How To Make Pandora Cheaper

[Vitel]

Do we actually need AC charger included in the box by default?
According to the technical info, it's possible to charge Pandora via USB. So maybe it'd be better to provide AC charger as an option similar to TV cable, carrying case, etc...

 

[lulzfish]

The preorderers were promised an AC adapter with purchase, so they're getting one.
It's also good for people who are planning to be, say, in class, where there's mains power but no USB.

Also, the USB might not supply enough power to actually run the Pandora at full load, so it wouldn't be too useful in general.

 

[Gary13579]

USB won't supply enough amps to fully charge the Pandora while in use, and would take ages to charge it while not in use. 4.2Ah battery / 500mA charger = 8.4 hours to charge the Pandora... while not in use.

Not pretty.

 

[BackAssward]

Yes, for a commercial product, a power supply is necessary. We don't all have USB power supplies hanging around, nor PSP power supplies.

Remember, they want positive reviews, a Pandora without a supply would give negative reviews.

Your question is moot.

 

[Yigguth]

I'm never gonna use the charger that comes with the pandora since I got one of these that charges all of my systems

edit: only mine's not usb

 

[Gary13579]

I'm never gonna use the charger that comes with the pandora since I got one of these that charges all of my systems

edit: only mine's not usb

You might want to double check the amps that charger is putting out. PSP charger is 2A, which would charge the Pandora in ~2 hours. If your charger is only 1A, it'd take twice as long.

 

[Game_over]

Besides, The PSUs aren't going to make the overall price of the system itself cheaper, like lulzfish said, they are there because that is what we were promised. The power supply units themselves are not that expensive to begin with.

 

[fischju2000]

If they really wanted to make it cheaper, they'd produce the case out of fleece instead of plastics. Much better material.

 

[gaterooze]

The charger will only add another couple of dollars onto the price. For a handheld device, which you may well take places that do not have a readily available USB port (and yes, these places do exist!), not including a charger by default would be a substantial detriment.

 

[WizardStan]

I think he may have been hoping for a Pandora without charger option, not Pandora without charger default.
Either way, he's over-estimating the cost of a PSU. Those things are MASSIVELY marked up in retail.

 

[x68000]

It's not unheard of for a device to come without a charger, take the latest OMAP based Archos 5 Media Players, just a measely USB cable as standard unless you pay an extra £70 for the docking station!

 

[VRAndy]

You might want to double check the amps that charger is putting out. PSP charger is 2A, which would charge the Pandora in ~2 hours. If your charger is only 1A, it'd take twice as long.

And four times as long if it's 500ma, the USB standard.

 

[juniorm33]

Maybe that can be an upgrade to the system once the 1st batch is out and all the good reviews are done, start to downgrade the spec to cut costs

 

[droneb]

You might want to double check the amps that charger is putting out. PSP charger is 2A, which would charge the Pandora in ~2 hours. If your charger is only 1A, it'd take twice as long.

And four times as long if it's 500ma, the USB standard.

and even more if it is behind a HUB, or not working at all

 

[WizardStan]

You might want to double check the amps that charger is putting out. PSP charger is 2A, which would charge the Pandora in ~2 hours. If your charger is only 1A, it'd take twice as long.

And four times as long if it's 500ma, the USB standard.

and even more if it is behind a HUB, or not working at all

and 20 times as long if plugged into a Windows machine and the drivers aren't setup correctly.
(Windows limits the port to 100mA unless there's a driver in place to say "give me more". Learned that unfortunate fact trying to charge my blackberry without installing the desktop software)

 

[kuru]

Cut the already low-when-compared-to-anything-else price? Strip Features? Ideas from hell...

bugger, page two

And I'm pretty sure we'll get the PSP PSU, why design one specifically, or get another one at all if this one has proven to work fine for millions of people?
And, as mentioned above, selling a device like this (read: with such a high capacity battery) without a proper PSU is plain nonsense. All the more if it stops hobbyists from burning down their Pandora and/or house trying to build some charger by themselves.

 

[elwing]

and 20 times as long if plugged into a Windows machine and the drivers aren't setup correctly.
(Windows limits the port to 100mA unless there's a driver in place to say "give me more". Learned that unfortunate fact trying to charge my blackberry without installing the desktop software)

lol, that is not a windows limitation, that is just a correct implementation of the USB specification...


just to enlight this:

A unit load is defined as 100 mA in USB 2.0, and was raised to 150 mA in USB 3.0. A maximum of 5 unit loads (500 mA) can be drawn from a port in USB 2.0, which was raised to 6 (900 mA) in USB 3.0. There are two types of devices: low-power and high-power. Low-power devices draw at most 1 unit load, with minimum operating voltage of 4.4 V in USB 2.0, and 4 V in USB 3.0. High-power devices draw the maximum number of unit loads supported by the standard. All devices default as low-power but the device's software may request high-power as long as the power is available on the providing bus.

 

[-Tj-]

I'd rather pay a little more and get an AC adapter that's guaranteed to work with the unit, rather than pay less and not be sure if one I pick up on my own will work or not. I already have two PSP AC adapters, and it's always nice to have another spare.

 

[pcklee123]

How about an option for pre-orderers to say "No I don't want a power supply give me a $10 credit for my second Pandora order"

 

[gaterooze]

How about an option for pre-orderers to say "No I don't want a power supply give me a $10 credit for my second Pandora order"

There's no way it would be worth $10. Someone sourced PSP chargers for like $2 each in bulk. It might be $5 for a very good quality one, tops?