Is There A Problem?

[sebt3]

I've been using it daily for at least 3 hours a day, never had the feeling it was fragile in any way. Actually I even draw on it with mtpaint. I think its really solid.

my two cents.

Mine is always on, always in my pocket and sure it doesn't feel fragile

 

[torpor]

You must have a newer one then .. mine is very creaky, the screen wobbles around when its fully open (very distracting during game play), the bezel bows significantly wide open enough for it to now have been a dust trap, and there are cracks forming around the ports. Sorry, thats just the reality I see in front of me.

I too wish the OP team all the best, I have stuck it out through all the hard times, but I can't help feeling that unless the quality is improved, we're not going to see a huge profit for them in the near future. I'm hoping the refinements happen.

 

[sebt3]

Mine is one of the first one, but I guess, I may have been lucky.
If yours is in this shape you should RMA imho

 

[antheus123]

The only thing i don't like about by pandora is when the lid is fully open it flaps about like a naked parachutist's penis.
Is there any way of tightening this? other than that i don't have a prob with the sturdiness of it.
just the aformentioned annoys me so much

 

[electrocity]

imo the pandora team has failed or is close to failing in their quest to deliver their dream machine. mine stays pretty much unused, on the shelf wrapped in a sock. the main reason? i'm scared of breaking it. it feels fragile, the hinge is weak, the plastic creaks, there are dusty gaps between the screen and the bezel. but also other things like the battery won't charge a lot of the time, the battery lasts less than 5 hours when charged from full, the os is still very buggy, development is slow because production has all but stopped. and some personal things too, i find it almost too heavy to use as a hand held, and the shoulder buttons are nothing short of crap. i applaud how far op team came but inforunately they didn't have the money or the staff to quite do it right. i am aware that most people probably don't feel the way i do, but i wanted to say my piece before i finally bow out of these forums, for the time being at least.

The case is for sure the main thing which lets the Pandora down. The hinge loosens up after a few lid openings which results in a frustrating gameplay experience as it keep flopping down. To be honest, the clamshell design wasn't the best idea combined with such a poor case. It has probably increased the complexity of the design/manufacture too much for the case company's ability or desire to produce such a thing with such a low budget.

The case finish is poor low grade with a horrible attempt of hiding the flaws with black paint. The paint does scratch and rub easily - Im not sure what the average Pandora will look like in a year or two of use.

Other things - the wifi is not good enough. There is obviously a problem somewhere but nobody seems to have the will to actually want to fix it. Just no motivation if you like. No point having bittorrent clients on the Pandora if you're getting such a low data throughput. Likewise with Youtube - which developer is going to want to spend time creating a Youtube client knowing the Pandora can't currently stream a high enough bitrate due to a potential wifi driver issue that still hasn't been resolved?

 

[neko]

Well, it's mostly the case material. We actually sent an ICP case (which is rocksolid as it should be) to the chinese company to ask them why their material breaks so easily and the ICP is so sturdy.
Both should be PC-ABS.

Polycarbonate, acrylonitrile, butadiene, and styrene in what ratios? There are lots of ways to make PC+ABS.

Anyway, the case isn't that bad, however the paint does tend to rub off. Also agree with electrocity on the wifi. It works... sometimes. With a strong signal it's fine, but with any amount of interference it's just useless.

 

[skeezix]

Qemu doesn't have full support for the omap3[...]

hence my suggestion that OP collab with the QEMU devs... or even build off the options you posted here where some of the work has already been done... Whatever's most efficient to get as close to a full Pnd enviro as possible... that's all that's necessary. And I'm sure that the work done in itself will contribute back to the original devs (and they can add Pnd to their list of emulatable platforms... if not for full functionality, at least for R&D purposes...

.... orrr you just code on x86, and port to targets like Pandora when you get them Unless you're doing a lot of ASM, its not generally a problem (assumign you're targeting SDL or GLES or something that works more or less the same on dektop and your target platform, outside of performance.) (and if you need an OMAP to talk to, you're already the sort who knows what to do about it

jeff

 

[skeezix]

I think a lot of people are too busy playing their PS3 or XBOX 360 consoles.

Or coding for the Caanoo, they are actually more active there even. It is strange how everyone is over the moon for a re-built Wiz with worse performance and part of the screen clipped off.

The fact you can actually buy a caanoo and not have to wait over two years might have something to do with it.

Craigix and Ed are saying there are 900-1000 pandoras out there, I dont believe it, there are people waiting who are still 400 or so in craigs queue, that would mean ED and Fatih's customers are getting more than the advised alotment or a hell of a lot of pandoras are being RMA'd, more than craigix and Ed are willing to admit. I purchased a secondhand pandora with various small faults, but I am not willing to send it back until my actual pre-order arrives. I was told I was 650-700 in the queue by the way.

Remembering that lots of people bought >1 unit, plus the division in queue with ED etc, it seems to more or less add up. *Shrug*

jeff

 

[WizardStan]

The hinge loosens up after a few lid openings which results in a frustrating gameplay experience as it keep flopping down.

I open and close mine several times a day every day for the last 2 Months and if you take a look at the flash video I recently posted, you see my Pandora standing open perfectly on my desk. I even stab it with my stylus to select things. It's definitely still solid. If yours is really that loose, something is obviously wrong with it and you should consider an RMA.

Other things - the wifi is not good enough. There is obviously a problem somewhere but nobody seems to have the will to actually want to fix it. Just no motivation if you like. No point having bittorrent clients on the Pandora if you're getting such a low data throughput. Likewise with Youtube - which developer is going to want to spend time creating a Youtube client knowing the Pandora can't currently stream a high enough bitrate due to a potential wifi driver issue that still hasn't been resolved?

I'm getting a consistent 300KB/s which was more than enough for youtube streaming. The problem is the flash plugin is still too slow, not the download speed. Even those getting 100KB/s should find it more than enough for streaming.
And last I heard at least Notaz was still working on the wifi driver: that's why there was an update to it in hotfix 4. Don't say no one is working on it because it shows a great disservice to those that are.

 

[electrocity]

I'm getting a consistent 300KB/s which was more than enough for youtube streaming. The problem is the flash plugin is still too slow, not the download speed. Even those getting 100KB/s should find it more than enough for streaming.
And last I heard at least Notaz was still working on the wifi driver: that's why there was an update to it in hotfix 4. Don't say no one is working on it because it shows a great disservice to those that are.

Nope, most people are not able to stream youtube on the Pandora. It starts off ok for a few seconds, stutters and stops completely. This is with minitube which has nothing to do whatsover with any flash plugin.
These tests have been performed with various routers, Pandora CPU speed at 1GHz and ifconfig wlan0 power off. My other wifi devices don't suffer the same problems.

I'm just trying to get this in balance because your post suggests there is nothing much wrong with the wifi, when in actual fact, if you're going to be using your Pandora for lots of streaming (either Youtube or high bit rate audio), you will probably have problems.

 

[gruso]

Other things - the wifi is not good enough. There is obviously a problem somewhere but nobody seems to have the will to actually want to fix it. Just no motivation if you like.

Utter bollocks. Why invent facts?

 

[Iorgy77]

About the more than one pandora thing, what is the point of having queue numbers if they dont take into account people bought more than one? I am 600-700 in craig's queue and if there are people in front of me with multiple pandora orders I could be somehwere near 900 or 1200 or whatever, it just doesnt make any sense at all. Its a good way to keep people in the dark with a false sense of yours is soon. Also I am shocked that around 150-200 were sold as one nubbers because I have seen less one nubber posts on the forums than faulty pandora claims and yet I am told there are far less RMA'd faulty pandoras than one nubbers... Its all a bit too vague at this point, the story is changing to suit the OPT at any time they want. I want the project to be succesfull, but for gods sake show the people who have stuck with you some god damn respect and let them know when the hell they can expect to get one. You cant keep burying the truth in this never-ending pile of bullshit and then when you get called up on it move on to a new forum where you are above any critisism at all and get a fresh start.

The order numbers should be re-done and based on actual pandoras with all the distributors combined so people know if they should cancel or not imo... that would be the fair thing to do at this point. I know it wont be though, so its just going to be another shut up and stop complaining "what is your order number?" slap in the face we have come to expect from the OPT.

Two years, its been two years since so many of us pre-ordered to the day... and no sign or even the vaguest clue of when to expect it because now we are being told: "oh by the way, ten pandoras may count as one order number"

 

[WizardStan]

I'm just trying to get this in balance because your post suggests there is nothing much wrong with the wifi, when in actual fact, if you're going to be using your Pandora for lots of streaming (either Youtube or high bit rate audio), you will probably have problems.

I never said there wasn't some problem, I'm debating your argument that it seems to affect most users to the point that even streaming audio would be a worthless endeavor, and that no one is working on it. First I point out that there are people definitely working on it because hotfix 4 included a wifi update which many people say helped, and second, based on the number of "posted from my Pandora" posts, the wifi is definitely holding good enough for many.
Most streaming audio is 64-128Kb at most (and some even half that) which is 8-16KB/s. I can't think of anyone who has said their connection is THAT slow.
Youtube's max video bitrate for standard videos is about 260Kb, audio at 65Kb, for a combined bitrate of about 320Kb/s or 40KB/s at most (average is actually lower). Most users that are complaining about speed are still reporting between 50 and 100KB/s. So even youtube streaming should be possible for the majority despite network issues.

 

[Iorgy77]

Youtube streaming is about on par with my iphone, might pause twice during a 10 minute clip. minitube has an issue with some videos it seems but for others it is fine.

 

[EvilDragon]

About the more than one pandora thing, what is the point of having queue numbers if they dont take into account people bought more than one? I am 600-700 in craig's queue and if there are people in front of me with multiple pandora orders I could be somehwere near 900 or 1200 or whatever, it just doesnt make any sense at all. Its a good way to keep people in the dark with a false sense of yours is soon. Also I am shocked that around 150-200 were sold as one nubbers because I have seen less one nubber posts on the forums than faulty pandora claims and yet I am told there are far less RMA'd faulty pandoras than one nubbers... Its all a bit too vague at this point, the story is changing to suit the OPT at any time they want. I want the project to be succesfull, but for gods sake show the people who have stuck with you some god damn respect and let them know when the hell they can expect to get one. You cant keep burying the truth in this never-ending pile of bullshit and then when you get called up on it move on to a new forum where you are above any critisism at all and get a fresh start.

Well, I never said anything else. Not everyone having a one-nub Pandora does post here, but I've been there in UK and I know how many problems we had with those nubs,
Craig is very careful when it comes to telling numbers - and while I don't always agree with him (and want to tell everyone the truth), it might've been good sometimes.
After all, if we told you from the first 400 units that 150 had nub problems right from the start - wouldn't that have lead to a mass panic maybe?
I don't know. But I'm pretty happy that I can now post the full stories without being bashed right away... that wasn't possible a few months ago. People got way more calm, which is good.

Also, some RMAs only appeared during the last weeks (due to nubs), so that number surely has increased. Most RMAs are nubs, and that's exactly the problem

The order numbers should be re-done and based on actual pandoras with all the distributors combined so people know if they should cancel or not imo... that would be the fair thing to do at this point. I know it wont be though, so its just going to be another shut up and stop complaining "what is your order number?" slap in the face we have come to expect from the OPT.

Well, that's a big problem when it comes to taxes. The orders have already been taxed - if you change all the order numbers, you need to change your taxes again (which had been done two years ago). If it's even possible, it does cost a lot of money... at least in Germany, no idea how it's handled in UK.
Germany is damn organized country, I can't just change order numbers that have already been booked...

Two years, its been two years since so many of us pre-ordered to the day... and no sign or even the vaguest clue of when to expect it because now we are being told: "oh by the way, ten pandoras may count as one order number"

While I could say this was true for the last weeks, where the units shipped in very low quantities, when the 3000 boards and nubs are finished, it could happen that we ship 150 - 200 a day, so that doesn't really hurt as much.
Also, every 10th order or so (at least from my orders) are 2 Pandoras. I think I got one order where someone ordered 5, but that's one out of 700.
So it's not like every third guy ordered 10 Pandoras or similar.

I cannot tell you more than I know or that the companies tell us, but seeing how the board production has sped up and the nubs are getting more robust and the cases are in UK, it made me a lot more confident that things are slowly going they way they should.

 

[DaveC]

Well, it's mostly the case material. We actually sent an ICP case (which is rocksolid as it should be) to the chinese company to ask them why their material breaks so easily and the ICP is so sturdy.
Both should be PC-ABS.

The Pandora basically is like the GP2X F100 First Edition: A first newcomer device - with some flaws, but a good basic idea
GPH had a few millions to spend working on the Caanoo and it's not their first handheld. Of course that adds to quality

But we're working on there. We WANT the Pandora to be great, and we're gonna work on that as much as we can.

Also the Caanoo is just a flat brick. It is MUCH easier and cheaper to build the "soap bar" style of console. Don't forget, a clamshell design is like having to build TWO consoles in one as there are two parts with two pieces each, plus then those pieces have to hinge together.

That said I already know how to fix the Pandora flaws.

I told Mike Weston before any were even sold that I hated that shoulder button switch, it is way to stiff and "clicky" and that a lower gram force should be used. I can also change the shoulder area slightly to give more throw.

I stated that the loose hinge could either be fixed on these cheap and quick with a small dab of epoxy etc to fill gap, or permanently by just changing the mold by adding a slight bit more material in the slot in the hinge socket in the lid. Now the paint fills the gap until it wears then the hinge gets loose. I again mentioned it but the response was basically to not bother as the Chinese company would probably fuck up modifying the hinge socket. Ok.

Then for the bezel bowing All I would need to do is slightly reduce the ID of the inner lid piece to relieve the pressure due to paint thickness.

As of today no one has contacted me to implement any of these changes. I am ready to do it and it would take me only about an hour to do. I guess it comes down to the lack of trust of the China factory and the feeling that these changes would cause a delay.

 

[EvilDragon]

As of today no one has contacted me to implement any of these changes. I am ready to do it and it would take me only about an hour to do. I guess it comes down to the lack of trust of the China factory and the feeling that these changes would cause a delay.

Don't worry, we know that. You know how long the last changes on the mould did take... about 4 - 6 months, so the risk was too high for the first and second batch.
While the second batch is being produced with that mould, we can't change it. So we can't fix that before Batch 3.

 

[Xenu]

As of today no one has contacted me to implement any of these changes. I am ready to do it and it would take me only about an hour to do. I guess it comes down to the lack of trust of the China factory and the feeling that these changes would cause a delay.

Don't worry, we know that. You know how long the last changes on the mould did take... about 4 - 6 months, so the risk was too high for the first and second batch.
While the second batch is being produced with that mould, we can't change it. So we can't fix that before Batch 3.

That seems like a good choice. I'd like my pandora as soon as possible and I wouldn't mind getting a second better case later on. Or for that matter a second Pandora from batch 3.

 

[Asmo]

While the second batch is being produced with that mould, we can't change it. So we can't fix that before Batch 3.

I think this may pertain to -

http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php...-to-customers/page__view__findpost__p__919352
?

 

[EvilDragon]

While the second batch is being produced with that mould, we can't change it. So we can't fix that before Batch 3.

I think this may pertain to -

http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php...-to-customers/page__view__findpost__p__919352
?

I don't know whether Jacquelyn was talking about the case batch 2 (the first batch of the cases ALWAYS has been 10.000, that was the minimum we could get).

However, that hairline crack only appears when pulling the screw too hard - it might even be prevented by using a ring washer.