Build Your Pandora Yourself ?

[paddy]

In light of the delays with wifi and cases the team i am sure will have a hard time
building all those Pandora units for everyone ,yes in the long run we will all get our Pandora but imagine being posted the full contents to build yourself with a simple diagram to help and an hd quality youtube video to help you along.


I think this is a great idea and i am very confident that i could build my own Pandora ,i do understand that not all folks feel so confident and some other people will simply not want to do this in fear of damage to the parts ,especialy the lcd ribbon.

However i recon theres quite a few of you that could do this easy and it would relieve the team of such a high volume of units to build this would also mean that seeing as it makes sense for OP to build the first 1000 units and to learn from that experience ,the sending out of build yourself units means that at least some of the later 3000 preorders can get their Pandora without the long wait.


I really don't know where i am in the cue but if i was told that i was in the later 3000 i would be begging for them to send me out the parts so i can build my self.


So what do you all think ,is this a crazy ass plan or actuly a helping hand to OP as well as keeping some of the more impatent members happy.

Paddy

 

[Nation.A.List]

....<snip> a crazy ass plan ...<snip>

There you go, with a little editing you've answered your own question.

 

[verm71]

While I'm sure you're perfectly competent and possess the fine motor skills required to assemble some of the more delicate parts of the Pandora, Paddy, there are others unfortunately who are often overconfident and underestimate the required skill level.

Say out of 500 people who accept to build their own, how many misconnected or broken LCD cables do you guess OP would have to replace? I'd estimate somewhere between "hassle" and "burden" to OpenPandora.

 

[mali]

We had similar threads rather often. Each one of those ended with a 'no' and this one will, too.

No

 

[Bosbeetle]

No!

 

[paddy]

I still don't see the problem with it ,i might ask OP directly if i can have
mine sent to me so i can build myself ,mabe if you request to build yourself
OP will not have a problem with it as long as the customer understands that
any broken parts would require payment for new parts ,tho there would be a
major warrenty issue with this approach.

 

[Nation.A.List]

...<snip>..there would be a major NO warrenty issue with this approach.

 

[r00tw00t]

edit: ninjaed

 

[WizardStan]

If ED can break his trying to assemble it, so can you. So can anyone. The most skilled and coordinated person in the world could still make a single mistake and the whole thing goes south. If it happens at the assembly hall, they just set it aside and build a new one. If it happens in your home, you now have a chunk of silicon and plastic that doesn't do much. You may be willing to take that risk, but I doubt OpenPandora is. You might accept that if you break it in assembly it's a mistake on your part, but can you guarantee that someone else who takes this offer doesn't complain that the assembly went bad because the ribbon cable was too thin, or the solder points to fine, and that the whole thing is just a piece of garbage? That's a rhetorical question.

 

[paddy]

Yes there are many pitfalls to building the unit yourself ,this would need to
be understood perfectly between OP and the customer about broken parts and warranty
and i would imagine not many people would opt to do it them selfs ,but i thought
it a good idea on two levels but ultimately the idea would only cause more hassles
to OP in the longrun ,this i can see and the obvious warranty issue ,so not really
something viable.

please feel as free as a bird to delete

Paddy

 

[greendots]

Why are so many saying no? Craigix had said they would do this. The problem is there will be some soldering involved with the speakers and possibly elsewhere. Anyone who drips solder where its not supposed wouldnt be covered on warranty.

link:
http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?/topic/47982-where-is-my-200-handheld/page__view__findpost__p__728553

 

[paddy]

Hi Greendots ,some people just like to say no to everything on here.

 

[VRAndy]

Why are so many saying no? Craigix had said they would do this. The problem is there will be some soldering involved with the speakers and possibly elsewhere. Anyone who drips solder where its not supposed wouldnt be covered on warranty.

link:
http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?/topic/47982-where-is-my-200-handheld/page__view__findpost__p__728553

I believe he later changed his mind when it became clear how delicate the video ribbon cable was.


...But I can't find it with the search feature, so I could be wrong.

 

[crade]

I think I would do this too, assuming there are good instructions available. I must admit I just as worried about what might happen during the wait period as I am about the potential that I might break something during assembly.

 

[mali]

link:
http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?/topic/47982-where-is-my-200-handheld/page__view__findpost__p__728553

27 May 2009?

 

[paddy]

lets close this one and have a beer, what ya say ?

 

[mali]

^ Wise words Cheers!

 

[WizardStan]

please feel as free as a bird to delete

Self censorship makes me sad
You had what you thought was a great idea. In retrospect, turns out it has too many problems to be a viable option. That's no reason to delete this thread, nor pretend it doesn't even exist. Good things can still come of it!
For example, while officially offering the ability to build your own Pandora might be a logistics and technical nightmare, did you know that OpenPandora has plans to sell all the parts piecewise so you can perform self repairs? Endorsing a DIY kit like you suggest can lead to problems, especially since it puts the idea into the heads of those less skilled that they really can do it themselves, but if you really want to build one yourself, there is no harm in buying up all the parts individually, no? You aren't buying a Pandora, so there's no worry about warranty, and only the truly skilled (or at least sufficiently clever) would think to do so, and since it is doing something that OpenPandora does not officially endorse, it can't really come back to bite them if someone messes up. Maybe you can even suggest a discount for such a "large" order.

 

[WizardStan]

edit: double post strikes again! WTF?

 

[hch]

well, this is what i suggested back in december. just send me the pieces as they are now. i don't care for warranty, usb dongles and stuff. i want this hardware before it is totally obsoleted.