Some questions about the Pandora


B

Björn

Guest
Hi,

i'm interested in buying one next month, but i read about some problems with the device that i like to know about.

1. There were many reports about the faulty WLAN module (bad signal, connection loss etc.). Does this problem affect many units, or is it just on some of them?

2. Also i've read that some cases get cracks over time or the battery hatch becomes loose. Do you have this problems yourself?

3. There were also some people that had a problem with the battery not charging properly. They said that it won't charge until 100% . Is it a problem that was fixed in the new units or is this problem still present?

Greetings

Björn
 
1. I have several Pandoras and the WLAN works on all of them, but speed varies. Usually not a big issue as I have a small USB Wifi dongle that works very well if I really want fast wifi.

2. Never had any cracks problem, but I have heard of people who had. Probably less frequent on recent unit (silver casing)

3. Never had problem with batteries so far, on several batteries and several Pandoras. Honestly why people get this issue is a mystery, and maybe it is due to battery defects. I believe it's quite rare.
 
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Hej Björn, where are you from? :)

Mostly what Ekianjo said. Wifi is somewhat hit and miss between units. Some (like me) have more or less no problems, most units (I think) work fairly well, and some have units that are more or less nonfunctional. The reason for this isn't entirely clear, but it seems like it is dependent on your wifi environment as well. That is, how many accesspoints there are in your vincinity, maybe what channels are used, and possibly individual router brands. 

With regards to the case plastic, I have had no problems with cracks on either of my two cases (I had one of the CC units that developed a screen cable fault, and so when I repaired it I upgraded to a rebirth unit). And I do treat them rather roughly.

No battery problems, either. The charging amount does vary, so some mornings when I check it it is on maybe 90% or 85%, but there are a lot of variables in there (When in the charge-stop charging-charge cycle did I pick it up, what is the temperature, did I charge with the charger or the USB port, not to mention did the software read it right, and so on) I haven't noticed any lasting ill effects on my battery time after at least two years of use, at least.
 
Hi,

thanks for your replies.

@Moxie I'm from south-Germany. Did my english give it away? ^^

We have a FritzBox at home. From what i've read, the Wifi should be compatible with that. I was reading many of the forum topics yesterday, and got really unsure if i should buy one, because of all the issues. Another question that came to my mind is: Is the LCD cable a weak spot? There were some people that talked about replacing it. Or again, is it just on a few devices?

Aside from that, i would really like to get one of those, because it looks like a very lovely device.

Greetings

Björn
 
Nah, I just thought Björn was a very swedish-sounding name :)

You should remember when reading the forums that here are collected more or less all questions and problems from years back and until now. So if you're going to check for, say, Purple Tint Of Death, you will find lots and lots of hits. Most of them will be rather old, though :)

This applies in particular to cracks in the case and PTOD. Both are problems that were more common in the beginning, and has been adressed by changes in the production. The LCD cable used to be a bit fragile, so ED changed supplier to someone with better quality control. Same thing with the cracks in the cases - The first cases (in black plastic) had a more fragile plastic mix. The case nowadays (silvery-colored) has been modified slightly, both in the plastic mix and (if I'm not confused) the actual shape in a few critical places, so that the problem nowadays is a lot smaller. 

I would not hesitate to get one. The one particular remaining problem is with the wifi, which (as we said above) can be a bit shaky. Or not, varying between units. Apart from that, it is indeed a lovely device :D
 
I have had 5 Pandoras and 4 cracked in different areas for no reason....but it is a fabulous device. You should buy one but just beware this is a potential problem.

The one I own now is as good as it gets ...knock on wood.

I wish you luck.
 
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Hi,

Well i think i'll take a risk and get one, then. Let's just hope that i don't have to repair something, because i kind of suck at that. Every time i attempted to repair something i break it even more xD . I'm more into software, than hardware.

@Moxie: My name is from some nordic country, but it was also popular in germany for some time.
 
Well i think i'll take a risk and get one, then. Let's just hope that i don't have to repair something, because i kind of suck at that. 
Good on you :) And since you live within Germany, you have ED within post-office reach, so if something should fail, you can just send it to him :D
 
I have had 5 Pandoras and 4 cracked in different areas for no reason....but it is a fabulous device. You should buy one but just beware this is a potential problem.


The one I own now is as good as it gets ...knock on wood.


I wish you luck.
I have three, only my first batch unit in the old casing has cracked. my rebirth unit (old case) and 1Ghz (platinum case) have shown no signs of cracking.
 
Yes, i was pleased to see that it gets produced in germany. I'm looking forward to get my money in a month and ordering one^^. Thanks for your help, i was not expecting to get such a quick response.
 
Well, to get hard figures:

153.9 KB/sec  Internal Wifi

196.9 KB/sec TP-Link TL-WN821N (requires /lib/firmware/carl9170-1.fw to run)

2058.6 KB/sec LogiLink USB 2.0 to Fast Ethernet Adapter

( Ive got a cheap and slow internet ;)   )

As for the cracks, yeah, got one at delivery (next to the USB) and one I made myself, by dropping the Pandora about 1 meter. I must admit it is not the best plastic, but the components are rocksolid. And it has fallen 3 times already, so yeah... not that bad.

My battery hatches are ok, the battery slips, and I adjust it with small pieces of foam inside the battery compartment.

3. There were also some people that had a problem with the battery not charging properly. They said that it won't charge until 100% . Is it a problem that was fixed in the new units or is this problem still present?

Ah, for that install the system info pnd file, As you can see, there is an algorithm for "fullness". I can still charge my battery above the 100%, close to the amount that it could handle when new, but its not recommended (you know, old batteries can not handle the same amount of energy...). Just leave it plugged until the charging light goes off.

Then there is the small bug that when the charching is done, the Pandora goes in working mode, the display goes 100% on, even with the closed lid. When you notice, some time has gone by and the battery started discharching a while ago... I have a script that sleeps the pandora (shutdown is not possible, when the charge cable is plugged) once it detects it is not charching. Ill make an effort to put it in a pnd, its handy.

http://repo.openpandora.org/files/pnd/sysinfo.wb/screenshot-battery.png
 
Well, to get hard figures:

153.9 KB/sec  Internal Wifi

196.9 KB/sec TP-Link TL-WN821N (requires /lib/firmware/carl9170-1.fw to run)

2058.6 KB/sec LogiLink USB 2.0 to Fast Ethernet Adapter

( Ive got a cheap and slow internet ;)   )

As for the cracks, yeah, got one at delivery (next to the USB) and one I made myself, by dropping the Pandora about 1 meter. I must admit it is not the best plastic, but the components are rocksolid. And it has fallen 3 times already, so yeah... not that bad.

My battery hatches are ok, the battery slips, and I adjust it with small pieces of foam inside the battery compartment.

3. There were also some people that had a problem with the battery not charging properly. They said that it won't charge until 100% . Is it a problem that was fixed in the new units or is this problem still present?

Ah, for that install the system info pnd file, As you can see, there is an algorithm for "fullness". I can still charge my battery above the 100%, close to the amount that it could handle when new, but its not recommended (you know, old batteries can not handle the same amount of energy...). Just leave it plugged until the charging light goes off.

Then there is the small bug that when the charching is done, the Pandora goes in working mode, the display goes 100% on, even with the closed lid. When you notice, some time has gone by and the battery started discharching a while ago... I have a script that sleeps the pandora (shutdown is not possible, when the charge cable is plugged) once it detects it is not charching. Ill make an effort to put it in a pnd, its handy.

http://repo.openpandora.org/files/pnd/sysinfo.wb/screenshot-battery.png
When did you get your Pandora? Was it one of the old cases, or the new, silver one?
 
Using a Fritzbox myself here, I get about 300-500kB/s. Just downloaded World of Padman (1GB) with PNDManager over internal Wifi today :)
 
Wifi works fine with me, I get the same speed on my Pandora as on other devices like my laptop (~500 KB/s, on a FritzBox AP too) - only I get slightly less range on my Pandora than on my laptop. I get the same range as with my ipad or with my wife's smartphone: one floor away from the AP is fine, two floors away is too far.

As for the cracks: I have a Rebirth unit with an old case (black one), and it has some cracks in the case, all of them are only cosmetic and don't threaten the structural integrity of the device. They are also barely noticeable unless you look very closely.
 
Concerning the battery: my unit was sent with two 4000mAh batteries (written on the battery label). The screenshot posted above indicates a similar battery. Several tools (like _wb_'s wonderful system info in the screenshot) provide measurement relative to a slightly larger capacity (4240mAh) and therefore will typically not show 100%.
 
@Bjorn: When did you get your Pandora? Was it one of the old cases, or the new, silver one?

Uh, last year. New silver, but it was a preorder upgrade, so I cant really complain. I bought a second one, full price, as backup (and to support ED). That one is impeccable. Still mint, battery in the freezer.

As for durability, I use it every day, for music, talkshows, tracking my gasoline usage, todo list, and other unorthodox things, like powering my plasma ball, or showing off my electronic microscope (which, to be honest, looks better on a bigger screen, but hey... a portable electronic microscope setup) and keeping it on my desk as a flipclock
 
Actually a fresh new battery will typically have a capacity that is quite a bit more than what it is supposed to have. The Pandora battery has a design capacity of 4.2 Ah (the label may say 4 Ah but that's probably just to have some extra margin), but a new battery can typically be charged to maybe 4.5 or even 4.7 Ah. However, like all batteries, the Pandora battery slowly loses capacity with each recharge cycle. So after some amount of use, a battery will degrade to a max capacity of 3.7 Ah or lower. The percentages you typically see are relative to the estimated max capacity of the battery; if the estimate of the max capacity is not accurate, you may be able to get more than 100% (although most tools will not show that, and keep showing 100% instead) or you may not be able to reach 100%. This is nothing to really worry about.

Tools that report the battery charge get their numbers from a small battery gauge chip on the Pandora PCB which monitors the amount of current and voltage going in and out of your battery. That chip uses weird methods to try to estimate how much charge the battery currently holds, and what its current max capacity is. Sometimes the battery gauge gets things wrong, and then the values it reports are also wrong. In any case it will never report negative values or values larger than what it thinks is the max capacity. You can use a tool like my system info tool to try to find out the real state of your battery - as long as you keep my tool running, it kind of "independently" monitors your battery (it uses information from the gauge chip, but only really trusts its ampere and volt measurements, not its reported mAh values) and may go below "0%" and over "100%", so by keeping logs and plotting them you can get an idea of the real capacity of your battery. In any case the battery capacity will be very satisfactory.

A battery that really does not charge well, needs replacement. If it's normal wear and tear (every battery has a limited lifetime), you'll have to buy it yourself. If the battery never worked well at all, it's a production problem and ED will most likely replace it for free.

tl;dr: I wouldn't worry about the Pandora battery. It never hurts to order a spare one though.
 
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