Birthplace of a Pandora Board and a power loss (2010-09-16)


Nice updated ED. You'd think that the factory would learn that if they botch up a number of cases, it's them that have to pay for the waste of the sub-standard ones.


This new board revision and LCD cable, are they going to be used on first batch models, or only second batch and beyond? Thanks.
 
Glad to see the FSM is involved in the production process .. ;p)
 
The information we got from them was Thursday, they were planning on painting the cases Friday, Saturday and Monday and have them ready for pickup on Tuesday.


There was a power failure Friday and Saturday, so they tried to finish them in highspeed on Monday which didn't work out well (as you could see with the sample pic I posted), so they needed those two more days they lost because of that failure. That's why they're now done with painting.

That makes more sense, thanks!


So for the ones they messed up, do they have a way of removing the paint nicely? Or do they throw them away and repaint new ones?


Or do we end up with cases that might have too much paint, and cause (further) tolerance issues? How many cases were affected?
 
Thanks for the update ED. Glad to see some progress.


Personally, I hope that I get my Pandora by Christmas but I'm not holding my breath. It seems we are really close but so much has gone on that its really hard to believe anything. Also, I like that these companies are being held to the October 18th date and (last I heard at least) they are still on track. Seems like a good sign to me.


Thanks again!
 
We're shipping another 100 units on Monday (was supposed to be tomorrow but the delivery was delayed to the UK).


This will push us past number 1000.


Remember that about 150 people from the first 1000 took units with 'issues' in one form or another which skews the queue quite a bit.
 
We're shipping another 100 units on Monday (was supposed to be tomorrow but the delivery was delayed to the UK).


This will push us past number 1000.


Remember that about 150 people from the first 1000 took units with 'issues' in one form or another which skews the queue quite a bit.

Do the queue numbers given out by Jacquelyn reflect a position including that of ED's and Fatih's shops? Or is it specifically for the orders at your shop Craig?


Thank you.
 
Tickles, yup:


facility2.jpg



She's in there all right, noodly appendage'ing the bits and pieces .. :)
 
Well, I'm glad power failures are rare here in Germany. :)


Maybe I should start a case production here... ;)


Oh, and I smiled, as I saw that US flag in the background. :D
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Nice updated ED. You'd think that the factory would learn that if they botch up a number of cases, it's them that have to pay for the waste of the sub-standard ones.


This new board revision and LCD cable, are they going to be used on first batch models, or only second batch and beyond? Thanks.

For the second batch. The boards and LCD cables for the first batch have already been produced (they are currently being populated).


Lead time for boards is a couple of weeks, that surely wouldn't work out including production until mid October.

So for the ones they messed up, do they have a way of removing the paint nicely? Or do they throw them away and repaint new ones?


Or do we end up with cases that might have too much paint, and cause (further) tolerance issues? How many cases were affected?

Those were just a few samples for the battery cases, no real Pandora has been hurt ;)


As we ordered 4000 pieces of each and only need 3000, those few samples are no real loss.
 
edit: never mind...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
A lot of those companies have such antique stuff there - it's usually way more robust than current ones. And very often, the software for such machines runs on DOS as it is way more stable then Windows... so you need stuff that is being supported by DOS ;)

It's interesting. I've worked for manufacturing companies here in Canada for years now. Currently at a plastics manufacturing plant, but regardless of the industry you always see a lot of very, very dated computer hardware.


The reasoning is simple: If you just need your computer to do some simple task - be it print labels, update a database with production statistics or what have you, your circa 1990 PC will do the job just as well as a modern one. A new PC doesn't gain you anything whatsoever.


So, if the old hardware works, why replace it an incur the new hardware + software(significant, there) costs for no apparent reason? And those old machines run very well, and very reliably, in a rough & tumble manufacturing environment where they may be dropped, hit with forklifts, etc.


It's not just computers, either. At the print shop I used to work at, we had modern high end multi-million dollar web offset presses running side by side with ancient (originally hand powered, now motorized) presses from the 50's and 60's.


Nowhere is the dramatic loss of quality and sturdiness in everything as the years go by as apparent as it is in a manufacturing shop.
 
We're shipping another 100 units on Monday (was supposed to be tomorrow but the delivery was delayed to the UK).


This will push us past number 1000.


Remember that about 150 people from the first 1000 took units with 'issues' in one form or another which skews the queue quite a bit.

With luck my replacement Pandora will be part of that 100 then!! :)
 
We're shipping another 100 units on Monday (was supposed to be tomorrow but the delivery was delayed to the UK).

Will there be a fair share for people ordered from ED as well or will only your direct customers be served?
 
Thanks for the update and the pics too ED.


Lets hope power cuts, strikes, volcanoes, floods, paint shortages, lack of packing tape etc.... Dont delay further. :)


Small steps but most in the right direction. Great stuff indeed.


Keep up the great work OPT, we do appreciate you and all your efforts.
 
Having worked in the banking industry at very high profile banks, they entrust your checking accounts, savings, and wire transfers to ancient computers. Why? Because the stuff does not go down, works, and trying to switch would be a nightmare when downtime equals into over a million dollars per 60 seconds without extensive planning in advance that would likely take over a year just to sort everything out for switching.


I dealt with wire transfer backups regularly, handling computer tapes valued at millions puts things in perspective pretty quick.


Anyway ... since nobody asked, what the hell is with the American flag doing at a plant in China?
 
Having worked in the banking industry at very high profile banks, they entrust your checking accounts, savings, and wire transfers to ancient computers. Why? Because the stuff does not go down, works, and trying to switch would be a nightmare when downtime equals into over a million dollars per 60 seconds without extensive planning in advance that would likely take over a year just to sort everything out for switching.


I dealt with wire transfer backups regularly, handling computer tapes valued at millions puts things in perspective pretty quick.


Anyway ... since nobody asked, what the hell is with the American flag doing at a plant in China?
This is where the boards are produced, in the US. The cases are made in China.
 
We're shipping another 100 units on Monday (was supposed to be tomorrow but the delivery was delayed to the UK).


This will push us past number 1000.


Remember that about 150 people from the first 1000 took units with 'issues' in one form or another which skews the queue quite a bit.

Any news on whether those 100 shipped? I'm just starting to get a bit impatient, as I was quoted 400-500 (ordered at 14:43 UTC), and with 1000 shipped, I should have mine right around now (taking into account the occasional multiple-Pandora order, as well as one-/no-nubbers).
 
Any news on whether those 100 shipped? I'm just starting to get a bit impatient, as I was quoted 400-500 (ordered at 14:43 UTC), and with 1000 shipped, I should have mine right around now (taking into account the occasional multiple-Pandora order, as well as one-/no-nubbers).
+1 for this question.
 
Back
Top