What Will Make Or Break Pandora.


charon

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Jun 4, 2007
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Let me preface this by saying that I want the pandora to be great. I mean I would LOVE this little unit to be hugely successful and perfect. It has great specs which are touted all over the place. But what will make or break the success of the Pandora is it's build quality.

Build quality is why I don't own a GP2X right now. Too many stories about sloppy construction. headphone jacks breaking, rubber seals over the inputs not fitting right, having to cut things off just to get it to fit in the TV cradle. These things are unacceptable. The general fit and finish of the GP2X appears to be just bad.

So, Craig, please tell me that you are putting as much thought into the details of the construction as you are in the hardware specs, because people just won't buy the Pandora if it's shoddily made. If the Pandora is made well, has an impeccable fit and finish, then you have a guaranteed sale with me...

Best of luck.
 
charon said:
Let me preface this by saying that I want the pandora to be great. I mean I would LOVE this little unit to be hugely successful and perfect. It has great specs which are touted all over the place. But what will make or break the success of the Pandora is it's build quality.

Build quality is why I don't own a GP2X right now. Too many stories about sloppy construction. headphone jacks breaking, rubber seals over the inputs not fitting right, having to cut things off just to get it to fit in the TV cradle. These things are unacceptable. The general fit and finish of the GP2X appears to be just bad.

So, Craig, please tell me that you are putting as much thought into the details of the construction as you are in the hardware specs, because people just won't buy the Pandora if it's shoddily made. If the Pandora is made well, has an impeccable fit and finish, then you have a guaranteed sale with me...

Best of luck.
I had the headphone jack on my unit break, sent it in, and they sent me back a first edition. I'm happy, but after seeing the poor construction I simply stopped using the jack on the new one rather than waiting for it to break again. I am curious, however as to how the Pandora will hold up.
 
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Firstly the GP2X F200 and the later F100 isn't badly made, actually the build quality is very good, the things you are talking about are mostly GP2X first edition issues.

The Pandora, due to the technology involved, has to be built at cutting edge factories and thus is high quality.

Even so we are doing the first edition release as a private distribution just incase there are any unexpected issues (like the GP2X headphone problem).

As we have said many many times we won't release the Pandora until we are 100% happy with it.

And even then if something did happen we would fix it right away.

You don't have to worry, we are here on the forums every day answering your questions, we won't hide away like GPH, Gizmondo, Tapwave etc.
 
Craig is from EU and in EU we have law that protect stupid customers. ie: if dumb customer buy china shit (in hope that something such cheap crap may works) that broke immediately after first use, then seller must exchange for new crap or may return money, and after 3 exchanges for new crap seller must return money.

OK, not all customers are dumb, not all craps are from china, not all china's import is crap and not all sellers are honest.

EDIT: grammar correction, but still buggy for sure :)

2nd edit: This post doesn't mean, that Craig isn't honest, or so on!
 
Thanks Craig, please believe me when I say I wish you every success with the Pandora. I truly want it to be great.

craigix said:
Firstly the GP2X F200 and the later F100 isn't badly made, actually the build quality is very good, the things you are talking about are mostly GP2X first edition issues.

The Pandora, due to the technology involved, has to be built at cutting edge factories and thus is high quality.

Even so we are doing the first edition release as a private distribution just in case there are any unexpected issues (like the GP2X headphone problem).

As we have said many many times we won't release the Pandora until we are 100% happy with it.

And even then if something did happen we would fix it right away.

You don't have to worry, we are here on the forums every day answering your questions, we won't hide away like GPH, Gizmondo, Tapwave etc.
 
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Hello

Yeah i got to agree with Craig on this one. I work in the oil industry on drill rig sites and my gp2x F100 travels all over the globe with me. It has taken all kinds of abuses, Where all my other pda's/gadgets have failed. The tv out is great when got quiet evening i plug it into hotels tv and get some good mame action. Theres nothing that doesnt work on mine

When i get the pandora am hoping to do the same with it but also use it for spreadsheet stuff, data logging, cad design etc etc. Only thing it probably wont do is be water proof but im sure someone will make a way of doing that. When theres a will theres a way :)
 
london said:
Hello

Yeah i got to agree with Craig on this one. I work in the oil industry on drill rig sites and my gp2x F100 travels all over the globe with me. It has taken all kinds of abuses, Where all my other pda's/gadgets have failed. The tv out is great when got quiet evening i plug it into hotels tv and get some good mame action. Theres nothing that doesnt work on mine

When i get the pandora am hoping to do the same with it but also use it for spreadsheet stuff, data logging, cad design etc etc. Only thing it probably wont do is be water proof but im sure someone will make a way of doing that. When theres a will theres a way :)
man i doubt you'll be doing cad design on it...
its a powerful machine for a handheld but in desktop terms its a sloth.
 
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craigix said:
Firstly the GP2X F200 and the later F100 isn't badly made, actually the build quality is very good, the things you are talking about are mostly GP2X first edition issues.

The Pandora, due to the technology involved, has to be built at cutting edge factories and thus is high quality.

Even so we are doing the first edition release as a private distribution just incase there are any unexpected issues (like the GP2X headphone problem).

As we have said many many times we won't release the Pandora until we are 100% happy with it.

And even then if something did happen we would fix it right away.

You don't have to worry, we are here on the forums every day answering your questions, we won't hide away like GPH, Gizmondo, Tapwave etc.
I have a good Feeling about this. :) And anything is better organized than GPH :lol:

A Question about "build quality" that maybe wasn't asked before: What kind of Material will be used for the Pandora Case? Yes, I know it will be PLASTIC but there are a gazillion Types of Plastic, soft, hard, very hard (like the Material of the first Gameboy), flexible, strong, weak, rubberish, glaring...is there a Name for the Type of Plastic that will be used for the Pandora? And how durable is it in real?
 
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I would guess Polycarbonate (or PC), thats what is used for most MP3 players/Phones and other gadgets.

Maybe a Polycarbonate/Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene mix (PC/ABS). That would be what I would recommend because it is light, tough and can have a nice shine :).
 
DarkScale said:
I would guess Polycarbonate (or PC), thats what is used for most MP3 players/Phones and other gadgets.

Maybe a Polycarbonate/Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene mix (PC/ABS). That would be what I would recommend because it is light, tough and can have a nice shine :).
Ah, thanx, sounds interesting. :) Can you name some Examples? I.E. the used Material of the NDS(lite) and the PSP, GP2X or the old Gameboy?
 
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Im pretty sure the iPod is Polycarbonate.
Also if you have a mobile phone 90% chance it will be PC also, the other 9.9% will be PC/ABS.
If you ever had a plastic recorder at school that was ABS.

PC is what it will probably be because its very versitle and is the industry standard for electronic gadgets.

As for NDS(lite) and PSP, I don't have either so I cant check but I'd guess at PC.
 
In addition to polycarbonate, it could also be ABS, polystyrene, or an acrylic blend of some sort. I'd also like to know how what the texture is like. Does it feel more like an EEE PC or a GBA/Original DS? From the look of the photos of the dev units, it seems to be textured more like the EEE than a standard game console, which I don't know if I'm a fan of.

Oh, and PSP and DS are both polycarbonate shells with styrene underneath for the color. :p
 
Im pretty sure it wouldn't be Polystyrene (I assume you're refering to High Impact Polystyrene), it just wouldn't be resistant enough for the main shell, but we're getting a little sidetracked :p.

Also I'd like to add I've never had any problems with my F200s build quality, it's only broken once and that was my fault :p.
 
fusion_power said:
And anything is better organized than GPH :lol:
I'm guessing you weren't arund for the debacle of Gamepark's organisation during the GP32's lifespan, then? GPH may have been disorganised, but they have German efficiency compared to some of the stuff Gamepark managed to fluff.
 
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Tobriand said:
I'm guessing you weren't arund for the debacle of Gamepark's organisation during the GP32's lifespan, then? GPH may have been disorganised, but they have German efficiency compared to some of the stuff Gamepark managed to fluff.
Why, what kind of things did they do?
 
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I've become confident in the ability of the team to produce a flawless hardware device. I'm sure some people will still state flaws, such as the keyboard is not adqute for word processing or I can't install windows. But that is the user perception of what the requirements should be, rather than a nearly universal opinion on teh crap GP2X MK1 joystick. (Or, I can just call it a stick, because it gave me no joy) :(

If we remember history, DaveC helped out by supplying GPH with information that the bias was wrong (needed rotation) and he produced a new joystick for people to buy for a few bucks. We're all glad to know that DaveC has been asked for feedback, or even design before the product goes out to the first devs.

The whole software side is like a big blackhole to most of us. I guess that has the potential to surprise us all in a bad way if there is something fundamentally wrong with the OS.
 
I am confident that the team will produce a high-quality device. They have all the big developers and well-known people from the community bug-testing the device and writing launch software for it. DaveC is helping with the design of the device, and if I remember correctly, he personally designed the D-pad. As Craig mentioned "above", the device is going to be manufactured in technologically "proficient" factories, and therefore there shouldn't be too many manufacturing defects. Also, I'm sure that the case will be made of a good material - all of these guys have lots of experience with handheld devices, and they know what works and what doesn't. They're probably analyzing devices that are already on the market, and taking their findings and using those to perfect the Pandora.
 
DarkScale said:
Why, what kind of things did they do?
The two biggies are their introduction of the BLU+ (a model exactly like the BLU except that it used a different screen, and conequently, was incompatible with about half the software extant for the GP32 at the time), and the number of times they fluffed the European launch due to poor communication with their partners. I believe they went through three of them before someone actually hung around until there were units on shelves.

They also had more minor issues - poor communication in general (GPH, at least earlier on, were MUCH better at this) both with suppliers and users, and they wasted a series of licenses for Capcom games that really should have been made. They were also intrumental in the lack of a port of Pinball Fantasies, by, if I recall correctly, generally being assholes to the team who ported Pinball Dreams after it's release (can't remember the details).

There were definitely other issues, too, but I can't remember them, I must admit. I definitely remember all the "breath of fresh air" posts though shortly after the GP2x was announced...
 
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the pandora has a qwerty keyboard and awesome specs for games, but it lacks a backspace bar
 
poopidoop2 said:
the pandora has a qwerty keyboard and awesome specs for games, but it lacks a backspace bar
Shoulder+DEL could act as BS. There are all sorts of ways to work around things.
 
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