How Long Is Reasonably Long?

[Pleng]

For me it wouldn't be about how long is reasonable, it would be more like 'are the reasons for the delays reasonable?'

But unfortunately, there's nothing out there that comes close to what Pandora could do for me. So I'll have to wait it out, regardless of how many delays there are.

Having said that, every trip away, every job I do, and almost every lecture I have, I think what the Pandora COULD HAVE done for me.

And then I get a little irritated (not the phrase I was going to use originally - calmed myself down!) about the *reason* for the delays. The fact that the team aren't happy about a shoulder button being a mm too long, or the d-pad being slightly too high. As if there's not going to be just as many people who would want a d-pad a little lower, or indeed a slightly larger shoulder button. There is no such thing as perfection!

And I know that the general opinion of this board, which may or may not be representational of the opinions of all pre-orderer, differs to mine. Most people would prefer to wait indefinitely while Craig and co painlessly perfect the device. But all the time I'm sitting here without what would be a perfectly adequate device for my needs!

I honestly wish another device would become available with the same features (with or without gaming controls, I can always pack a USB controller if I need too) so I could just get on with it - even if it cost another couple of hundred quid. But unfortunately no such device is on the horizon.

Sorry. Rant over.

 

[Gricey]

For me it wouldn't be about how long is reasonable, it would be more like 'are the reasons for the delays reasonable?'

But unfortunately, there's nothing out there that comes close to what Pandora could do for me. So I'll have to wait it out, regardless of how many delays there are.

Having said that, every trip away, every job I do, and almost every lecture I have, I think what the Pandora COULD HAVE done for me.

And then I get a little irritated (not the phrase I was going to use originally - calmed myself down!) about the *reason* for the delays. The fact that the team aren't happy about a shoulder button being a mm too long, or the d-pad being slightly too high. As if there's not going to be just as many people who would want a d-pad a little lower, or indeed a slightly larger shoulder button. There is no such thing as perfection!

And I know that the general opinion of this board, which may or may not be representational of the opinions of all pre-orderer, differs to mine. Most people would prefer to wait indefinitely while Craig and co painlessly perfect the device. But all the time I'm sitting here without what would be a perfectly adequate device for my needs!

I honestly wish another device would become available with the same features (with or without gaming controls, I can always pack a USB controller if I need too) so I could just get on with it - even if it cost another couple of hundred quid. But unfortunately no such device is on the horizon.

Sorry. Rant over.

TBF the N900 is very similar, but smaller screen and no gaming controls. I'm actually getting one of those on Tuesday.. but no way I'm cancelling my Pandora order

 

[hobbyman II]

even though I could really use the cash toward my wedding.

wait!, what? you mean tech junkies are ALLOWED to have girlfriends and relationships? ....... OH CRAP!!!!!!!!

 

[Pleng]

TBF the N900 is very similar, but smaller screen and no gaming controls. I'm actually getting one of those on Tuesday.. but no way I'm cancelling my Pandora order

Ya it's close. When I blew up my old phone I did consider getting one and cancelling my Pandora order. But then the Daytona Dreamcast video came out and changed my mind.

Seriously though, it's not quite close enough. The screen is too small, as is the keyboard and the storage facilities aren't up to par. I did seriously consider it though.

 

[mali]

The N900 is the disappointment of the decade. Nokias internet tablets are dead. Rest in peace

 

[borgqueenx]

devices getting closer beating pandora. and i only like it. the pandora's release time is being pushed back forever and i'm already waiting a long time.
i hope or the pandora gets released this month or that another device beats pandora so i will buy it.

 

[bzar]

devices getting closer beating pandora. and i only like it. the pandora's release time is being pushed back forever and i'm already waiting a long time.
i hope or the pandora gets released this month or that another device beats pandora so i will buy it.

Beats? In what respect? Controls? Openness? Form factor? Or just plain power?

 

[mali]

@competitors
We had it before, and it's still nonsense. You can get fast mobile phones en masse, but it doesn't make them beat Pandora. My laptop wipes the floor with Pandora, you know :rolleyes:

 

[CCmachined]

Consider my signature. Nobody really has or had much idea when it comes out. We could say "a couple of months for sure" at this moment, but what about 2 months ago? 4 months? 6? The general concensus has always been "Soon, it can't take them much longer".

I backed out in December. When I bought my unit in September (2008) I expected it to take twice as long or so, so January or February 2009. It's been 16 months and counting.

 

[Pleng]

The N900 is the disappointment of the decade. Nokias internet tablets are dead. Rest in peace

Mali. What is it about the unit that you find disappointing?

 

[mali]

Crippled screen, crippled keyboard, being a phone. Talk.maemo.org is overrun by whiny phone kids and trolls

 

[bzar]

Crippled screen, crippled keyboard, being a phone. Talk.maemo.org is overrun by whiny phone kids and trolls

Crippled? How so? This is going well off-topic but I'm intrigued. The fact that kids and trolls follow success (larger audience) doesn't translate to failure in my opinion. It has an adverse effect on any community, sure, but that's something that comes with non-niche customer base. I can see the argument against being a phone though. In any case I'm happy with mine so far.

 

[mali]

I would have liked a 4.8" screen and a design similar to the N810. A big factor for me has always been the community surrounding the device I use. I'm a forum nomad that likes to talk about hacking and tweaking. The tone really has become very hostile on the maemo boards. May I say Orangebox and the endless ramblings "fighting the troll"? I'm still reading there from time to time and when I click on "Today's posts" it's very hard to find info besides all the whining.

 

[borgqueenx]

pandora can be beaten only by power, but it has to be alot if it wants to beat it. because the pandora is good in other things.

I will compare them, and see what and why it beats pandora. but nothing so far.

I did desame thing with the HD2 some time ago.
comparising my 3gs and htc hd2. my iphone won because its huge games and apps collection.

 

[Pleng]

Crippled screen, crippled keyboard, being a phone. Talk.maemo.org is overrun by whiny phone kids and trolls

Yea the keyboard put me off somewhat. Being a phone and having a camera were big plus points for me though. Are there any even any emulators available for the device? What about VLC, MPlayer etc?

It's all pretty academic anyway. I've committed to a new phone already and couldn't justify the price of an N900 even with the Pandora refund taken into account.

To be fair the atmosphere on the forums here isn't exactly glowing either...

 

[gadgetoid]

I would have liked a 4.8" screen and a design similar to the N810. A big factor for me has always been the community surrounding the device I use. I'm a forum nomad that likes to talk about hacking and tweaking. The tone really has become very hostile on the maemo boards. May I say Orangebox and the endless ramblings "fighting the troll"? I'm still reading there from time to time and when I click on "Today's posts" it's very hard to find info besides all the whining.

I've given up on the forums and haunt IRC instead. Yes, indeed, the N900 is a huge disappointment, but we knew what it was going to be since it was announced months ago, so you can't claim to be surprised. Yes it's too small, the stand sucks, it doesn't need to be a phone *argh* and now the answer to all those dumb n00bs questions of "is it a phone" is "yes" the TMO forums are, indeed, flooded with idiocy. Things seem to be moving very slowly on the development front with the N900 too, we haven't got our new firmware yet and thus Three mobile SIMs still don't work.

But. Despite all this, I still love it. I wanted an upgraded N900 which I could comfortably use alongside my iPhone, and got an upgraded N900 which isn't too big a compromise and could quite easily negate the need for a phone.

For gaming, the Pandora will own the N900, but the N900 is not doing too badly. QuakeLive (Quake 3) and Duke Nukem 3D work well, and we've got all the classics. FBReader is up to date and working great already, although the power connector comes out of the top of the N900 when using the volume rocker for page turns. But hey, it's not bad even if it's not perfect!

Nothing, yet, has come close to competing with the Pandora, much less replacing it. I have yet to find a device which will fill that niche.

 

[bzar]

I would have liked a 4.8" screen and a design similar to the N810. A big factor for me has always been the community surrounding the device I use. I'm a forum nomad that likes to talk about hacking and tweaking. The tone really has become very hostile on the maemo boards. May I say Orangebox and the endless ramblings "fighting the troll"? I'm still reading there from time to time and when I click on "Today's posts" it's very hard to find info besides all the whining.

Fair enough. I see your points.

 

[Sugar_Kane]

And then I get a little irritated (not the phrase I was going to use originally - calmed myself down!) about the *reason* for the delays. The fact that the team aren't happy about a shoulder button being a mm too long, or the d-pad being slightly too high. As if there's not going to be just as many people who would want a d-pad a little lower, or indeed a slightly larger shoulder button. There is no such thing as perfection!

I'm sure that any fractional mm changes were a necessity due to having to have these things fit in the case correctly, so that they wouldn't stick or prevent the lid from closing whilst providing the right amount of travel, rather than an aesthetical or personal choice about their size.

It's a very real concern that it'll be so perfect when it arrives, that the touch of my imperfect meat gloves with cause it to reject me and disappear in a puff of wish dust.

Oh hey, 100th post! What do I win?!

 

[Pleng]

And then I get a little irritated (not the phrase I was going to use originally - calmed myself down!) about the *reason* for the delays. The fact that the team aren't happy about a shoulder button being a mm too long, or the d-pad being slightly too high. As if there's not going to be just as many people who would want a d-pad a little lower, or indeed a slightly larger shoulder button. There is no such thing as perfection!

I'm sure that any fractional mm changes were a necessity due to having to have these things fit in the case correctly, so that they wouldn't stick or prevent the lid from closing whilst providing the right amount of travel, rather than an aesthetical or personal choice about their size.

Hardly. They've already shown Pandora's that fir together perfectly adequately using the parts already provided. There is nothing apparently unusable about the devices that Craig and Co are showing in videos at the moment. Any revisions therefore can only be purely antithetical.

It's a very real concern that it'll be so perfect when it arrives, that the touch of my imperfect meat gloves with cause it to reject me and disappear in a puff of wish dust.

As I said I am aware that my opinion is not equal to that of the rest of the forum. But give me one of those 'imperfect' Pandora's that the Devs are teasing us with in the Videos now over a 'more perfect' Pandora in 3 months time.

 

[WizardStan]

Hardly. They've already shown Pandora's that fir together perfectly adequately using the parts already provided. There is nothing apparently unusable about the devices that Craig and Co are showing in videos at the moment. Any revisions therefore can only be purely antithetical.

Not necessarily. The gap for the ribbon cable needed to be opened a bit, as was explained, and they said so long as they were doing that, may as well add the trigger tweak they wanted done. I have no problem with that.
What I don't know is what triggered this last need for tweaking. If it's just for the alignment of the silk screening, I understand and accept the need, but if it was another case tweak why wasn't it included with the first set of tweaks? As you say, everything looks perfect, and I assume the ribbon cable gap was fixed, so what else needed tweaking? I started out hopeful, but I'm back to worrying that they will tweak forever trying to achieve an impossible level of perfection.