How Much Pressure Can The Case Withstand?

[Quizzor]

My third NDS just cracked. The case is somewhat flimsy, cracks easy, and then the LCD screen gets broken. Fortunately I bought them used for under 50$ each. I got a PSP with an aftermarket transparent outer shell that also covers the screen. Seems impossible to break this brick.

How much pressure can the Pandora case withstand? The weak point on the NDS seems to be the upper half. I'm afraid my Pandora will end up with a cracked top half and a ruined LCD. How much do replacement screens cost? The pandora is reliant on a touchscreen, so I can't get an outer aftermarket shell.

 

[DaveC]

There is always the limit of physics. These things are made of plastic, not titanium.

If you hyperextend the lid and are rough the hinge will break like any clamshell. Just try not to beat on these things and they will last.

 

[GPJosh]

There is always a limit to clamshells, but the Pandora should be able to take it.

IIRC replacement screens will be sold separately, as will every other component of the Pandora. The screen is a Archos 605 screen without a flipped pin out on the cable. I imagine replacements will be sold through Craig's shop here: http://www.gbax.com/spares.html or EvilDragon's shop once they are made available.

Hinge testing thread: http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?/topic/51284-craigs-hinge-testing/
Pandora Press Article: http://pandorapress.net/2010/01/04/pandora-hinge-abused-for-science/

 

[kingoddball]

I would treat the Pandora the same way you would treat an NDS... Maybe not the way you treat an NDS - But everyone else who has not broken them.

Along the same lines as DaveC - Treat the device with some respect and it will last.

 

[DaMummy]

or just give us your order number so we can make sure someone more careful will have one of the first 4000 pandoras....

 

[lulzfish]

I would treat the Pandora the same way you would treat an NDS... Maybe not the way you treat an NDS - But everyone else who has not broken them.

Along the same lines as DaveC - Treat the device with some respect and it will last.

Treat it the way I treat my stuff. My NDS has been working fine for some years now (though I rarely play it because the games all suck), my laptop's hinge is still pretty strong after almost 3 years, and my old tablet... Died of natural causes.
But apparently a lot of Internet people beat the shit out of their consoles.

 

[taylor-madeak]

My third NDS just cracked. The case is somewhat flimsy, cracks easy, and then the LCD screen gets broken.

Uh...this has never happened to any DS Lite I've owned or seen, and I've gone through a few (young child in the house). The plastic on the outside half of the upper clamshell is actually pretty thick, and the whole thing fits together in such a way that it's all pretty well reinforced when it's assembled. The only way I can even imagine the kind of damage you're talking about is if somebody who weighs like 400+ pounds keeps it in their back pocket while sitting on really hard surfaces (benches, concrete, etc.). The solution is simple: if your arse is what is causing the damage, then don't keep the device in your back pocket!

 

[fearofshorts]

I'm don't think that you'd be one of them Quizzor, but people these days really do treat their consoles like shit.
I once saw a post from someone complaining that his shoulder button had broken after he had "only" thrown it against his wall (as hard as he could) three times.
That's right. He thought that the DS was crap because you can't throw it against a wall without damaging it.

 

[TaG]

This thinbg has the DaveC seal of approval.

Treat it good and it will last.

 

[Sugar_Kane]

But how much pressure can it stand in a job interview situation?

 

[Beholder]

 

[BackAssward]

How much pressure? Don't push it... the pandora is a nice thing, it doesn't need any more pressure. You don't have to make it feel depressed or stressed. Why would you make it feel down and pressure it? It is trying hard for you, give it love, don't make it feel sad.

 

[Iorgy77]

How much pressure can the team take before they crack is the real question.

 

[Bigun]

I wonder if there can be some after-market titanium cases... with silkscreening.

 

[scottm]

my NDS (it's about 3 yrs old) has a hair line crack on the hinge, and I took really good care of it - never dropped it, keep it in a hard body case etc. The hinge still works fine though - just has a crack on it. It's a well known fault with the NDS design.

 

[Asiyura]

My old TANK DS has a fair amount of silver paint scrapped off because I never bought any carry case for it.

No cracks but 3 dead pixels, two on the touch screen, one on the top screen...
Sometime, I think about getting a new NDS, but since this one is still perfectly working, I won't!

So, I think the pandora (for which I plan on getting a carry case) will be able to survive being owned by me

 

[puppydee]

I've got a ds-lite and a dsi-xl but I treat mine like a queen, no scratches or breaks. I will say however that my nephew broke his at the hinge by accidently sitting on it while it was open and a friend of mines son broke his on the hinge also but he's 4. I suppose there's advantages and disadvantages to a clam shell. You'll just have be more carefull or knock yourself up an alloy case up, easier to just be more carefull but an alloy case would be awesome but probably not practical with wifi maybe (when it works properly)

 

[BaDToaD]

Craig tested a Pandora prototype to the extreme. There's a thread somewhere. I would link it but Pizza just arrived

 

[Aninhumer]

http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?/topic/51284-craigs-hinge-testing/
http://pandorapress.net/2010/01/04/pandora-hinge-abused-for-science/

 

[paulguy]

Maybe we'll see aftermarket metal cases, though it doesn't seem to have really happened for any other system. They're all plastic. I guess when you're making cheap third party accessories, it's easier to make a quick buck with a plastic case than offering a metal one that might cost more, but have a more limited audience. Of course, that's not knocking the original developers for choosing plastic, it's just the standard way to go.

As for Wifi, it could be possible that an antenna cable could be in the case that runs to the antenna connector on the motherboard, then have a little external antenna.

To be honest, I'll wait for a pandora 2 for that. I would really want something that totally blows everything away in computational power before I'd invest in something like that (unless the cost isn't too bad.).