Hello,
I recently purchased a Pandora Rebirth edition. I'm still getting things sorted out on the software end due to my terrible internet connection (americuhhh...), so I can't rightly comment on that yet, but the hardware is quite amazing. However, this post isn't about my general impressions of the Pandora, but rather just the keyboard. The keyboard is really the only notable issue I have with the Pandora (and I'm specifically referring to thumb typing). I bring up the following two things not because I want to complain or condemn, but rather because (a) I hope my constructive criticism may assist in the development of Pandora 2 and ( B) I'm wondering if there are any potential mods I can do to remedy my situation:
(1) an issue: key stiffness
My main issue with the keyboard is that the keys feel quite stiff to me. The amount of force one needs to use to depress a key and the vertical distance that needs to be traveled seems quite excessive for a keyboard. Not only does this slow me down considerably and result in "unreceptive strokes" when compared to other UMPCs, but only after a few days of use I've started re-experiencing RSI symptoms that I haven't been plagued with for some time now. At first I thought this would be a deal breaker for me (it being my primary input interface and all), but afterwards it became clear that there's really no other UMPC that compares to the Pandora when all of its other advantages are taken together--even if you're not a gamer. Still, I can't help but feel I have to convey this concern to the community.
For example, if one compares the keyboard to something like the UMID MBook M1 x86 UMPC (which I also own), there is quite a significant contrast in the stress on the thumbs, the reliability of actually getting a successful key stroke, and the speed at which one can thumb type. This is not to say other aspects of the UMID M1's keyboard aren't questionable, or that there isn't anything I like about the Pandora's keyboard (the secondary function placements on the Pandora seem like they're optimized for command line usage and perhaps even programming, which is a great thing as far as I'm concerned).
So with this said I'm hoping reducing key stiffness will be considered for the Pandora 2.
In addition, does anyone know of any mods that can be done to reduce key stiffness on the Pandora Rebirth Edition?
(2) a recommendation for the Pandora 2 pertaining to the placement of modifier keys:
In just about every keyboard I've come across on a UMPC, the modifier keys (Fn, shift, alt, control) are located in the lower left and right corners. This has always confused me since typing on UMPCs is 99.9% of the time in the form of thumb typing. The lower corners are the most difficult, "damaging," and frustrating places to get to with one's thumbs, and since modifier keys are both (a) used very frequently (due to the inherently limited keyboard space on UMPCs) and ( B) are almost always held until the pressing of another key, putting them in the lower corners is a significant stress on the thumbs.
Of course, this doesn't have to be so. With the aforementioned UMID M1 (keyboard pictured here http://www.ladiesgadgets.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/umid-m1-mini-notebook-computer-available-at-dynamism1.jpg ), I ended up remapping the Escape, Backspace, and =/+ keys to modifier keys. The stress on the fingers was greatly reduced, the speed at which I could type was increased, and the frequency of having to maneuver my fingers into weird contortions was lessened. I've used the UMID M1 this way for several years and I've never looked back.
For this reason, I highly recommend that the design team consider putting the modifier keys immediately below the gamepad controls of the Pandora 2--on the left and right (far enough away that they don't obstruct the gamepad of course). While there may be the concern of making standard "home row" typing considerably more difficult, I have great doubts about the number of people that actually do this, the frequency in which they do it, and the amount of people that are even capable of doing so on such a small device. There is also the criticism that I could personally just remap the modifier keys myself on the Pandora 2 and not bug anyone else with my crazy keyboard layout recommendations, but I honestly think the average person will find themselves better suited this way. I don't think it would be all that confusing to someone accustomed to standard fullsize keyboards to find the modifier keys on the upper left and right rather than the lower left and right.
In a few weeks or so--after I've got the software downloaded and sorted out, I'll put up my general impressions of the Pandora. So far I'm loving the flexibility and range of power consumption options. It just blows my mind when I see an estimated battery life of almost 200 hours in the lower right.
I recently purchased a Pandora Rebirth edition. I'm still getting things sorted out on the software end due to my terrible internet connection (americuhhh...), so I can't rightly comment on that yet, but the hardware is quite amazing. However, this post isn't about my general impressions of the Pandora, but rather just the keyboard. The keyboard is really the only notable issue I have with the Pandora (and I'm specifically referring to thumb typing). I bring up the following two things not because I want to complain or condemn, but rather because (a) I hope my constructive criticism may assist in the development of Pandora 2 and ( B) I'm wondering if there are any potential mods I can do to remedy my situation:
(1) an issue: key stiffness
My main issue with the keyboard is that the keys feel quite stiff to me. The amount of force one needs to use to depress a key and the vertical distance that needs to be traveled seems quite excessive for a keyboard. Not only does this slow me down considerably and result in "unreceptive strokes" when compared to other UMPCs, but only after a few days of use I've started re-experiencing RSI symptoms that I haven't been plagued with for some time now. At first I thought this would be a deal breaker for me (it being my primary input interface and all), but afterwards it became clear that there's really no other UMPC that compares to the Pandora when all of its other advantages are taken together--even if you're not a gamer. Still, I can't help but feel I have to convey this concern to the community.
For example, if one compares the keyboard to something like the UMID MBook M1 x86 UMPC (which I also own), there is quite a significant contrast in the stress on the thumbs, the reliability of actually getting a successful key stroke, and the speed at which one can thumb type. This is not to say other aspects of the UMID M1's keyboard aren't questionable, or that there isn't anything I like about the Pandora's keyboard (the secondary function placements on the Pandora seem like they're optimized for command line usage and perhaps even programming, which is a great thing as far as I'm concerned).
So with this said I'm hoping reducing key stiffness will be considered for the Pandora 2.
In addition, does anyone know of any mods that can be done to reduce key stiffness on the Pandora Rebirth Edition?
(2) a recommendation for the Pandora 2 pertaining to the placement of modifier keys:
In just about every keyboard I've come across on a UMPC, the modifier keys (Fn, shift, alt, control) are located in the lower left and right corners. This has always confused me since typing on UMPCs is 99.9% of the time in the form of thumb typing. The lower corners are the most difficult, "damaging," and frustrating places to get to with one's thumbs, and since modifier keys are both (a) used very frequently (due to the inherently limited keyboard space on UMPCs) and ( B) are almost always held until the pressing of another key, putting them in the lower corners is a significant stress on the thumbs.
Of course, this doesn't have to be so. With the aforementioned UMID M1 (keyboard pictured here http://www.ladiesgadgets.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/umid-m1-mini-notebook-computer-available-at-dynamism1.jpg ), I ended up remapping the Escape, Backspace, and =/+ keys to modifier keys. The stress on the fingers was greatly reduced, the speed at which I could type was increased, and the frequency of having to maneuver my fingers into weird contortions was lessened. I've used the UMID M1 this way for several years and I've never looked back.
For this reason, I highly recommend that the design team consider putting the modifier keys immediately below the gamepad controls of the Pandora 2--on the left and right (far enough away that they don't obstruct the gamepad of course). While there may be the concern of making standard "home row" typing considerably more difficult, I have great doubts about the number of people that actually do this, the frequency in which they do it, and the amount of people that are even capable of doing so on such a small device. There is also the criticism that I could personally just remap the modifier keys myself on the Pandora 2 and not bug anyone else with my crazy keyboard layout recommendations, but I honestly think the average person will find themselves better suited this way. I don't think it would be all that confusing to someone accustomed to standard fullsize keyboards to find the modifier keys on the upper left and right rather than the lower left and right.
In a few weeks or so--after I've got the software downloaded and sorted out, I'll put up my general impressions of the Pandora. So far I'm loving the flexibility and range of power consumption options. It just blows my mind when I see an estimated battery life of almost 200 hours in the lower right.