Instant Pandora with a premium?

[rayman]

First batcher here and its been a long wait, Oct 1 2008.. By the way, thank you all for being here, its made the wait a lot better than it could have been.


If this will help financially and speed production I say go for it.


I have a few concerns when it comes to a new case color though. Will the new paint color be on top the the original paint? If so, this could cause some fit issues. Also how much time would be involved in painting the cases, and could this create another delay in production? I'm talking about the instant Pandora production. I would hate to see any more delays in the project. Finally people are already paying that price on E-bay, so does the Pandora really need to be a different color?

 

[Sugar_Kane]

I'm also going to have to poo in the cake.


First of all, those already with Pandoras should keep quite in this discussion as it's not going to affect them in any way. Now, I'm very torn here because obviously I want this to succeed, however it would be a slap in the face to those of us that have waited a long time, as not only would people be able to swan in front of us and collect a new unit while we have to still wait an undetermined amount of time for ours, but they would also possibly be getting a more exclusive painted/otherwise marked unit too.


I just allowed myself to get used to the idea that I might possibly be getting mine in February, I can't see that happening even with some extra staff. I mean, what happens if 500 preorderers decide to upgrade now, and you also get 2000 orders from the website? We also still have to count the fact that there could be another delay in production when the current stock of cases/nubs/boards run out.


The thought of having to wait any amount of time longer than we currently have to, due to people jumping queue, just seems outrageous to me.


I don't know, I'm really split in two here.


Please note also that you may get a hugely overwhelming positive response to this idea, but please remember that those will be from people that want to order now but don't want to wait like everybody else, or people that have plenty of disposable income. Personally I am not in a good position to spend anything, and I would feel extremely low if this were to go through.

 

[devhace]

If you think you can survive the mass cancellation and refund requests this will no doubt bring on, go for it.


I for one will cancel and request a refund as soon as this goes live and I am sure I am not the only one.

Dear god thank you. I'm always terrified to voice my opinion if it's negative on these forums. I'm never going to cancel, but it's important to note this audience exists!!

 

[Eridger]

If you think you can survive the mass cancellation and refund requests this will no doubt bring on, go for it.


I for one will cancel and request a refund as soon as this goes live and I am sure I am not the only one.

Why do you say that?

 

[P1r]

I'm waiting for a Day 1 Preorder, and I'm ok with this solution. If you go with the above suggestion of a $200 extra, I'll go for that. I was going to donate the difference between actual cost and what I paid anyway, but I'd rather pay a little extra and perhaps get a different sticker or whatever.

 

[Tehel]

Hey, I ordered a batch 2 unit from Jacquelyn in late november 2010 and (gladly) paid 340.99€ for it. (btw, she also said something like "Estimated despatch is the end of January", which is very near from being precisely Two Months away from the current estimation )


Converted to dollar, this already is about 466 USD. Has the price already increased since batch 1 ? Should I substract VAT (this goes down to about 373 USD) ? or the price for adaptor+battery+stylus ? Because as is, it is already really near the proposed $500, and I'm completely ready to add the missing $34 to have it before March Maybe even the $127 if it turns out the VAT is to be added.


Sorry if I sound confused, but on this side of the sea(s), prices are always discussed tax included, so you need to be more precise on the numbers.

 

[THB]

Because I dont see it as a step forward, I see it as a step back, the pandora should have hit a price break by now. Many people from other forums I have pointed this out to have all said the same thing, its too damn expensive.


This will just be the straw that broke the camels back for me, after two years of waiting for something I paid up front for he is going to sell it on to someone else for more while I still wait. I just dont support this project enough I guess, I must be a douchebag for not eating this big bowl of crap and then looking up with it all over my lips and asking for another serve like the rest of you.


I surely cant be the only one who feels this way, I guess we will find out if I am right when this goes forward and the refund requests come in from people who arent die hard pandora supporters but just regular pre-paying customers who have had enough of the excuses and bizare scenarios that seem to be all too common around this project.

 

[Eridger]

I just dont support this project enough I guess, I must be a douchebag for not eating this big bowl of crap and then looking up with it all over my lips and asking for another serve like the rest of you.

...Nice guy...

 

[THB]

Hey, you asked

 

[Bosbeetle]

So you rather have the pandora company collaps than have some people who have the money pay a bit more :blink:


This has been quite a undertaking from the beginning on, and yes OPT is not a normal company, an other company wouldnt have asked their customers what they would think of this. I think seeing the pandora go for $500+ on ebay must have the team thinking. Hey we are barely making it because of all these unforeseen mistakes/problems and now our product is going at a profit from ebay.


Also OPT isnt asking you to pay more, they are asking people that will be new orders to pay more, to justify the price increase they offer a shipping garantee. I dont see any problems with this. It's not like your getting yours any sooner if they wouldnt do this. And maybe even the company would go belly up and that is the last thing I want to see, now they have all this experience I would like to see what a pandora2 could become.

 

[Eridger]

Hey, you asked

Meh... fair enough.

 

[Sugar_Kane]

This is a controversial subject and I can fully understand THB's ire

 

[THB]

Craig cant understand how I would feel this way though, he just sent me a pm asking for my order number.

 

[Xenu]

A)You should increase the price for everyone that preorders batch 2 from now on!


B)Sell a few Pandoras on ebay!


C)Make money!


I'm not so sure about paying more to skip the queue, that doesn't seem fair.It would be better to set up a fundraising and ask people in the queue to donate if they want to speed up production. I would certainly do that.

 

[Sugar_Kane]

So you rather have the pandora company collaps than have some people who have the money pay a bit more :blink:

Can we not just get batch one out of the way first?

 

[Creature XL]

The main part, the LCD cable, the wifi and the testing will still be done by me.

OMFG I cancle my order NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1eleven





2Topic:


I wouldn't pay more then 300 EURO for the Pandora (in the current state).


When I would pay $500 (say 400 EURO) I would expect a more perfect device. The bend frame below the display is a no-go for such a price.


As was stated earlier, you enter another market area. With $500 or even $600 you are not the cheap underdog. In that area people can as well decide for a mini-computer by Sony or what ever brand.


I would rather invest some hundred EURO then buying. If the investment thing never comes to live I would 50 donate 50Euro. As I paid only 250 EURO back then, its fair in my view.

 

[Bosbeetle]

So you rather have the pandora company collaps than have some people who have the money pay a bit more :blink:

Can we not just get batch one out of the way first?

Thats what the team is doing right now arent they? They are trying to get a step ahead instead of barely keeping up.

 

[rayman]

Could just up the price of preorders to $450. Then weekly put a small number of Pandoras on E-bay with a min. price of $500. If people have the money, let them bid on it.


No matter what, the more Pandoras that are out there the larger the community grows.


Also if there is not enough money for a third batch, then there will only be 8000 of us..

 

[fraseyboy]

So the other option is to sell them all at the normal price and finish at the end of batch 2? Hm.


How much demand is there for Pandora's? I would expect the Pandora is becoming increasingly less desirable, what with all these new tablets and gaming consoles and ever more powerful netbooks. Before deciding to continue the project and build more shouldn't you make sure people still want to buy them?

We believe so. There isn't anything else like the Pandora on the market.

But that doesn't mean people will want it. I mean there are far more powerful devices available for similar prices and I don't think there's much demand for a somewhat dated, bulky console/computer with a small (by todays standards)resistive screen. I mean I know there's nothing else like it (yet) but I think the demand for such a device is probably only going down.


I mean there's only so many retro gamer Linux geeks with $500 to spare around.

 

[Creature XL]

after two years of waiting for something I paid up front for he is going to sell it on to someone else for more while I still wait.

Just to clarify for you and others. IF AND ONLY IF Craigs numbers are correct, he can produce 80 Pandora EXTRA - EVERY DAY.


If he limits the numbers of 7-day-Pandoras to 50 each day, it will in no way interferer with your and my position in the queue.


Consider, only 30 per day get bought for the high price, he has around 50 built Pandoras extra each day, so your (or my) Pandora will be coming EARLIER then it would.


I might missed something here, but it looks correct. However, 5*150 = 750 Pandoras a week, I have never seen any quote that CC can deliver 750 a week and further 2000 cases are still on some ocean and not in the UK.