Not all pandoras are created equal? (Device quality.)

[DrHAX]

Hello! 

I just got another pandora after my first 1ghz broke a bit (I plan on rma and have it get an aluminum case.) But Upon inspection of the new one.. this one is far better build quality then my other one. Everything feels different sturdier and I have actually noticed that the paint and plastic seems to be better. The nubs work and don't fight me.. the triggers are "defined" feeling. Its crazy. the gaps on the side are much smaller. 

So my question is how many other people noticed this quality variance. I understand that the company is small, (the reason why I love this place) But its kind've startling how one pandora can feel loose and somewhat "cheap" while another one can feel the opposite. Did certain batches just go together better? Or is this a late vs newer pandora thing? 

I'm not complaining.. I'm just rather curious to find out.

 

[rygD]

I wonder about this too.  Can you share more specific details, or maybe pics?  Maybe others can do the same, and share their experiences.  From whom did you get your first one?

I have a refurbed CC.  With the exception of a screw that I had to loosen a tiny bit for a shoulder button, and the wifi, I can't say I have had any problems that aren't software or user related (someone PM me if there is a way to keep the display off or dark while charging).

 

[TrashyMG]

My First Batch Pandora (CC I guess), It had the dreaded Pink Screen of Death, simple RMA cleared that up. A few months after getting the LCD cable fixed, the case around the hinge fractured and I did a bit of a patch up job to make it usable.. however, it has the best looking screen out of my three it's bright and has good contrast and the Nubs work wonderfully. 
 

My Rebirth, I can't complain, It was one of the first Rebirth out of Germany, so it still had a black case not the newer silver.. No cracks in the case or anything.. The screen is a tad dimmer than the First Batch and sometimes the left nub goes a bit wonky. But generally a very good unit. 

My 1Ghz, Case is perfect, feels sturdy even after a year and eight months of owning it.. LCD screen similar to the rebirth a tad dimmer but okay.. One big issue, my left nub has broke fully, nub dancing and resetting doesn't seem to fix the issue..  Going to attempt a nub replacement myself once I get the time to do it.

None of my Pandori have had Wifi issues so I can be happy about that.

 

[levi]

The original CCs were put together by Craig's team, but anything since was put together in Ingolstadt by ED and his team, so oughtn't to be too variable. Now there are at least three people who've put Pandora's together while working at ED's place, but they've all been trained by ED so should be pretty much the same, but perhaps there's some variance there.


In terms of nubs, those are a QC nightmare. My left nub is mostly okay, but my right nub will spontaneously close tabs when I try to switch to them, and do helpful things like that. I'm sure it tested out fine in the factory, as it has a habit of acting fine until you least expect it.


Other than that my Ghz is fine. The only real gap is on the left of the screen when the lid is shut, but that's a known feature, and it doesn't even have an appreciable gap between the bottom of the screen bezel and the LCD. The battery was a bitch until I wedged it appropriately with multiple paper wedges, but again, that's a known thing. Shoulder buttons are fine. Front bottom screws were impossible to get out without destroying them, but that was a cheap and easy fix. LCD cable's gone pop twice now, but again, that's a known thing. Plastics are pretty robust, though it has finally developed a crack in the lid on the corner, but only after a lot of use.

 

[Orz]

I only have one pandora, but I've noticed some pretty large quality differences just between the left and right halves of my Pandora. For starters, the left shoulder button sticks out about 1.5 mm from the case while the right one doesn't stick out from the case at all and is slightly angled inward. Both of my shoulder buttons make very audible clicking noises, but  the right button will make a much louder (and annoying) click if I press it on the bottom half. My right nub feels significantly better than my left nub, but I very rarely have the bad calibration problems that people seem to complain about. Also, the plastic and paint of my case and stylus are incredibly soft. The plastic is so soft that my stylus actually leaves streaks on my screen that distinctly resemble scratches but rub of easily. The tip of my stylus is somewhat worn down from this too. When I received my pandora, the paint on the top of the case was scratched up too. I haven't seen anyone else complain about it, so its probably a quality issue with the particular batch of cases mine came from. Oddly, in spite of the soft plastic my case shows no sign of cracking. Additionally, I didn't suffer from the loose battery issue many people had. In fact, my battery is very slightly too big for the case, and the battery cover is warped out from it.

 

[Wally]

I always got the impression that Craig cared more about money than quality control, specifically the way he packed the products and how they had the distinguishing smell of tobacco.

 

[slaeshjag]

Though, the build quality of my first CC unit from craig felt far superior over the GHz unit I got. My GHz unit came with a broken clip between the SD slots, so the case doesn't snap together

 

[DrHAX]

the first pandora I got came from somebody In canada. I saw it on ebay with a 64 gb card and I bought it. The second one I bought here actually. it's the one with the DSI. I'm quite startled to see this one doesn't have the issues that first one did.. actually since i need to reflash it i'll do that. Also the first one I think was an early ghz because it came with superzaxxon 1.5- something.. 2 or 3? I don't know I can post up the serial numbers of my units if that can help. Maybe if we get serial numbers we can figure out common units or even prove its just a random crap shoot!  h34r:

 

[DrHAX]

New one's serial number 120003000895

Old one's serial number  120003000887

Hmmm they don't seem that far off production wise!? if they were a car they'd probably be made the same hour.  :blink:

 

[TrashyMG]

From what I understand there was no ryme or reason in the order that the serial numbers were put on the units.. Craig had some sticker, EvilDragon had some as well..

 

[Hồng Thất Công]

and if you are lucky like me, your 1GHz can run stable at 1300MHz .  So it's not just cosmetic - internally some SoCs can overlock better than others

 

[DrHAX]

and if you are lucky like me, your 1GHz can run stable at 1300MHz .  So it's not just cosmetic - internally some SoCs can overlock better than others

 Yeah apparently my first one ran nicely, but it would stop working after a few days of being ran. I would plugit in at night and once in awhile it wouldn't load up apps or even save my stories..! it also wouldn't save to SD cards or access files on them.. it was weird.  Maybe my pandora was a bit defective after all  :blink:

 

[ekianjo]

My Rebirth is definitely worse in terms of overall quality vs my 1Ghz. First, the case of the Rebirth (black) seems to be weaker everywhere, and on top of that the nubs are nowhere near as functional as on the 1Ghz. The touchscreen does not work as well either, you need to apply way more pressure to it. The battery case cover is way more loose than the 1Ghz one.

The only advantage of my Rebirth is that the screen itself is probably better.

And yeah, I have seen some various degrees of build quality, even among the 1Ghz I was handling for Japan. Overall, not a huge amount of variation, but still, a large amount compared to commonly manufactured electronics.

 

[alxm]

(someone PM me if there is a way to keep the display off or dark while charging).

I'm able to put it in suspend mode while it's charging by sliding the power tab to the right and holding it for a second or two.

 

[rygD]

I can try that again.  I know it wakes up after a couple minutes when I close it, which I have set to suspend.  If I dim the display all the way the backlight pops back on after a couple minutes, too.  PM me for any more on this, or we can make another thread.

On topic, I want to be clear that my wifi works, it is just slow, like many units.  I get around dial up speeds, which is unacceptabe to me.  With my usb wifi I usually have at least around a meg or 2 when I bother to check.

The shoulder buttons are good now, nice and clicky, and the nubs work well with just a tiny bit of play that most wouldn't likely notice.  It looks like my gap under the screen is as wide as a piece of paper is thick, maybe a bit more.  Paint and case are ok, with a few little scuffs, and the only noticeable scratches are on the bottom.  No problems with paint around the keyboard, which surprises me a bit.  The gap when closed is present, but doesn't bother me.  I actually use it to verify the screen goes off.  Screen is still all good, as are my first battery and battery compartment.  All ports and SD slots seem to be holding up fine, even with a little abuse.  Speakers both still work fine.  I haven't disassembled yet, so no report on screws and such, but that probably won't happen until I recase.  Oh, the keys are squishy, and some are a bit rough on top...the two are related, but that roughness is on me.

Overall everything is in good shape, I can overclock close to 950mhz, and even have stability when changing screen angle.

 

[EvilDragon]

Well, reading that, it just shows the only issues I couldn't really fix when I moved production over to Germany: The case quality (still made in China by the same company) and the nub quality.


These two parts are custom, and thanks to the quality, they differ a lot. That's something that couldn't have been fixed, so each Pandora built will have slightly different issues with the case or nubs.


And at one time, the screens had a hard touchscreen - which was fixed again with later batches.

 

[pmprog]

The battery compartment on my silver case doesn't line up properly, and the lid has cracked at the side of the screen where the notch wasn't properly inserted and it got dropped.

The nubs on my CC board were rubbish, but the rebirth ones are better (even though I still don't like them).

I'm looking forward to getting the aluminium case, which should hopefully get rid of my casing issues

 

[DrHAX]

Well, reading that, it just shows the only issues I couldn't really fix when I moved production over to Germany: The case quality (still made in China by the same company) and the nub quality.


These two parts are custom, and thanks to the quality, they differ a lot. That's something that couldn't have been fixed, so each Pandora built will have slightly different issues with the case or nubs.


And at one time, the screens had a hard touchscreen - which was fixed again with later batches.

I assumed the Cases' issues were due to them being manufactured in China by the lowest bidder...  The nubs I suspected were always an issue.  Still I realized even then my charger that came with my first pandora doesn't always charge the unit. Honestly when I RMA it i'm going to include everything and put an extra sheet to the RMA sheet explaining whats going on with it.

 

[FIQ]

I seem to have been very lucky, the case quality is close to perfect on my 1GHz, it runs stable at 1.3GHz, and I seem to have gotten an exceptionally good battery.

The only issue I really have is the nubs, which does whatever they want to do. They work, but is very prone to decalibration. The right nub strangely works much better than the left one it seems.

Oh, and my battery completely refuse to be calibrated properly by bq, but I'm pretty sure this is rather a software issue.