined whether the rest of the cases were being shipped by air, or sea?

 

[craigix]

I can confirm that I'm happy with the new Pandora consoles. Out of the 550 there were 10 (TEN) units which were faulty - 3 of which I know I can fix and another 6 I think Ed will be able to bring back to life.


Not bad.


Also - not a single bad nub.


The dream is alive boys.

 

[pisiiki]

Thanks for the response guys. I apreciate your explanation a lot.


I feel better now.

 

[benji_stein]

Was it ever determined whether the rest of the cases were being shipped by air, or sea?

Not entirely. They were supposed to be sea, supposed to have shipped, and then it turned out they hadn't been sent (honest miscommunication). The last I heard; ED had promised they could show up in a few days, if we needed them here immediately, and sooner than the new board company needed them. That would lead me to believe air. But since they've nixed a new board company, maybe they'll ship them sooner?


On a related note - don't we have a team of people in the UK that OPT is paying (not minimum wage) to build up the Pandoras? (Why is Craig seeming to do most of it?) And weren't they supposed to have put together all the cases (minus boards) while waiting for the boards? They seem to not have done so, per his recent tweet.

 

[craigix]

I'm doing the testing part, I take the final units and test them and flash the firmware. I test each one twice.

 

[Link]

On a related note - don't we have a team of people in the UK that OPT is paying (not minimum wage) to build up the Pandoras? (Why is Craig seeming to do most of it?) And weren't they supposed to have put together all the cases (minus boards) while waiting for the boards? They seem to not have done so, per his recent tweet.

There were only 1500 LCD cables complete. EDs working on more. These are the bottleneck?

 

[benji_stein]

There were only 1500 LCD cables complete. EDs working on more. These are the bottleneck?

Doubtful. I read "Next week we're building LCDs again for the next 550. Gads." to mean the LCD portions of the case, particularly since, as you say, there should have been 1500 LCD cables. But I could be wrong. Typical of this feed.

 

[Link]

1500 total, so 900 and 550 gives 50 left no?

 

[benji_stein]

1500 total, so 900 and 550 gives 50 left no?

Then it would be 50 more, not 550 more.


I interpreted it as 1500 past the original 900.


Either way, it doesn't matter our going round-and-round. OPT needs to answer this one.

 

[ZXDunny]

On a related note - don't we have a team of people in the UK that OPT is paying (not minimum wage) to build up the Pandoras? (Why is Craig seeming to do most of it?).

I was wondering about that, especially with the recent delays - it would make absolutely no good business sense to keep a team around with nothing to do while the nubs issue was resolved. Maybe Craig let them go temporarily, and then was caught with his pants down (so to speak) when the new nubs turned up gold?


I can imagine him sat in his village hall, feverishly building pandas as boards flood in from CircuitCo


D.