Have You Encountered Any Defects On Your Pandora So Far?

[quartercast]

Given the discussion going on in this thread, I thought it would be interesting to conduct a poll on the frequency of certain Pandora defects. Some of these defects are more cosmetic (such as the screen bezel issue), while are more problematic and can hinder usage (faulty nubs, shoulder buttons etc).

Some pictures of common defects (thanks aTc):

Screen bezel bowing

Case separating

Case cracked

Loose shoulder buttons

Feel free to elaborate on your Pandora's defects within the thread, or if your Pandora is perfect, its lack of defects Happy polling.

Edit: language and pictures

 

[neko]

Yay, another "complain about my Pandora" thread.

Wifi works, but the range is poor. One SD slot doesn't work reliably. Nubs are ok mechanically, but sometimes need to be recalibrated. I think the nub firmware needs improvement. Screen bezel has the usual issues, and the case is slightly warped (about 1mm).

LCD cable is fine. D-pad is fine. Gaming buttons are fine. Keyboard is fine. Hinge works fine and isn't too loose. Shoulder buttons feel loose, but work perfectly. USB works. Battery is great and really does last 10 hours. Power adaptor works, and battery recharges in about 4 hours.

 

[vadsamoht]

Feel free to specify your Pandora's faults here, or maybe its lack of faults! Happy polling.

Just a thought, but the topic title might only attract people who do have faulty units, thereby skewing the results.

 

[quartercast]

you should explain if faulty means defective, which is way different.
currently not working properly doesn't mean it is faulty (about wifi, for example)

If you have flashed your pandora several times, fiddled with your Pandora settings, changed routers and router settings and wifi still doesn't work properly, tick the "Wifi" box.

@ vadsamoht

I considered that toos. What would you have put? "Is your Pandora faulty or not? Tell us now!" I'm sure mali can help us change it to something better hehe

 

[joseluisjazz]

My first pandora had the faulty LCD cable issue, but I've based only in the current one at the poll, since it's the only one that matters now.

My current unit has the bowing bezel syndrome, the strange-to-press shoulder buttons, and a crazy left nub, which is the most important fault. As a side note, since the beginning I recall I could sense that nub as more loose than the right one, and a couple of weeks later it became unusable, refusing to come back to the middle.

The wifi issues I feel they're driver related. Those are speed, connectivity and range.

Oh, and sometimes the unit stops recognizing the charger, and to fix it I have to either shutdown and boot, or use the trick of entering in powersave mode, put to charge, wait a minute and exit powersave mode. I sense that is also software related.

 

[Exophase]

Nothing I would return it over, so I wouldn't consider it faulty per se, but I marked these:

Screen bezel: same as the usual
Shoulder buttons: right one feels totally loose and unresponsive, left one is okay-ish - even if you accept them being of really inferior design (and I don't, I think this is an artifact of the painting and redrilling) there's no reason they should feel different, so I consider this a fault
Nubs: rarely are they balanced when moved as mouse cursors, no matter how many times I try to calibrate by moving them - I got a sheet calling it out as a one-nubber, but I didn't order a one-nubber and assumed this was a mistake because MDave (I got his) got one... at any rate it's not something I'll send it back over

I've had wifi issues but they've diminished a lot since I've changed channels, still not 100% but nothing I'm willing to call it on. I've also had serious charging issues, but I'm willing to give this one the benefit of the doubt as my fault because I may have inserted battery with the unit plugged in, causing this. I would however consider it a flaw that I have been in several situations where removing the battery was the only to reset....

 

[quartercast]

@ alerino
That quote was concerning the title of the post. Numbering things 0-10 is a bit beyond the scope of this poll.

I'm interested to hear other people's definitions of faulty. For me I've taken it to mean broken or not working properly.

According to iword.com: marked by fault or defect : imperfect

 

[Pleng]

I would however consider it a flaw that I have been in several situations where removing the battery was the only to reset....

Whoa just what have you been doing to your Pandora?

I've had it freeze up a few times but never anything a pandora button-power switch combo couldn't 'solve'.


Anyway faults? Well my TV cable has visibility issues.

 

[Consequence_9]

Well mine would have been just the minor ones of the bezel, wonky shoulder buttons & 3/4 of my face buttons being painted & thus sticky, but alas, today my left nub busted. The right one had always been touchy, but it wasn't used all that much. My left nub no longer re-centers & makes my unit pretty unusable since it's always messing with the cursor. *Sigh* guess I'll have to send mine back, what kind of return time am I looking at?

 

[mali]

^ You should mail them quickly so that you have a chance to get one of the 100 that are being assembled and shipped right now.

 

[Consequence_9]

^ You should mail them quickly so that you have a chance to get one of the 100 that are being assembled and shipped right now.

yah just shot them a line. I'm honestly pretty disappointed tho, and I really hope this is the only time i'll have to do this. this thread brings up an interesting point, are there any numbers available on how many/what percentage of units have been returned as faulty? Perhaps this explains the current slow pace?

 

[mali]

^ If you ask me it's mostly related to the phenomenon that only people who have defects post about it and the happy people stay quiet. Craig said 5% return rate and ED compared it to one of the GPH devices, I don't know where the quotes are right now though.

 

[Xenu]

This survey is faulty in so many ways... it won't give you any valid statistics.

 

[Prometheus]

@mali - Here.

Failure rate is similar to the first edition batch of the gp2x F100 - no surprise, since the development and manufacturing has been done with low funds there as well.

And;

This thread does amaze me too, the number of returns is so low yet there is this perceived collective that every other Pandora is faulty. It's actually under 5% including the first 200 which was a learning curve.

Both from the thread "My Soul Died A Little Today.".

Anyway, I can't vote in this poll, because 1: there's no way for me to do so as I've had more than one due to the issue I encountered, and 2: I'm aware that I've simply been spectacularly unlucky in getting two units with the same problem (basically, the nub tolerance/failing-to-return-to-centre issue). My replacement arrives today, and it's part of the bunch where the nub company has been more thoroughly weeding out the bad nubs - I just hope I'm lucky enough to get another one that clocks to 850MHz stably. :lol:

 

[Bosbeetle]

My first one had a faulty volume wheel, my second one had a faulty nub. I will be returning my second one on saturday.

I was very early and the difference in build quality between my first one and my second one was huge. Sadly after using it daily for about a month the nub failed on me. I am still using it daily though its such a nice device. And most of my friends like it as well (whenever I hand it to them they almost never use the nubs so they didnt even notice)

 

[andyB911]

As a result of the failure rate (5% would work out around 30 units, which sounds optimistic from this survey despite response bias, with at least two people on their 3rd unit), I wonder what proportion of the latest 100 additional units will go to 'new' users vs 'returns' users?

So far have only heard of the later group (ie returns) getting emails. Hope there are a few left over for new users.

Edit: Bosbeetle makes it at least 2 people heading for their 3rd unit.

 

[fearofshorts]

This is a cute idea, but really: how many people out there are gonna be reading the forums this soon after getting their Pandora unless they have an issue?

I know that when I get mine, you all won't see me for a month!
...
And neither will my family.

 

[craigix]

You're just going to end up with 'Screen bezel' from almost everyone as there is nothing we can do about it. Most people only notice it when it's pointed out to them however. It does not impede the operation of the Pandora.

Second I'd say nubs, but that is now solved.

Still, nice to see this posted on GP32spain where they can continue their wacky dream state over the Pandora and its 'failure', well until Anarchy starts to sell it when I don't doubt their attitude will change. (Anarchy will see for himself how few returns he gets).

Oh, and this is all a walk in the park in comparison to the MK1 GP2X. 3000 faulty units!

 

[quartercast]

Well, I was surprised to get a unit with so many "extra features" when QC was supposed to have been ramped up. You wouldn't have even needed to turn the unit on to see that there was a big crack in the back of the case and a wonky, lopsided Dpad. Never mind the dodgy nubs and detachable shoulder buttons.

 

[Pleng]

I was very early and the difference in build quality between my first one and my second one was huge.

Me too on both accounts. Unfortunately it was the second unit with a much worse buil quality than the first :S