I Want One

[emcee]

First time, long time...

Anyway, why does it say "Please check back regularly to find out when preordering for the second batch starts." on the "Where to buy page", if they didn't intend on announcing it there?

I would have preordered from the first batch but I didn't have the money, now I'm considering a second batch order, but I just ordered an n900 4 days ago. That and I'm guessing my chances of actually getting my Pandora before the Mayan Apocalypse are pretty slim.

 

[jdbye]

when i paid for mine on google checkout is it normal that you dont get a reciept sent to your email confirming payment cause i never got one but the payment has been sent?

I got a google checkout confirmation saying something like "OpenPandora Ltd will process your order soon" and a bit later openpandorasales emailed me and confirmed that payment had been received. If the payment was sent everything's most likely fine but if you're unsure you could always email openpandorasales, they'd know the answer.

 

[jutleys]

when i paid for mine on google checkout is it normal that you dont get a reciept sent to your email confirming payment cause i never got one but the payment has been sent?

I got a google checkout confirmation saying something like "OpenPandora Ltd will process your order soon" and a bit later openpandorasales emailed me and confirmed that payment had been received. If the payment was sent everything's most likely fine but if you're unsure you could always email openpandorasales, they'd know the answer.

yea found the email in my google email was looking in wrong inbox so all sorted just got to sit it out do you think i can order a case from them like a pouch in advcance?

 

[Mschmitz]

Hey everyone, I'm new here and i had a few questions about the Pandora. On the website it shows its $330 but a comment above said $350 plus shipping. And i had some questions about availability. So if anybody still visits this thread please respond!

The last post was only an hour before you, so of course people still view the thread.

The website is unfortunately somewhat outdated, unfortunately, although I believe it is scheduled to be updated soon. The price quoted here is the most accurate, as the price on the website is from batch1, and the team have realised that they need to increase the price to make production viable. About availability, you basically can't buy any at the moment, unless you fork out $1000 over ebay for one of the first batch. Your best bet would be to sign up to the newsletter on the website, and ordering info for batch2 should be sent out before long (the people who are recieving preorders now are those that are on the list after missing out on batch1). Be warned that Craig expects batch1 shipping to finish around October, so you will likely be able to expect yours around Christmas at the earliest (and don't quote me on that).

UGH! Well thank you for the info. I signed up for the newsletter and maybe ill put my name down, but seeing as how long the wait is i might just opt for a laptop instead. I was kind of looking for something even more portable then my hp mini but i guess a full sized laptops not bad. Thanks for all the help, I'll probably look around the forum a bit more before i make my final decision!

 

[jdbye]

Hey everyone, I'm new here and i had a few questions about the Pandora. On the website it shows its $330 but a comment above said $350 plus shipping. And i had some questions about availability. So if anybody still visits this thread please respond!

The last post was only an hour before you, so of course people still view the thread.

The website is unfortunately somewhat outdated, unfortunately, although I believe it is scheduled to be updated soon. The price quoted here is the most accurate, as the price on the website is from batch1, and the team have realised that they need to increase the price to make production viable. About availability, you basically can't buy any at the moment, unless you fork out $1000 over ebay for one of the first batch. Your best bet would be to sign up to the newsletter on the website, and ordering info for batch2 should be sent out before long (the people who are recieving preorders now are those that are on the list after missing out on batch1). Be warned that Craig expects batch1 shipping to finish around October, so you will likely be able to expect yours around Christmas at the earliest (and don't quote me on that).

UGH! Well thank you for the info. I signed up for the newsletter and maybe ill put my name down, but seeing as how long the wait is i might just opt for a laptop instead. I was kind of looking for something even more portable then my hp mini but i guess a full sized laptops not bad. Thanks for all the help, I'll probably look around the forum a bit more before i make my final decision!

A laptop doesn't have a built in game pad though, that's what I like about the pandora. It's meant as a gaming device, a laptop isn't. The keyboard on the pandora is just a plus.And no matter what, a laptop isn't as portable as a pandora, even if its a netbook.

 

[Dunny]

UGH! Well thank you for the info. I signed up for the newsletter and maybe ill put my name down, but seeing as how long the wait is i might just opt for a laptop instead. I was kind of looking for something even more portable then my hp mini but i guess a full sized laptops not bad. Thanks for all the help, I'll probably look around the forum a bit more before i make my final decision!

A laptop doesn't have a built in game pad though, that's what I like about the pandora. It's meant as a gaming device, a laptop isn't. The keyboard on the pandora is just a plus.And no matter what, a laptop isn't as portable as a pandora, even if its a netbook.

But that doesn't help the fact that we're one month into production of the first batch and they're not even an eighth of the way through getting that batch out. Folks can bleat all they want about how it's gonna be a lot faster for batch 2, but 99% of batch 1's delay (18 months and counting) was designing the thing - even if all they have to do is build them, it's gonna be a long time past christmas before batch 2 starts shipping - at the current rate, it's gonna be at least 2011 before batch 1 is fully shipped.

It doesn't matter if the Pandora has awesome controls, if nobody can actually play with it because they're still waiting for theirs to be built.

tl;dr: Batch 2 won't ship this year.

D.

 

[jdbye]

UGH! Well thank you for the info. I signed up for the newsletter and maybe ill put my name down, but seeing as how long the wait is i might just opt for a laptop instead. I was kind of looking for something even more portable then my hp mini but i guess a full sized laptops not bad. Thanks for all the help, I'll probably look around the forum a bit more before i make my final decision!

A laptop doesn't have a built in game pad though, that's what I like about the pandora. It's meant as a gaming device, a laptop isn't. The keyboard on the pandora is just a plus.And no matter what, a laptop isn't as portable as a pandora, even if its a netbook.

But that doesn't help the fact that we're one month into production of the first batch and they're not even an eighth of the way through getting that batch out. Folks can bleat all they want about how it's gonna be a lot faster for batch 2, but 99% of batch 1's delay (18 months and counting) was designing the thing - even if all they have to do is build them, it's gonna be a long time past christmas before batch 2 starts shipping - at the current rate, it's gonna be at least 2011 before batch 1 is fully shipped.

It doesn't matter if the Pandora has awesome controls, if nobody can actually play with it because they're still waiting for theirs to be built.

tl;dr: Batch 2 won't ship this year.

D.

I think things will speed up as they produce more Pandoras, so part of batch 1, the whole of batch 2 and subsequent batches can hopefully be manufactured and shipped in a speedy manner. That's also what Craig said. However it remains to see. At the current rate it'll take until 2011 to finish shipping the 1st batch, but if production speeds up considerably there's a good chance of at least starting batch 2 production/shipping before Christmas. I'm probably one of the first to preorder for batch 2, so hopefully I'll get one by Christmas. Even if I don't, the Nintendo 3DS will most likely come out around Christmas so that'll hold me over until I get the Pandora

 

[Dunny]

I think things will speed up as they produce more Pandoras, so part of batch 1, the whole of batch 2 and subsequent batches can hopefully be manufactured and shipped in a speedy manner. That's also what Craig said. However it remains to see. At the current rate it'll take until 2011 to finish shipping the 1st batch, but if production speeds up considerably there's a good chance of at least starting batch 2 production/shipping before Christmas. I'm probably one of the first to preorder for batch 2, so hopefully I'll get one by Christmas. Even if I don't, the Nintendo 3DS will most likely come out around Christmas so that'll hold me over until I get the Pandora

I've highlighted the obvious flaw in your reasoning. If there's one thing that has been proven time and time again, it's that the estimates cannot be trusted. Something always happens to delay the production (even if it's absolutely nothing more than waiting for parts, or indeed, like the current delay where there's no visible reason for it), and every single one of Craig's predicted dates has sailed past. Last November it was confidently announced that the first pandoras (about 1,000 iirc) would be shipped to patient pre-orderers by christmas 2009. It's currently July 2010, and we still haven't reached that goal.

Have a trawl through the boards and see what people have said, and look at the ungodly amount of frustration that's been building up over the last 18 months - not only missed deadlines but also people complaining that the queue isn't being honoured, and cracks in the casing are showing up on Pandoras that are not even 1 month old. If they're going to fix that, it's going to be months more of delays as they get new cases built to higher quality and send prototypes back and forth. Be absolutely certain that you're able sustain that level of patience before you order. Because there's only going to be more delays. And I suspect they will fix it, because it's not a "minor" issue like the LCD bezel bowing or the raised lid in the closed position or the dodgy shoulder buttons or the cosmetic flaws in the paintwork, or the nubs that are broken by design (need calibrating manually at boot up! Imagine that!), or indeed the amount of nubs that just... stop working, and the buttons that feel spongy... or any number of other issues that have been reported. These minor issues can mostly be fixed by better Q&A (and are being, let's be fair) but things like cracks in the case cannot without a new production process, or a new case production company. I'm hoping for the latter.

I think that the first round of Pandoras were basically prototypes and there could well be another large gap before the majority of the first batch is produced. Let's wait and see.

So yeah, if you think you can stand a wait of up to a year (possibly more), then get your order in! I honestly didn't think that I would be able to wait this long, but I have... Venting in here helps

D.

 

[mali]

And I suspect they will fix it, because it's not a "minor" issue like the LCD bezel bowing or the raised lid in the closed position or the dodgy shoulder buttons or the cosmetic flaws in the paintwork that have been reported.

I suspect the crack is more caused by the fact that not exactly 1337 hax0rz are populating the assembly line and quality control. One thing I didn't mention yet are the marks left on the screw holes I've seen on one of the pics from a Pandora owner. You know, like those marks that occur when you want to fix your ten years old lawn mower and are too lazy to find a proper screwdriver that isn't too large for the screw holes. You don't mind scratching the case with that much too large screwdriver when forcing it into these tiny little holes, cause it's just a fucked up mower and you'll throw it in the trash end of the year anyway.

Yeah right, that was a rant and now I'll start the fire for this afternoon's barbecue...

 

[fusion_power]

I still think it would be a good Idea to use Screwdrivers with "force control" (WTF is the english word for "Drehmomentschraubendreher"? :lol: )
I also still think it is not a bad idea to use thin, soft gloves during assembling to avoid dirt, fingerprints and scratches onto the Case. With this simple methods the Quality can be also improved I guess.

 

[Dunny]

You don't mind scratching the case with that much too large screwdriver when forcing it into these tiny little holes, cause it's just a fucked up mower and you'll throw it in the trash end of the year anyway.

Yeah right, that was a rant and now I'll start the fire for this afternoon's barbecue...

You really loved that lawnmower, I can tell. Time will heal all, never forget that. And it's good to rant.

D.

 

[1magus]

First time, long time...

Anyway, why does it say "Please check back regularly to find out when preordering for the second batch starts." on the "Where to buy page", if they didn't intend on announcing it there?

I would have preordered from the first batch but I didn't have the money, now I'm considering a second batch order, but I just ordered an n900 4 days ago. That and I'm guessing my chances of actually getting my Pandora before the Mayan Apocalypse are pretty slim.

Not to be a dick or anything but you know the Mayan people were working on a second calendar that never got finished. I think it is pretty funny that people do not know their history the first calendar was meant to end to bring about a new age not a Apocalypse.

 

[WizardStan]

Not to be a dick or anything but you know the Mayan people were working on a second calendar that never got finished. I think it is pretty funny that people do not know their history the first calendar was meant to end to bring about a new age not a Apocalypse.

Related off topic: whenever someone tells me, in all seriousness, that the Mayan calendar ends in 2012 and that that somehow signifies the end of the planet, I point out that my calendar ends on December 31st and signifies I need to buy a new calendar.

 

[Dunny]

Not to be a dick or anything but you know the Mayan people were working on a second calendar that never got finished. I think it is pretty funny that people do not know their history the first calendar was meant to end to bring about a new age not a Apocalypse.

Related off topic: whenever someone tells me, in all seriousness, that the Mayan calendar ends in 2012 and that that somehow signifies the end of the planet, I point out that my calendar ends on December 31st and signifies I need to buy a new calendar.

Even more tenuously related off-topic - we're getting a run of people in their 90s, who steadfastly believe that the world will end in 2012. Last one was a lady who, in all seriousness, confided in me that her husband has been insane for years, and plans blow up the world. She says she's been trying to warn everyone, but nobody takes her seriously.

I've met her husband, he's a nice chap. Dunno where he's keeping the bomb though.

D.

 

[emcee]

Not to be a dick or anything but you know the Mayan people were working on a second calendar that never got finished. I think it is pretty funny that people do not know their history the first calendar was meant to end to bring about a new age not a Apocalypse.

What exactly the Mayans expected to happen at the end of the thirteenth b'ak'tun, if anything, is open to debate. Even if they did believe it was the end of the world, what do they know? In any case, it was a joke.

 

[jdbye]

I think things will speed up as they produce more Pandoras, so part of batch 1, the whole of batch 2 and subsequent batches can hopefully be manufactured and shipped in a speedy manner. That's also what Craig said. However it remains to see. At the current rate it'll take until 2011 to finish shipping the 1st batch, but if production speeds up considerably there's a good chance of at least starting batch 2 production/shipping before Christmas. I'm probably one of the first to preorder for batch 2, so hopefully I'll get one by Christmas. Even if I don't, the Nintendo 3DS will most likely come out around Christmas so that'll hold me over until I get the Pandora

I've highlighted the obvious flaw in your reasoning. If there's one thing that has been proven time and time again, it's that the estimates cannot be trusted. Something always happens to delay the production (even if it's absolutely nothing more than waiting for parts, or indeed, like the current delay where there's no visible reason for it), and every single one of Craig's predicted dates has sailed past. Last November it was confidently announced that the first pandoras (about 1,000 iirc) would be shipped to patient pre-orderers by christmas 2009. It's currently July 2010, and we still haven't reached that goal.

Have a trawl through the boards and see what people have said, and look at the ungodly amount of frustration that's been building up over the last 18 months - not only missed deadlines but also people complaining that the queue isn't being honoured, and cracks in the casing are showing up on Pandoras that are not even 1 month old. If they're going to fix that, it's going to be months more of delays as they get new cases built to higher quality and send prototypes back and forth. Be absolutely certain that you're able sustain that level of patience before you order. Because there's only going to be more delays. And I suspect they will fix it, because it's not a "minor" issue like the LCD bezel bowing or the raised lid in the closed position or the dodgy shoulder buttons or the cosmetic flaws in the paintwork, or the nubs that are broken by design (need calibrating manually at boot up! Imagine that!), or indeed the amount of nubs that just... stop working, and the buttons that feel spongy... or any number of other issues that have been reported. These minor issues can mostly be fixed by better Q&A (and are being, let's be fair) but things like cracks in the case cannot without a new production process, or a new case production company. I'm hoping for the latter.

I think that the first round of Pandoras were basically prototypes and there could well be another large gap before the majority of the first batch is produced. Let's wait and see.

So yeah, if you think you can stand a wait of up to a year (possibly more), then get your order in! I honestly didn't think that I would be able to wait this long, but I have... Venting in here helps

D.

You have a point, but almost everything that can go wrong already has (and then some), so it can't get much worse. There could be more delays, but they won't be anything like the delays that have already happened.
I checked out the reports about cracked cases, and that does sound like it could possibly cause a delay, but either way I doubt there will be many delays this time, though I can understand why people think batch 2 will not be shipped by Christmas.
But, the DS Lite hinge has issues too, and Nintendo hasn't fixed them - and I think those issues are more serious than the tiny cracks on the Pandora (plus, it doesn't happen unless the screws are tightened too much), so I'm not so sure they'll do anything about them, but what do I know
The wait is horrible right now but when the 3DS comes out that'll hold me over for a while at least, so then further delays won't bother me too much. I'm definitely not cancelling my preorder, even if it takes a year to get my Pandora. It's worth the wait, and it won't be too horrible once I get a 3DS

 

[WizardStan]

so it can't get much worse.

Nice going, you've basically guaranteed that it's going to get much worse!
I hope you're happy, you've doomed us all.

 

[jdbye]

so it can't get much worse.

Nice going, you've basically guaranteed that it's going to get much worse!
I hope you're happy, you've doomed us all.

Nah, it won't be that bad. Actually I can't believe this topic is still alive

 

[mali]

Yeah, people shouldn't bump the topic.
...
Ooops!