Bought a Pandora Off eBay, I have a couple questions

[Ollonk]

My story, summed up: I followed the Pandora early on, got a late order in Batch 1, waited for 2 and a half years without any fruit, canceled and bought a smart phone. Today, about a year later I purchased a Pandora on eBay. When it gets here will there be any way to tell what kind of defects it may or may not be affected by?


Specifically, the wifi problem, the old/bad LCD cables, and the old/bad nubs. The seller said it's a like new unit, barely used, shipped from the OP guys in 2011. That's all I'll know until it gets here, but I'm very excited. I wanted this thing so bad, and I believe my constant following of this community for years without any result whatsoever taught me a great deal of patience. So now, 4 and a half years later, I've got one coming and my mind is blown. Fully aware that I could be buying a product with some defects, I'd like to know if there's a way to see what I will/won't have to contend with down the road. Also, this unit will have 256mb RAM/NAND, if I'm not mistaken?


Here is the listing, if that could be of any use.


Thanks, all.

 

[PowerGod]

It's almost sure that it will not be able to play some Android games, but speaking about defects, the possible ones at that time can be the Pink Screen of Death, and wifi non working correctly (you can use an external wifi dongle to resolve this)... ah, and maybe look if there are no breaks in the case.


For the rest it should be 256 MB RAM, do a firmware upgrade and remember to use a swap file before opening firefox or other ram eager programs.


After the firmware upgrade you should try the "System -> Pandora Input-Tester" utility, to test if all the keys works without problems.


EDIT: Pink Screen of Death ?!... LOL, I'm colorblind even when I write !! :lol:

 

[Ollonk]

Thanks for the information. If it has the purple tint, how difficult would it be to replace the LCD cable? As far as my tech level goes, I am comfortable with disassembling a laptop down to the motherboard and the screen unit down to the LCD lamp.


And as far as Android goes, that's just gravy for me. I had no idea that such a sophisticated and functioning Android setup had been developed. It looks awesome!

 

[TrashyMG]

Well EvilDragon did release this video.. It may give you an Idea what your getting into.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/l8GfjAsbmK8?feature=oembed

 

[Ollonk]

Ergh! This looks like all the headache of disassembling a cell phone with the "fun" of hinges. I think I'll take my chances with the purple tint.


I don't have the unit on hand yet, and the seller claimed that it was like new. I'm going to hope very much that it has one of the revised LCD cables. He told me that he never remembered it having any WiFi problems either. It was shipped sometime in 2011, I was hoping there might have been some kind of serial number or date code so that ED or Craig could just say "Yes it has this LCD cable and these nubs", ideally. Record keeping for people this busy might not be ideal, though. Whatever the case may be, I'm finally going to have a Pandora. Hurray!

 

[PowerGod]

I have a new LCD cable, but I had an issue two days ago... no purple tint anymore, but garbled graphic, anyway now magically the display seem to work correctly, I hope not to have to study that video myself...

 

[Askarus]

Her are some Infos:


It my have some problems with LCD-cable and Nubs because it's most likely an old unit with 256 MB Ram.


Those problems might occure after some time and not as right after getting your Pandora.


Nubs and LCD-cable will be replaed when they are one of the non witking ones.


I'm most likely the one who will do this for you.


EvilDragon has much work to do and I'll help him during my studys with varios things.


What you can do:


- You can emulate anything up to PS1 nearly perfectly. So don't worry about that.


- You can do some office stuff, watch films and listen to music. I used my old Pandora 1 year to study. It's no problem.


-> Don't worry about that stuff.


Disadvantages:


- Most Android stuff will be better on a 1GHz unit. I have bothso I know. Simply try it out. There's also stuff that will run perfectly on your unit.


- Desktop stuff will be faster on the 1GHz unit and also some more RAM might be good for larger files. FireFox also profits from more RAM. don't worry, I used my old unit with FireFox.


- PC emulation (Dos/ win 95) might have some advantages with the 1 GH unit, especially some "higher" games.


- N64 will be more playable with 1GHz


That should give you some impression what awaits you.


Don't worry about nubs or LCD-cable. Those will be replaced when you send oyur unit in for repairs.


Can't tell you about the Wifi. If it's not mentioned on Ebay it should work I think. Wifi shouldn't get broken after some times. When it worked once it should work forever .

 

[Ollonk]

I've been on board this train since 2009, I knew what I was getting into. My biggest hope back then was for portable N64 playing, but now I don't ride a bus daily, so it's not that big of a deal. I had a preorder in before there was ever any talk of 512mb units or 1ghz units, but my financial situation caused me to need the money back from my preorder, so I just gave up on ever getting a unit at all. Then I found this amazing bargain on ebay and I'm not even going to have to wait for 9-30 months for it to get here.


Thank you, Askarus, I was afraid that the warranty might not transfer from the old owner to me, but you've put all of my worries to rest. The owner said that he had no problems with WiFi. I've really gotten all the answer I need. Thanks!

 

[fahrstuhl]

I had my unit delivered very early in 2011. My nubs work fine, my LCD cable broke, though.


For N64 emulation have a look at


Did quite a bit for my unit.

 

[Ollonk]

The unit arrived today. WiFi works like a charm and the nubs seem to be responding fine in all directions. It has the little "bulge" on the bottom of the bezel, but that doesn't really bother me at all. It DOES have a crack where apparently one of the lid screws was tightened a little too much. Is there anything I can do (other than loosening said screw, which I've already done) to prevent the crack from getting any worse, or perhaps close it with some glue? There's another minor crack around the USB ports, I don't expect it to amount to anything, though.


After waiting for over 4 years it's surreal to actually have my hands on a unit, I must say.


Edit: And now, the left nub is not wanting to register when I press it to the right. Wonderful...

 

[PowerGod]

Edit: And now, the left nub is not wanting to register when I press it to the right. Wonderful...

Try play a bit with SETTINGS -> Pandora nub configurator