Pandora is WAY overpriced????

[EvilDragon]

My employer (Doro) is very careful about ethical and environmental aspects of its phones. We refused to work with some Chinese companies because they didn't have good working conditions, we avoid using tantalum-based capacitor and the one time we were forced to, we required a certificate that it didn't come from a conflict zone (though we can't be sure this certificate is valid);

I'm not sure if it would fit all the requirements for a "Fair Trade" label, but from what I've seen the ethical concerns are more than just words and marketing. (I wouldn't be working there anymore if it was).

Would be interesting to know how much more money they have to spend

 

[MarioPandio]

http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/black_gold_a_film_about_coffee_and_trade/

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=cM23HXtPPRk&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DcM23HXtPPRk&gl=GB

 

[A2000]

I'm living in one of the so-called "Fair Trade Capitals". We have a Fair Trade fair every year. Last year and the year before a computer mouse was shown which wasn't 100% Fair Trade but a good step in the right direction. This year the mouse is purchaseable costing 25 euros. Even now for some parts there are no reliable sources. But it's definetly the right direction and I will buy one soon (Alas it's too big for the Pandora). And I'm looking forward buying a Fair Trade phone at last.

 

[Grench]

http://www.basterfield.com/pc110/pc110idx.htm

Wow! Reminds me of a pandora. I would'e loved one.

Danggg. I have a new holy grail of hand held computers to collect.

They pop up on Ebay once or twice a year.  I've never been able to justify buying one - these days it would be shelfware.

In most ways, the Pandora is a better computer.  I'm betting IBM did a smashing job on the keyboard and case plastics though - Thinkpads from that era are tanks.

 

[moxie]

They pop up on Ebay once or twice a year.  I've never been able to justify buying one - these days it would be shelfware.

In most ways, the Pandora is a better computer.  I'm betting IBM did a smashing job on the keyboard and case plastics though - Thinkpads from that era are tanks.

Yes, I have no doubt about that If I got one, it would be for the collection - I have this thing for handheld computers in general. Still, I don't "collect" in the obsessed completist way, so I only grab things that I get on the cheap. And I suspect that precludes the PC110

 

[Grench]

They pop up on Ebay once or twice a year.  I've never been able to justify buying one - these days it would be shelfware.

In most ways, the Pandora is a better computer.  I'm betting IBM did a smashing job on the keyboard and case plastics though - Thinkpads from that era are tanks.

Yes, I have no doubt about that If I got one, it would be for the collection - I have this thing for handheld computers in general. Still, I don't "collect" in the obsessed completist way, so I only grab things that I get on the cheap. And I suspect that precludes the PC110

The last one I saw with the 'full compliment' of RAM, the original MMC OS card, an era correct PCMCIA HDD, docking station with floppy drive and boxes, etc went for considerably more than a new Pandora.

It's still one of those great ideas that never got brought to the US market.  The only ones here were grey market from Japan.

If you're looking for rare ducks, it doesn't get much more obscure and cool than a SPH-9000.

http://gigaom.com/2006/12/14/samsung_sph900_/

In my collection of odd handheld computers:

TRG Pro:  http://www.geek.com/hwswrev/pda/trgpro/index.htm

I actually have a CF modem that I used with it to sync email text via dial up.

Garmin IQ 3600:  https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=177&ra=true

It's a very good GPS - if you can still get the maps to sync now that the sync software is out of support.

Tapwave Zodiac 2:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapwave_Zodiac

The most powerful PalmOS device ever produced.  Dual SD card slots and an analog nub.  I have a pair of non-SDHC true 4GB SD cards in it and an SDIO camera for it that never really worked right.

Pandora CC

I only waited 2.5 years for mine.

Pandora 1Ghz

I managed to get in on the very first batch of these with the wooden box.

Samsung Galaxy Note II

Kind of a diversion in path from the above devices.  I wish there were a device that rolls the capabilities of this and the Pandora together.

 

[moxie]

Haha! That SPH-9000 looks fantastic!

I think the weirdest I got is a Husky Hunter 2. A ruggedised portable CP/M computer from 1984, machined out of a solid block of aluminium (or so it feels). Built to withstand being run over by heavy vehicles. Useful for great comic effect when aficionados of a certain fruity computer company went all "Oooh, I'm getting an aluminium-cased computer Real Soon Now..." . Reply "Oh, one of those. I've had one for a long time." and watch the oh-no-i'm-not-at-the-forefront-of-fruityness-panic wash over their faces

 

[ThinkPad]

They pop up on Ebay once or twice a year.  I've never been able to justify buying one - these days it would be shelfware.

In most ways, the Pandora is a better computer.  I'm betting IBM did a smashing job on the keyboard and case plastics though - Thinkpads from that era are tanks.

Yes, I have no doubt about that If I got one, it would be for the collection - I have this thing for handheld computers in general. Still, I don't "collect" in the obsessed completist way, so I only grab things that I get on the cheap. And I suspect that precludes the PC110

Unfortunately nobody makes devices with that kind of quality anymore. The cheap plastic of the newest W and T Series is a piece of crap compared to the impact resistant polymer of the PC 110 or any other Thinkpad from the IBM era. 

But even with their current quality the newest Thinkpads, Latitudes, Precisions and the Elitebooks are still a perfect example of Fair Trade and their price is not near cheap.

 

[Kumaki]

This is why Apple products and the like are so cheap...there NO FUCKING WAY those are Fair Trade items.

And a lot of Americans don't give a shit, sad to say.  I can't speak for Europeans...but I suspect the attitude is fairly similar (if it's cheap for me, I don't give a shit how they MAKE it cheap for me...whip them little 12-year-old girls and make 'em work 20 hours a day if it saves me a few bucks!!) - which is the basic American attitude, I'm embarrassed to say, being a Yank myself...but one who DOES care about these things.

But for those who do care...that is a selling point for the Pandy.

 

[erico]

Not only americans, everybody in the world goes for cheap for a lot of stuff, hence the topic name.

Fair trade goes nice if you are sitting on a pile of gold, can afford a good health/ education to your kids and won´t worry about rent next month.

People in minimun wage can´t afford anything that could be called fair life. 

 

[TrashyMG]

Unfortunately nobody makes devices with that kind of quality anymore. The cheap plastic of the newest W and T Series is a piece of crap compared to the impact resistant polymer of the PC 110 or any other Thinkpad from the IBM era. 

But even with their current quality the newest Thinkpads, Latitudes, Precisions and the Elitebooks are still a perfect example of Fair Trade and their price is not near cheap.

The keyboards have got worse recently.. I loved the keyboard on my T30 and T60 when I had those issued to me. I have a Lenovo W510 now.. it's not the same it feels smoochy. Although I am impressed with the gaming capability of that laptop.. which is really important in a work issued laptop.


It's also funny that IBM is now issuing Toshiba laptops instead of Lenovo to most employees.

 

[Kumaki]

Not only americans, everybody in the world goes for cheap for a lot of stuff, hence the topic name.

Fair trade goes nice if you are sitting on a pile of gold, can afford a good health/ education to your kids and won´t worry about rent next month.

People in minimun wage can´t afford anything that could be called fair life. 

This is because people working for minimum wage are not getting a fair trade on their labor, either.  This is why a LIVING WAGE needs to be adopted.

As for me...I have no one to leave it to when I die...so I care not for money.  as long as I have my daily bread, as it were...I'm good...and if someone needs it worse than me, hey...have it.  I'm quite serious.  I really have little interest in accumulating great piles of wealth.

It is nice to have enough money to where you CAN be generous like that.  And I'm not sitting on a heap of gold.  I make a respectable living for myself, but it wasn't always that way.

 

[Kumaki]

It's also funny that IBM is now issuing Toshiba laptops instead of Lenovo to most employees.

Huh. You'd THINK they'd give you Lenovo. This is like Michael Dell giving his employees Hewlett-Packard...WTF?

 

[Binky]

Its worrying when a company looses faith in their own products, but it can be good when a big market player dies, as they can make room for new companies for whom (customer!=enemy)

 

[TrashyMG]

Well that's the thing, IBM may have spawned Lenovo, but they've been their own entity for almost a decade.. There hasn't been an IBM logo on a thinkpad a long time.

 

[jp10558]

Hmmm, I had no complaints in the W520 Thinkpad compared to the T60 Thinkpads I've seen, that said, I thought the T42s were tanks. The W520s are about the best laptops I've seen though. Sadly, the 530 series went to the chicklet keyboards that I think suck compared to the traditional "thinkpad" keyboards that were a major selling point... I wish Lenovo would give us a choice

What Toshibas are you looking at? I only ever used the cheapest one Circuit City sold back in 2004, and it lasted OK, but had horrible battery life and wasn't exactly beefy in any way except weight - not that I expected it to be.

 

[TrashyMG]

Honestly I'm not sure what specific Toshiba laptops are being distributed.. I'll have the W510 for at least 2 more years.. by then I'm not sure what I'll be issued.. Since my Job requires a high performance laptop, I'll most likely be issues something similar processing capability hopefully another W series Lenovo still since my job requires such a laptop. From what I gathered the Toshiba laptops are pretty much just getting distributed to employees that just need to check email and use work related web applications. 

 

[ThinkPad]

Thinkpads, Latitudes, Precisions and the Elitebooks are a perfect example of Fair Trade...

Sorry dudes, but for me Pandora is NOT a fair trade. It is over 500 Euros and I can get a W/T series Thinkpad from US (like I did with with my T510 almost 2 years ago) for that kind of money.

 

[Kumaki]

Thinkpads, Latitudes, Precisions and the Elitebooks are a perfect example of Fair Trade...

Sorry dudes, but for me Pandora is NOT a fair trade. It is over 500 Euros and I can get a W/T series Thinkpad from US (like I did with with my T510 almost 2 years ago) for that kind of money.

I think you are missing what is meant by Fair Trade.

What sort of labor is used to produce the Thinkpad, Latitude, Elitebook?  Are the workers who produce them paid a fair wage and given decent working conditions?

Pandora is made by adult German workers, paid a fair wage for their laor, and given decent working conditions.

Many electronic devices are cheap, because they are made in China, using the labor of 12 year old girls forced to work sixteen hours or morre a day in a sweatshop, for pennies an hour.  That is NOT Fair Trade.

That is the difference.  If you want a cheaply-made device, and you consider it Fair Trade, because it is easier on your wallet....well, that is not what is meant by Fair Trade.

What is meant by Fair Trade...is that the product is produced ethically, and the workers who produce it are paid a fair wage for their labor.  This DOES make the price of items go up - you can't compete at the same price point with a sweatshop operator...if you're paying a fair wage.

 

[ThinkPad]

First of all, Pandora quality/usability is not even near to a Latitude.

Second of all, these mobile workstations/high end business laptop are future proof for at least next 5 years.

And third of all,they are at almost the same price in US.

As i said before, I hate to say it, but you want me to spend half of my salary for a device with cheap quality (faulty WiFi and chassis), resistive touchscreen,no TV out option, laggy browsing, no 3G connectivity in 2013 and call it a fair price ?

Sorry but i will pass. Probably I will get it second hand or something but there is no way that I can pay 500+ Euros for it.

So yes, Pandora is Overpriced.

Best regards.