What connectors would you like on the P2?


1) $130 was so 6 months ago. They're $50 now with full 1080p support - and becoming more and more common.
http://www.newegg.co..._-pla-_-NA-_-NA

Don't know why you linked the one you did then. Nonetheless, I don't trust this w/o reviews, who knows if the performance (ie, framerate) on this is really up to snuff. And $50 is still a lot of money to pay for TV out.

2) If you're using the USB port for more than one thing - that is easily conquered with a hub. USB 3.0 has plenty of bandwidth to support video, a couple dozen game controllers, a few data cards, a gigabit Ethernet connector, etc... 5Gbit/sec is a -lot- of bandwidth in a handheld device.

Of course I know this, but it's not like the hub is a zero expense item. Sometimes it's justifiable, but when avoiding a little connector used natively?

Unless you're going to put a full sized HDMI port on the back, you're going to need to carry a dongle anyway. miniHDMI to HDMI cables are $8-$15 each.

It's given that you'll need a cable. The price for full HDMI cables is similar, and is still needed in addition to your adapter!

It's not like you're going to walk up to a TV and just connect your Pandora to it without a cable - unless you're going to put wirelessHDMI or wirelessUSB or one of their derivatives in it as well. You're still going to need some form of adapter or cable to get there - whether it is via USB 3.0 or an HDMI port.

What is your point exactly? Why are you acting like the price of this adapter is immaterial? I just don't see how it adds up, the pros seem to be saving a much smaller amount in board cost and space and supporting your USB3 favoritism, that's worth making everyone buy a relatively expensive active adapter over?

Pocket lint.
Keys.


Dust.


2 year old kid's fingers.


Skip the 'behind the flap' stuff entirely. It can all be done over the main USB connector.

And what is protecting your USB ports, headphone jack, SD, etc from that? Or are they really so much of a concern? No one cares about it on Pandora 1..
 
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While we're on the topic, does Android even support video out over USB3?

Show me an Android USB 3.0 device that doesn't.


OK, so we're a bit short on Android USB 3.0 devices to make either declaration.
 
1) $130 was so 6 months ago. They're $50 now with full 1080p support - and becoming more and more common.
http://www.newegg.co..._-pla-_-NA-_-NA

Don't know why you linked the one you did then. Nonetheless, I don't trust this w/o reviews, who knows if the performance (ie, framerate) on this is really up to snuff. And $50 is still a lot of money to pay for TV out.

2) If you're using the USB port for more than one thing - that is easily conquered with a hub. USB 3.0 has plenty of bandwidth to support video, a couple dozen game controllers, a few data cards, a gigabit Ethernet connector, etc... 5Gbit/sec is a -lot- of bandwidth in a handheld device.

Of course I know this, but it's not like the hub is a zero expense item. Sometimes it's justifiable, but when avoiding a little connector used natively?

Unless you're going to put a full sized HDMI port on the back, you're going to need to carry a dongle anyway. miniHDMI to HDMI cables are $8-$15 each.

It's given that you'll need a cable. The price for full HDMI cables is similar, and is still needed in addition to your adapter!

It's not like you're going to walk up to a TV and just connect your Pandora to it without a cable - unless you're going to put wirelessHDMI or wirelessUSB or one of their derivatives in it as well. You're still going to need some form of adapter or cable to get there - whether it is via USB 3.0 or an HDMI port.

What is your point exactly? Why are you acting like the price of this adapter is immaterial? I just don't see how it adds up, the pros seem to be saving a much smaller amount in board cost and space and supporting your USB3 favoritism, that's worth making everyone buy a relatively expensive active adapter over?

Pocket lint.
Keys.


Dust.


2 year old kid's fingers.


Skip the 'behind the flap' stuff entirely. It can all be done over the main USB connector.

And what is protecting your USB ports, headphone jack, SD, etc from that? Or are they really so much of a concern? No one cares about it on Pandora 1..

The original link was to a review - where they show a retail price. I didn't change it and the link is no longer working now. Odd. Here it is again: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/05/displaylink-siig-usb-3-hdmi-adapter/


And yes, that is a mini-review or release note and the price is apparently MSRP.


HDMI license is very expensive for what the Pandora would use it for. Pandora would be essentially using it the same as a DVI port with audio - no encryption. Why pay for the HDMI license then? If you're going the physical port route and don't care about space, put on a DVI port and two RCA audio connections. Effectively the same thing without the HDMI expense.


If you're hooking up to an HDMI screen, usually you can 'borrow' the source end of another HDMI cable that is in use for the BluRay player or whatver. They're common and cheap though. But yes - either way you would have to carry some sort of cable and or dongle. That is the point I was making. There is no 'free lunch'.


The same argument for not, 'making everyone buy a relatively expensive adapter' would apply to an Ethernet port, a couple of extra USB ports for more game controllers, a few more SD slots, discrete audio in/out ports, an IRDA port and many more.


Personally I'd rather just do video out over 802.11n - but not many TVs can or will be able to handle that before January 2014.


As for the things that get into a Pandora's port, -I- care about it on my Pandora I. -I- see the lint and dust that accumulates in them. A few years ago there was a whole thread about people trying to find silicone plugs to fill all of the Pandora I's ports so they wouldn't get dirty. There were even people insisting that these plugs HAD to ship with the Pandora I or it would be a disaster.


It makes for an all around cleaner/smoother and better looking device to minimize the ports.


Yes, we can have an HDMI port - I'm not all that opposed to it. Full sized HDMI ports are hard enough to keep plugged into a BluRay player and a TV. They'll slip right out of the Pandora too. They're expensive to license. We won't be using anything on it but the equivalent of DVI and a composite audio port. Why pay extra for the encryption capabilities we won't be using?


Just give REAL serious thought to what is or is not important - and what could be done with a consolidated port - before drawing up the specs.
 
The original link was to a review - where they show a retail price. I didn't change it and the link is no longer working now. Odd. Here it is again: http://www.engadget....3-hdmi-adapter/
And yes, that is a mini-review or release note and the price is apparently MSRP.

This is not a review, this a description + press release.

HDMI license is very expensive for what the Pandora would use it for. Pandora would be essentially using it the same as a DVI port with audio - no encryption. Why pay for the HDMI license then? If you're going the physical port route and don't care about space, put on a DVI port and two RCA audio connections. Effectively the same thing without the HDMI expense.

The reason to have HDMI instead of DVI is because you'd then need some separate way of getting the audio onto the device.


If Pandora sells 5000 units a year HDMI can be licensed for about $2/unit. This is a very modest number of units that I hope OPT is planning to exceed. Anything more of course pushes the price down, asymptotically towards $0.05/unit. No matter what you think of it being "too expensive" it's peanuts compared to the adapter you want people to buy.

If you're hooking up to an HDMI screen, usually you can 'borrow' the source end of another HDMI cable that is in use for the BluRay player or whatver. They're common and cheap though. But yes - either way you would have to carry some sort of cable and or dongle. That is the point I was making. There is no 'free lunch'.

Even if you SOMEHOW equate an adapter and cable to be similar components your solution needs the adapter and two cables. I'm sure many of us are interested in TV-out so we can connect the thing to our home TVs and not that much concerned about what we'd have to carry with the Pandora to use someone else's TV.

The same argument for not, 'making everyone buy a relatively expensive adapter' would apply to an Ethernet port, a couple of extra USB ports for more game controllers, a few more SD slots, discrete audio in/out ports, an IRDA port and many more.

You're really pushing these generalizations. Let's address the only thing there that's genuinely useful to many people - extra USB ports. A USB hub is much less expensive than the other things you list.


TV-out is something a lot of people actually want and more importantly, unlike everything else you mentioned here outside of USB, is something the device hardware already supports. So the cost of getting it off the box is low.

Personally I'd rather just do video out over 802.11n - but not many TVs can or will be able to handle that before January 2014.

And I'm pretty sure most of us are not constantly buying new TVs even if they were..

As for the things that get into a Pandora's port, -I- care about it on my Pandora I. -I- see the lint and dust that accumulates in them. A few years ago there was a whole thread about people trying to find silicone plugs to fill all of the Pandora I's ports so they wouldn't get dirty. There were even people insisting that these plugs HAD to ship with the Pandora I or it would be a disaster.

It makes for an all around cleaner/smoother and better looking device to minimize the ports.

Has it been a disaster Grench?

Yes, we can have an HDMI port - I'm not all that opposed to it. Full sized HDMI ports are hard enough to keep plugged into a BluRay player and a TV. They'll slip right out of the Pandora too. They're expensive to license. We won't be using anything on it but the equivalent of DVI and a composite audio port. Why pay extra for the encryption capabilities we won't be using?

Just give REAL serious thought to what is or is not important - and what could be done with a consolidated port - before drawing up the specs.

It's not the equivalent of composite audio, it's digital audio, and for a lot of TVs this is the only digital option. Personally, I have never, ever had a problem with HDMI plugs falling out, so I have no idea what you're talking about there.
 
Outputting video over USB is daft IMO

  • requires large chunks of processing for conversion
  • requires expensive adapter
  • most high end SOCs are designed for HDMI out, most TVs have HDMI in
  • Even adding as much as $10 per P2 (something of a worst-case scenario) is irrelevant given the $700 pricetag
 
LPT stuff, like what the old printers used (those long DB25 connectors).
That's not parallel, that's just serial RS232 using the same DB25 connector with a LOT of wasted pins. Don't know why you'd want to use one of those for a serial connection but you'd bring that out as part of the adapter.
I think he may actually be referring to the 25 pin parallel ports that used to exist, and may still have a header on some motherboards but not likely. Totally different from the 25 pin serial ports, in which case "RS232" was incorrectly applied, TangentDelta probably just made a mistake in terminology. I'm pretty sure a parallel port would be totally worthless though, in any case.


Regarding RS232 though, the Pandora already has three of them, multiplexed on the EXT port. That's what actually makes the EXT port so great, it has all these awesome pins to do stuff with. Honestly, I don't think there's a problem using a non-standard EXT port as it is per se, the problem was a mismanagement of the cable construction. If we'd actually had the cables delivered would as many people be complaining about it now? I don't think so.

Mini USB instead of USB OTG - sure. That is the way things are going as OTG is pretty rare now. This should be a high current USB 3.0 device port - i.e. pull a full 1 AMP charge into the Pandora.
USB OTG isUSB mini. Dropping the OTG is just removing a free feature.


What could be an interesting idea is, instead of a mini OTG and a full sized host, keep the OTG but default it to host mode and use a full sized host port, then use some kind of full/mini adapter to convert it back into a mini slave, or even just a male-male to make it a full sized slave. Zero (almost, depending on what you think of a sub-dollar adapter) loss of functionality, and people get two full sized USB host ports. Might make charging via USB slightly more difficult since you can't just grab any old mini cable, at least not without carrying your adapter at all times; so probably not such a perfect idea in retrospect.

I disagree on the high-current charging output from the Pandora 2 to another device. I've gotten in trouble with this just charging a phone off of my Pandora WHILE it was plugged in and charging via the OTG port. Your high-current charging device would crush the Pandora 2's battery in 20-30 minutes.
20-30 minutes to drain out the battery would require an 8-12 amp current: your system is likely to burst into flames if you even attempt that. I'm thinking by "high-current" they mean something more like one or two amps. It currently takes my phone about 3 hours to fully charge off my Pandora while it is asleep, consuming just over a third of the battery. If I could do this in about an hour instead, that'd be a brilliant feature. Basically it's just increasing the power the port can handle from 500ma to 1500ma. This would also be of great benefit to those USB powered hard drives which often exceed the USB spec. Yeah, it'll half the usable life of your battery, but if my phone is dying (as has happened on more than one occasion) I'm going to have choose draining out the battery (quickly, if I can) to give me the security of being able to call for help over playing a few more hours of Nintendo. Especially good feature if it can be added without sacrifice: all it is doing is increasing the current the port can support beyond spec, making the active decision to ensure the power and ground lines will be fat enough to support it.

I disagree on the high-current power input cylindrical plug. If we have a USB 3.0 high draw mini device port on the Pandora - that should be all of the charging input we need.
Can't argue there. Why have two charging ports when one will suffice? The TWL has dedicated AC and USB pins so that you can have a high powered adapter and low powered USB connection (because you don't want to be violating spec if you can help it) but given how prevalent USB charging is becoming I'd be surprised if it's a problem that hasn't already been solved (being able to high speed charge off USB and then kicking it back down to spec if plugged into a PC, I mean).

Skip the displayport, no hdmi, no dedicated video output. Do video output over USB 3.0 via a dongle/device. http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/05/displaylink-siig-usb-3-hdmi-adapter/ There are many of these types of devices coming on the market now. USB 3.0 has plenty of bandwidth to do it right.
Going to have to seriously disagree with this one. Again, you're throwing away an effectively free feature of the SoC in favour of a solution which necessarily requires more work. In order to use it the CPU would need to copy the data from the frame buffer to the USB host: the port may have the bandwidth, but does the memory? And does the CPU have the extra cycles? Every SoC already has some form of LCD out and TV out, and modern ones are likely to have two LCD connections which can be converted to HDMI for cheap, or possibly even have their own direct HDMI port instead of composite/S-Video as we have on the P1. If we were truly struggling for space and something had to go, there might be merit in the suggestion, but there's no way the P2 will be that small. If we find we're struggling for space, I'd sooner drop the barrel connector and just go with pure USB charging as you've already suggested than lose the TV out.

3.5mm audio jack/plug. Please make it compatible with volume control & skip/pause headsets. Please please please turn MWeston loose again to give us the absolute best headphone audio experience that can be produced in a hand held device.
That'd be neat. Is it a standard though? Or is it device dependent? I haven't really heard much about such things since the days of the PSP where it actually required a very special connector. I broke mine.

I consider all microphone inputs (both physical mic and in headphone jack and in current TV port to be extraneous. Anyone doing serious audio recording is going to use a USB - XLR mic adapter.
Yeah, if we're struggling for space, I think the microphone would be the first thing I'd chop. It's a 5 cent cost to keep it though, and does have some potential uses so I wouldn't discard it just for the sake of getting rid of things.

Mini A connectors are very hard to get hold of
They cost less than a dollar retail to say nothing of what a small company could get them for in quantity. I buy mini-A cables at the dollar store. There should be no problems with keeping it a mini OTG.


I did start to consider two full sized USB host ports and using a male-male cable and keeping one of them as an OTG slave, but it leads to all kinds of problems, not the least of which is charging becomes more problematic, especially when you consider that sometimes people make mistakes. Bad luck accidentally plugging in the charging cable to the wrong port. Much better if only one is full sized while the other is mini, even if it requires an adapter to get two full sized hosts, I think; saves on headaches at least, and makes it easier to charge if all you have to do is find a USB mini cable.

HDMI license is very expensive for what the Pandora would use it for.
Assuming they can actually manufacture 5000 of them per year, it's $2 per device; less if they can produce more. I would gladly pay $2 for an HDMI connection. I can't imagine anyone who would have serious reservations about an additional $2 feature on their $700 device.

Full sized HDMI ports are hard enough to keep plugged into a BluRay player and a TV.
Now you're just filibustering. There is no reason cables should be falling out. The HDMI port was very well designed to handle significant stress and any reasonable connector should be able to handle it without

Just give REAL serious thought to what is or is not important - and what could be done with a consolidated port - before drawing up the specs.
Kind of agree. I like some of your ideas, but some of your other ideas seem to be cutting features simply for the sake of cutting features. This is especially problematic when those features are effectively free. A better method, in my opinion, is instead of consolidating everything early and then working out, try adding all the features you want, to maintain completeness, and then cut and consolidate as needed. I'm quite certain we could cram everything you could possibly want into two USB3.0 ports and cover the rest in software, but then you've got empty real estate on the back of the case and a required set of dongles. More features, if the cost is low and the space is there, should be encouraged first and foremost.


Maybe we start with an EXT port like we have now, complete with three serial ports and a TV out. New SoC only has one serial port, so cut two of them (that are no longer free) and use the extra pins for something else, or switch to a different connector, and so on and so forth.
 
BTW, Amazon lists several mini HDMI to HDMI cables for under $3 so that's hardly much of a special cost..
 
Personally, I'd tend to think, on the back:


1xUSB port 1.0,1.1, & 2.0 device compatible (3.0 desirable but not required)


1xMicroUSB primarily to be used for charging but with as flexible a controller as possible. Tablet, smart phones, e-readers, etc. seem to be standardizing on this meaning there is a glut off the shelf chargers which charge devices rather quickly. I've not seen normal USB chargers of this form and charging via cord off a computer is a lot slower then these MicroUSB chargers.


1xHDMI port


This should take up no more area then current, and allow opening enough space for the desired L2 and R2 buttons with no loss in functionality. Stuff in the front requires no modifications. I personally don't see much purpose in more USB ports, and certainly none that justifies the trade off versus decent L2 and R2 buttons.
 
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I've not seen normal USB chargers of this form and charging via cord off a computer is a lot slower then these MicroUSB chargers.

I commonly see chargers with a female USB A input, even if they come with USB A to micro USB cables. My HP Touchpad came with one for instance. Pandora could come with one if necessary.
 
Mini A connectors are very hard to get hold of
They cost less than a dollar retail to say nothing of what a small company could get them for in quantity. I buy mini-A cables at the dollar store. There should be no problems with keeping it a mini OTG.


I did start to consider two full sized USB host ports and using a male-male cable and keeping one of them as an OTG slave, but it leads to all kinds of problems, not the least of which is charging becomes more problematic, especially when you consider that sometimes people make mistakes. Bad luck accidentally plugging in the charging cable to the wrong port. Much better if only one is full sized while the other is mini, even if it requires an adapter to get two full sized hosts, I think; saves on headaches at least, and makes it easier to charge if all you have to do is find a USB mini cable.

Thats full-size A to mini B you linked to


---


31633big.jpg



mini B on left


mini A on right


pandora has miniAB socket, and is designed to take mini-A when acting as host, mini-B when acting as slave


both miniAB and miniA have been dropped from the USB standard :(
 
I'm going with:


2 * Fullsized SDXC Slots on front - Currently a great idea.


1 * MicroSD Slot under battery - For Software thats mostly permanent which naturally can be mounted to a PC via USB.


1 * Fullsized USB 2.0 3.0 hybrid port - No need for more than one, it'd add too much bulk.


1 * Mini HDMI Port - Instead of worrying about a TV Out cable thats going to fit one device and is not standardised this would be better and the cables are easily accessible from stores / online) OR the alternative is a Mini DisplayPort which could work with Adapters provided by other companies (Namely Apple) and allows VGA / DVI / HDMI outputs but I think its patented like everything.


1 * Webcam in the display - Perhaps the display could be redesigned to have a webcam. Before the people come with flame throwers, its pretty much standard in every notebook / sub-notebook now to have a webcam so be it.


1 * Mini USB, the same standard we have now. - Unless Micro USB is better but I think those cables are more susceptible to damage than their Mini Counterparts.
 
Mini USB instead of USB OTG - sure. That is the way things are going as OTG is pretty rare now. This should be a high current USB 3.0 device port - i.e. pull a full 1 AMP charge into the Pandora.
USB OTG isUSB mini. Dropping the OTG is just removing a free feature.


What could be an interesting idea is, instead of a mini OTG and a full sized host, keep the OTG but default it to host mode and use a full sized host port, then use some kind of full/mini adapter to convert it back into a mini slave, or even just a male-male to make it a full sized slave. Zero (almost, depending on what you think of a sub-dollar adapter) loss of functionality, and people get two full sized USB host ports. Might make charging via USB slightly more difficult since you can't just grab any old mini cable, at least not without carrying your adapter at all times; so probably not such a perfect idea in retrospect.
OTG isn't just a protocol/capability but also dictates the use of miniUSB (not microUSB). I'm fine retaining the OTG features - and frankly could care less which port we use. I do remember other threads where people were complaining that they couldn't find a cable to fit. They're not THAT hard to get - but you can't pick them up at the corner drug store's phone department.

I disagree on the high-current charging output from the Pandora 2 to another device. I've gotten in trouble with this just charging a phone off of my Pandora WHILE it was plugged in and charging via the OTG port. Your high-current charging device would crush the Pandora 2's battery in 20-30 minutes.
20-30 minutes to drain out the battery would require an 8-12 amp current: your system is likely to burst into flames if you even attempt that. I'm thinking by "high-current" they mean something more like one or two amps. It currently takes my phone about 3 hours to fully charge off my Pandora while it is asleep, consuming just over a third of the battery. If I could do this in about an hour instead, that'd be a brilliant feature. Basically it's just increasing the power the port can handle from 500ma to 1500ma. This would also be of great benefit to those USB powered hard drives which often exceed the USB spec. Yeah, it'll half the usable life of your battery, but if my phone is dying (as has happened on more than one occasion) I'm going to have choose draining out the battery (quickly, if I can) to give me the security of being able to call for help over playing a few more hours of Nintendo. Especially good feature if it can be added without sacrifice: all it is doing is increasing the current the port can support beyond spec, making the active decision to ensure the power and ground lines will be fat enough to support it.
Nope. You're off base there. There are three things coming into play in using the USB port on the existing or future Pandora as a high ampre charging device for other devices.


A. The power usage of the Pandora.


B. The power usage of the device on the USB.


C. The maximum discharge rate of the battery.


When A+B > C then A dies spectacularly - and if it had loaded the OS from or had a /swap file running on the SD card at the time can crush it to where it must be re-partitioned and formatted to return life to it.


You don't have to completely drain the battery for this to happen - just exceed it's capable discharge rate. The battery may be analogous to a fuel tank - but it has a limit to how much it can pump out at a time. Mweston would know what the maximum discharge rate for the Pandora's battery is - but I can tell you from personal experience, it is less than the USB port + the Pandora can use at the same time.

I disagree on the high-current power input cylindrical plug. If we have a USB 3.0 high draw mini device port on the Pandora - that should be all of the charging input we need.
Can't argue there. Why have two charging ports when one will suffice? The TWL has dedicated AC and USB pins so that you can have a high powered adapter and low powered USB connection (because you don't want to be violating spec if you can help it) but given how prevalent USB charging is becoming I'd be surprised if it's a problem that hasn't already been solved (being able to high speed charge off USB and then kicking it back down to spec if plugged into a PC, I mean).
Yay - one port gone into oblivion and no more power brick threads.

Skip the displayport, no hdmi, no dedicated video output. Do video output over USB 3.0 via a dongle/device. http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/05/displaylink-siig-usb-3-hdmi-adapter/ There are many of these types of devices coming on the market now. USB 3.0 has plenty of bandwidth to do it right.
Going to have to seriously disagree with this one. Again, you're throwing away an effectively free feature of the SoC in favour of a solution which necessarily requires more work. In order to use it the CPU would need to copy the data from the frame buffer to the USB host: the port may have the bandwidth, but does the memory? And does the CPU have the extra cycles? Every SoC already has some form of LCD out and TV out, and modern ones are likely to have two LCD connections which can be converted to HDMI for cheap, or possibly even have their own direct HDMI port instead of composite/S-Video as we have on the P1. If we were truly struggling for space and something had to go, there might be merit in the suggestion, but there's no way the P2 will be that small. If we find we're struggling for space, I'd sooner drop the barrel connector and just go with pure USB charging as you've already suggested than lose the TV out.
OK. The room for HDMI is fine if we don't also have to have a video header & GPIO & audio IO proprietary port.

3.5mm audio jack/plug. Please make it compatible with volume control & skip/pause headsets. Please please please turn MWeston loose again to give us the absolute best headphone audio experience that can be produced in a hand held device.
That'd be neat. Is it a standard though? Or is it device dependent? I haven't really heard much about such things since the days of the PSP where it actually required a very special connector. I broke mine.
There is a thread where someone hooked up the Apple version with an Oscilloscope and determined the functionality. There are piles of manufacturers - including the highest end ones - who are making their headphones with mic/control sets on the wires. Apple devices, many Android devices seem to all be able to use the same controllers. Somewhere there has to be a licensed technology or something. Too many people are doing essentially the same thing if it isn't. If we have that capability - it may be time to reconsider the volume wheel.

I consider all microphone inputs (both physical mic and in headphone jack and in current TV port to be extraneous. Anyone doing serious audio recording is going to use a USB - XLR mic adapter.
Yeah, if we're struggling for space, I think the microphone would be the first thing I'd chop. It's a 5 cent cost to keep it though, and does have some potential uses so I wouldn't discard it just for the sake of getting rid of things.
Keep in mind - my list of things I'm willing to sacrifice are IF they're needed in order to make a Pandora II 2/3 the thickness of the Pandora. It doesn't all have to go - but these are my priorities. Yours may be different - that's fine and nothing to fight about.

HDMI license is very expensive for what the Pandora would use it for.
Assuming they can actually manufacture 5000 of them per year, it's $2 per device; less if they can produce more. I would gladly pay $2 for an HDMI connection. I can't imagine anyone who would have serious reservations about an additional $2 feature on their $700 device.
I thought the barrier to entry on this was -much- higher. Like in the $100K+ range just for membership then a $$ per device surcharge. I would be glad to be wrong on that one. Maybe that is just if you're planning to use the encryption capabilities?

Full sized HDMI ports are hard enough to keep plugged into a BluRay player and a TV.
Now you're just filibustering. There is no reason cables should be falling out. The HDMI port was very well designed to handle significant stress and any reasonable connector should be able to handle it without
Tell that to my Samsung TV - it keeps spitting out the HDMI cable. I've tried several. Hopefully the microHDMI or HDMI off of a Pandora 2 would be of better construction.

Just give REAL serious thought to what is or is not important - and what could be done with a consolidated port - before drawing up the specs.
Kind of agree. I like some of your ideas, but some of your other ideas seem to be cutting features simply for the sake of cutting features. This is especially problematic when those features are effectively free. A better method, in my opinion, is instead of consolidating everything early and then working out, try adding all the features you want, to maintain completeness, and then cut and consolidate as needed. I'm quite certain we could cram everything you could possibly want into two USB3.0 ports and cover the rest in software, but then you've got empty real estate on the back of the case and a required set of dongles. More features, if the cost is low and the space is there, should be encouraged first and foremost.


Maybe we start with an EXT port like we have now, complete with three serial ports and a TV out. New SoC only has one serial port, so cut two of them (that are no longer free) and use the extra pins for something else, or switch to a different connector, and so on and so forth.
It's hard to understand what is 'critical' unless we put all of the existing features on the table too. I'm fine with adding 'free' features - until they become 'not free' and the device gets thicker, clunkier and suddenly I'm smuggling another brick in my front left pants pocket.


If we could get the Pandora 2 to at or under ~20mm thick, there is a lot I'd be willing to give up to get there. Full sized SD slots, a great screen, amazing audio and great controls are not on the 'sacrifice' list. Battery life, extraneous ports, mechanical controls - those are.
 
You don't have to completely drain the battery for this to happen - just exceed it's capable discharge rate. The battery may be analogous to a fuel tank - but it has a limit to how much it can pump out at a time. Mweston would know what the maximum discharge rate for the Pandora's battery is - but I can tell you from personal experience, it is less than the USB port + the Pandora can use at the same time.
The charge rate is at least 2Amps, so the discharge rate should be at least 4Amps. You could discharge the battery from full in about an hour and it should be fine. A Pandora going all out with full brightness and wifi blasting will be somewhere in the neighbourhood of 1.5-2 amps. That still gives 2amps of play. I am doing it right now, charging my phone and playing Majora's Mask with a flood ping going on in the background to keep the wifi active and it is having no problems (other than MM stuttering, but that's just the way it is). Consuming around 2.5 amps, I'm looking at barely 1.5 hours of actual use battery life, but it isn't choking.

I thought the barrier to entry on this was -much- higher. Like in the $100K+ range just for membership then a $$ per device surcharge. I would be glad to be wrong on that one. Maybe that is just if you're planning to use the encryption capabilities?
It's actually lower if you use the HDCP: $10'000 per year plus 15 cents per year (down to 4 cents if you implement HDCP and display the logo), or $5000 per year and $1 per unit if you're selling fewer than 10'000 units.
 
FWIW it's $0.05/unit just for using the logo w/o doing HDCP. I don't know why anyone would not include the logo.
 
there is a lot I'd be willing to give up to get there. <stuff> are not on the 'sacrifice' list. Battery life, extraneous ports, mechanical controls - those are.
I've got a rather shorter sacrifice list.:

  • separate charging port can be removed, on the condition that USB charging can take at least 1.5A
  • thats it.




Apple charge exorbitant prices for laptops missing a wide variety of ports in the name of THINNESS!!!!!!


Thats exactly what OP shouldn't be doing
 
2 external SDXC slots


1 internal microSD slot


3.5mm headphone Jack


1 full size USB 3.0 port


1 mini USB port (no need for dedicated charging port if this is able to transfer enough power)


1 mini HDMI port (included this for the tv-out users)
 
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