Room Inside Case

[pimpanation]

Hello, I was wondering how much empty space there is going to be inside the Pandora. I would like to add things like internal bluetooth, and maybe an ir receiver, but this might be impossible if there is not enough free room inside.

 

[Julius]

Mweston has states several times that he is still looking for a place to fit a component. This could of course mean on the PCB, but I guess in a device that small there will not be much open air space.

 

[Firefox]

I'm pretty sure he's also said that any space not taken up by components will be taken up by supports molded into the plastics, to help the solidity of the device.

 

[Chip]

I suspect that there will be very little room in the lower section of the case, but the upper section on either side of the LCD should have enough foom for a few small components. You might even be able to squeeze a small bluetooth chipset in there. You could then run some very thin wires through the hinge and onto the USB solder points.

This is just a guess. Honestly we won't know until the case is finalized and we can see some molds.

 

[plopperz]

I vaguely remember reading something on here about blank areas on the board to solder on your own stuff. Can't find that post again, but if thats true, it would be safe to assume that there would be enough room inside the casing. It was probably just someone's idea, but still a damn good idea.

 

[JerryG20]

Yes, there are pads on the PCB where you can install extra stuff like an external mic, extra buttons, etc. You can just go to openpandora.org and look at the pictures of the PCB and you'll see pads for these features.

 

[crazedover]

Yes, there are pads on the PCB where you can install extra stuff like an external mic, extra buttons, etc. You can just go to openpandora.org and look at the pictures of the PCB and you'll see pads for these features.

Room on the board does not translate to room inside the case.

 

[Vimacs]

well, for stuff like ir and bt it does, cause you need so few room you don't even really go over component height.

 

[JerryG20]

Yes, there are pads on the PCB where you can install extra stuff like an external mic, extra buttons, etc. You can just go to openpandora.org and look at the pictures of the PCB and you'll see pads for these features.

Room on the board does not translate to room inside the case.

My post was in response to the previous poster (PlopperZ); the quote button wasn't working, sorry.

 

[MWeston]

Again, my goal has always been to maximize space usage to get everything in there without a bunch of wasted space. If you look at the PCB pic, you can determine that the battery compartment area takes up all of the length (minus plastic walls) and fits the width in between the USB host connector and the headphone jack. This means that the free space is along the very top (between the three jacks) and there would have been a nice big gap above the SD cards, but that is where the stylus is stored.

There is also some room around the speakers in the lid, but getting many wires up there wouldn't be as easy as the EEE PC since it is much smaller. It might not even be possible. I am only planning for the LCD flex cable and the antenna wire to travel to the lid.

 

[fusion_power]

This means that the free space is along the very top (between the three jacks) and there would have been a nice big gap above the SD cards, but that is where the stylus is stored.

DOes this mean, the Stylus is stored vertical into the Pandora, which means only a 8cm long Stylus is possible? Well, I would Prefer a Stylus over the full wide of 13 cm but I know, the Space into the unit is very rare. ^_^
As long you can also bind the Stylus with a band onto the Pandora, it should be fine. Oh, of course, the Pandora case needs a hole for the band and for a wrist-strap. I haven't seen this onto the renders but I hope the Unit will have such a hole and it could be bigger than the tiny thing into the GP2X Case.

 

[Firefox]

I read it as meaning that the stylus goes in from the left or right side and sits between the SD card readers (the metal cages in the photos of the circuit board) and the keyboard.

 

[fusion_power]

I read it as meaning that the stylus goes in from the left or right side and sits between the SD card readers (the metal cages in the photos of the circuit board) and the keyboard.

Possible, my english is not the best to understand every little detail. ^_^"""""
I thought "Between the SD" was meant in the way between SD1 and SD2 :lol:

Well, with a telescopic Stylus even a shorter depot is possible, of course I mean a better telescopic Stylus than the strange GP2X one, maybe a Stylus with a spring inside? In the way of the modern Telescopic Batons

 

[Tinnus]

It was between "the SD card readers" and "the keyboard" which means it's in the space between "place where the cards go" and "the keyboard".

 

[MWeston]

The stylus is intended to be stored by coming in the side of the unit and running across the length over top of the two SD cards, ending before it runs into the headphone jack. I think I mentioned before that was something like 100mm of length, give or take a bit.