Batteries

[javaJake]

Well, let me put it this way: if I can't hold the thing for the time its battery lasts, even when my hands are rested on my lap, I might as well not have that juice in the first place.

 

[God Ginrai]

I'm all for 16 hours! I don't care about weight. I'm not sure I would wear a car battery around my neck, but I'd definitely carry one around. ;P

-God Ginrai

 

[Squidge]

The extra weight will add to the 'feel' of the handheld. Also, i'd go for 1 soloution only, so go with this 16hr battery.

Additional options add headaches for the manufacturer and consumer. Keep things fuctional and simple.

Remember when Craigix said the batteries would be standard rather than proprietary? This would mean zero headaches for the manufacturer & craigix, and people could just buy whichever battery they liked

 

[God Ginrai]

But the longer battery life one should be the one that is shipped with the system.

-God Ginrai

 

[Eolair]

Great... I totally missed this thread. Only saw that poll with the impossible choices :rolleyes:

I think it would be awesome if the Pandora had 16 hours of battery life, it really would. But how much would the Pandora weigh in total with a 120g battery? Around 300g would be really nice, but I think I could live with up to 400g. More than that and you definately need a light weight alternative like Squidge suggested.

 

[Squidge]

But the longer battery life one should be the one that is shipped with the system.

-God Ginrai

I'd prefer to have a better quality device and a smaller battery if we are still aiming for that £200 mark, than spending more on the battery and less on quality.

Anyone else agree?

 

[God Ginrai]

But the longer battery life one should be the one that is shipped with the system.

-God Ginrai

I'd prefer to have a better quality device and a smaller battery if we are still aiming for that £200 mark, than spending more on the battery and less on quality.

Anyone else agree?


I never said that a lower quality battery should be used. If the 16 hour battery is indeed a lower quality, then I would opt for a little less life for better quality. I'm just saying that if they are the same quality, but one is longer life, that the longer life is what should be packaged with the system.

-God Ginrai

 

[Squidge]

I never said that a lower quality battery should be used. If the 16 hour battery is indeed a lower quality, then I would opt for a little less life for better quality. I'm just saying that if they are the same quality, but one is longer life, that the longer life is what should be packaged with the system.

I know you didn't, but if they add up the cost of all the components, and find out they can't afford something, I'd prefer them to reduce the battery life rather than the quality of the system as a whole. Better batteries can always be purchased later on, a device of bad quality will always be that.

 

[God Ginrai]

I never said that a lower quality battery should be used. If the 16 hour battery is indeed a lower quality, then I would opt for a little less life for better quality. I'm just saying that if they are the same quality, but one is longer life, that the longer life is what should be packaged with the system.

I know you didn't, but if they add up the cost of all the components, and find out they can't afford something, I'd prefer them to reduce the battery life rather than the quality of the system as a whole. Better batteries can always be purchased later on, a device of bad quality will always be that.


I'd actually rather them increase the price of the system for us, if it comes to that. But, if they don't choose to increase the price, then I would want them to do what you are suggesting, and give us links to where we can find the supposed 16 hour ones so that we can purchase those as well.

-God Ginrai

 

[Squidge]

I doubt they'll increase the price as there's a number of people saying the £200 is too much already. Imagine if it was > $400 for the american market. They would explode.

 

[andyB911]

I'm generally in favour of giving the buyer the choice.

I suspect for most people it will be cost vs battery life and weight per se won't be a big judgement. Personally, for long flights I'll be wanting the most battery life possible, unless its feasible to change the battery easiy, in which case 2 x lighter ones is probably just a practical.

However - where is the battery within the unit? Will it have a BMW style 50/50 weight distribution or will it feel odd if the weighty battery is offset to one side?

 

[Spearhead]

Longer battery life gets my vote, i'm currently carrying around my Archos player, which has about 260g and i mostly hold it in one hand, the Pandora should be two-hand for most things, so more weight is still perfectly fine with me.

Of course if the battery model isn't too costly i'll just buy another one if the runtime isn't enough for me ^^

 

[Mookmac]

I'm supporting a long battery life over weight. Generally cause I'd carry it around in a bag with my textbooks or whatever anyways so weight really isnt an issue, plus I've had some heavy devices in the past (Archos AV120 was literally a brick).

 

[DaveC]

The extra weight will add to the 'feel' of the handheld. Also, i'd go for 1 soloution only, so go with this 16hr battery.

Additional options add headaches for the manufacturer and consumer. Keep things fuctional and simple.

Remember when Craigix said the batteries would be standard rather than proprietary? This would mean zero headaches for the manufacturer & craigix, and people could just buy whichever battery they liked

I vote for this and having two batteries to choose from unless a bigger battery that will make the case bigger. One for weight one for extended time as you said. Then no one can bitch

 

[Yrx]

16 hours would make me a happy boy. I'm an old Game Gear guy, weight is no matter.

 

[Squidge]

One for weight one for extended time as you said.

Then no one can bitch

Wanna bet?

 

[MWeston]

I have some additional information about this battery that needs to be considered to make the most information, sorry it comes so late in the topic!

This higher capacity battery is more "off the shelf" and that is why Craig likes it. My biggest problem with it is that it breaks our spec sheet by increasing Pandora's overall thickness from approx. 27mm to about 30mm. Since the battery takes up a very large area of the Pandora footprint, it isn't like there is a lot of extra dead space added by increasing the entire base thickness by 3mm (which would be the case with the GP2X if the case was built up everywhere to fit the AA batteries instead of just molding around them).

If the distribution of material within the lithium polymer cell is uniform, then I would estimate the battery weight increasing by 60% or about 75g. The case would get slightly heavier from the increased height but should be negligible.

By the way, I walked around and sat in on sessions at TIDC with the plastic mockup in my dress pants pocket all week and did not find it too thick. I forgot it was there most of the time! Personally, an extra 3mm wouldn't change anything for me. I wouldn't cram them into a tight pair of jeans, but then some people who jam a wallet into their pockets need to really rethink the nasty image they are forcing into my head anyway.

 

[sephiroth111]

I'd prefer the larger hi-cap battery, that way if we overclock, we'll have a better battery life, OR if we put in addons (like bluetooth, or something else) we'd have an average battery.

Squidge's idea is nice, but I don't want a machine with a cheap battery, I then have to buy another battery for $xx when it should have been installed in the first place.

Weights not much of an issue, i had the original block gameboy, with the screen magnifier, lightsource, stereo speakers, etc. that thing was massive.

 

[Yrx]

I have some additional information about this battery that needs to be considered to make the most information, sorry it comes so late in the topic!

This higher capacity battery is more "off the shelf" and that is why Craig likes it. My biggest problem with it is that it breaks our spec sheet by increasing Pandora's overall thickness from approx. 27mm to about 30mm. Since the battery takes up a very large area of the Pandora footprint, it isn't like there is a lot of extra dead space added by increasing the entire base thickness by 3mm (which would be the case with the GP2X if the case was built up everywhere to fit the AA batteries instead of just molding around them).

If the distribution of material within the lithium polymer cell is uniform, then I would estimate the battery weight increasing by 60% or about 75g. The case would get slightly heavier from the increased height but should be negligible.

By the way, I walked around and sat in on sessions at TIDC with the plastic mockup in my dress pants pocket all week and did not find it too thick. I forgot it was there most of the time! Personally, an extra 3mm wouldn't change anything for me. I wouldn't cram them into a tight pair of jeans, but then some people who jam a wallet into their pockets need to really rethink the nasty image they are forcing into my head anyway.

Hmmmm... More easily accessible, higher capacity, makes the console slightly thicker (hence a better grip)...

Yeah, sounds good.

 

[#1 GameMaster]

I have some additional information about this battery that needs to be considered to make the most information, sorry it comes so late in the topic!

This higher capacity battery is more "off the shelf" and that is why Craig likes it. My biggest problem with it is that it breaks our spec sheet by increasing Pandora's overall thickness from approx. 27mm to about 30mm. Since the battery takes up a very large area of the Pandora footprint, it isn't like there is a lot of extra dead space added by increasing the entire base thickness by 3mm (which would be the case with the GP2X if the case was built up everywhere to fit the AA batteries instead of just molding around them).

If the distribution of material within the lithium polymer cell is uniform, then I would estimate the battery weight increasing by 60% or about 75g. The case would get slightly heavier from the increased height but should be negligible.

By the way, I walked around and sat in on sessions at TIDC with the plastic mockup in my dress pants pocket all week and did not find it too thick. I forgot it was there most of the time! Personally, an extra 3mm wouldn't change anything for me. I wouldn't cram them into a tight pair of jeans, but then some people who jam a wallet into their pockets need to really rethink the nasty image they are forcing into my head anyway.

It wouldn't matter to me if the case was increased by just 3mm that's nothing be sides I thought the thicker something the better grip. Another thing is it would be a lot smaller still than my Game Gear.