My Pandora Review

[craigix]

Pretty much the review I expected to write myself. The weakest points (poor case quality and horribly unusable keyboard layout (IMNSHO)) were expected.

Luckily, we can fix the keyboard layout. During our keyboard designs (which I think were mainly ignored), I paid special attention to staying close to known and widely accepted keyboard layouts such that existing keyboard bindings remain usable.

ED has chosen differently, based on ---for me, wrongly--- perceived usage frequencies. As a consequence, many applications and shortcuts have to be altered (e.g. alt+window drag has changed to shift+window drag). If you use a lot of shortcut intensive applications, this means that you have to learn two sets of keybindings when adhering to the chosen layout.

The first thing I will do is change the keyboard mapping and fix what I see as the biggest atrocity of the Pandora. I never look at my keys anyway. I'm a bit sad though, that after half a year of delays the case is still of poor quality.

My apologies if this is worded a bit harsh, this is just important to me. I'm actually looking forward to the Pandora very much.

I'm pretty astonished you think the case quality is poor when you have not seen it, everyone who has picked one up here thinks it's great - because we spent a long time making the moulding company get it right.

 

[craigix]

Plengs review of the gaming controls dpad and shoulder buttons make me think waiting for this thing has been a complete waste of time :angry:

This is kind of what I posted about earlier. There are going to be unresponsive/iffy controls. I suggested that OPT test a unit extensively, 5-10min+, and I was derided. People wanted everything quickly. Guess what: now people want them to test everything. Of course there will be mushy buttons or unresponsive controls. Unless every unit is booted into something that uses the d-pad/nubs/buttons and everything is tested, it is very possible.

That is what we do.

 

[fusion_power]

Before Assembly
Case ................ Check
LCD Screen .......... Check
LCD Cable Position .. Check
Keymat and Dpad ..... Check
ABXY Buttons ........ Check
Shoulder Buttons .... Check

Mainboard
Main Board .......... Check
Nubs ................ Check
LCD Screen .......... Check

After Assembly
Boot ................ Check
LCD Screen .......... Check
SD Card Slots ....... Check
Keyboard ............ Check
Toucscreen .......... Check
DPad and Buttons .... Check
Battery ............. Check

Meanwhile
Radio Rock .......... Check
Pepsi ............... Check
Snickers ............ Check
Munchies ............ Check
Sleep ............... N / A

I think we are testing the units quite a lot. We are testing each Pandora ONE by ONE, not only picking up random units and checking them. If you receive a faulty unit, all you need to do is to let us know. We will take care of it.

Respect!
Sounds very professional. But I guess you guys really run in trouble if suddenly 100K People want to order and want to get a Pandora. :lol:

 

[matzesu]

Before Assembly
Case ................ Check
LCD Screen .......... Check
LCD Cable Position .. Check
Keymat and Dpad ..... Check
ABXY Buttons ........ Check
Shoulder Buttons .... Check

Mainboard
Main Board .......... Check
Nubs ................ Check
LCD Screen .......... Check

After Assembly
Boot ................ Check
LCD Screen .......... Check
SD Card Slots ....... Check
Keyboard ............ Check
Toucscreen .......... Check
DPad and Buttons .... Check
Battery ............. Check

Meanwhile
Radio Rock .......... Check
Pepsi ............... Check
Snickers ............ Check
Munchies ............ Check
Sleep ............... N / A

I think we are testing the units quite a lot. We are testing each Pandora ONE by ONE, not only picking up random units and checking them. If you receive a faulty unit, all you need to do is to let us know. We will take care of it.

Respect!
Sounds very professional. But I guess you guys really run in trouble if suddenly 100K People want to order and want to get a Pandora. :lol:

No Problem: 4.000 Pandorai = 10 Assembler
100.000 Pandorai = 250 Assembler
B)

 

[skeezix]

The process is actually to flash the units, and notaz's and djwillis's awesome flash kit actually boots right into an input test tool, so the buttons can be tested. The guys are actually testing pretty much everything on the units (though maybe the first few had a few less tests, since some tests were added as they figured out additional tests to do.)

jeff

 

[Pleng]

eh? I think he said the dpad was good.

IMHO, the dpad is great. DaveC designed it, so you know it has to be pretty great

No I didn't, I'm afraid.

I don't expect that my unit is typical of others, as I'm sure more sensitive players would have made less sympathetic posts than mine, but the down direction on mine is very unresponsive.

 

[peca]

And those issues about buttons, shoulder buttons and D-Pad, it is due to painting, isn't it? It is my guess, but it seems logical for me. Painting add some thin film and destroy previously designed spaces and tolerances.
May be if buttons, shoulders and DPad will keep unpainted, then it will be OK.

 

[philly]

I think the points made in this thread are very typical of the first few of any kind of manufactured product...

we are reading reviews of the very first few of the first batch. I guess the first lucky few are gonna have to accept that on the fly changes to the way it is produced are gonna be still happening as problems are reported to OP.

Sounds like they are very speedy to react to me and sounds like they are offering solutions to peoples problems, i.e. any problems will be fixed for you.

Im probably about 500 - 600 ish. I think these little problems will be all sorted long before that but i still respect the fact that i too will be a first batch test dummy.

Cant wait! :rolleyes:

 

[Arkay Firestar]

Plengs review of the gaming controls dpad and shoulder buttons make me think waiting for this thing has been a complete waste of time :angry:

This is kind of what I posted about earlier. There are going to be unresponsive/iffy controls. I suggested that OPT test a unit extensively, 5-10min+, and I was derided. People wanted everything quickly. Guess what: now people want them to test everything. Of course there will be mushy buttons or unresponsive controls. Unless every unit is booted into something that uses the d-pad/nubs/buttons and everything is tested, it is very possible.

That is what we do.

Well then no worries and good luck! Haters gonna hate, can't stop that. I haven't waited more than a few months, but I'm quite patient.

 

[Dead1nside]

I don't have a problem with slight cosmetic flaws. But if for example the control buttons have a non-uniform feel to them, I'd say that's a defect. The controls are essential. That's like if one of my keys on my Thinkpad keyboard was playing up. But from the start.

All power to OP though. I can only praise them for the way they're approaching all of this. It's most important to get these things into people's hands and that's what they're doing, learning quickly as they go.

 

[EvilDragon]

Some DPads are a bit stiffer than the others so far, yes. But most of the ones I tried (I actually used one for about half an hour) got better.

Also, yes, the buttons are a bit stiffier because of the paint. It will wear off after a while and become way better.
I actually had a few devices where things like that happened at the beginning.
Heck, my PSP buttons did squeak like hell and are now fine after I played for a while

 

[Jumpman]

Some DPads are a bit stiffer than the others so far, yes. But most of the ones I tried (I actually used one for about half an hour) got better.

Also, yes, the buttons are a bit stiffier because of the paint. It will wear off after a while and become way better.
I actually had a few devices where things like that happened at the beginning.
Heck, my PSP buttons did squeak like hell and are now fine after I played for a while

Yeah, that is true. I am a D-pad fanatic, and some have to be broken in. I play street fighter all the time, and every pad I have ever had has gotten better/looser with use.

Now, this can also be a problem if a game requires more stiff controls. It's all down to personal prefrence. I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for mine, I'll give an in depth d-pad and button review once it arrives.

Chris

 

[Azure]

Very interesting reviews so far; I'm glad people are being 100% honest about the short-comings of the case. I have to say I'm really disappointed by what I'm hearing (insensitive D-Pad...how much endless tweaking did that D-Pad get again? And uneven shoulder buttons? Sounds like the GP32...). Hopefully this is only a problem for a select few units...

Pretty much the review I expected to write myself. The weakest points (poor case quality and horribly unusable keyboard layout (IMNSHO)) were expected.

Luckily, we can fix the keyboard layout. During our keyboard designs (which I think were mainly ignored), I paid special attention to staying close to known and widely accepted keyboard layouts such that existing keyboard bindings remain usable.

ED has chosen differently, based on ---for me, wrongly--- perceived usage frequencies. As a consequence, many applications and shortcuts have to be altered (e.g. alt+window drag has changed to shift+window drag). If you use a lot of shortcut intensive applications, this means that you have to learn two sets of keybindings when adhering to the chosen layout.

The first thing I will do is change the keyboard mapping and fix what I see as the biggest atrocity of the Pandora. I never look at my keys anyway. I'm a bit sad though, that after half a year of delays the case is still of poor quality.

My apologies if this is worded a bit harsh, this is just important to me. I'm actually looking forward to the Pandora very much.

I'm pretty astonished you think the case quality is poor when you have not seen it, everyone who has picked one up here thinks it's great - because we spent a long time making the moulding company get it right.

I doubt many would have scrutinized the case in front of you guys and given a detailed analysis of the shortcomings of the case like people have done in this thread. I'm not saying that those people lied about the case being great, but if the case was sub-par I highly doubt that they would have pointed out flaws this late in the game for fear of you asking them in person what their order number is :rolleyes:

 

[skeezix]

I've neverhad Wifi until recently, so.. whose up to schedule a ioquake3 multiplayer match?

jeff

 

[WizardStan]

This is kind of what I posted about earlier. There are going to be unresponsive/iffy controls. I suggested that OPT test a unit extensively, 5-10min+, and I was derided.

Don't paint yourself a martyr here. You said 15-45 minutes per Pandora, not 5-10. That's why you were derided. No one said testing was a bad idea, they said that spending upwards of 45 minutes per Pandora was a bad idea, and I still hold to that, despite any reports that are coming out of faulty units. There is nothing that can't be learned in 30 seconds of proper testing that would be (reasonably) learned in even 5 minutes. Turn it on, make sure the battery is stable, the charger works, push each button, draw on the touch screen, connect the wifi, pack it up and move on.

 

[cosam]

Very interesting reviews so far; I'm glad people are being 100% honest about the short-comings of the case. I have to say I'm really disappointed by what I'm hearing (insensitive D-Pad...how much endless tweaking did that D-Pad get again? And uneven shoulder buttons? Sounds like the GP32...). Hopefully this is only a problem for a select few units...

From what I've seen, I don't think there's anything wrong with the case itself, more the attention to detail during assembly. OK, there may be a minor problem with the fit of the battery cover (the corners don't close completely flush) but that has as much to do with the battery as the case. Tightening that one screw on mine fixed the gap at the rear. I also have no problems whatsoever with the D-pad or ABXY buttons. The problem with the L and R buttons is that mine have been drilled out a tad too much. I guess the paint made them too tight. I have a fix for that, but it of course involves opening the case, so I'm not sure if you'd run into warranty issues.

 

[Arkay Firestar]

This is kind of what I posted about earlier. There are going to be unresponsive/iffy controls. I suggested that OPT test a unit extensively, 5-10min+, and I was derided.

Don't paint yourself a martyr here. You said 15-45 minutes per Pandora, not 5-10. That's why you were derided. No one said testing was a bad idea, they said that spending upwards of 45 minutes per Pandora was a bad idea, and I still hold to that, despite any reports that are coming out of faulty units. There is nothing that can't be learned in 30 seconds of proper testing that would be (reasonably) learned in even 5 minutes. Turn it on, make sure the battery is stable, the charger works, push each button, draw on the touch screen, connect the wifi, pack it up and move on.

Hah, well, maybe 45 minutes was a bit absurd, but I was just exaggerating to emphasize my point that, with the finish line so close, why not take a little extra time per unit? That's all. And it seems that's being done now, and the team is learning more and more tests to try before shipping. No big deal.

"Paint yourself a martyr" is a bit extreme

 

[mvickers03]

Thanks Pandora team for this AMAZING device and thanks so much for having me today it was a real pleasure (I know you probably think I'm a lil mad for travelling all that way but it means something to me), I hope I helped out in the long run,. After meeting you guys seeing how you operate and what you are doing, and what you have created I want you guys to know 99.9% of people that enjoyed the GP32/GP2x/Wiz and dingoo are gonna fall madly in love with this.

Haha, Craig, how long did it take me to choose one? I'm terrible with choices they were all the bloody same. thats just how exited I was after seeing it did live up to all the hype

I only been back half an hour and cant put the thing down and anybody complaining about the controls is a madman, Its what I have dreamed of ever since I was kid. In all honesty the controls are FAR better than I was expecting, the nubs are totally awesome and work surprisingly well for the mouse

I will do a full honest review over the weekend with lots of pics.. but for now, 8 beers, a lil green smoke and an all nighter with my Pandora is more important

see you all soon

 

[Caine]

I'm pretty astonished you think the case quality is poor when you have not seen it, everyone who has picked one up here thinks it's great - because we spent a long time making the moulding company get it right.

You're right Craig. This is not entirely fair of me.

I based my evaluation mostly on a lack of confidence in the Chinese factory, frustration with the long wait and the somewhat lukewarm review here. I should have more trust in you guys. The almost two years of delay have just made me a bit skeptical and you did prep us for perfection.

The busy waiting for this device has taken so long, I just needed to vent a little. I'll postpone the flames until after I have received my unit. I.e. two months from now

 

[mvickers03]

I'm pretty astonished you think the case quality is poor when you have not seen it, everyone who has picked one up here thinks it's great - because we spent a long time making the moulding company get it right.

You're right Craig. This is not entirely fair of me.

I based my evaluation mostly on a lack of confidence in the Chinese factory, frustration with the long wait and the somewhat lukewarm review here. I should have more trust in you guys. The almost two years of delay have just made me a bit skeptical and you did prep us for perfection.

The busy waiting for this device has taken so long, I just needed to vent a little. I'll postpone the flames until after I have received my unit. I.e. two months from now

The only thing I can see that's not perfect is when you shut the lid its open about half a MM on the left side not even noticable unless you really look closely. This is as good as it gets my friend