Pandora is WAY overpriced????

[Galaxis]

Dumbphone + Pandora >> Smartphone.

So much that. My phone is an old Nokia E51 I got for free from someone who dumped it, and with that I have a EUR5/month minimal data plan (150MB) that I can either use with Opera Mini directly on the phone, or via classic Bluetooth Dialup from the Pandora. Phone runs nearly a week on one charge, and Pandora is woken up when I need it.

 

[ExquisiteCorpse]

It's heinously expensive and when I had the black case it started to crack after only 3 months so it does feel pretty cheap. 

However it is a fantastic bit of kit.

But it sucks as a music player as it's too bulky and not an easy way to change tracks in under 10 seconds. 

Web browsing sucks so hard compared to pretty much any android version going back to android 1.6. 

Emulators it excelled at! Absolutely amazing but the controls were not universal across emulators so finding out all the buttons was annoying. One thing that pissed me off though is in the mini menu there wasn't a quick and easy way to fire up music then a game. The PSP had a script that ran in the background that when you pressed a weird combination it'd play/stop and two other functions to skip a track. It would play only music from a specific folder though. Maybe someone could implement that.

Keyboard sucked and was frustrating to use. Felt like I was gonna sprain my thumbs after typing on it. They really should've separated the keyboard into two halves and had them close to the edges so you don't sprain your thumb reaching over to type. 

Using it as a mini computer was wicked though. SSH'ing onto servers etc, testing cod

Watching movies was also really good. Disappointed there was no way to output to a monitor or something. Mini hdmi would've been cool.

Disclaimer: (not used one since June 2011 so things may have changed) 

 

[iprice]

So everything is now just medical care?

I don't doubt that to be honest - I remember what Leo Getz says in the Lethal Weapon movies...

 

[FRZ]

It is expensive, more so than it should be , but its for a reason, unfortunately that reason is to pay for the remaining original pre-orders.
 
The price should come down significantly after the pre-orders are cleared one would hope.

and when will that be?

Sent from my N860 using Tapatalk 2

 

[renegadechic]

I think its hard to compare the costs of things relative to the pandora as demand for older generations of smartphones etc drops over time.

For example, i bought myself a sony xperia x10 mini pro new and outright in 2011 for around £150 and though it wasn't top end at the time or in general, it is still a smartphone. Now you can pick them up second hand for about £40. I am now using a hand-me-down samsung galaxy s which my sister didn't need when she got a galaxy s2. Looking online they sell for about £100 and it still provides an awful lot for the money.

What does this prove? Not a great deal of anything really, but i guess if you aren't keen to be at the bleeding edge of technology, it is relatively easy to get hold of really functional technology for a reasonable price. I also picked up an ipod video 80GB for free recently as a friend believed it to be broken and had replaced it. I disconnected and reconnected the battery and it booted, then after wiping and reinstalling all the software (and then installing rockbox for an actually enjoyable user experience) it works just fine. a bit scuffed up but 80GB of music is plenty to keep me going for a good long time.

The pandora is a wonderful product though its almost a curious product in that unlike other devices, rather than diminishing in value, it has simply increased! I don't actually get as much use out of mine as I would like. I am invariably near to either a laptop or PC at home and multitask to the point where I just don't seem to pick it up as frequently. I have used it as an indoor music player since getting rockbox installed on there but sometimes now it is easier to use the ipod as I don't have it loud enough indoors through good enough speakers to really pick up the quality improvements. I am also very reluctant to take mine out with me as it seems any trip from the house will cause problems in some way either with some case cracking or something that aggravates the LCD cable. I've already had one pandora replaced due to PSOD and i am fully intent on not looking for a replacement of this one is problems arise so I cosset and protect it by not taking it out at the expense of using it a lot less. If things become very bad i will probably buy a new cable and possibly new case from the shop and attempt to do it myself. Actually on that subject, do the new cases fit the earlier run pandoras?

I have ordered myself a iCP2 which I look forward to trying out. I suspect that I am more likely to invest in older model smartphones or receive hand-me-downs than I am to invest in a pandora 2 which based on the way i seem to be using it, may be the better solution for me. If I get on really well with it, I am pretty tempted to sell my pandora to someone who would actually get more out of it as it could be argued to be wasted on me somewhat but i am very attached to it after such a journey (even if it is a much shorter one than most other peoples since i received it in 2010). I have loved getting things to work with it such as my NAS and had good times with games on it. I still think its a wonderful device and possibly and even more wonderful community so I do think it is worth the money if its the device you need and will use but sometimes a slightly dumb user who is too scared of breaking things might be better off with a dumber set up.

 

[john4p]

The Pandora was an amazing device when I bought it for 250 Euros in 2008. It runs stable at 1050 MHz and I still almost use it daily.

Hats off to ED for being able to sell devices with twice the RAM and guaranteed 1GHz for 700$ - 5 years later.

 

[ExquisiteCorpse]

Yeah it's a massive rip off now.

I bet the return rates are massive when people start to feel a bit uneasy at sinking half a grand on this one device. Price drops to 2008 levels I'll get one though.

 

[EvilDragon]

Yeah it's a massive rip off now.


I bet the return rates are massive when people start to feel a bit uneasy at sinking half a grand on this one device. Price drops to 2008 levels I'll get one though.

I had 5 returns out 1500 Pandoras I sold to new customers.


Not really massive return rates.

 

[ExquisiteCorpse]

Are the cases really that improved then? 

When I had the black cases they reminded me of the very cheap plastic you used to get like 10 years ago. Really good news if they aren't cracking anymore. 

Edit: 

Had a look through the support page and can't see any case related issues. Fair play! The 2011 cases were like 1990's plastic.

 

[pmprog]

That is why you get a dumbphone. No one said you should do without the phone. Just that you don't need a goddam smartphone at outrageously expensive price, for what you get. The worst decision I ever made in my life was to get a smartphone, and as soon as my contract is done, that's it.

Regardless of what type of phone you get, you still need *a* phone to make calls and texts, so here the Pandora doesn't "replace" the phone.

And sansa products SUCK ASS. I had a Fuze + before I got the Zune. and I got the Zune because the controls on the Fuze + sucked so hard, I could barely make them work, and 3/4 of the time, they did something other than what I was wanting, when they responded at all, which was less than 1/2 the time.

That's only YOUR opinion. Sansa Clip+ works great for me. It fits in any of my pockets perfectly. It plays all my music now RockBox is on it. It's also quick to access all the controls.
The fact you bought a Zune *after* a Pandora also implies that you didn't find it a great media device (for day to day music) - which makes your point about it replacing an MP3 player moot.

I'm also assuming you have the commerical games that you're emulating, most of us have and own multiple systems...I'd certainly never advocate piracy...I'm a little surprised you would not have considered most folks already HAVE the games in question.

Yeah, that's a valid point, I'll concede this.

Well, since I do not RUDELY walk around all day with earbuds in so that no one can talk to me....Pandy works fine for my music, since I only play it in the car. and that rudeness comment was not directed at you, specifically, but rather at ALL THE PEOPLE out there who seem to have earbud wires growing out of their ears....it is a major pet peeve of mine, because you can't ever get their goddamn attention.

So, directed at me then? I have music playing constantly, and I prefer to not disturb my fellow co-workers by putting earphones in. When I'm needed, I'll remove them, but that's not all that often; and I'd much prefer to listen to music instead of the silence of our office.
It's a great device, and I'm glad I bought one, but I still own a phone, an MP3 player and a netbook. Maybe my situation is different from the norm, who knows.

 

[Binky]

Its funny to say that the pandora is a bad media player given that it has some of the best portable sound hardware on the market, but I see what you mean about bulk - you do need big pockets

 

[ZXDunny]

My Pandora is now my go-to device for gaming, I will say that. I've got a one-year-old at home, and when I'm not at work I look after him. Although the PC is tucked away behind the sofa, it's far easier to be near him while he's playing so the Pandora gets whipped out for some unobtrusive Brogue or Slimy Lich Mummy. So even though I have a PC within easy reach, I generally tend to use the Pandora when at home. 

It stinks for web browsing though; I use my phone for that.

D.

 

[Binky]

^ Having full Firefox is quite satisfying, though (not having a smartphone I can't really make the comparison)

 

[ckblackm]

Firefox 18 is slow as a dog on my 1ghz pandora.  :-(

 

[Ian J]

At the end of the day if you want the best pocket PC available with built in gaming controls get a Pandora.

If you don't then don't get one, no amount of whining here will change the price.

 

[WizardStan]

Firefox 18 is slow as a dog on my 1ghz pandora.  :-(

That's disappointing. FF17 is so snappy even on my old CC Pandora that it's making me rethink my desktop Chromium-always policy.

 

[canseco]

I normally use Firefox but for quick browsing i use QupZilla, fast as Midori and doesn't crash.

 

[Wally]

FF18 can't even remember preferences that I set

 

[b_o_b]

 

[Grench]

Yeah it's a massive rip off now.


I bet the return rates are massive when people start to feel a bit uneasy at sinking half a grand on this one device. Price drops to 2008 levels I'll get one though.

I had 5 returns out 1500 Pandoras I sold to new customers.


Not really massive return rates.

I find these types of arguments really very silly.  It comes down to people saying, "It is too expensive because it costs more than I want to (or can) pay."

The latest Mercedes G wagons cost far more than I can pay - but I can still understand why they are priced as they are.

Just because you, or I, personally can not afford to purchase something at the price point that the manufacturer chooses or has to charge for an item does not make it, "a massive rip off."

Those of us who signed up for a pre-order in 2008 knew we were taking a huge risk with the $350-$400 we sent in, via wire transfers, based on faith and speculation that this thing called a Pandora -might- some day exist.  We were essentially discounted based on the fact that we were taking a risk to pre-order something that we thought at the time was months away - then held on for 2+ years, with many of them still outstanding, for fulfillment.

Would I have paid today's price 3.5 years ago for this product delivered the following week instead of going into a highly risky delivery unknown expenditure?  Sure.  Would I have paid today's price for the uncertain and risky prospect of non-refundable wire transfers to a company that barely existed?  No.

Today's price reflects immediate availability of a mature product that you can buy with a credit card and an address.

2008's price reflected a high risk pre-kickstarter project requiring a non-refundable money order, a dream, and lots of faith.

They had no way at the time to know what kinds of cost overruns they would encounter - or they would have charged more back then.