What do people think of the 1ghz Pandas?

[craigix]

I'm guessing its $75 for feeding different chips into the machine, and the rest because people will pay the extra and OP deserve to make a profit on something

They do and I have no problem with that at all. But then they could just say something like "After all these years we finally want to make some profit out of it." I do feel as though the 1ghz Pandoras are being released a bit too early.

I've said exactly that several times in the last few days.

 

[Caine]

I've said exactly that several times in the last few days.

My apologies then. I haven't been monitoring these boards as closely as I used to.

 

[Ian J]

Galaxy S3 or Pandora 1Ghz


aaaaarrrrgggghhhh


Decisions decisions.

 

[Nintendo]

If you need a new phone, I say go with the S3.

 

[Ian J]

Not so much need as want, but my contract is up shortly.

 

[Nintendo]

Then replace your contract with an S3 one.

 

[Dead1nside]

I'm guessing its $75 for feeding different chips into the machine, and the rest because people will pay the extra and OP deserve to make a profit on something

They do and I have no problem with that at all. But then they could just say something like "After all these years we finally want to make some profit out of it." I do feel as though the 1ghz Pandoras are being released a bit too early.

I've said exactly that several times in the last few days.

I can understand your desire to both start turning a profit on the units, and to pay down the debts. However, I think timing is a problem. The fact that you don't offer even a slight discount for existing preorders, like you have previously with the premium Pandoras, shows a real lack of awareness about treating loyal customers well. In effect, it's back to square one and I may as well never have given you my money 2 1/2 years ago. Yes, I know I can wait and receive the 600Mhz unit, but I want the 1Ghz unit, and since the production costs (once it reaches the same scale as the 600Mhz units) is relatively similar, this isn't a large ask in my opinion. I would be far more willing to pay an upgrade price for the 1Ghz unit, if it wasn't so exorbitant a hike, when taking into account all these factors. It just seems like you've shifted the goal posts again, to me.

 

[craigix]

Well you say that, but we have sold more than half of the 150 already, so I think we must have got the price and timing reasonably right at least.


There is never a perfectly right time for this sort of thing.


We are allowing preorder customers to upgrade to this unit, but this isn't a charity, we can't sell these units at a loss, and we have to head towards showing a profit this year or it's curtains.

 

[Wrath Of Khan]

Profit it tis then we can't lose openpandora.The product 3 kickstarter must be a success and im certain it will be.

 

[danr]

The "how to get 1Ghz units" post should be updated & clarified...


I've asked about upgrading my 3+ year old preorder..


Option #2 absolutely requires having a pandora to send back to get the $200 "discount" over a new 1Ghz order.


Since I haven't received my order, I don't have a pandora to send back -- it would be cheaper for me (by about $175) to cancel my preorder, and go with #1. I guess that's one way to get people to cancel preorders...


Canceling my order would also save me a bit more since the price of accessories has dropped since preorder days. Not crediting for the price drop is fair enough, since they're not asking us to pay the price increase on the pandora, and returning funds is not easy. Not crediting the difference to an upgrade after they've had our money for years seems less fair (and should be easy).


I also asked about partially cancelling 1 of 3 accessories on my preorder, to put it towards the upgrade. I may not have communicated that clearly, but it doesn't seem like that will be allowed either.


> 1) Buying a whole new 1Ghz unit: $699 plus shipping


> 2) We swap your old unit for a new 1Ghz one: $500 + shipping


#1 : new 1Ghz order is $700 +sh total


#2 : 1Ghz upgrade is: paid pandora (+sh), returned pandora (sh), +$500 + shipping ----- not $500 +sh total


Wouldn't it be good to have a specific option for those remaining loyal customers with unshipped preorders who are considering the upgrade? (those of us who have been counting down months & weeks, sight and queue position unseen -- continually telling all our friends and coworkers how great it will be to have one in just a few more months...)

 

[craigix]

Since you don't have a Pandora, all you have to do is pay the difference in price to get the 1Ghz unit. That's it.

 

[Grench]

The fact that you don't offer even a slight discount for existing preorders, like you have previously with the premium Pandoras, shows a real lack of awareness about treating loyal customers well. In effect, it's back to square one and I may as well never have given you my money 2 1/2 years ago.

Mmm... I think you may be confused?


Pre-orders could buy up to the "Premium" order status by paying the difference between their original order price and the $500 quicker to ship "Premium".


The Pandora+ (Is that what OpenPandora is officially calling it?), according to CraigIX's last message you can pay the difference between your original order and the $700 (rounded) price of the Pandora+.


What you really seem to be saying though, is that you think you deserve to get something -more- than what you paid for. You already are, actually - if you wait for your existing pre-order you'll be getting a 512MB unit - which IS more than you paid for.


The bottom line is that they charged way too little for the original pre-orders. They're honoring them - as possible. If you're willing to pony up for the difference between that and the current price - you're welcome to get it quicker. But if you think that you deserve to automatically be bumped up to a $700 unit based on the $300+/- you paid in on your pre-order - that's a nice dream, but I doubt reality will reflect it.


On the bright side, the more $500 Pandora and $700 Pandora+ that get sold, the faster your pre-ordered Pandora will ship. If you decide to wait out the queue, your patience rewards you with a unit that costs everyone else $500 today for the price you paid years ago.


I'm not affiliated with OpenPandora - just trying to cut through your confusion based on my interpretation of the facts as I understand them. If someone official corrects this - please take their word over mine.

 

[Annales]

What you really seem to be saying though, is that you think you deserve to get something -more- than what you paid for. You already are, actually - if you wait for your existing pre-order you'll be getting a 512MB unit - which IS more than you paid for.


The bottom line is that they charged way too little for the original pre-orders. They're honoring them - as possible. If you're willing to pony up for the difference between that and the current price - you're welcome to get it quicker. But if you think that you deserve to automatically be bumped up to a $700 unit based on the $300+/- you paid in on your pre-order - that's a nice dream, but I doubt reality will reflect it.


On the bright side, the more $500 Pandora and $700 Pandora+ that get sold, the faster your pre-ordered Pandora will ship. If you decide to wait out the queue, your patience rewards you with a unit that costs everyone else $500 today for the price you paid years ago.


I'm not affiliated with OpenPandora - just trying to cut through your confusion based on my interpretation of the facts as I understand them. If someone official corrects this - please take their word over mine.

This reasoning is flawed in my perspective. 100€ buying power 10 years ago does not equal 100€ today. If I buy something I appreciate it now, especially technology which is a good that becomes obsolete at frightening speeds. If the old components (600MHZ, RAM etc...) were still in production today their prices would be far below what they were when the Pandora was first planned.


Second they charged too little because they had incompetent business partners in China that screwed them up major; hence a big gap in production cost. If all had worked as planned then there is a good chance that the price was right.


Now we're not going to reinvent all history here. The fact is they need cash to keep the production up. We as consumers have a choice: get a paying upgrade +$$$; wait for whatever comes at us or get reimbursed.

 

[laurencevde]

Well, OpenPandora GmbH. is running out of OMAP3530s, so will soonish need to switch to the DM3730. However, that part does need to be tested, and that'd better happen before there are no OMAP3530s left... So that's the primary goal of this 150-unit run. But hey, might just as well sell them. It's only 150 units, pretty much a limited edition, so there's bound to be enough guys crazy enough to buy them at insane prices. As such, as there are buyers for that price, it IS a reasonable price. Simple rule of supply and demand.


Besides, the preorders were sold below-cost, causing OpenPandora to have a significant debt now, so simply needs to do anything that's profitable and reasonable.


If you want a 1GHz-Pandora for a more affordable price, you'll just have to wait until there are no more OMAP3530s left, which will happen, unless OP goes belly-up in the meantime, which will happen if everyone starts waiting for the 1GHz-Pandora...


IF I were OP, I'd start regular DM3730-production before running out of OMAP3530s, and continue to upsell them, until there are no more OMAP3530s, after which the price comes back down to OMAP3530-levels.


The price of the components (excluding LCD) is only a small portion of the total costs (I think <$80). PCB-production-costs are far more. As such, continuing the use of old parts will barely bring down costs, but all old parts do need to be sold off one way or the other...

 

[elwing]

We as consumers have a choice: get a paying upgrade +$$$; wait for whatever comes at us or get reimbursed.

good summary... still hoping to see a good alternative to buy instead of my old preorder... there's not much hope through, people only seems to be able to do cheap android things...

 

[craigix]

We have enough 600Mhz chips left to complete the original preorders, give or take a few.


So we're hoping it will equal out nicely if/when we go to full 1Ghz production.

 

[WizardStan]

Second they charged too little because they had incompetent business partners in ChinaThe United States that screwed them up major;

Sorry, had to fix that.

 

[FaeMinx]

At present i'm happy with my Pandora as is. Using swap instead of having 512mb of RAM is an inconvenience, but very manageable. Having an upgraded soc with a 1ghz CPU would be very nice indeed... But would unlikely be put to use by me unless I ever have the good fortune of getting qemu + a windows image installed successfully.


Bottom line is I approve, but am very happy to rather wait untill an upgrade option becomes more affordable for me.


I don't make a lot of money, so it's either going to be the upgrade or product 3... Or i'll just be happy with what I've got and wait for P2... Which is sure to cost a pretty penny.


Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk

 

[craigix]

Knowing the costs and complexities involved in making a whole new redesigned Pandora, it may well be priced at $699 from the start.

 

[Foxgod]

Knowing the costs and complexities involved in making a whole new redesigned Pandora, it may well be priced at $699 from the start.

Sadly thats how it goes in bussiness land, often companies start at a loss in the beginning until more experience is gained.


I am sure things will pick up, i have followed the developments the past few years, and in my opinion things are starting to shape up in the right way.