[Cancelled] Aluminium cases are NOT being made!

[Grench]

Thank you for trying IDV!  Thank you for refunding -out of your own pocket- for the additional fees.  This was above and beyond 'making it right'.  Kudos!

Thank you for holding the funds EvilDragon!

Ekianjo - WTF man?  This IDV guy has done the -right- thing from day 1 on through the point of covering banking fees to increase refund levels.  It sounds like he and/or his company are going to come out of this at a substantial net negative in order to ensure that those of us who pre-ordered are made whole.  Please don't insult the gentleman who is doing us all a kindness.

 

[lunixbochs]

Let's keep this thread on topic. Ekianjo said something unpopular, okay, back to talking about aluminum cases. Hate brigade stops here.

 

[Hồng Thất Công]

Well, that's a shame.  But don't give up just yet IDV.  How about a harder/better plastic case (3DS type of plastic) instead of aluminum?  Would that be doable for you?  I will keep my money for that if that's possible.  If not, ED, please use that money for the Pyra Donation fund. 

 

[ingoreis]

On the other Side its good for ED,maybe more People buy now a second Pandora Plastic Case as sparepart or for modding.


I have 2 empty Cases here who wait for painting into another Colours like the White or Blue Pandora outside there


Now People let us modding/painting the Cases from the Dragonboxshop

 

[MrBazil2k]

Awww come on...

,do never ever blame IDV for this 100% failure rate folks

,everybody knows it is definitely the CAD-CAM-Software developer to set into responsibility for this farce ...

,or maybe it is just the Post-Processor for not translating the 3D Models the right way that we can throw stones at...

,or maybe it was the service technican who wasnt capable enough to repair the newly bought and destroyed machine properly...

,or maybe just the mysterious flu of employees that have never been involved into the project at all ...

,or maybe it was the incredible high job rate that needs to be fulfilled by an machinery which is declared as an "engineers toy"...

,or maybe it was just the easter bunny that has eaten the fully redesigned project files that should have been shown 6 months ago...

,or maybe the buggy people who have seen this coming from the very beginning should be quartered...

,but wait now I got it...that guy just had no clue of what he was talking about.

 

[Seamus]

This is very bad news for everybody. The problem is we now have no reliable case to replace cracked ones

I upgraded my Pandora to a 1ghz unit just mainly to get the more ROBUST? case.

The silver case has now developed a crack just like the old one from the usb port.

The Pandora is now a poor design without any upgrade possibility in the case area.

The Pandora was a very expensive machine (but brilliant) let down by poor designs flaws and poor communications.

 

[ingoreis]

This is very bad news for everybody. The problem is we now have no reliable case to replace cracked ones


I upgraded my Pandora to a 1ghz unit just mainly to get the more ROBUST? case.


The silver case has now developed a crack just like the old one from the usb port.


The Pandora is now a poor design without any upgrade possibility in the case area.

Is there no Way to Spray anything on a bought Case to make it more hard,more stable?

I am shure there are some Materials for making replacement Cases more Harder

 

[Seamus]

I still think (as I referred to in an earlier post) that the material used in the Wiz and Gp2x would have worked on the Pandora.

Cases are still advertised on Dragonbox will this be removed soon?

 

[Tenka]

Oh.  Darn.

 

[Grench]

This is very bad news for everybody. The problem is we now have no reliable case to replace cracked ones


I upgraded my Pandora to a 1ghz unit just mainly to get the more ROBUST? case.


The silver case has now developed a crack just like the old one from the usb port.


The Pandora is now a poor design without any upgrade possibility in the case area.

Is there no Way to Spray anything on a bought Case to make it more hard,more stable?

I am shure there are some Materials for making replacement Cases more Harder

I don't understand this, "OMG OMG! My 5 year old low production community input created device that I use everyday has developed a minor non-structural crack where the plastic is thinnest! I must have retribution!"


If you don't want something to crack, you make it of SOFTER plastic. However, that is prone to dents and scratches. If you're worried about dents and scratches, then you make it out of a HARDER plastic, but that is prone to paint thinning, wear marks and cracks.


Here's another way to look at it. The case is a box designed to protect it's contents. If the case breaks before the electronics inside it, then it did it's job. Minor cosmetic blemishes and yes, cosmetic cracks, are not a bad thing. They're simply a sign of use.


After all, it's not like the case was made out of Aluminum.

 

 

[rygD]

Is there no Way to Spray anything on a bought Case to make it more hard,more stable?

I was thinking about this yesterday since I don't want mine looking too bad as it gets more scratched up.  There is that spray on rubbery stuff that might help on the exterior, and that is what I am considering.  I think it would interfere with closing and button and keyboard use if sprayed on the interior parts, though.

This is very bad news for everybody. The problem is we now have no reliable case to replace cracked ones
I upgraded my Pandora to a 1ghz unit just mainly to get the more ROBUST? case.
The silver case has now developed a crack just like the old one from the usb port.
The Pandora is now a poor design without any upgrade possibility in the case area.

Is there no Way to Spray anything on a bought Case to make it more hard,more stable?

I am shure there are some Materials for making replacement Cases more Harder

I don't understand this, "OMG OMG! My 5 year old low production community input created device that I use everyday has developed a minor non-structural crack where the plastic is thinnest! I must have retribution!"

If you don't want something to crack, you make it of SOFTER plastic. However, that is prone to dents and scratches. If you're worried about dents and scratches, then you make it out of a HARDER plastic, but that is prone to paint thinning, wear marks and cracks.

Here's another way to look at it. The case is a box designed to protect it's contents. If the case breaks before the electronics inside it, then it did it's job. Minor cosmetic blemishes and yes, cosmetic cracks, are not a bad thing. They're simply a sign of use.

After all, it's not like the case was made out of Aluminum.

I don't have a problem with minor cracks and wear.  On more durable things I value the well used looked, especially with unpainted things and metal with an exterior finish or paint.  I am not too fond of the look of the scratches on the silver colored Pandora cases for some reason, perhaps because of the contrast or maybe I don't have enough scratches to appreciate it yet.

 

[rSl]

thanks to idv for trying and finallly telling us this (sad)


news too.


so there will be no alu case, hmmm... my silver 1ghz


cracked and i would like to recase, but i don't like


to use this bad china-plastic case again...


if we only could 3d-print them in abs!


but i guess the result would be too course and maybe bent


somehow.


i think there was a reason ed did the latest pyra prototype


case not in abs?

 

[Seamus]

Who said omg! omg! I did not. Always with the big defence some people defend the bad makeup of the machine.

The truth of the matter is the Pandora case is crap and still is crap.

Why this was not fixed at the very dawn of production is beyond me.

Oh sorry I forgot "omg omg!

 

[TrashyMG]

Why this was not fixed at the very dawn of production is beyond me.

They thought they did, I can recall that when the Silver cases were ordered, I believe something was said that they beefed up a few of the weak points of the cases. That said for the most part the silver cases are much less likely to crack than the originals.  Redesigning and ordering new plastic molds for a project that was way over budget to begin with isn't reasonable.  


Edit: fixed sentence flow, still not quite there... I'm tired.

 

[levi]

i think there was a reason ed did the latest pyra prototype


case not in abs?

Because the latest pyra prototype case is a prototype?  It needs to confirm fit and shape, but it doesn't need to be durable.

My Pandora hasn't cracked around the USB port yet, but I can imagine why it would (sharp corners concentrate stress).  Mine's gone mainly in the lid - around the corner due to opening it once to often, and on the three clips that bind across the hinge, due to putting it back together once too often.  I'm glad the latest Pyra prototype case seems to be tacking those lid issues, but it's still going to have big boxy USB ports, and I'm not sure what can be done about those.

 

[Grench]

Why this was not fixed at the very dawn of production is beyond me.

They thought they did, I can recall that when the Silver cases were ordered, I believe something was said that they beefed up a few of the weak points of the cases. That said for the most part the silver cases are much less likely to crack than the originals.  Redesigning and ordering new plastic molds for a project that was way over budget to begin with isn't reasonable.  


Edit: fixed sentence flow, still not quite there... I'm tired.

$10K for a keymat mold.  Wasn't the Pandora's plastics mold in the $40K range?  The Pyra's will likely be in the same range.

These days a case design can be (relatively) cheaply 3D printed for testing and examination.  Back in the Pandora's design days, that simply wasn't an option.  I recall they made a few mold changes along the way.  However, they also ran into the 'we made this change that messed up that thing over there, so we fixed that which caused an issue over on this other piece when the plastic cools and...

If you look closely, there are sections of the Pandora's case that look like the mold was hand carved to tweak it 'just right' so the thing would function.

Thus is the nature of low volume highly specialized hardware.

If you're expecting an Apple/Samsung/HTC level of fit&finish in a case that wins design awards and qualifies for mil-spec drop, dust and water incursion protection, you're looking at the wrong device.  Cases like those can have design budgets in the 6-7 figure range.

My expectations for the Pyra's case is, "Slightly better than the Pandora's."  I'm still expecting it to look like it was drawn by a cartoonist, have a few minor gaps, likely show wear as I smooth the paint off the sides with my hands and likely show a crack or three somewhere at some time.  I'm not buying it to sit on a shelf under glass with mood lighting.  It's going to get a couple of hundred trips through airport security scanners, knocked off the nightstand a couple of dozen times, passed back and forth for some teenagers to see 'what's that?' and thrown in a zip-lock bag as it's only protective case IF I plan to go on a water ride that day.

Otterbox?  No thanks.  I use my devices.

 

[Seamus]

Well I dont know!  what materials are Notebooks Tablets and Laptops made of.

They get pleny of bashing around the place and don't seem to crack.

The Pandora develops cracks without any interaction.

My Pandora never leaves the house, was treated with "kid Gloves" but just cracked all on its own.

The silver case cracking was really a let down there there is no point replacing the case at 

another major cost. Do we need the Prya? all the classic machines are available on the Pandora.

Maybe we will need it in 10yrs time to emulate a PS4.

So I say keep the present machine with a more durable case. You cannot show an non believer

a super machine with cracks visible on the outside.

 

[TrashyMG]

^Well the Pyra will have a different case designer and manufacturer so it has that going for it.  It also won't be made in a Chinese plastic molding factory were quality was most likely not a huge concern for them.

 

[Seamus]

I'm sure there must be some sort of stress test the cases could be put through before final production is started.


Its hard to believe we are still discussiñg cases so many years on.


How about a wooden hardwood case varnished in satin varnish now that would be something.

 

[edgex004]

Well I dont know! what materials are Notebooks Tablets and Laptops made of.


They get pleny of bashing around the place and don't seem to crack.


The Pandora develops cracks without any interaction.


My Pandora never leaves the house, was treated with "kid Gloves" but just cracked all on its own.


The silver case cracking was really a let down there there is no point replacing the case at


another major cost. Do we need the Prya? all the classic machines are available on the Pandora.


Maybe we will need it in 10yrs time to emulate a PS4.


So I say keep the present machine with a more durable case. You cannot show an non believer


a super machine with cracks visible on the outside.

Not all cases crack. I have dropped,bashed, and crushed my silver case, and it is still in one piece. There is a dent from dropping another computer on it though...