those projected keyboards are shit. How are you going to write an email or document or code on the train with that? No way. I like the mockup for the ds2 but without the lower screen. Put a decent keyboard there and I am buying! Just looks slick but honestly, I don't care if it looks as slick as that mockup... I want the pandora because it's a mobile hackstation. I don't need another psp clone or shit like that.
Pandora's Design
- Thread starter Nova
- Start date
Sphinxter
Says What?
Just a thought, just looks so damn 1337, I may have to buy one anyway.
ed: I meant buy the laser thing, I'm buying a pandora whatever you mount it in or even if it's just the naked board.
ed: I meant buy the laser thing, I'm buying a pandora whatever you mount it in or even if it's just the naked board.
nickspoon
vultum stultum habes
Not sure if this has been mentioned, but I feel having the space bar shoved over to the right is very awkward and could result in a lot of typinglikethis by accident.
wow, such negative comments found here! I got the gp2x, and was pleased to find an enclosed info sheet on openpandora. And then flowed onto here to read a bit on it.
You know- the more people nit-pick at something, it will never be finished. Devices come and go, the ones that stay are made from improvements of existing tech.
The DS is just a remake of the old game and watch handhelds, the PSP is a mix between a gameboy advance and a playstation and media player... it takes bits from each one, but not all of them quite fit together.
Don't get me wrong here, the psp is pretty good, but for things like web-browsing, or just being portable for being on-the-go its not so great because of the battery and the big scratch-prone screen.
The DS is perfect as a handheld, battery is long, clamshell design is great as you can use it in a variety of ways.
If Nintendo were to move on, they would take what they had with the DS and improve it. And as such they came out with the DS lite. The PSP just became lighter and a bit slimmer with tv-out and the speakers moved from the bottom to the top centre (and the buttons are nicer to press).
I found that the GP2X's Dpad is a bit harsh on the edges, so rolling your thumb around it in games like ThunderForce IV and Streets of Rage can be a bit annoying as its not as fluid as other Dpads. You just can't beat Nintendo's Dpad.
Analog sliders etc have been useless on the PSP, so having analog on the Pandora would also be silly, i mean, I always end up resorting to the DPad anyways, and I doubt that many people will use analog for emulators.. At least have one analog and one rollerball... not two analogs... If the pandora can encorporate a touch-screen like the gp2x then FPS games would be a treat on a touch-screen.
Besides, analog is about precision - and if you have analog on a small screen, you end up losing alot of that precision. You just can't beat a bit of "point and shoot" and I reckon that a touch-screen would be better than analogs cluttering up the design.
When you use two analogs, you have little finger-space left for other actions except move and strafe. Jump with left trigger, shoot with right... what about pick up, open, rifle-butt...? Touch-screen is much better imo. A nice little roller-ball would be cool, if it had a push in to reveal, push in to hide function, the outside of the rollerball could form as some sort of circular dPad...
The clamshell design is perfect for the pandora, nothing worse than the PSP being so big and shiny that you can't just close it and slip it into your bad, you HAVE to have a pouch of some sort..
Overall, the design is pretty hot. But that keyboard...
If I had the job of designing the Pandora, I would have these features -
Clamshell design
top (lid) has the screen
Bottom lid has the speakers
a nice d Pad like the one on the fat DS.
the analog sticks can be removed by a push and twist technique, and you can replace them with a rollerball device or have one rollerball, one analog... etc. Customise the controls a bit.
The bottom has a touch-panel which you can slide a custom card underneath which you can print off on some photopaper. For example, for a CaSTaway emulator, you can print out a keyboard in the style of an atari keyboard.
I think this would be good, much better than a regular keyboard. You won't have to worry about the membranes in the buttons wearing out, or the letters fading away. And as it is a touch-panel, it can have more than one use.
If you are playing an FPS game, you can drag a stylus over it and use it to aim. If you want to use it as a keyboard you can flip a switch to turn the touch-panel into "grid mode" where you can't drag smoothly over it like a pointer, in grid mode you use it to type letters like a keyboard and grid mode will make it easier to enter text. and to put it back on pointermode, simply slide the switch.
Something like this will be much better than a keyboard. Everything else is great. A keyboard only has a few uses, and a touch-panel would be ideal. Especially on a portable device. People will come up with some great apps for the gp2x touch-screen, so without a touch-panel the pandora will be missing out on a LOAD of apps. Lets face it, DS emulation is a way off yet, and with R4 cards being so great - its pointless to emulate a DS at the moment.
For me, a touch panel on the bottom would be perfect. Kinda like a touch-panel on a laptop. But with a switch on the side of it so you can change how it works, slide mode lets you be precise with a pointer, grid mode lets you use it like a keyboard, and you can slide in custom grid-cards underneath.
Plus - a touch-panel is better than a tiny keyboard because with a clamshell design - you end up having the keys marking the screen over time when its closed.
And not only that - but if you had the touch-screen (instead of a touch-panel) on a large screen like on the pandora, you will more than likely scratch it. So a touch panel is better all-round, imo.
Well, thats my idea anyways. I think that a keyboard that small will not really be useful that much, so having it be both a keyboard and a touch-panel will give it more uses. Plus, make it look a little nicer
But hey, lets hope it all works out for the best!! Im sure its going to be good.
You know- the more people nit-pick at something, it will never be finished. Devices come and go, the ones that stay are made from improvements of existing tech.
The DS is just a remake of the old game and watch handhelds, the PSP is a mix between a gameboy advance and a playstation and media player... it takes bits from each one, but not all of them quite fit together.
Don't get me wrong here, the psp is pretty good, but for things like web-browsing, or just being portable for being on-the-go its not so great because of the battery and the big scratch-prone screen.
The DS is perfect as a handheld, battery is long, clamshell design is great as you can use it in a variety of ways.
If Nintendo were to move on, they would take what they had with the DS and improve it. And as such they came out with the DS lite. The PSP just became lighter and a bit slimmer with tv-out and the speakers moved from the bottom to the top centre (and the buttons are nicer to press).
I found that the GP2X's Dpad is a bit harsh on the edges, so rolling your thumb around it in games like ThunderForce IV and Streets of Rage can be a bit annoying as its not as fluid as other Dpads. You just can't beat Nintendo's Dpad.
Analog sliders etc have been useless on the PSP, so having analog on the Pandora would also be silly, i mean, I always end up resorting to the DPad anyways, and I doubt that many people will use analog for emulators.. At least have one analog and one rollerball... not two analogs... If the pandora can encorporate a touch-screen like the gp2x then FPS games would be a treat on a touch-screen.
Besides, analog is about precision - and if you have analog on a small screen, you end up losing alot of that precision. You just can't beat a bit of "point and shoot" and I reckon that a touch-screen would be better than analogs cluttering up the design.
When you use two analogs, you have little finger-space left for other actions except move and strafe. Jump with left trigger, shoot with right... what about pick up, open, rifle-butt...? Touch-screen is much better imo. A nice little roller-ball would be cool, if it had a push in to reveal, push in to hide function, the outside of the rollerball could form as some sort of circular dPad...
The clamshell design is perfect for the pandora, nothing worse than the PSP being so big and shiny that you can't just close it and slip it into your bad, you HAVE to have a pouch of some sort..
Overall, the design is pretty hot. But that keyboard...
If I had the job of designing the Pandora, I would have these features -
Clamshell design
top (lid) has the screen
Bottom lid has the speakers
a nice d Pad like the one on the fat DS.
the analog sticks can be removed by a push and twist technique, and you can replace them with a rollerball device or have one rollerball, one analog... etc. Customise the controls a bit.
The bottom has a touch-panel which you can slide a custom card underneath which you can print off on some photopaper. For example, for a CaSTaway emulator, you can print out a keyboard in the style of an atari keyboard.
I think this would be good, much better than a regular keyboard. You won't have to worry about the membranes in the buttons wearing out, or the letters fading away. And as it is a touch-panel, it can have more than one use.
If you are playing an FPS game, you can drag a stylus over it and use it to aim. If you want to use it as a keyboard you can flip a switch to turn the touch-panel into "grid mode" where you can't drag smoothly over it like a pointer, in grid mode you use it to type letters like a keyboard and grid mode will make it easier to enter text. and to put it back on pointermode, simply slide the switch.
Something like this will be much better than a keyboard. Everything else is great. A keyboard only has a few uses, and a touch-panel would be ideal. Especially on a portable device. People will come up with some great apps for the gp2x touch-screen, so without a touch-panel the pandora will be missing out on a LOAD of apps. Lets face it, DS emulation is a way off yet, and with R4 cards being so great - its pointless to emulate a DS at the moment.
For me, a touch panel on the bottom would be perfect. Kinda like a touch-panel on a laptop. But with a switch on the side of it so you can change how it works, slide mode lets you be precise with a pointer, grid mode lets you use it like a keyboard, and you can slide in custom grid-cards underneath.
Plus - a touch-panel is better than a tiny keyboard because with a clamshell design - you end up having the keys marking the screen over time when its closed.
And not only that - but if you had the touch-screen (instead of a touch-panel) on a large screen like on the pandora, you will more than likely scratch it. So a touch panel is better all-round, imo.
Well, thats my idea anyways. I think that a keyboard that small will not really be useful that much, so having it be both a keyboard and a touch-panel will give it more uses. Plus, make it look a little nicer
But hey, lets hope it all works out for the best!! Im sure its going to be good.
Yrx
the Happy Conqueror
It's tough to type when you can't feel the buttons. Touching the screen won't be an issue if the case is done right.
I think something like this would be more user-friendly, better looking and more successful outside the gp2x niche market:
http://homepromotion.nl/Portable.html
http://homepromotion.nl/Portable.html
Chip
[Insert Custom Title Here]
The side-space thing is all the rage these days:nickspoon said:
Having used a cell phone for a while that had a similar keyboard layout, I can say that you do adapt quickly. It will not be an issue for most people.
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yodaofborg
Assimilated you will be!
So does that mean space to the side is retro-fashion?
Sphinxter
Says What?
Positive proof that if you wait long enough everything comes back in style and there's nothing new under the sun.
Dubya'
Member
At first I really disliked the design, but it kind of grows on you. A crimson top half with a black bottom half would be an attractive combination, as it is with my DS Lite.
Dead Ghost
Still Fresh
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2007
- Messages
- 26
Why can't you do a flip flop screen like this one: http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=11127
?
?
Magnulus
Death of Rats!
3Designer said:
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magicman5421
TASTY SNACKS
Dead Ghost said:
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Magnulus
Death of Rats!
Well, you called it better looking and said it would probably be more successful than the Pandora's current design, so I kind of just assumed that you thought your design was pretty good. Personally, I just find the Pandora's design to be more simple and to the point without too much in the way of fanciful design choices like the spikes and stuff on your machine, and as a consumer, that appeals more to me. Your design would probably work great for a different machine in a different time. I would have loved it back in the eighties, as I said.3Designer said:
However, the Pandora will be wanting the attention of people who find the iPod, DS Lite and... other thingies with as clean design as possible. All the Pandora needs is some pretty-looking branding on the cover, and it'll be all set to emerge looking all kinds of fit. And simple. It could maybe have benefited from a single signature line or something across the back, kind of like the Coca Cola wave, but just a logo would be fine by me.
I can see what you mean about the keyboard, though. There is a chance that the general populace would have preferred a machine with a slide-out keyboard or something like that. Personally, I think it's worth a shot. We'll see when the Pandora II comes if people have been complaining about the lap-top styling of it. Personally, I enjoy it.
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chris_r
Active Member
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2004
- Messages
- 745
Just a quick question. I keep seeing posts every now and again saying that a modification to the design is in the works but I can't find any posts to say that the design has been changed.
Is the design we see now the final design or is that still being developed? And also what things are being changed? (I think the keyboard needs a huge overhaul, aesthetically and ergonomically)
Is the design we see now the final design or is that still being developed? And also what things are being changed? (I think the keyboard needs a huge overhaul, aesthetically and ergonomically)
I don't fully agree with the design but the machine seems interesting overall. But I think ergonomics of the design is a lot more important than the aesthetic part and this seems something isn't even mentioned about the actual design.
Are ergonomics being taken into consideration in a unprofessional way? I mean contracting an ergonomics expert, so he can modify the design and being comfortable to use for people.
Other thing is that some people say this device seems to big and over complex design. I'm scared of being a really good hardware but failing in the design area, that's what made other very good devices to fail in the market.
About the material of the box, I would like carbon fiber. I don't know if it's expensive or not, but it's lightweight and quite resistant. It seems like is starting to replace steel and other more heavy materials.
Are ergonomics being taken into consideration in a unprofessional way? I mean contracting an ergonomics expert, so he can modify the design and being comfortable to use for people.
Other thing is that some people say this device seems to big and over complex design. I'm scared of being a really good hardware but failing in the design area, that's what made other very good devices to fail in the market.
About the material of the box, I would like carbon fiber. I don't know if it's expensive or not, but it's lightweight and quite resistant. It seems like is starting to replace steel and other more heavy materials.
WoD
Member
http://www.dxdec.com/wod/ZodiacDS.jpg
Something along the lines of that would do me, with the bottom screen being a keyboard.
Net result is:
1) Raised game controls on the outer edge of the device for gaming.
2) Thumb board in the middle of the device that can also be used with fingers by sitting it on a desk.
3) Slide and flip screen that can be closed to protect it from damage or opened, flipped, and closed to hide the keyboard and make the device appear to be a pure gaming machine.
Obviously my design is far from perfect and is based on the old Tapwave Zodiac aesthetic. This does want to make me break out firefox and start concepting again though!
Something along the lines of that would do me, with the bottom screen being a keyboard.
Net result is:
1) Raised game controls on the outer edge of the device for gaming.
2) Thumb board in the middle of the device that can also be used with fingers by sitting it on a desk.
3) Slide and flip screen that can be closed to protect it from damage or opened, flipped, and closed to hide the keyboard and make the device appear to be a pure gaming machine.
Obviously my design is far from perfect and is based on the old Tapwave Zodiac aesthetic. This does want to make me break out firefox and start concepting again though!
Shirohagen
Brutal Deluxe
It's a bit square and clunky but there's an awful lot of thought behind how it's been organised, so it's easy to comment on what we'd like, but I reckon the current design will at least work well, and ticks the boxes.
Would prefer all the buttons, pads etc to be as similarly coloured as possible to the shell, so it's all nice and uniform, nothing outlined or made a contrasting colour to stand out, kind of like the PSP. (apart form the Dpad!)
I'd like to see the LEDs on the top of the hinge so they are visible when the machine is closed.
The keyboard should be done very carefully, it looks like you might press keys with parts of your hands when using the gamepads. Also the lettering on the keyboard should be smaller and subtle.
Make sure nothing contacts the screen when it is shut.
Why are all the ports off-centre on the front? Probably down to the circuitry inside, but the wonkiness of that is sure to annoy me!
A great prototype though, very promising...
®
Would prefer all the buttons, pads etc to be as similarly coloured as possible to the shell, so it's all nice and uniform, nothing outlined or made a contrasting colour to stand out, kind of like the PSP. (apart form the Dpad!)
I'd like to see the LEDs on the top of the hinge so they are visible when the machine is closed.
The keyboard should be done very carefully, it looks like you might press keys with parts of your hands when using the gamepads. Also the lettering on the keyboard should be smaller and subtle.
Make sure nothing contacts the screen when it is shut.
Why are all the ports off-centre on the front? Probably down to the circuitry inside, but the wonkiness of that is sure to annoy me!
A great prototype though, very promising...
®
