Openpandora.org Blog Opened!

[fusion_power]

Nice PCB. Complex thingy huh?

We will start to give some detailed behind the scenes info on there soon about the last year or so.

Yay! I love "making of's"

 

[javaJake]

I find it funny Craigix and Co. don't even bother announcing this stuff. They just let us figure it out within minutes. :lol:

 

[jdh2550]

Very cool! Lots of BIG solder pads - that's nice to see. Looking at this I couldn't see a spare set of four USB pads (I assume the top center is where the USB port is). There are 4 big pads and then 4 medium pads below it. Could one solder onto those pads for an internal USB hookup?

Great info. Glad to see things coming along...

 

[Javacat]

i could sooo make a better pcb in paint. wheres the lazers go?

 

[nubie]

OMG this is so hawt. </valley girl>

Seriously, I can't believe how well this is designed. The keys and the controls look perfect, (bare copper landing pad for the D-Pad pivot? Is that included in the Case instead?)

R2 + L2 solder pads (I suppose people will add them to the bottom of the lid as membrane micro-switches, I might even )

RS-232 :excl: , very very nice.

Dual full SD's are looking to take quite a bit of room, kudos to keeping them in.

Hold everything! Is that expansion connector going to be connected over a high-speed link? Bluetooth or modem interface maybe? (near the wifi)

I really like how the button and port pads show that nothing on this is going to waste, all of the space is fully utilized.

I rather that it actually can do things than that it looks pretty. 1 PCB? This is amazing.

Is that a volume wheel? Looks nice.

No wasted space, this is simply incredible, finally a machine that doesn't skimp on features and will actually have some functionality to it.

 

[squeakypants]

Are those buttons pressure sensitive? I noticed they look different than all the keys.

 

[Game_over]

Yes these photos should have been online a little earlier but we have been busy

I hope this will finally end the 'pandora is vapourware' talk

We will start to give some detailed behind the scenes info on there soon about the last year or so.

Ya know Cragix, Rock musicians don't have any money too :lol: .

 

[zodttd]

Thanks for the heads up Craig. Congrats on the blog!
I'm sure I can speak for many when I say you have our support.

 

[davidgutierrez]

Wow, the photos look great!!!

Please, add rss feeds to the blog so we can know when it has been updated.

 

[rammy]

Nice work Craig and co looking very good indeed, thanks for the pics

I really think this will be a huge success, and rightly so as you and others have
put a lot of effort into this.

The big one for me is the support this will have once it is released as there
is many coders/developers on this site, and others will want to develop for it too.

Again well done all involved, keep up the good work....

xxxx..lisa.xxxx

 

[Alex.]

Congrats on all your progress! Every update makes Pandora look better and better

I'm sure the making-of stories will be must-reads, looking forward to those as well!

 

[nubie]

Are those buttons pressure sensitive? I noticed they look different than all the keys.

No, just more robust because you will be jamming on them most of the time. Multiple paths for connection, less chance of an action/direction key going out of order.

 

[b._.o._.b]

Well, they say pictures say more than words
Nice job, good to see some actual results of the pandora concept.

 

[prairiefire]

This is fantastic. Not only have you used the space so well, you had vision for user hardware hacks and upgrades/expansion.

A colossal amount of work and it looks like it's paying off. Great job guys!

 

[x68000]

Looks great Craig, Nice to see the progress!

After (IMO) the disappointment of the GP2X, i have very good reason to be excited again.

Never mind GP2X Mk2, this baby is the GP32 v2!!

 

[fusion_power]

Seriously, I can't believe how well this is designed. The keys and the controls look perfect, (bare copper landing pad for the D-Pad pivot? Is that included in the Case instead?)

I noticed this to.
Does the D-Pad pivot sit straight onto the PCB? This was so in the old Sega Megadrive Gamepads, I was surprised when I discovered this. Well, the Pad has survived many years but under the pivot, the PCB has a visible "mark" from the D-Pad pivot point.

 

[nubie]

Seriously, I can't believe how well this is designed. The keys and the controls look perfect, (bare copper landing pad for the D-Pad pivot? Is that included in the Case instead?)

I noticed this to.
Does the D-Pad pivot sit straight onto the PCB? This was so in the old Sega Megadrive Gamepads, I was surprised when I discovered this. Well, the Pad has survived many years but under the pivot, the PCB has a visible "mark" from the D-Pad pivot point.


My sega controller is currently unavailable to check (see my sig ), but I do know it used the board as a pivot.

The Radica Legends II that the portable is made out of has a D-Pad with ball/socket style pivot built into the plastic of the faceplate, it only contacts the PCB through the membrane switches.

Either way is fine, the only downside to rubbing on a PCB with enamel is the slight possibility of the enamel coming off and getting into one of the contacts, making it intermittent. Copper should be plenty resilient to rubbing with plastic.

 

[OrR]

I love it! I'm already contemplating on where to put the L2/R2 buttons... Possibly two of each, one set at the top as second shoulders, one set at the bottom for sideways use.

 

[Nova]

Small spelling error in the "Pandora in the press" column

"Upated Engadget article."

 

[JakeK]

Thank god you "upated" that article

Just joking with ya