Review with Praise


bismuthdrummer

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May 13, 2011
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First off, I'm not going to give too in-depth of a review as the 1 GHz are almost identical to the standard models, and I've voiced my opinion more than enough on what I like and don't like.

I want to give some praises. The Open Pandora team put some hard work into making improvements, and for those who don't yet have their marvelous units it's difficult to know the improvements that they will also be getting. Those of us who were lucky to get the black units know the differences now, so let me enumerate the good things I noticed.

  • The silver casing.
    Right now the Pandora looks 10X more impressive than the previous black Pandora -- from most angles. The only nagging bit about it still is the plastic imperfections that are obvious to everyone. But the choice of gunmetal silver was dead on. It shines so well that it literally almost looks semi-glossy, and the build quality feels so SO much better. Hopefully no cracking issues arise like with the black plastic, but we will see. In any case, great work OPT.
     
  • 1 GHz.
    Perhaps it is obvious but the decision to test run the newer processor was a sound one. Literally the experience becomes smooth as a desktop with hardware-accelerated software like Openbox and Firefox. Less slowdowns and stalls, and the general tasks feel more brisk, enhancing the immersion. For those who can afford it, the 1 GHz is most certainly worth the extra cash.
     
  • Wifi/Bluetooth LED.
    Maybe I missed the announcement somewhere, but the radio lights are now orange! Small thing, but much more attractive than red, which already is used for power anyway. Nice job guys.
  • The external speakers.
    Better! They actually play the bass end and as a result have much fuller sound. (Tested more closely, and I changed my mind. They sound the same.)
  • Bigger carrying case.
    As Craig promised, I can confirm he wasn't making shit up about getting more room in this case. Not that anyone suggested it, mind you, just the sense of false reassurance creeping in. Well, he was right. There is more room now, it is a perfectly comfortable fit. Here is photographic evidence of the good work:

    The carrying case on the left has been stretched after months of use, and still it is tighter than the brand new cases.
    DSCN2201.jpg
  • Official Pandora box (package).
    This makes such a difference in terms of professionalism, it's unbelievable. Before the units just shipped in a box with each component in bubble wrap, and they were well-packaged but it felt like buying stuff off eBay. Now you're starting to build an official image, every step towards this goal counts. Although only existing customers will see the box until you start stocking some retail shelves, perhaps the friends of buyers will be more affected now.
A few constructive criticisms:

  • The screen is an inferior model.
    I understand that the other model no longer has manufacturers that we know of, but I feel it's worth reiterating that it is indeed darker (though not too bad), and for me it doesn't sense some of my touches with the stylus. The screen on my black Pandora is brighter and much more responsive in comparison. Of course I can swap my two screens, and I might do that, but I'm talking in general project terms.
  • The 1 GHz uses more power.
    I did some comparisons, and so far as I can tell, when it is clocked the same at 600 MHz, same OPP level of 3, screen all the way off, and all the startup services are the same as my CC Pandora, the 1 GHz unit uses like 20% more power (-150 mA on the black versus -180 mA on the silver, reporting off the battery in the terminal). I don't recall this being forecasted, a technical explanation as to why would be nice. Maybe it's the extra RAM? If so then all newer units would exhibit this, and this is fine. I am guessing there's more to this, however.
  • The nubs seem to have calibration issues.
    My black unit can go all day without problems, but it seems that a little after booting up or resetting the nubs on my new unit, a random direction on the movement nub will get unbearably slow. Both nubs exhibit this problem, I did try switching the directional to the right nub.
  • Not so much criticism as a request: can we get Openbox into the default OS as one of the options? It's really stellar... good work to freamon there.
Again, thank you all for your very hard work.
 
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Great review bismuthdrummer!


(my previous pandora, just sent in, was called bismuth btw! :D )


Nice to hear about the carry-case, totally forgot about this and I hope ED is sending one with my upgrade :) (Jacquelyn forgot to tell him I had accessories ..)


I think the 'Official Pandora box' is only for units sent from Craig? I won't expect it, but seen it in video and indeed looks very special and unique :)


Unfortunate to hear about the screen, power-use and nubs though. Hopefully the latter two can be fixed.


Looking forward to recieve my upgrade and play with Openbox!


(does it work well with the pnd-system? in menu and the desktop)
 
  1. Wifi/Bluetooth LED.
    Maybe I missed the announcement somewhere, but the radio lights are now orange! Small thing, but much more attractive than red, which already is used for power anyway. Nice job guys.
Actually the old lights were orange to, but a reddish orange. You have to actually turn on the WiFi and have the Pandora on a charger to see it, but the lights aren't both the same color. I didn't believe this until ED pointed it out to me. I like the brighter orange much more!


Nice mini-review!
 
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Looking forward to recieve my upgrade and play with Openbox!


(does it work well with the pnd-system? in menu and the desktop)

Yes, it even comes with the fancy Warlock bar built in. There's a few issues but once resolved we could include it, it is very lightweight. Good luck to your Pandora btw.

Actually the old lights were orange to, but a reddish orange. You have to actually turn on the WiFi and have the Pandora on a charger to see it, but the lights aren't both the same color. I didn't believe this until ED pointed it out to me. I like the brighter orange much more!

Interesting! Amd yeah same, I wonder why they didn't include a blue LED? I remember seeing a demo unit that had one.
 
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Just received a silver 1Ghz Edition to replace my black Rebirth Edition (which is getting donated to the cause) and agree with bismuthdrummer's comparisons--the case is fantastic, the extra speed is nice, and the LCD is disappointing but only in contrast to the previous LCD.


I had some initial issues with the 1Ghz unit but they were resolved by running firmware update (SuperZaxxon Updater in the Repos). One of the benefits of the PND systems was being able to simply move my SD cards over and I had all my apps & media instantly. A few Xfce tweaks and I had everything the same as my previous environment. Also, I was able to improve responsiveness of LCD by carefully recalibrating the touchscreen.


I live in the US and ordered from ithic.com shop and everything went smooth. Ground shipping was included in the price and I received the unit within days after ordering even though I live in Alaska.
 
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