Are You Likely To Mod Your Pandora

[Geuben]

Even though MWeston has been kind and provided us with pads for extra shoulder buttons and keyboard back lighting, I'm not sure I could bring myself to make irreversible modifications to the pandora case (for the shoulder buttons) and getting hold of a translucent keymat might prove a challenge.

I'm toying with the idea of using my pandora in conjunction with some Arduinos via Zigbee (Xbee in the Arduinos case) so would like to mod in a Zigbee radio but I don't think there will be enough internal space. I think I'll have to settle for a dongle instead, too bad no one makes a Zigbee dongle as small as the bluetooth one I have, I wouldn't mind having it plugged in all the time then.

Just a question- why would you use zigbee over a BT module? BT->UART modules are just as easy to use. Or is there some application or advantage I'm missing?

Zigbee has a self configuring Mesh Network mode which as far as I know bluetooth doesn't.

Edit: And Zigbee has the option of considerably longer range

 

[TheRain]

Zigbee has a self configuring Mesh Network mode which as far as I know bluetooth doesn't.

Edit: And Zigbee has the option of considerably longer range

Ah I see, makes sense- thanks for indulging

 

[Axaj]

Ohh, boy. No less than a week, I'll be started.

• Usb hub
• 2.5" HDD (or SSD)
• Zigbee module
• 0.1" headers
• R2/L2 buttons

 

[Geuben]

Ohh, boy. No less than a week, I'll be started.

• Usb hub
• 2.5" HDD (or SSD)
• Zigbee module
• 0.1" headers
• R2/L2 buttons

Do you intend to mod the zigbee internally? I'll be honest and say I haven't actually looked to see if there's a small I2C chip or similar that would work.

 

[Jourdy288]

I'd probably add in a few LEDs, make the case transparent and UV sensitive, with a cold cathode light
Not much else to think of other than maybe replacing one of the SD card slots with a CF card.

 

[ferg]

Ohh, boy. No less than a week, I'll be started.

• Usb hub
• 2.5" HDD (or SSD)
• Zigbee module
• 0.1" headers
• R2/L2 buttons

AFAIK, there's no SATA controller. How are you going to connect an HDD to Pandora? USB sucks, and you are better off with a fast SD card instead. SSD would be a bigger waste of bandwidth.

 

[WizardStan]

Hopefully they left some I2C ports around. There are a couple of GSM/GPRS/GPS chips that work with I2C buses.

There are!
Not even as pads, but on the ext connector itself! All we need is the plug.

 

[El Jefe]

Ohh, boy. No less than a week, I'll be started.

• Usb hub
• 2.5" HDD (or SSD)
• Zigbee module
• 0.1" headers
• R2/L2 buttons

AFAIK, there's no SATA controller. How are you going to connect an HDD to Pandora? USB sucks, and you are better off with a fast SD card instead. SSD would be a bigger waste of bandwidth.

Protip: usb doesn't suck.
Its fast enough to stream 800X480 video, which is probably the highest throughput that is actually application-critical.
So, if you have an irrational desire to cart your BSG seasons, Firefly, and Star Trek (OS + TNG), it could be party cool.

 

[emusan]

hey, anyone up for a translucent DVORAK keymat for the Pandora, I know I want one(with a rainbow colored back-light of course) .

 

[Tom`]

Hopefully they left some I2C ports around. There are a couple of GSM/GPRS/GPS chips that work with I2C buses.

There are!
Not even as pads, but on the ext connector itself! All we need is the plug.

That's a pretty old quote... didn't the new nubs require I2C, precipitating its removal from the connector?

 

[WizardStan]

Hopefully they left some I2C ports around. There are a couple of GSM/GPRS/GPS chips that work with I2C buses.

There are!
Not even as pads, but on the ext connector itself! All we need is the plug.

That's a pretty old quote... didn't the new nubs require I2C, precipitating its removal from the connector?

That would make me a sad panda

edit:Ahah, yeah. They're not actual I2C lines anymore, but there's no reason the UART pins can't be converted to GPIO and software controlled I2C. The code would have to take care of blinking the lines on and off correctly instead of just streaming bytes to it, but that shouldn't cause too many problems.

 

[urjaman]

I'll add two bright white or blue leds to the extra pads to use the pandora as a light when in need.
I'll add a serial port / audio splitter board to the ext port and a GPRS modem with phone capability to the splitter board and one of the usb ports and velcro this stuff to behind of pandora's screen so they dont wobble around but are removable.

 

[ThaDSman]

Didnt we have this discussion quite a few times already?
Anyways, I chose "I would apply someone elses mod if cool enough."
but really all I want is a light up keyboard and nub glow like in the original prototype.

And there was some talk about making the pandora logo glow with glow paint. I would like a blue glowing logo on my pandy too, if its possible.

EDIT: I plan on Colorwaring (or an equivalent) my Pandora too, if thats considered a mod...

 

[j.pickens]

Plug compatible 800 by 480 pixel 5.8" TFT LCD Resistive Touchscreen module.
Will fit in the case lid footprint, just have to figure out the speakers, and slice a bigger screen opening.

 

[typs lik dis]

Shiny, reflective gold coating. I might also add some extra LEDs.

 

[Iorgy77]

Change the fugly case. No offense to the designers or people who OK'd it.

I concur with this gentleman, I was thinking aluminium.

 

[atomicthumbs]

As the amount of time I own a Pandora increases, the probability of me building some sort of accessory for it or modding it approaches 1.

 

[mali]

A lengthy Tablet MOD discussion:
http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?/topic/44693-pandora-tablet-mod/

There were several threads at that time, I don't know if the fold-back mod is discussed in this one, too much to read too little time, right now.

 

[Rayek]

Honestly, the only reason I'd have to mod a device is to make it more like a Pandora, with a keyboard, a TV-out, more battery life, better D-Pad (ahem....) but seeing as everything seems to be worked out I don't have a reason as of yet to pop the thing open.

We'll see though, as soon as I'm holding the B.

 

[El Jefe]

Arright, I just gave the tablet mod idea a bit of thought, and here are said thoughts:
One of the qualms people had in that forum post mali linked to is that the cable wouldn't handle the twisting necessary...
After viewing the case assembly video, which shows extensive footage of the hinge and its cable, I conclude that that the display cable is robust enough to handle the twisting. Apparently it is meant to be twisted twice inside the hinge, from after which it rotates 90 degrees. In a swivel hinge, it would need only 1 twist +180 degrees of additional turn. heck you could probably start with only half a turn, except I guess that would put the cable in reverse order when plugged into the screen.
Additionally, the cable is actually quite long, so it may even be possible to make the top screen removable and then shifted to tablet mode and clicked into place, with slack in the cable being put to use. So instead of having foldback tablet mode, which isn't feasible at all as the hinge is on top of the base, the screen could be detached, and the user could move it to the back where it would snap into place.