Pandora Ideas

[paddy]

Hi ,i really like the whole idea of the pandora and will be buying at least three of them for different
uses.There are however some things that i would like to see happen in regards to the look and usage
of the device and as i have read that many on this forum would like to see the reverse of this,i would
like then to at least put my point across in hope the developers dont do anything harsh,tho from the look
of things they do seem to be getting most things right.

Size matters
--------------
the device is small and just needs to be streamlined,and it must be streamlined with some
curves and ingravements of either cosmetic or heat discharge purposes,the size is about perfect
as you can get,just please give it a stand out look so its not just a magic makeup box.

sleek shine or matt finnish
-----------------------------
most of you guys want the matt finnish but to me this would instantly make the device look
old/retro and not as appealing to the eye,its my personal opinion that shiny is better but then
look at all other devices on the market just now,not many are going with the matt/dry finnish
and that is because it simply isnt the way those companies want consumers to see the product
and this is 2008 after all,and yes this to a great extent will play retro content but if you hammer
in that old nail then you are not doing your self any favours for future development.

button placement
--------------------
for the most part all buttons-keys and controllers are in the right place tho i think there
might be a problem with placement of the anolog nubs,possibly too close together meaning
small hands cant reach them cofortably ? not sure on this one but they do look like they could be closer.
apart from that it all looks perfect.

power socket and other sockets placement
--------------------------------------------------
again everything looks real good tho the power socket at the front of the device is just soo wrong
and i hope it doesnt stay there,we all lay in bed using handheld devices and its handy to have
it on charge so the power cord at the front is a bad idea for that reason.

display and sound
---------------------
looking at the screen,it seems a nice large screen but not wide screen like the psp,and this
is an area where the psp gets top marks,cant the screen display have been wider and the sound
speakers been smaller and closer to the edge of the display casing.
the actual size of the display/top end of the pandora doesnt look right to me and should be
much slimer and be as curved as possible.

os/menu
----------
everyone is asking for a more detailed os menu but why cant we have a nice simple
menu ????? we all know we can do what we like to the menu as to customise and tweek it
so why have complication ? do you not all know simple is way better and at least the developer
can do more important things like get the device out on time,its well known that systems are
held up by software related issues so keep it fast and simple and you wont be disapointed
with patch after patch,and at the end of the day the pandora is all about custom use.

pricing
-------
i recon it should be priced higher,i just dont get why its so cheap? makes me wonder
if it will ever be released at that price,the developers need to get that sorted out now.
to me the developer is bending over backwards for you lot on the forums and doing
everything asked and keeping it ultra cheap ,not good business and will only cause problems
when the later stages of development are finnishing.
i am not rich by any means but i beleve we should be paying more for pandora.

games- emulators
--------------------
all good as far as emus go,also great for older pc games,but can we make some money
from new games specific to the device ? if the answer is no,then why not ? not interested
in making money,we all know this is where all the big names make the money so this
also gives me the assumption this pandora wont be released as theres no real deal to the
device.

i do like the pandora on paper ,but i want to see more and be told more about it and its
sole purpose --- kind regards to the devs and everyone on the forum.

Paddy

 

[Megamixman]

http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?showtopic=42850


Read that. Also read the FAQ.

 

[mechanizeddeath]

First of all: Welcome to the forums!

Second, you are a few months late I'm afraid:
"We Are No Longer Taking Hardware Suggestions."

 

[Mutilator]

Size matters--

the final version will have curves and wont look like a box

sleek shine or matt finnish--

the final version i dont know what they have decided on im not really fussed aslong as it works

button placement--

im sure the devs have looked into this to make it as ergonomic as possible

display and sound--

if the screen was any bigger then the whole device would have to be made bigger 4.3" for a portable games console is perfect

power socket and other sockets placement---

its at the back check the dev board (thepictures that show it at the front are early renders)

os/menu--

craigix said there will be more on this in the next few weeks but im sure it will be a simple system where you can easily navigate through apps etc.

pricing--

they will be making a nice profit on it craigix and evil dragon both been distributing gp2x etc. for years they know what they are doing. i believe it was as this is open source and TI gave them a sweet deal with the omap

games- emulators--

this is a open source device so its only really appealing to the gamers who like running pandora homebrew and emulators. im not saying their wont be any commercial games as who knows some company may approach the devs and get something made but as this isnt a mainstream product and isnt going to be competing with the psp, ds etc. i dont see it happening

hope this helps

 

[paddy]

thanks for the replys guys,its good to know it wont be handheld xbox 1
and thanks for the welcome into the forum as well.

i just cant wait to get my hands on this amazing device,its everything i could
ever want from a handheld and much more,can i place preorders on the pandora now ?

also is there a compatability list for memory cards and does usb host mean
i can plug an ipod or other hard disc device into the pandora for hd space use.

cheers

Paddy

 

[icurafu]

Size matters
--------------
Streamline is something we do at work to ensure operations is fluid reducing wasted time. What makes you suspicious that there is unnecessary inefficiencies? I think I saw a plastic pressure map posted before, so atleast some methods are used for quality design.

sleek shine or matt finnish
-----------------------------

Lots of people have their personal opinions and there was a massive poll about this before. Sorry, don't remember where .:S

button placement
--------------------
Did you try one of the paper cut out samples? Everyone else who has tried it says it feels good and not to cramped. Keyboard looks cramped to me, but I think most people will use their thumbs.

power socket and other sockets placement
--------------------------------------------------
Yeah, this sucks.

EDIT: Oh, it says "Phones" at the front. On the small image, it looks like "Power."

display and sound
---------------------
No offence, but you sound like another newbie comparing to the PSP. Is there a PSP forum somewhere that's actually saying good things about the Pandora? (we are getting a lot of this)

Don't really mean to sound rude here, but even using those three letters together here brings growns to a several people here.

os/menu
----------
I think they will wait until it is ready. No use releasing a lame sample that is not even what people will be using come p-day. I think it would have been nice to open it up and get the community developing the UI/GUI.

pricing
-------
You can choose to donate to the developer fund when you buy your Pandora. I can't remember how much it is. You can also help out the devs by funding a few bucks for them to pay for hardware or there own website.

games- emulators
--------------------
I don't think there is anything stopping you making money. It's not immoral or anything. It might take a while before the hardware and SDKs are ready for that kind of quality commercial dev'ing.

 

[paddy]

i have a psp,mainly for modding,have been into emus from way back and chosen psp over gp32 as it was easy to get hold of a cheap psp and easy to mod,wanted just to run emus on.not a sony fan or anything but needs must.

no,didnt find pandora through psp forums, rather emulation64 site news as read daily.

the sound/screen issue is fair as theres wasted space at the left and right
of the display,taken up with speakers and nothing more,this could be used for a wider screen ? thats all im saying and the comment on psp widescreen seemed to fit the description of what i was thinking at the time.

do you guys have a problem with psp ? ,i dont care much for the psp/sony is best side of things ,i just use it for what its good for,emus,online radio and youtube.

 

[hotblack]

thanks for the replys guys,its good to know it wont be handheld xbox 1
and thanks for the welcome into the forum as well.

i just cant wait to get my hands on this amazing device,its everything i could
ever want from a handheld and much more,can i place preorders on the pandora now ?

also is there a compatability list for memory cards and does usb host mean
i can plug an ipod or other hard disc device into the pandora for hd space use.

cheers

Paddy

- Preorders start on the 30th of this month.

- Most SDHC cards should work.

- USB Host means the Pandora has a USB port which can be used pretty much as the USB port on your home computer/laptop. So yes, it will support (with the necessary drivers) use of external mass storage devices.

- Id' really recommend using the search feature and looking at the various bits of documentation released on the Pandora already (including the wiki). These are not new questions and they have already been answered. Not trying to be harsh (or single you out, this should apply to all forum users) but there are a lot of new people to these forums (myself included) and many don't seem to be doing research before asking questions... This tends to just increase the dignal to noise ratio and dilute the new and interesting discussions.

 

[Chip]

the sound/screen issue is fair as theres wasted space at the left and right
of the display,taken up with speakers and nothing more,this could be used for a wider screen ? thats all im saying and the comment on psp widescreen seemed to fit the description of what i was thinking at the time.

There is no larger display available that would fit in the device. LCD panels are not like area rugs - you can't just say "Give me one that's X inches by Y inches." You have to find one that is available off-the-shelf in the closest size you can use. LCD manufacturing is very complicated and expensive, and I highly doubt a factory would re-tool for a custom order of less that 100k units. Not to mention the huge cost a custom order like that would incur.

The display was one of the first components chosen for the final design. It's a very good panel and has received good reviews from users of other devices that utilize it.

 

[emil10001]

the sound/screen issue is fair as theres wasted space at the left and right
of the display,taken up with speakers and nothing more,this could be used for a wider screen ?

This has been brought up several times before, and the answer is that removing the speakers does not mean that there is more room for the screen. Basically, they need space for a more robust lid, to protect the screen, and add strength to that part of the case. EvilDragon has said in a recent interview that a bigger screen would mean a bigger unit, because there is no wasted space in the lid.

 

[Tinnus]

Um... the screen IS widescreen. The resolution is 800x480 which makes it ~16:9.

 

[bakawhite]

I'm ready for this thing as it is. Like we've said, it's about customization. We all know how to do it ourselves. Even the case we can change. I know it wouldn't be hard to get your own casings made.

 

[emil10001]

I'm ready for this thing as it is. Like we've said, it's about customization. We all know how to do it ourselves. Even the case we can change. I know it wouldn't be hard to get your own casings made.

Sure, but where do you find a bigger screen with the same resolution? And how do you drive it? I'd say that while it's possible, it would be very, very difficult, because you'd have to come up with your own controller to drive the new display.

 

[nubie]

Hi ,i really like the whole idea of the pandora and will be buying at least three of them for different
uses.There are however some things that i would like to see happen in regards to the look and usage
of the device and as i have read that many on this forum would like to see the reverse of this,i would
like then to at least put my point across in hope the developers dont do anything harsh,tho from the look
of things they do seem to be getting most things right.

display and sound
---------------------
looking at the screen,it seems a nice large screen but not wide screen like the psp,and this
is an area where the psp gets top marks,cant the screen display have been wider and the sound
speakers been smaller and closer to the edge of the display casing.
the actual size of the display/top end of the pandora doesnt look right to me and should be
much slimer and be as curved as possible.

Paddy



Um this is much much much higher quality than the PSP screen. A whole lot more in fact. *

It is widescreen, it is 800x480 pixels, "standard" non-widescreen is 640x480. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Display_resolution

It is 5:3 aspect ratio, or 15:9 if you want to compare to 16:9.

As for the looks of the unit I think we need to get some in the wild (or maybe a unit that isn't a fast prototype) before we make any decisions on looks, I think in person it will be no worse aesthetically than a DS.

Welcome to the forums btw, keep a thick skin if you intend comparing a PSP (especially its poor screen) to the pandora


* for purposes of comparison the PSP screen is 480 x 272 and has very poor color switching time, especially on red. I would get physically ill watching the screen make a swirly mess out of any moving edge because of the poor lcd. I agree that it is a trifle "wider", but I think the quality and resolution of the Pandora's screen make it a moot point, besides a lot of "widescreen" LCDs are really 15:9 anyway.

 

[WizardStan]

Um... the screen IS widescreen. The resolution is 800x480 which makes it ~16:9.

Specifically it's 15:9, not 16:9.
But the PSP is 480x272 which makes it 15.8:9. Can't you see? The PSP is that 0.8:9 bit wider than the Pandora. This clearly makes the PSP screen far superior to the Pandora in every way, despite the fact that the PSP's output could fit almost 3 times over in the Pandora when rotated 90 degrees.

 

[Kyo]

so we can't watch 16:9 movies on our pandoras?!?!!!!!!!!!!

 

[fusion_power]

First of all: Welcome to the forums!

Second, you are a few months late I'm afraid:
"We Are No Longer Taking Hardware Suggestions."


And this is even more funny if you know, that this was 4 Months before release of the Pandora.
However, because I doubt anything of the Case is in Mass production right now I also suggested a hardware change asome weeks ago. It wasn't a real change, it's only a differend production of the Keyboard Buttons (yes I know, sensitive theme)

From ED's Case construction renderings I've seen that each Keyboard button is made out of a piece of solid black Plastic. I imagine that these pieces simply painted ontop. Paint ontop of a button is always risky because the durability of such a paint is very poor (my experiences).

Instead of printing the labeling ontop of the buttons, why not replace the black plastic with transparent (or slightly dark toned) plastic and paint the labeling UNDERNEETH? I have no Idea if transparent plastic is more expencive than black plastic but it shouldn't make that huge difference.

Imagination:

1. transparent buttons, ignore the relief letter, this would be to expencive I think. Paint only has to do the job.


2. printing underside, black and white (and 3. colour for special signs) for the letters, light sensitive letter colour would also made later Keyboard light mods more easy. (mobile phones often use such a painting)


3. Even full transparent, the button looks black because of the underside


Result: save and secure painting onto the underside, no rubbing or acid finger sweat can destroy the labeling.

...just a Idea.

 

[hotblack]

Quite a nice idea. Maybe we'll see it for the Pandora 2..

To be honest by the time you've warn the keys off a keypad of any sort you tend to know you're way around it blind anyway

 

[MilanC]

@Kyosys:

For NTSC, three possibilities:
* Scale width to whatever needed to get 16:9 with square pixels, then crop 25 pixels on each side
* Downscale height from 480 to 450, and scale width to 800
* Keep height, and only scale width, difference between 16:9 and 15:9 is small enough for most people not to notice (some people don't even mind 4:3 streched to 16:9.). I'm pretty paranoid about aspect ratios.

For PAL, you have to scale both height and width anyway. Apart from that, same solutions.

 

[hotblack]

Auto-scaling/cropping with VLC/MPlayer shouldn't be too much trouble for the Pandora.