Panda-Usb.com - Pandora Tested Usb Accessories

[CPUnltd]

it's not about giving away what you waited so long to get... it's about promoting the continued development and of a community-based project (this is my opinion... what it means to ME with this whole scenario)... also, it's about building a business around a future market... really it's more current than we give it credit for, but supply WILL be low due to the fact that it's community-based and community-driven. I know this from personal experience as I own my own custom built computer shop... business is not the greatest for custom built computers for many reasons, the main three being cheap pre-built systems, people not really knowing what Linux is (as far as the masses go), and people not knowing what they want in a computer when they have full control over deciding what goes into it (again, as far as the masses go). Most societies are built on the "tell me what I need" concept... projects like this go against the grain on that, so it's no surprise that more people aren't into it like we all are (those who actually are is who I'm referring to... within this community and outside of it)... but as word is spreading and people are becoming more and more fed up with "stupid machines" like the iDevices, more people are leaning in this direction. So don't take it as "this guy waited so long for this and now he's getting rid of it"... it's more like "this guy waited so long for this and now he's sacrificing it for his business and to push the community further forward in his efforts." That's my two cents on Sphinxter's comment... now, back on topic...

@ Pleng... what changed your list of non-working webcams to working webcams? I'm sure some of us out here will make the same, if not similar, mistakes... so I'd like at least a brief rundown of what changed... doesn't matter where you post it as long as you link it here if you don't post it here... Also, does that webcam come in black?

 

[Pleng]

This certainly does not speak very well of the pandora. Waited two years but meh, who wants it I'm giving it away?

Do you know what? Choosing to give my Pandora away was one of the easiest decisions I ever made. But not in the context you described. I've ordered another one, so you could argue I'm so fond of the unit that I'm willing to pay twice the price for one. I'm not going to argue that, but it's just as reasonable as your take on it.

If I wanted to simply get rid of my Pandora, I would have stuck it on ebay. And when I saw the prices they were initially going for, yes, I was tempted. But I stuck with it because I really really love the device. But this isn't about money. This is about giving somebody (who already works 11-hour shifts 10 days in a row, and STILL finds the time to run this project) a shot at a better quality of life. It can probably never become a full-time job for her, but it just might make her life a little more comfortable. And that, to me, is priceless. So if I have to be without a Pandora for <insert random joke about how long it will be before I get my next Pandora>, then really, it's an easy decision.

it's more like "this guy waited so long for this and now he's sacrificing it for his business

Thanks for the kind words, but I really must stress that this isn't my business. I'm just responsible for the website and, currently, testing devices for compatibility. Hopefully, one day Mantana will have her own Pandora and be able to take on the role of testing herself.

@ Pleng... what changed your list of non-working webcams to working webcams? I'm sure some of us out here will make the same, if not similar, mistakes... so I'd like at least a brief rundown of what changed... doesn't matter where you post it as long as you link it here if you don't post it here... A

Well cheese was showing nothing, though other people had posted success stories about cheese. I also couldn't get the right command-line arguments to get the cams to show in mplayer, I just got a bunch of error messages. WizardStan has been extremely kind in another thread in the software hacking forum, helping me (and others), find the right command line arguments. I also found out from Wizard that you can just launch gnome-mediaplayer, select open tv-->analogue tv and it should just work. And guess what? It did! So I feel a bit silly, to be honest...

Once I'm a bit more happy tweaking the command lines to get what is needed (currently it's still very crappy output with the command line - gotta find the right arguments!) I will be putting a guide on the site. I don't think I'll get around to it in the next couple of days I'm afraid - Mantana has been pretty ill with a fever the last couple of days, and while she's starting to get better, I've come down with it myself!

lso, does that webcam come in black?

I'll discuss colour options with the distributor in a couple of days when I'm feeling a bit better. Right now we only have orange cams, but I know that there are other colour options - I just don't know what they are yet! She won't be able to stock all of them, but I've noted your request for black

 

[Prometheus]

But this isn't about money. This is about giving somebody (who already works 11-hour shifts 10 days in a row, and STILL finds the time to run this project) a shot at a better quality of life. It can probably never become a full-time job for her, but it just might make her life a little more comfortable. And that, to me, is priceless. So if I have to be without a Pandora for <insert random joke about how long it will be before I get my next Pandora>, then really, it's an easy decision.

This just brought a tear to my eye...

 

[CPUnltd]

@Pleng

thanks for taking the request, I understand where you're coming from and your position with the business and your willingness to give away your pandora is duely noted, and could you link to that hacking thread (or send me the link via pm if it's too off-topic) so I can reference it for later when I do get my pandora?

 

[Pleng]

using a webcam with mplayer

 

[CPUnltd]

much appreciated, friend...

 

[SomeGuy99]

But this isn't about money. This is about giving somebody (who already works 11-hour shifts 10 days in a row, and STILL finds the time to run this project) a shot at a better quality of life. It can probably never become a full-time job for her, but it just might make her life a little more comfortable. And that, to me, is priceless. So if I have to be without a Pandora for <insert random joke about how long it will be before I get my next Pandora>, then really, it's an easy decision.

This just brought a tear to my eye...

No tears for me, just respect.

Pleng just gained a million extra respect points. B)

 

[CPUnltd]

one meeeeellion respect points....

Guess who's got your mojo...

 

[Pleng]

if only I had a dollar for every respect point....

anyway, cam is available in black and has been ordered. will not be in her possession until Tuesday so it wont be listed until then. If you want to get your order in early, just choose the orange one and add to the customer notes that you want the black one and are happy to wait the extra few days.

 

[wardred]

Pleng,
I don't know how easy it would be to do, but when I took a look at the webcam it looked really expensive...at first. Can she put the price up by region? I had no idea the conversion between USD and THB was so different, and anything approaching $100 would've been too much. At less then $15, at least before shipping, it's almost worth it to purchase just as a "raffle" ticket - though I will find a use for it.

 

[Pleng]

I'm not sure exactly what your asking. The exchange rates are pretty up and down at the moment - i think that USD is worth about 30Baht at the moment.

The website tracks the exchange rate, so prices will vary from day to day, though unless you're in Thailand the site should default to either USD, EUR or GBP prices (depending on just where you are).

she's trying to be as reasonable as possible with prices, and we though tracking the exchange rate seems the best way to do this, rather than having fixed prices for different countries, which would need to be substantially padded to take into account fluctiations.

 

[wardred]

Pleng,
There were two things - one I PM'd you. The display one is more of a "large retailer" thing to do - simply showing the price in the location's currency. So it would be USD for me, Pounds for Craigix, Euros in Europe, etc. I saw the 350 THB and immediately thought this was going to be WAY more expensive than it turned out to be, being ignorant of the exchange rate. Yeah, yeah, I know, just change it with the drop down... but that initial "sticker shock" almost prompted me not to do it. I have no idea how practical that is for a small retailer. Larger retailers have access to just about any region's "block" of IP addresses either themselves or through something they purchased. Just an idea.

Edit: The prices seem reasonable to me - especially for the camera - it's more of a perception thing. I've purchased directly from Europe, Japan, and Britain, and have some idea of the exchange rates, but I've never purchased directly from Thailand. I wouldn't have guessed 30 to 1 or whatever it is, so the price LOOKED huge, even though it was very reasonable.

 

[Pleng]

Pleng,
There were two things - one I PM'd you. The display one is more of a "large retailer" thing to do - simply showing the price in the location's currency. So it would be USD for me, Pounds for Craigix, Euros in Europe, etc. I saw the 350 THB and immediately thought this was going to be WAY more expensive than it turned out to be, being ignorant of the exchange rate.

where are you accessing the site from? this is confusing me as the site is set to default to USD, unless the visitor is for the EU zone, UK, or Thailand - in which case the currency is set accordingly. Other visitors have reported that this is working correctly, so I'm not sure why it's not working for you.

The other issue is also confusing as there were some known problems with the software in this area so I did some pretty extensive testing to fix the problem. I will message you privately about that to try and get some more details.

thanks

 

[Tom`]

where are you accessing the site from? this is confusing me as the site is set to default to USD, unless the visitor is for the EU zone, UK, or Thailand - in which case the currency is set accordingly. Other visitors have reported that this is working correctly, so I'm not sure why it's not working for you.
thanks

For what it's worth, I see the prices in Thai baht also - I think it was in USD the first time I visited the site, but now I have to change it back manually for some reason.

 

[wardred]

I'm in Reno, NV in the US. Running Firefox 3.6.8 on Kubuntu's latest.

Clicked on your link to get to the site. Forgot if it was your signature or if it was the link for the camera.

 

[gruso]

Just to add to the currency reporting, I'm seeing Thai currency as the default too (from a couple of different PCs/ISPs). I'm not sure what the default for Aus visitors should be, but USD would be fine if you can make that happen.

Anyway, I bought some stuff. The flat mouse looks quite cool.

 

[Pleng]

OK I think I've located the issue with the currencies. It was originally set to default to Thai baht unless the visitor was from EU zone, US & Canada, or UK. I changed it to default to USD as opposed to Thai baht but accidentally configured that rule to only kick in if the user was coming in from Thailand. It should be fixed now. If you wouldn't mind checking again that'd be awfully helpful. Thanks

yea, the flat mouse is pretty cool. I'm using it as my main mouse now

 

[wardred]

I'm seeing $USD now - had to clear Firefox's cache for it to kick in.

Edit: Pleng, thanks for the quick responses on this. Cheers!

 

[Tom`]

I'm seeing $USD now - had to clear Firefox's cache for it to kick in.

Same here, thanks.

 

[gruso]

Fixed here! Nice one.