Pandora 2

[NeBlackCat]

OK, I know it's far too early, but I'd love to see a bigger brother with:

- 6-7" screen (so that web pages are readable without scrolling/zooming)
- reserved space in case for a small, user-installed USB peripheral (eg. memory stick, 3G SIM card)
- ethernet
- HDMI (inc. audio)
- 1gHz CPU

I'd pay another $50 or so for that lot.

 

[quote]

Another $50.



NO

 

[azurege]

I hope there isn't a Pandora 2 for at least another 4 years!!

 

[mali]

Well, we had some threads already. Hmm... many threads, actually. Not sure if we need another one, right now :unsure:

 

[bce23w]

OK, I know it's far too early, but I'd love to see a bigger brother with:

- 6-7" screen (so that web pages are readable without scrolling/zooming)
- reserved space in case for a small, user-installed USB peripheral (eg. memory stick, 3G SIM card)
- ethernet
- HDMI (inc. audio)
- 1gHz CPU

I'd pay another $50 or so for that lot.

Wouldn't fit in your pocket, and would cost immensely, majestically more than your low-ball there.

Like you said, it's too early. We need more people using it in more ways before we know what limits the typical user runs into.

 

[NeBlackCat]

Another $50.



NO

What do you think those things are worth then? The forthcoming new Beagleboard-nx adds 4 USB host ports and an Ethernet port, and ups the CPU speed to 1gHz for free, but you pay an extra $30 for additional memory. And the cost of the original spec must have been dropping for months now, whereas the Pandora is still very new.

And I'm guessing a 7" screen (same res) would cost substantially more than a 4"-ish screen.

What would be reasonable then? I'd love a "Pandora Pro" meeting the above spec, it would do as a netbook as well as everything else.

 

[NeBlackCat]

Well, we had some threads already. Hmm... many threads, actually. Not sure if we need another one, right now :unsure:

Ok, sorry if done to death - just joined and haven't seen any yet. I'll have a search though.

 

[Exophase]

Although, I think it's really just the screen that would balloon that price. All those other things would be provided by DM3735, which will be used in the upcoming Beagleboard-XM which will only cost $30 more (and includes other upgrades) and is OMAP3 compatible.

Not that I'm suggesting OP release a revision with this chip, of course. But I guarantee you there will be threads asking them to, so brace yourself for it.

 

[mali]

Ok, sorry if done to death - just joined and haven't seen any yet. I'll have a search though.

Almost forgot, welcome to the boards

 

[RajTakhar]

pandora 2?

It taken like nearly two years + to here now !

I'm nearing 39

At this rate I'll be retired before Pandora 2 comes out, gets made, has the obligatory delays, gets moulded by same chinese crowd, another banking fiasco, paypal, etc, etc

But seriously if the case comes as close to perfect - you can see second one being slightly more sooner

2 months and then some!

 

[Pleng]

I think any screen bigger than the current one would be overkill for emulation purposes. Nice for the desktop, but the SNES and C64 emulator look goooorgoeus on this thing!

 

[Exophase]

While we're on the topic. I think that once things settle down with the first and second batches on Pandora, that OP should be doing everything they can to investigate OMAP4. Especially if craigix is serious about reusing the mechanical design for it.

This includes obtaining samples or eval kits if at all possible, and any information TI would be willing to share. If craigix is right that it'll take forever for software to get anywhere on the platform then that's all the more reason to start working on porting Pandora's distro to it as soon as possible. Personally I think craig is greatly exaggerating it and that TI may well have designed OMAP4 with OMAP3 migration in mind. Resting on your laurels because you think everyone else will take forever to do anything with it again would be really foolish.

Normally I wouldn't advocate trying to push a new product out the door so soon after the current one. But with Pandora 1.5 years late they've lost a lot of credibility on delivering a cutting edge design and a lot of people are saying how this was a big deal then but isn't now. Bringing out a dual-Cortex-A9/high end SGX design before others can could change this a lot. At the very least they should be evaluating what the actual impact and investment is going to be to them.

 

[grasshoppir]

What's his order number?

 

[VRAndy]

- reserved space in case for a small, user-installed USB peripheral (eg. memory stick, 3G SIM card)

This would be an amazing feature. Too bad there's probably no room for it.

Once I get my Makerbot to stop self-destructing in interesting (but frustrating) ways, I'm thinking of making some sort of clip-on exoskeleton for the lid that will hold the guts of a hub and room for a couple of USB sticks. (Probably it'll also include switches to hard-kill the power to the sticks without removing them.)

 

[Dead1nside]

Another $50 is pretty funny. I wouldn't be overly surprised if the next batch was that much more.

Edit: I do think the Pandora is a winning concept though. I would like to see a successor in a few years, if the guys are up for it. Right now I just want my Pandora 1.

 

[DixieDawg]

While we're on the topic. I think that once things settle down with the first and second batches on Pandora, that OP should be doing everything they can to investigate OMAP4. Especially if craigix is serious about reusing the mechanical design for it.

This includes obtaining samples or eval kits if at all possible, and any information TI would be willing to share. If craigix is right that it'll take forever for software to get anywhere on the platform then that's all the more reason to start working on porting Pandora's distro to it as soon as possible. Personally I think craig is greatly exaggerating it and that TI may well have designed OMAP4 with OMAP3 migration in mind. Resting on your laurels because you think everyone else will take forever to do anything with it again would be really foolish.

Normally I wouldn't advocate trying to push a new product out the door so soon after the current one. But with Pandora 1.5 years late they've lost a lot of credibility on delivering a cutting edge design and a lot of people are saying how this was a big deal then but isn't now. Bringing out a dual-Cortex-A9/high end SGX design before others can could change this a lot. At the very least they should be evaluating what the actual impact and investment is going to be to them.

I know some people would be upset if they came out with an upgraded Pandora too soon. However, if they did I would try to be first in line to by it too. I realize electronics are in a constantly getting outdated as newer chips come along. I'm 100% in favor of continuing to improve the Pandora.

 

[Mofokubik]

Gentlemen, why the haste? Maybe a year down the road when most of the bugs for the 1st/2nd batch are ironed out, and all the issues considered and fixed, we can start throwing around our ideas for a pandora 2. Tech evolves way too fast, this is why many of the original pandora orderers aren't as impressed with the specs anymore. In 4 years, will 1ghz be cutting edge?

As for the aesthetics and playability, we should all just be patient and wait for our pandoras before we express any opinions or ideas about pandora 2 should be.

except for a usb 3.0 support

 

[ari64]

While we're on the topic. I think that once things settle down with the first and second batches on Pandora, that OP should be doing everything they can to investigate OMAP4. Especially if craigix is serious about reusing the mechanical design for it.

This includes obtaining samples or eval kits if at all possible, and any information TI would be willing to share. If craigix is right that it'll take forever for software to get anywhere on the platform then that's all the more reason to start working on porting Pandora's distro to it as soon as possible. Personally I think craig is greatly exaggerating it and that TI may well have designed OMAP4 with OMAP3 migration in mind. Resting on your laurels because you think everyone else will take forever to do anything with it again would be really foolish.

Normally I wouldn't advocate trying to push a new product out the door so soon after the current one. But with Pandora 1.5 years late they've lost a lot of credibility on delivering a cutting edge design and a lot of people are saying how this was a big deal then but isn't now. Bringing out a dual-Cortex-A9/high end SGX design before others can could change this a lot. At the very least they should be evaluating what the actual impact and investment is going to be to them.

One of the biggest issues with the OMAP3 was that the power requirements were different from the OMAP2. They had to redesign the voltage/current regulators, and got it wrong. This lead to the well-known problems with USB on early beagle boards. There were also bugs in the Cortex-A8 which needed revisions.

Cortex-A9 is probably going to have bugs. You'd think TI would want to get samples out to developers to find out what the issues are, so they don't end up throwing out bad silicon later. Maybe they're waiting on ARM to fix some known issues first. Or Imagination Technologies.

I'm assuming MWeston will be looking into this, but not posting on the forums about it.

 

[Exophase]

One of the biggest issues with the OMAP3 was that the power requirements were different from the OMAP2. They had to redesign the voltage/current regulators, and got it wrong. This lead to the well-known problems with USB on early beagle boards. There were also bugs in the Cortex-A8 which needed revisions.

Cortex-A9 is probably going to have bugs. You'd think TI would want to get samples out to developers to find out what the issues are, so they don't end up throwing out bad silicon later. Maybe they're waiting on ARM to fix some known issues first. Or Imagination Technologies.

Cortex-A9 has been out there for a while in Tegra 2 boards and others so I'm sure bugs are getting back to ARM. TI is alleged to have been sampling OMAP4 for a few months now, but I think in reality it has probably been longer.

In fact, I didn't even realize this, but you can already buy an OMAP4 Blaze.

http://svtronics.com/market_omap

Pretty awesome, and it looks like anyone can buy it, in single quantity. OP should definitely purchase one. Even I may be tempted to put down for one later if nothing else comes out. $2000 isn't a small amount, but it's pretty well worth it, IMO.

I'm assuming MWeston will be looking into this, but not posting on the forums about it.

I'm concerned about craigix's comments that OMAP4 won't be a viable platform until at least 2012. Especially now that I know you can already purchase it.

 

[Pleng]

well wasnt part of the Pandora story that TI thought it would be a good platform to demonstrate the potential of the OMAP3? If so they may not be so willing to co-operate so closely unless they make some mega sales over the next few months.

IIm typing this with one right now and even with all the software quirks that need to be sorted out, I can honestly see this unit making some great sales through word of mouth. probably enought to convince TI of its potential. It is an absolute joy to use. The next couple of months are going to be very interesting!