Things I do not want to see again in a P2

[PokeParadox]

The big problem is that the embarassment factor is huge... I had this happen with my phone yesterday with bluetooth headphones.

Basically I was going to listen to some music on the train - and my phone was playing about. I decided to not bother since it was giving me too much grief...

In any case I stored away my headphones and played a little bit more of Pokémon Y...

Then all of a sudden I heard some music blaring out full blast... it was my phone which had decided to catch up with me a few minutes after I'd already changed my mind about listening to music.

I scrambled to the volume controls - non-responsive and then it was another few moments before I could get Google Music to cooperate and pause stop the music.

If this was a physical analogue volume wheel the problem would have been solved in much less time. This time I was lucky it wasn't something extremely embarassing and that I was in a fairly noisy environment but it's not the first situation where something like this has happened and in much worse situations (i.e. trying to listen to music in a quiet area and either having the music blare out or deafen me through my headphones...)

Seriously digital volume controls are fucking useless.

 

[moxie]

Keep the volume wheel! Whatever you do, keep the volume wheel!!!

 

[double7]

Things I do not want to see again in a P2

Spam threads like "Things I do not want to see again in a P3"

Spoiler

Because it's perfect if nobody complains.

 

[_wb_]

I like a volume wheel because it's nicely continuous (I hate those digital volume buttons where the volume is a number between 0 and 10 when the level I want is something in between, e.g. 1.5).

Where is the problem ? Instead of 10 steps, implement 20 ? And this does not need to end here, you can play around with, maybe a logarithmic increment is better than a linear or play around with button pressing times (short button press => small step, long button => big step, continious button press => accelerated stepping up, pressing both => mute, etc).
This gives a lot more options than a wheel that maybe gives you a lot of "steps in between" (that you do not really need most of the time) and thats only as precise as your finger movements, and that leaves you clueless on how high or low the volume already is if nothings comes out of the speakers.

Sure, you can implement 100 steps. But then going from near-silent to full loudness is going to take a lot of button presses. Even with a very cleverly designed mechanism, it's always going to be easier to rapidly find the right volume setting with some kind of continuous control (wheel, slider, whatever) than with discrete controls (on/off buttons).

If the volume wheel would be like I described it (with an option of software override and with the software able to see the current position of the wheel), you don't get the disadvantages of not being able to know the current volume and having an alarm going off without making any sound.

You can always just not use the wheel (put some tape over it even) and set it at a fixed position. Nothing is stopping you from using software volume control. A dedicated hardware volume control is an extra feature - you don't lose anything by having it.

More buttons that are reachable when the case is closed are always cool. Now we only have the two shoulder buttons and the power/hold button. If there would be four shoulder buttons, you could use two of them for volume control and the other two to go to the next/previous song, for example.

 

[TrashyMG]

Well there are digital potentiometer ICs.. they're not tied to the software so it has that going for it.. however they do eat space on the PCB.. so It's kind of a toss up of using a cheap analog potentiometer, a more pricey IC solution that eats up about the same amount of space or the software only solution that everyone including me hates.

 

[WizardStan]

A 10bit digipot with a logarithmic scale miiiight be feasible. Wire a wheel to it AND a pair of GPIOs from the SoC so it can be controlled from either. That's about a $1 added cost though.

 

[foxblock]

A case design which is comfortable to hold. The edges of the bottom part of the case pinch my hands after prolonged use - I much more like the design of the PSP or GameBoy Advance with a slightly rounded backside.

A hinge only keeping the lid either fully open or closed.

A case which does not crack and fall apart.

A case (plasic) and paint which does not feel and look like a cheap knock-off.

Granted, this has gotten better with the silver case (less cracks), but here the paint is the problem: My case (the second one already) isn't painted very well. Take the bevelled part around the SD card slots for example, there are only paint drops on there and you can still see the black shimmering through. This might be a problem of the case design rather than the paint job itself though (or unique to my case, I would not know).

Still it looks very cheap, not to mention the paint already starts to wear off after I used it for a while and carried it around in my bag (and it's not like it rubbed against other objects a lot).

I don't like the case in general, the clamshell design is fine, but the execution... meh. No disrespect to the designer DaveC, putting something like this together usually is the job of a whole team and a lot of work.

Auto-calibrating (decalibrating) nubs.

 

[Grench]

Volume wheel: Keep it.

Instructions for volume wheel: Set it at the maximum volume you want the Pandora to produce under any condition (alarm). Then go into the software volume setting for your music application and turn it DOWN to the level you want. Bind keys to volume and/or mute in the application - done.

Hand cramping size: Keep it. Also keep the lanyard/strap attachment hole that everyone seems to ignore. Removing the 'hand cramping' would dictate that the device no longer be pocketable.

Instructions for holding a Pandora: Rob a wrist strap from a $5 flashlight. Attach it to the Pandora's lanyard/strap hole. Keep this looped around your wrist or hand. Release the death grip that forces the Pandora into your palms - hold it with your fingers instead. No more hand cramping.

Shoulder buttons as device corners: Dump it. Use actual buttons (2 per side) stacked on top of each other as a split rocker-style switch so that they can be controlled with one finger per side. We don't need two fingers for two buttons - one finger can do two buttons nicely.

L1 = roll left finger up

L2 = roll left finger down

L1+L2 = mash inward on both keys

Hinge setup from Pandora: Dump it. Make it similar to the Pandora with one hollow hinge for wires and one for mechanical tension. Instead of the DS style hinge, put a knurled knob/screw on the mechanical side to allow the end user to adjust the hinge tension and 'lock' the screen in whatever position they want. The bolt/knurled/machine screw from a VGA cable is an example of this type of knurled knob/screw.

 

[fusion_power]

I have no issues with the Pandora Shoulder Button "over the edge" design, besides that they only work with pieces of Paper inside. So P2 should have much more precise Shoulder Buttons.

Volume Wheel is one of the best features of the Pandora I think. Definitly a keeper for P2.

I agree that the entire Battery/case construction of the Pandora is not great, especialy that the contacts are only held due the counter preasure of the not very accurate Backplate of the Pandora. Possible solutions could be to reposition the contacts to the SIDE of the battery so the Battery cover does not need to be used for contact. (Opposite site could have a spring so that the battery always have good contact). 

Side view of the lower case:

Another Option could be to make the entire backside of the bottom case to the battery (plastic encased) like many mobile phones did (Old Nokia phones for example)

 

[Hồng Thất Công]

No Craig involved that's what I want to see

 

[PowerGod]

The volume wheel is one of the most useful things !! It must NOT be removed... I hope that in some future (in a parallel dimension maybe) even the laptops will be made with that little thing from the heaven

 

[EvilDragon]

The analog wheel stays.

I already hate it on my phone when it sometimes doesn't react at all for 5 - 6 seconds and then suddenly moves more than I wanted, simply because the CPU is stressed...

 

[FaeMinx]

I want a normal power button, not a lock slider... locking can be activated/deactivated by a key combo.

Keep the volume dial.

A proper usb port that supports usb 1

Reliable WiFi?

Those 'rocking' trigger buttons would be ace.

A spring for the battery.

Lose the proprietary charging port - charge via the miniUSB/microUSB port, whatever we go with.

The edges of the bottom of the device should be slightly curved for comfort.

Completely different nubs please - I hate the auto-calibration.

A redesigned keyboard that's easier to speed type on.. I.e not domed.

 

[Klumpen]

Notice the topic.

I want a normal power button, not a lock slider... locking can be activated/deactivated by a key combo.
Keep the volume dial.
A proper usb port that supports usb 1
Reliable WiFi?
Those 'rocking' trigger buttons would be ace.
A spring for the battery.
Lose the proprietary charging port - charge via the miniUSB/microUSB port, whatever we go with.
The edges of the bottom of the device should be slightly curved for comfort.
Completely different nubs please - I hate the auto-calibration.
A redesigned keyboard that's easier to speed type on.. I.e not domed.

times -1 ?

 

[fusion_power]

The analog wheel stays.

Howgh!  ^_^

 

[Binky]

Lose the proprietary charging port - charge via the miniUSB/microUSB port, whatever we go with.

barrel jacks are fine, as the connectors are easily available from general electronics shops.

Something I don't want?

Surface-mounted sockets that rip off after a year's careful use

 

[TrashyMG]

I didn't realize standard barrel DC jack was proprietary.. 

 

[WizardStan]

Lose the proprietary charging port

It's not proprietary at all, it's a standard, and a very very common one at that. It is the exact opposite of proprietary in every conceivable way.

 

[Hồng Thất Công]

P2's needs to be vertically rotatable for DS games and vertical shooters.  And please keep that awesome volume wheel please.

 

[DAP]

I have no issues with the Pandora Shoulder Button "over the edge" design, besides that they only work with pieces of Paper inside. So P2 should have much more precise Shoulder Buttons.

Volume Wheel is one of the best features of the Pandora I think. Definitly a keeper for P2.

I agree that the entire Battery/case construction of the Pandora is not great, especialy that the contacts are only held due the counter preasure of the not very accurate Backplate of the Pandora. Possible solutions could be to reposition the contacts to the SIDE of the battery so the Battery cover does not need to be used for contact. (Opposite site could have a spring so that the battery always have good contact). 

Side view of the lower case:

Another Option could be to make the entire backside of the bottom case to the battery (plastic encased) like many mobile phones did (Old Nokia phones for example)

Absolutely not!

The battery should have two springs, one on the end as shown, and the other behind the contacts.

If you don't do it this way, vibrations will cause the contacts to bounce apart, causing the device to shut down.

This caused me endless frustration with my old Garman GPS. Every time I went over a bump, on my bicycle, the GPS would shut off.