Pandora Startup User Cd?

[Wrath Of Khan]

I know ed has done a nice introduction cd recently so.I think it would be really helpful to have an installation/startup/user cd supplied with each pandora,later batches maybe.For those who want ease of use and are not so good with linux/computers(like me)though i am learning.the pandora can do so much it can be a tad daunting.I know this might seem like an obvious idea but i think it would be important for ease of use.Or maybe just one install/starup/user download guide.Just My 2 cents Any thoughts?

 

[craigix]

A CD? In 2010? The Pandora has no CD drive for a start...

Maybe a download? But then we already have those.

Really the Pandora is easy to use and unbrickable.

 

[Wrath Of Khan]

A CD? In 2010? The Pandora has no CD drive for a start...

Maybe a download? But then we already have those.

Really the Pandora is easy to use and unbrickable.

yeah a download would be better.cds,yeah philips c.d.i R.I.P.

 

[Pleng]

Really the Pandora is easy to use and unbrickable.

Unbrickable I'll give you, but easy to use is subjective. Of course it's gonna be easy for you; you made it and know how it works.

Tell me, how does a user re-arrange icons in the system menu? Or in minimenu? how does a user play doom or quake, or any other game that requires data files? What is a keyring? What do I have to do to make the default XFCE interface touch friendly? How do you reach the OK or cancel buttons on windows that are too big for the screen?

These are things that any average user might be likely to want to do, aside from the last two which they wouldn't expect to have to do (as such an interface should have been shipped with the device, and it's not entirely unreasonable for users to expect apps to be designed with screen size in mind, especially built in configuration tools).

None of these things are easy to do or intuitive for people without knowledge of the workings of the device, or at at the very least some Linux experience.

 

[mali]

The best place for info is the Wiki, which has been improved greatly in the last weeks. Maybe it's possible to put a snapshot of the online user manual on the NAND with a link to the latest Wiki version. I don't think a CD version is necessary. And I also think that the entire first batch should be ok with getting the info online, for now.

 

[Pleng]

Maybe the Pandora menu should have a 'help' option which goes directly to the wiki?

 

[mvickers03]

Really the Pandora is easy to use and unbrickable.

Unbrickable I'll give you, but easy to use is subjective. Of course it's gonna be easy for you; you made it and know how it works.

Tell me, how does a user re-arrange icons in the system menu? Or in minimenu? how does a user play doom or quake, or any other game that requires data files? What is a keyring? What do I have to do to make the default XFCE interface touch friendly? How do you reach the OK or cancel buttons on windows that are too big for the screen?

These are things that any average user might be likely to want to do, aside from the last two which they wouldn't expect to have to do (as such an interface should have been shipped with the device, and it's not entirely unreasonable for users to expect apps to be designed with screen size in mind, especially built in configuration tools).

None of these things are easy to do or intuitive for people without knowledge of the workings of the device, or at at the very least some Linux experience.

Although those are all valid points Pleng it's all on the Wiki and anyone one who comes here looking for help will find it Maybe having a text only version on the NAND would be a good idea like Mali suggested. Just in case you cant get on the net for whatever reason.

 

[Bosbeetle]

There is offcourse still the starters manual that gets you going

 

[BaDToaD]

A CD? In 2010? The Pandora has no CD drive for a start...

Maybe a download? But then we already have those.

Really the Pandora is easy to use and unbrickable.

yeah a download would be better.cds,yeah philips c.d.i R.I.P.

Personally I prefer CDs. That way I can be sure they have been ripped properly

EDIT: LOL just realised we are talking about software... Shuffles off to get coat

 

[WizardStan]

For those who want ease of use and are not so good with linux/computers(like me)though i am learning.the pandora can do so much it can be a tad daunting.

Why don't you explain what you find so daunting about it and maybe they can work to improve it.
Because everything that I've seen about it (except when things go wrong) suggests that it shouldn't be any more difficult than using Windows, and only a little more difficult than using the PSP on account of the need to download stuff to the right directory on your SD card first.

 

[JayFoxRox]

A CD? In 2010? The Pandora has no CD drive for a start...

Maybe a download? But then we already have those.

Really the Pandora is easy to use[\b] and unbrickable.

I disagree.


The pre-installed pidgin and thunar are both buggy and crash frequently and the pre-installed browsers both can't access the app-store properly. As a beginner you are not even told where to put your PNDs and so on. - It's anything but easy to use!

 

[Gerix]

Maybe OPT should sell SD cards with a "Pandora Help for Nubs" PND preinstalled.

 

[MarkoeZ]

A CD? In 2010? The Pandora has no CD drive for a start...

Maybe a download? But then we already have those.

Really the Pandora is easy to use[\b] and unbrickable.

I disagree.

The pre-installed pidgin and thunar are both buggy and crash frequently and the pre-installed browsers both can't access the app-store properly. As a beginner you are not even told where to put your PNDs and so on. - It's anything but easy to use!

I'm going to have to disagree as well.
If it had not been for 2 years of waiting and reading the forum, i would have spent more time on here searching than actually using the pandora when i recieved mine.
Ofcourse, getting a couple of games installed is easy, but to really use the device the way that is possible (and the way you would want to use such a omnipotent piece of equipment), requires quite some knowledge. Again, most of use have been waiting and absorbing information for so long, that we knew much on arrival of ours.

Now thinking possibilities: I think it would be quite useful to make a "New User Download Package". It could contain a new user manual, containing the most useful (general) topics of the wiki, some tutorials and info from the pandorapress site, slap in a bit of forum talk, you get the idea. Just basic stuff. (edit: but structured)
Then add some nice PND's to the package covering all basic uses of the pandora. Latest hotfix, Codec pack, Webbrowser, Messenger (only the programs that are not 100% functional or bug free on the basic install), but maybe also the basic dev tools, and a game (PandoraPanic? /plug ; )

Just a one download package that can get you going. And yes, i am willing to invest time in this, as well as other people i am sure. Just have to get things organised.

My thoughts,

MarkoeZ

 

[mali]

^ Sounds like a great idea, tbh

 

[Wrath Of Khan]

A CD? In 2010? The Pandora has no CD drive for a start...

Maybe a download? But then we already have those.

Really the Pandora is easy to use[\b] and unbrickable.

I disagree.

The pre-installed pidgin and thunar are both buggy and crash frequently and the pre-installed browsers both can't access the app-store properly. As a beginner you are not even told where to put your PNDs and so on. - It's anything but easy to use!

I'm going to have to disagree as well.
If it had not been for 2 years of waiting and reading the forum, i would have spent more time on here searching than actually using the pandora when i recieved mine.
Ofcourse, getting a couple of games installed is easy, but to really use the device the way that is possible (and the way you would want to use such a omnipotent piece of equipment), requires quite some knowledge. Again, most of use have been waiting and absorbing information for so long, that we knew much on arrival of ours.

Now thinking possibilities: I think it would be quite useful to make a "New User Download Package". It could contain a new user manual, containing the most useful (general) topics of the wiki, some tutorials and info from the pandorapress site, slap in a bit of forum talk, you get the idea. Just basic stuff. (edit: but structured)
Then include some nice PND's to the package covering all basic uses of the pandora. Latest hotfix, Codec pack, Webbrowser, Messenger (only the programs that are not 100% functional or bug free on the basic install), but maybe also the basic dev tools, and a game (PandoraPanic? /plug ; )

Just a one download package that can get you going. And yes, i am willing to invest time in this, as well as other people i am sure. Just have to get things organised.

My thoughts,

MarkoeZ

yep this would be it exactly.sounds right.one easy download would be great,especially for second batchers and onwards.I think this would be invaluable and might help push sales a bit more,dare i say.

 

[XxionxX]

I really like this idea. I have been worried that I might mess something up after some of the battery stories surfaced. I have been trying to keep track of the software updates, but I feel like I might have missed some of the important ones. I would really like to have a link to some kind of start up guide because the important stuff seems to be all over the place sometimes. Some general pointers would really help, and by no means would they have to be in paper or CD format. I would much rather have this available online. I know the wiki is helpful, but it is kind of buried with the title "unofficial user manual". I would like a giant red sign saying "THIS IS HOW IT WORKS NOOB! JUST FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS!". I would like to feel like I couldn't go wrong. I am a casual Linux user, and I am not a complete noob, but a properly annotated manual would be helpful. I like the package manager in Ubuntu which updates all of my current software in one pass (which I think you guys already have).

What I am trying to say is that I feel like when I get my Pandora I will have to dig through the forums again trying to find the stuff I wanted to add to my Panda. I know it's not really your problem what I do with my Panda after I get it, but I think it would be good for your business for this kind of stuff to be easy as possible for your users (which you already do a great job of by the way). Most of the stuff is fairly obvious, but like some have discovered with the batteries things can be missed which seemed to be obvious to others.

 

[PokeParadox]

I like the idea of a quickstart pack/disc.

 

[Prometheus]

Now thinking possibilities: I think it would be quite useful to make a "New User Download Package". It could contain a new user manual, containing the most useful (general) topics of the wiki, some tutorials and info from the pandorapress site, slap in a bit of forum talk, you get the idea. Just basic stuff. (edit: but structured)
Then add some nice PND's to the package covering all basic uses of the pandora. Latest hotfix, Codec pack, Webbrowser, Messenger (only the programs that are not 100% functional or bug free on the basic install), but maybe also the basic dev tools, and a game (PandoraPanic? /plug ; )

Just a one download package that can get you going. And yes, i am willing to invest time in this, as well as other people i am sure. Just have to get things organised.

If there's anything I can contribute, I'd like to help with this, too.

 

[gruso]

To supplement this I'll put up a static "first run guide" page on the blog, with a link to said package, and whatever else. I'll have a better idea of the requirements when mine turns up - should be this week.

 

[cosam]

By all means put together a PND but don't forget that one needs to have mastered "Lesson 1: Installing packages" in order to run it! Unless, of course, it ends up in the firmware (something to aim for, I think). Whilst it should definitely be runable on the Pandora, an online/downloadable version for use on the desktop would be a good thing. This frees up the Pandora and therefore lets the user run through the steps described in the guide in real time on the Pandora itself. There's nothing worse than sitting through an explanation of something and then, when you finally get to try it out, forgetting where to start...

Maybe include some simple tools like an SD-prep tool (yeah, it only needs to make a couple of directories but every little helps).

But CD-ROMs are dead? I guess someone better e-mail all the major electronics manufacturers and let them know. Everything you buy comes with a CD (I even got a mini CD with an SD card I bought!) and for good reasons. Yes, the content is relatively quickly outdated, but they cost pennies to make and you don't need an Internet connection to make them work. There'd even be plenty of space for a full known-good firmware image and a restore tool for emergencies.