The perfect Pandora needs...

[Farox]

Are folks really walking with a Pandora in their pocket? Is it really that important....? I may have done that a few times - in my jacket -, but I would gladly sacrifice the convenience for a superior device.

Me too

 

[TrashyMG]

^ Well I still want a handheld device, not a netbook with game controls.

And yes I do carry it around either in my inside jacket pocket in the winter time or when I wear cargo pants. 

 

[moxie]

Constantly in a pocket. Jacket pocket, cargo pant pocket or, in a pinch, an ordinary trouser pocket. But yes, the size is very important.

 

[Farox]

Well I still want a handheld device, not a netbook with game controls.

Ok me too..but i think having a 5.5'' or 6'' screen is something really positive for reading and surfing the web , or using some xfce apps ..and enlarge the case about some millimeter did not destroy portability.

 

[Fzero]

Pandora fits in my work trouser pockets along with my phone no problem, though the paint does seem to rub grubby marks against the back of my HTCOne's metal back ... but can rub them off easy enough with my finger so not bothered about that.

I got me one of these for the winter, plenty pockets [11 of them], and outside of work hours Pandora is to reside there when not resting in my palm

http://www.scottevest.com/v3_store/40_hoodie.shtml

 

[b_o_b]

I don't care that much for pocketability, so 7" would be my favorite size. I think the Pandora has matured from a retrogaming gadget to a small multifunctional laptop and P2 could replace all my other devices.

The bigger it gets the more other stuff I can stop using (e.g. my 7" tablet and 10" notebook)..

I agree with Farox that 6" is still very small and could be considered pocketable. But I also carried my 7 inch tablet in one of my jackets with large pocket so you could call that pocketable as well.

Still don't see the need to carry it in a pocket, but that is probably because I am no student or train/bus traveller anymore.

Hmm... now I think of it... even then I probably wouldn't have cared about pocket ability because I was always carrying a small backpack

 

[Hồng Thất Công]

Maybe ED makes the base of P2 separable from the screen.  ED then makes different screen sizes from 5" to 10" so users can pick whatever screen size they want.

 

[rohezal]

A bit offtopic but:

The Pandora was the first linux i know normal people could work with. The pnd manager appstore (ok no touchscreen but hey), the intuitive controlls. I think a normal Linux Distro based on the Pandora would be nice. A lot of newbie people would start with it and it would "just work".

 

[hedwards]

Are folks really walking with a Pandora in their pocket? Is it really that important....? I may have done that a few times - in my jacket -, but I would gladly sacrifice the convenience for a superior device.

Me too

These don't fit easily into my pants pockets unless I'm wearing excessively baggy pants. They do fit, but I'm always worried about the pressure I'm applying to the unit. Plus, that means that I can't be listening to anything on it as the jack wouldn't fit right.

Now for people who habitually go out with a backpack or that carry a purse, it might not be such a big deal, but requiring that limits mobility.

I don't care that much for pocketability, so 7" would be my favorite size. I think the Pandora has matured from a retrogaming gadget to a small multifunctional laptop and P2 could replace all my other devices.

The bigger it gets the more other stuff I can stop using (e.g. my 7" tablet and 10" notebook)..

I agree with Farox that 6" is still very small and could be considered pocketable. But I also carried my 7 inch tablet in one of my jackets with large pocket so you could call that pocketable as well.

Still don't see the need to carry it in a pocket, but that is probably because I am no student or train/bus traveller anymore.

Hmm... now I think of it... even then I probably wouldn't have cared about pocket ability because I was always carrying a small backpack

That would be insane. There's already tons of devices on the market that have 7" and 10" screens with a proper keyboard, not as sure about the 7", but my eee PC had that before I gave it to my nephew. At that point, I see no reason to buy a Pandora as just about any tablet would do. Add a bluetooth keyboard and you'd be set.

 

[Asiyura]

I want my pandora's successor to be a handheld, not a notebook or a laptop.

IMHO 7" or 10" are far too large, too energy guzzling and would be too heavy to be used comfortably for long period as a handheld device. 

I own a 10" tablet (not the most recent, I admit) that is pretty heavy (I'd say about 0.6~0.7kg). Even using both hands to hold it, it gets tiring for the arms really fast.

Most of the time, I end up holding it with one hand, one of it's side on my knees (or belly if I'm slouching on my chair/sofa )

I'd be okay with pandora's successor being the size of a 3DS XL - at most -, but I'd rather keep the current form factor.

 

[ekianjo]

7 inches is crazy. Really no point having something in that space.

 

[Saber]

ED, are 4.5" to 4.8" displays that hard to source? Why not use an almost 5" panel, move the speakers to the base corners(left and right of the number row), and further refine the current case moulds within reason? Save the headache and expense and let the bump in specs conciliate "upgraders".

 

[Klumpen]

I'm carrying my Pandora in the case and that in my bag and it's still small enough,

I wouldn't mind, if it gets bigger though, something like Pandora with about 8 inches would be great too,

but it would be another kind of device.

 

[hedwards]

I'm carrying my Pandora in the case and that in my bag and it's still small enough,

I wouldn't mind, if it gets bigger though, something like Pandora with about 8 inches would be great too,

but it would be another kind of device.

It would, but I believe there are already options in that size, just sans game controls. It would also be awkwardly positioned between the mobility and battery life of a phone and the screen size and controls of a small laptop. Doesn't seem like a wise place to put resources. Now, whenthey get the P2 done, they could probably add a second size to the specs, especially if they reuse most of their components. But, they'd have to sell probably at least a thousand to pay off the cost of developing a second size case and the changes necessary to support the screen.

I could be wrong, but I just don't see that as being viable in a P2. Now, perhaps if they do a P3 or P4 they might have the volumes necessary to make the reasonable, but it's hard enough predicting the next unit, let alone the one after that.

 

[b_o_b]

7 inches is crazy. Really no point having something in that space.

Not crazy, but different. 

It would, but I believe there are already options in that size, just sans game controls.

So there isn't... There are not a lot of 7" linux notebooks. There are lots of Android cheap laptops though. They all have the same huge bezel. Make that smaller, smaller keyboard and add gaming controls - remove touch pad. That will be totally different, much more portable. 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Black-Cheap-7-inch-Mini-LAPTOP-4GB-512M-PC-NETBOOK-Android-4-0-Notebook-New-/310702917568

That said, I think the general view is to not deviate too much from the existing Pandora. Fine.. but I think we shouldn't rule out a bit larger case and a larger screen. Maybe 5.5 or 6" will still be something people can accept. Then we are talking about a Pandora that might only be a half an inch wider.

From a portability perspective only a minor change, but I think every .1 inch bigger is worth it and will make the experience -imho- improve in a logarithmic manner.

 

[Binky]

From a portability perspective only a minor change,

<Insert proverb amount straws and camels' backs here>

 

[b_o_b]

So current Pandora perfect but half an inch larger it is not worth buying because it is too large? You can't be serious.

 

[FaeMinx]

I think most of us would agree, that if it's going to be a bit wider, then it must be a lot thinner as well.

If so, then I would actually quite like a larger screen.

7" might be a bit too far, but i would probably be interested if the battery life still rocked.

 

[_wb_]

Keep in mind that in normal use (low-medium cpu load), the power consumption is roughly proportional to the screen area (since the screen backlight is the single biggest power eater, and it needs power proportional to its area), which is of course quadratic in the screen diagonal. So e.g. a 60% increase in diagonal (7" instead of 4.3") means an area that is 2.5 times as big (assuming a similar aspect ratio), which means you need a battery that is 2 times as big and heavy to get the same battery life.

I'm in favor of a screen size increase, but I would be happy with 5" or 5.5" (that's still a ~50% increase in area). Even with a 7" screen, it will still be too small for stuff with a tiny font designed for 21" monitors. But devs would be even more lazy to adapt their ported stuff to be suitable for a handheld device. So paradoxically, the experience you get as a not-shortsighted user might end up worse with a larger screen: more devs will say "meh, the screen is large enough, no need to tweak this interface".

 

[b_o_b]

I agree the good battery life of the Pandora is very nice and P2 should have similar. My suggestions are only meant as a plea to make it as big as possible without sacrificing too much of its good features and certainly battery life is one of them. 

As I have understood it is pretty hard for ED to find a screen for P2, but I think he is currently only looking for a 5" screen or smaller. Extending that search to 5.5 or even 6 may help him find a better screen with similar power consumption. You will never know it exists if you don't look for it.

But devs would be even more lazy to adapt their ported stuff to be suitable for a handheld device. So paradoxically, the experience you get as a not-shortsighted user might end up worse with a larger screen: more devs will say "meh, the screen is large enough, no need to tweak this interface".

The first apps/games/emulators for P1 were not optimized as well. I remember seeing lots of desktop ports in the beginning that used something like QT and were very mouse oriented. After a while it improved with pickle launcher, pandafe etc.  

So I don't worry about that. By removing touchscreen and nubs you will force devs to improve their UIs too, pretty sure nobody wants to do that.