What To Do With The First 105 Pandoras...

[Shock-Socks]

i think i'd be bery amazing if the pandora team could ship, out of the first 105 pandoras, about 20 to randomly selected pre-order-ers (end users) instead of to the developers. i'd be a nice little reward for waiting so patiently, and i'm sure the community (at least the select few of us that get one of those 20 pandoras) would be very grateful.

 

[gruso]

I think Craig's decision not to send the tested/abused 105 boards to paying customers is the right one.

 

[gibberish]

random pre-orderers?
i think not, that is the whole reason people have their place in queue!

 

[neoromani]

The question is, are there 105 developers?? (I mean like DJWillis, notaz, etc...)

 

[musicalwoods]

I think Craig's decision not to send the tested/abused 105 boards to paying customers is the right one.

I agree. I do not want the boards that went through hell and back. I want a shiny new board in mine, thank you.

 

[Dead1nside]

Craig's right in a sense. I don't want a burn-in board or an unfinished case so I'll wait.

 

[kuru]

To random buyers? Who put that in your mind? Oh I see, you want a chance to get one earlier, right? Nonsense Poll.

 

[torpor]

Please: honor the first-come/first-served policy that led so many of us to place an order as soon as humanly possible, then place it again, then again .. Please.

 

[Monk]

I believe the decision not to send the tested/abused 105 boards to paying customers is the right one.

 

[BackAssward]

Since everyone seems to be in agreement that the 105 are not going to end users/buyers, can someone link the reference? I must have missed it, but everyone seems very sure on that point.

Thanks.

Edit: @ Na-Noo thanks, I kinda remember that thread. I wonder if they will get the ok for people to come down. I kinda want to, not sure if I can. And yes, it is not clear if they meant the whole 105. Given that they seem to be selling out (as we are told anyway) and are only keeping what, 5% reserve for warranty replacements, it'd be hard to not use the 105 as sale units. That is, if indeed the first run is limited to 4000 total.

A good card player, never shows their hand until the last round. Seems to fit for business too. Nothing wrong with that, and nothing wrong with pointing it out.

Edit2: As for number of test cases, I would suspect 5 or less. These are just so that the team (or MWeston specifically) can confirm they are up to desired spec so the full run can happen. There is no need for more than even a couple for this... I was saying 5 as a generous estimate.

 

[juniorm33]

I remember CraigX was saying he could send them as they would be fine, or should he send them to dev's first etc.
Personally I think the first 105 shouldn't go to customers. Go to the dev's, kept as demo units, etc. There shouldn't be a massive time difference between the first 105 and the rest.
He also just said he wanted to send them to the press so the link is in the Cases This Weekend thread. May not be talking the full 105 there, maybe just the ones from the test cases, do we know how many test cases are being produced?

 

[JeanLouSchmidt]

Hi,

Just send them to devs,
and use the others to build a portable cluster, so may be we can see a real time ray tracing engine running out of this !!!

 

[Mr B]

Funny. You'd rather have 20 or so random sent of units, that would have worse warranty, then the full 105 sent out to devs. The difference will be in the area of 20-100 programs in development when you actually get your device in hand. I'd rather have a beta software to load up in a panda, than nothing.
B!

 

[matzesu]

"What shall whe do whit the first pandoras early in the morning"

i dont know.. meybe to the devs, so whe get alot more of cool programms..

 

[WizardStan]

Oh, sure, when I suggested that sending the burn in boards to customers might be a bad idea, it was "that's stupid" and "I don't care if it has slightly reduced life" and other reasonings.
But when Gruso suggests it, it's all "hey yeah! That's a good point. I will now kiss your feet"
I'm gonna go in my corner and sulk now.

edit: Two months Two months Two months Two months Two months Two months Two months Two months Two months Two months.
That oughta keep him busy for a while.

 

[carlgeorge]

I can't help feel that they should be sent out on a first-come first served basis (isn't that a legal thing anyway?) They certainly shouldn't be sent out at random.

Don't get me wrong, I know that devs can contribute sooner if they get them earlier, but you wouldn't be releasing the product to the public if you did that.

Also, why send some to reviewers/magazines when the next batch won't be ready for months? It's pointless having publicity for a product that you can't supply to eager customers for months.

 

[MonkeyChops]

IF there are any left after sending them to devs and keeping some for the press (don't care when the press gets them), I don't see the harm in offering whats left to the first users in the queue if they (the users) are willing. The pandoras would still have their warranty and as long as the users were aware of the risk and willing to take it, whats the big deal?

 

[Argtrak]

I'd be curious to know exactly how "abused" the testing boards have been.

It has always been my understanding that silicon ages pretty well. The same goes for resistors and ceramic capacitors in theory. Copper oxidizes but that's more of a time constant than an "abuse" constant. The only relatively perishable components are moving parts (potentiometers, nubs, pads) and electrolytic capacitors.

If the boards were not stressed to the very limit electrically and/or thermally (overclocked until you cook an egg on it for example) and not physically harmed I suspect their life expectancy to be very close to their brothers and sisters from the rest produced.

 

[matzesu]

The pandora should life 20jeahrs(tm), than im happy
if the board are waste in 2monts(tm), than it is reale not the right handheld for me (2months(tm) whait, to play only 2months(tm) not relay) :unsure:

 

[MDave]

What if the NAND flash memory has also been tested constantly reading and written to? We know they have a pretty short life

We need more information on what and how the burn in tests are done I guess.