By The End Of The Year?

[vampire8bit]

The order number hovers around 3700 currently, we are cutting them off at 3800.

So there are still about 100 first batch units available, and if I decide to preorder this late into development I will be guaranteed a unit from the first batch?

 

[trendy]

...you should have waited for the second batch or whatnot when the pandora will...

Funny. We thought we had been waiting a damn long time already.

College people and friends have their iPod touches, PSPs and whatnot, whilst we sit around deviceless and missing £200. I'm sure a fair number of us aren't too happy. Sorry, but that's the reality.

Anyone else remember when computer companies did this? Announce pre-order, get money, then start production of the product. Many of them failed as the tech progressed at such a rapid rate in the 80s and 90s. Any delay over around 6 months or so would've killed it.

OpenPandora are exempt since the device is portable. Damn portability exceptions.

You want to go on head-fi and see how many years some people wait for some amps to be made for them? Or anywhere else when you don't buy normal 'techjunk'
This is supposed to be 'high-end' in its category - that means attention to detail. If you (all) wanted a mk1 or whatever you could send mails that you just want it like it is or made a thread and gather most of them that can't wait and get a case problematic device.

Do you really understand the point of community projects?

For some (most) of us it's like this: if we have to wait more we will probably buy more, certainly not less.
And about the outdated comments. If something will be close to it at its price, then some hardware got cheaper and pandy will upgrade to it.

I don't mind waiting if it's for a good reason or businesses normal issues.

 

[Consequence_9]

What issues does Dingoo have? Mine has been running perfectly since I got it. The only issues I can see are with some of the built in emulators, which isn't really a fair comparison in this case, as OP will be shipping with NO built in emulators and will be relying 100% on community support for such software.

The viewing angle on some units is bad (due to it being a portrait screen being used in landscape mode), the l/r buttons are (comparatively) pretty bad, the d-pad sits too low for some tastes, the headphone jack is in a poor position (at least for gaming, it's perfect for music tho), the reset hole is really awful, oh & it takes mini-sd cards instead of micro or regular (a minor inconvenience). [don't get me wrong, i absolutely love mine ;D]

Sure these are all really nit-picky things, but they add up & I think that's the point the pandora team are trying to make; good isn't good enough, it's gotta be as close to perfect as possible.

 

[Pleng]

What issues does Dingoo have? Mine has been running perfectly since I got it. The only issues I can see are with some of the built in emulators, which isn't really a fair comparison in this case, as OP will be shipping with NO built in emulators and will be relying 100% on community support for such software.

The viewing angle on some units is bad (due to it being a portrait screen being used in landscape mode), the l/r buttons are (comparatively) pretty bad, the d-pad sits too low for some tastes, the headphone jack is in a poor position (at least for gaming, it's perfect for music tho), the reset hole is really awful, oh & it takes mini-sd cards instead of micro or regular (a minor inconvenience). [don't get me wrong, i absolutely love mine ;D]

Well the viewing angle on my unit is astounding. I don't really have an issue with the L & R buttons. A bit small, but I never miss them. D-Pad gives me no jip. Headphone jack, hmm well I don't see how it interferes with game playing nor watching films or listening to music. You have me bang to rights on the reset hole, it's awful! The mini-sd issue is slightly irritating though a couple of quid adapter sorted that out pretty promptly.

Sure these are all really nit-picky things, but they add up & I think that's the point the pandora team are trying to make; good isn't good enough, it's gotta be as close to perfect as possible.

I suppose that's just the thing... good is more than good enough for me. I'd really rather have good sooner than perfect later. Especially as most of the niggles you mentioned (D-Pad height, headphone jack positions, shoulder buttons) are a question of taste. Id Dingoo had raised the D-Pad, move the headphone jack and change the shoulder buttons they may well upset just as many people as they appease...

 

[droneb]

Darn, Just spent my money in another proyect, if not i would have stacked up a 10 unit order.

anyway, i hope theres a second wave and at that point either ill be much more interested or way too busy using the panda.

 

[Monk]

Surely you've noticed when anyone says in the last 6 month or more "are there any left to buy from the first batch?" that the answer has always been "yes"?

Or more like "yes but only a few, so you best hurry!"

LOL so very true!

The order number hovers around 3700 currently, we are cutting them off at 3800.

So there are still about 100 first batch units available, and if I decide to preorder this late into development I will be guaranteed a unit from the first batch?

Well right now, sure, but they are selling steadily so you'd better hurry...

(BTW for anyone readuing TOO MUCH piss-take in my repsonses, MY Panroda is still on order)

Sure these are all really nit-picky things, but they add up & I think that's the point the pandora team are trying to make; good isn't good enough, it's gotta be as close to perfect as possible.

It is a build-up of "nit-picks" that lead to many divorces and, sadly, even murders - nit-picks SEEM so small as to be irrelevant, but the irritation factors that can build up are incredible.

Darn, Just spent my money in another proyect, if not i would have stacked up a 10 unit order.

anyway, i hope theres a second wave and at that point either ill be much more interested or way too busy using the panda.

Can you cancel/get a refund? Personally, I quite like THIS project (I have nothing invested but a one Pandora plus accessories order). If not, then I hope this other project is a fun one too

 

[urjaman]

@The OP Team:
Is the board factory already making(+populating) the rest 3900 boards?

 

[droneb]

@The OP Team:
Is the board factory already making(+populating) the rest 3900 boards?

me too wanna know, its been long since the last time we got some news about the boards, las time IIRC someone said they required some adjustments on the tests,
and someone asked if it was because they are too harsh on the hardware, or instead too easy all pass.

 

[bzar]

The new website's progress table shows board burn-in and stablility testing as "Currently active". I'm guessing they're waiting for the testing to complete before ordering the rest.

 

[Nation.A.List]

@The OP Team:
Is the board factory already making(+populating) the rest 3900 boards?

As I read it, NO. The balance of boards will not be made until a Pandora has passed the CE/FCC test/s. It would be foolish to make a further 3800+ boards if they will not pass the test. So until a 'final' case is sent from China to M Weston (my guess) who can then assemble a complete Pandora for CE/FCC testing, (which it then has to pass) the balance of boards will not start production.

 

[droneb]

IIRC didnt they say CE test could be run on a bare PCB and elecctronics?, it was the FCC that required full Machine to test

 

[Shaun199three]

I would actually prefer the Pandora to arrive a few weeks before Christmas now. A personal problem I've always had and I'm sure alot of other people have is holding off buying certain gadgets like an Ipod because it always seems like the Pandoras release is always very close. I know alot of people go off and buy the Dingoo or Wiz but the problem I have with this is I'm 16 and don't have much money to spend and I know that once my Pandora arrives I rarely would touch these other consoles. This may sound silly but it solves the main problem I've been having and might help calm some other people down too. Well I was going to get some sort of Ipod for Christmas since I was holding it off for a while because of the Pandora but now I will buy the Ipod I was deprived of all year and just get the Pandora for Christmas instead. Yes it sounds stupid to adults but people my age should know what I mean, but in summary I'm saying get whatever you were going to get for Christmas now and let the Pandora be your new Christmas present. I'm alot happier now with my solution (I usually always complained about delays) because the silver lining of this story is that because of my patient wait I am able to buy a newer ipod nano with its new camera and radio, and if I never waited this long, sure I would of had an ipod for a while now but it would be no where near as good (Pandora is still heaps cooler). Things happen for a reason and I have found my reason to be patient. It has additionally saved me money (since I constantly believed that there was no need to buy anything cause the Pandora was close to release), the concept of open source has allowed me to realise the real flaws in alot of mainstream consoles and I have even started learning to program in python thanks to people telling me where to get started.

 

[Nation.A.List]

IIRC didnt they say CE test could be run on a bare PCB and elecctronics?, it was the FCC that required full Machine to test

In theory yes, but my understanding is that they want to test for CE & FCC at the same time, hence using a 'complete' device.

 

[WoD]

I would actually prefer the Pandora to arrive a few weeks before Christmas now. </snip>

I wept at your tale of adventure, woe and ultimate triumph. But you're, alas, one against the 3999* other people who want the Pandora to arrive tomorrow.


I, for one, am party to an almost unlimited supply of gadgetry and, believe me, it doesn't make the wait for the Pandora the slightest iota more bearable.

Now I'm waiting for the Pandora AND the Nokia N900 AND a late 2009 iMac refresh AND a spate of new LED-backlit LCD monitors AND the PURE Sensa AND a new PC AND a Cool-ER the list goes on-and-on. All I ever seem to do is wait for something!


*ish

 

[EvilDragon]

At the moment, it looks like you need to wait for EVERYTHING.
I just ordered three items a few months ago, one had an "unexpected delay", another one simply "isn't available yet".

Looks like it's not just us...

 

[Kaze0110]

I think we will see more and more of this as the Pandora prepares to ship, on the flip side there is a steady flow of new orders now that people can see the device is finally in production.

The order number hovers around 3700 currently, we are cutting them off at 3800.

The whole story behind the Pandora is pretty unique and will probably never happen again with any other device. I and the rest of the team are well aware of how incredibly fortunate we are to be in this position.

But still the Pandora isn't for some people, it's not a PSP. We cannot compete with Sony or Nintendos resources to throw money at problems. Those companies have formidable sums of money, manpower and technology.

If we had rushed in to production in, say July, you would have had the following issues:

Nubs losing their 'center' location and requiring constant software resets + sensitivity issues.
A Dpad which was irritating to use after an hour or so of constant use.
A battery door which in certain circumstances could come loose.
A potential hardware flaw in the USB host.
Some keys that were slightly too low in the case.
+ numerous other small issues.

When we started this, it was to make a device with a particular attention to detail which we don't get from, say GPH or Dingoo.

I can assure you it has that attention to detail + here we are in the forum every day as we work on this. We have worked though some exceptionally complex and difficult situations to keep this exactly as we want it to be.

And it's true, we have not been paid yet. Every penny of your money has gone in to this project as well as a lot of our own.

It's a shame some people want to rock the boat now, but we have funding in place to make sure we ship. Or sail. Or Launch. Or another boating related link.

As reading through the posts, I was mentally readying my reply, up until reading Craiger's post there. That pretty much sums it up.
I'm a computer person. I'm a gamer person. I enjoy interactivity without headaches.
I would as a global rule of all things in my life, rather wait a bit to get something right, than get it, and not be happy with it.
Its just coincidental that the delay is also helpful for bugfixes.

As far as I'm concerned, it's paid for, and I'll receive it. The wait is irrelevant, as either way, its an item i'd like to own.

I'm sated by the updates as to what's going on, and you know, I don't feel ripped off.
A tad misled, but not by much, as the updates pushed back the schedule, and I was kept "in the know" which was, and is, good enough for me.

 

[Gricey]

Just adding in my 2p, which is probably repeating what others have said, but the story of this device is what makes it so awesome - the openness, the community input, and the constant tweaking to get it 'just right' ... that commands some serious respect from any capable techie - even from what I've seen of it so far, very well done to everyone involved... just hope I make it before the cutoff now :blink:

 

[worzyl]

Just adding in my 2p, which is probably repeating what others have said, but the story of this device is what makes it so awesome - the openness, the community input, and the constant tweaking to get it 'just right' ... that commands some serious respect from any capable techie - even from what I've seen of it so far, very well done to everyone involved... just hope I make it before the cutoff now :blink:

2 pence worth?!?! ooOOOOOOooooo!!! Look at you and your expensive values!
Making all those 2 cent currencies feel jealous.

Just kidding.

This device is going to be good fun especially with the use of the Panda3D programs. (Although the first thing I'll probably do is slap on ESP Rade, take it round to my mates house and hook it up to the television).
I personally don't mind the wait.

Just my 3 cents worth - that's 2 pence (although the stock market has this habit of changing all the time....)

 

[WizardStan]

Just my 3 cents worth - that's 2 pence (although the stock market has this habit of changing all the time....)

You don't trade monies on the stock market, you trade them on the FX market.
And that's my 0.60 RUB

 

[zaoin]

I hope somebody makes a game about the adventure of making Pandora.