My Soul Died A Little Today.

[Zotty]

Problem is that functionally totally different devices are mixed together in some half baked way.

• No decent controls for playing games except for touchscreen controlled ones.
• No decent camera. They all advertise with more and more megapixels, but taken photo's remain shitty quality (someone send phone manufacturers a book about optics...)
• Not as mobile as I would like a mobile phone to be. By adding all kinds of stuff, the thing is bigger and needs more power than needed.

By adding this together chances are huge it sucks at all of the above in one way or another. I'll take a separate device for the above any day. Pandora for games, digital reflex camera (with interchangeable lenses!) for taking photos and the smallest and lightest mobile phones I can find.
Hell, because small mobile phones seem to have stopped being manufactured I still carry around an ancient Samsung S300. It's software is the shittiest I have ever seen in the entire universe, but man do I love it; it can make phonecalls and is mobile.

edit: typos

 

[emcee]

I got my LCD cable out (without breaking the hinge).

So...

Yes, we got enough LCD ribbon cables
About 600

Are any of these available for purchase without the rest of the Pandora?

 

[urjaman]

I got my LCD cable out (without breaking the hinge).

a) How? (I'm guessing you just force-pulled it out :/)
b ) Can you get it back in? (Just so you know you can get your new one in)... I wont believe a yes to this without a video or a very detailed explanation .

 

[emcee]

a) How? (I'm guessing you just force-pulled it out :/)

No, brute force would've been a bad idea here. There's a slot to the right of the cable that it can be fed through. Once it's all the way over, you can close the lid most of the way, and use a small flat-head screwdriver to [strike]separate the two section of the hinge[/strike] widen the slot slightly, then very carefully feed the cable through.

b ) Can you get it back in? (Just so you know you can get your new one in)... I wont believe a yes to this without a video or a very detailed explanation .

The replacement cable should go in by just doing the same thing in reverse. I'm not going to do it with the old cable, because I'll have to get it back out (it's very tedious). If I can get a replacement cable, I'm sure, one way or another, I'll get it in there.

Anyway, right now, my Pandora is a pile of parts in a Ziploc bag (well the plastic parts and screws are in the bag, the rest are sitting next to it). Since I have it apart anyway, I'll try to fix as many of the other issues as I can, and maybe paint it (I'm thinking dark red).

No video, but I'll definitely takes some photos and do a detailed write-up if it comes out okay.

 

[urjaman]

The replacement cable should go in by just doing the same thing in reverse. I'm not going to do it with the old cable, because I'll have to get it back out (it's very tedious). If I can get a replacement cable, I'm sure, one way or another, I'll get it in there.

No video, but I'll definitely takes some photos and do a detailed write-up if it comes out okay.

I do believe that its possible to take it out, but if I've understood correctly it should do two turns inside the hinge* (well its not the metallic holding hinge side, but still hinge), so I'm just failing to understand how you're going to get it to do loops in there (well maybe somehow... but it will be hard), but anyways good luck to you, and do a writeup+photos if you succeed (or even if you fail, any result is a result).
EDIT:
*Actually, I've seen that it turns, so... (but that its exactly two turns is a read info from somewhere).

 

[emcee]

I do believe that its possible to take it out, but if I've understood correctly it should do two turns inside the hinge* (well its not the metallic holding hinge side, but still hinge), so I'm just failing to understand how you're going to get it to do loops in there (well maybe somehow... but it will be hard), but anyways good luck to you, and do a writeup+photos if you succeed (or even if you fail, any result is a result).
EDIT:
*Actually, I've seen that it turns, so... (but that its exactly two turns is a read info from somewhere).

At the top of the base of the Pandora, right under screen (I'm not sure if it's visible when the screen bezel is on), there's a thin slit. The slit extends into the left side of the hinge. When the bezel is removed and the lid is nearly closed, the wide part at the bottom of the cable can be fed through it. The turns in the cable are both above this slit, so once it's fed through, you can just give it a couple turns, and push it up into the hinge.

 

[EvilDragon]

If you manage to get it in there... wow, just wow

 

[emcee]

First, to be clear, I had help from the friend I mentioned earlier, and he is the one who actually figured out how to get the thing out of there.

But I was starting to worry about it, so I went and put old cable back in. It went in okay, and I have it plugged into the board and fed through the hinge, and the lid opens and closes with no problems. The main issue I had was getting the crinkled up shielding through the slit.

I suspect it would be easier with a nice new flat cable. But I'd have to be extra careful with a new cable, since it isn't already damaged. Speaking of a new cable: who should I contact to try getting one?

Also, what do I need to do to keep the Tint of Death from returning once I put a new cable in?

 

[EvilDragon]

First, to be clear, I had help from the friend I mentioned earlier, and he is the one who actually figured out how to get the thing out of there.

But I was starting to worry about it, so I went and put old cable back in. It went in okay, and I have it plugged into the board and fed through the hinge, and the lid opens and closes with no problems. The main issue I had was getting the crinkled up shielding through the slit.

I suspect it would be easier with a nice new flat cable. But I'd have to be extra careful with a new cable, since it isn't already damaged. Speaking of a new cable: who should I contact to try getting one?

Also, what do I need to do to keep the Tint of Death from returning once I put a new cable in?

Contact Craig. He also knows how to prevent the LCD cables from dieing.

 

[emcee]

OK, I sent him a PM.

Thank you.

 

[WizardStan]

I am most definitely not suggesting that you do this because doing so might be illegal, or at the very least not safe (according to the FCC any way), so don't do it, buuuuut...
Since you've opened it, couldn't you reassemble it without the shielding? That would make things much easier

 

[PokeParadox]

Doh... I think I may have to return my unit, I'm getting discolouration on the LCD...

 

[dnlgreenwood]

I had to send in my laptop in to HP, and it took 24 days to get it back. I know how you'll feel. I just kept occupied with other things and started using my aluminum mp3 player/radio with a tiny monochrome screen a lot more often.

whoops, didnt read the date of the first post.

I noticed a similar effect when I loosely connected my VGA monitor cable. sometimes the screen is completely red or purple. its the absence of the connection that carries the information for the green colour, and you are left with only red and blue, so it turns purple. damaged monitor cables also cause a similar effect. once I used a damaged cable on a projector, and it was purple. replacing the cable fixed this. I think building a more robust cable on the pandora, more secure connectors, and more slack could fix this...

 

[Prometheus]

I think building a more robust cable on the pandora, more secure connectors, and more slack could fix this...

It was an issue that is known to have affected (some of?) the first 200 units built - it has *already* been fixed. (It was caused by solder-blobs damaging the cable in some cases, and loose connections in others, as far as I gather. Either way, it's moot because it's over now.)

 

[mali]

I am most definitely not suggesting that you do this because doing so might be illegal, or at the very least not safe (according to the FCC any way), so don't do it, buuuuut...
Since you've opened it, couldn't you reassemble it without the shielding? That would make things much easier

This interests me too. Would it just affect the radiation, or would it harm the Pandora in any way if the shielding is removed? Has it been tested which frequencies are affected when there is no shielding?

 

[emcee]

OK, I sent him a PM.

Thank you.

Sorry for the bump, but I haven't gotten a response. Even if the answer's no, I'd at least like to know so I can put my Pandora back together.

 

[sebt3]

Sorry for the bump, but I haven't gotten a response. Even if the answer's no, I'd at least like to know so I can put my Pandora back together.

Bumping a 3 days old thread isn't a crime
Craigix does receive so many PM/mail that he might miss some. Try once again and try to get his attention somehow (sounding like a vaporware twats work but isnt recommanded )

 

[tsh]

This interests me too. Would it just affect the radiation, or would it harm the Pandora in any way if the shielding is removed? Has it been tested which frequencies are affected when there is no shielding?

The compliance issue is radiation, it will affect radios, and possibly other devices (most likely mp3 players, that type of thing). Almost certainly safe, but might have a bad effect on something like your car's ABS (which is why is is a real problem, not just an annoying buzz on the Hi-Fi). Safe for the pandora though.

 

[mindlord]

Well, here it goes... I shipped my Pandora off today... here's hoping I'm not Pandora-less for too long.... I'm hemorrhaging soul-love and my insides feel like they are atrophying as I type this... (Kidding) it's not so bad. I'll miss it, but it'll be worth the wait. Just like the first two month wait was worth it.

 

[may88]

Well, here it goes... I shipped my Pandora off today... here's hoping I'm not Pandora-less for too long.... I'm hemorrhaging soul-love and my insides feel like they are atrophying as I type this... (Kidding) it's not so bad. I'll miss it, but it'll be worth the wait. Just like the first two month wait was worth it.

What! this topic is 11 pages long and you've not even sent it yet?