Would You Go Back And Change The Design?


No I'd keep it the same...I think the keyboard is really nice compared to the crap that's out there. What really started the troubles was the first nub company going under...imagine if they'd had all this nub nonsense sorted out back then.
 
I really like the design. The only thing I would change is what DaveC suggested for better shoulder buttons. Other changes would be specs and things like the socketised nubs, but those aren't really case design. I think it's a great and functional design -- definitely have the keyboard there.
 
-Tj- said:
I don't trust on-screen keyboards
Me either. I think it says a great deal about on-screen keyboards that, in my entire lifetime so far, I have only come across one on-screen keyboard that I find works really well - and it isn't one designed for what one might call practical usage anyway.

(For the record, it's the one in Animal Crossing: Wild World for the Nintendo DS. It's so good that I can stylus-type on it almost as fast as I can type on my main computer and a fair bit faster than I can currently thumb-type on my Pandora. :p )
 
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Prometheus said:
(For the record, it's the one in Animal Crossing: Wild World for the Nintendo DS. It's so good that I can stylus-type on it almost as fast as I can type on my main computer and a fair bit faster than I can currently thumb-type on my Pandora. :p )

totally off topic... the irritating thing about that keyboard is the borders around it... on the XL the keyboard is *almost* big enough to type with your thumbs and had the keyboard not had a border and taken all the screen up, it would have most likely been possible.

Not that the coders of the game could have foreseen the XL, but anyway!
 
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[also off-topic]
I've never even considered trying to thumb-type on that one - I hate putting my fingers on screens, always have. :lol:
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well unless you have an XL, don't even think about trying. If you have an XL and little fingers it might be ok... but if you don't like touching screens then probably not.
 
i have a caanoo and i am really loving quake online on it. that game can potentially use every feature the caanoo has to offer. it already uses every button and usb port for wifi. and so far after a lot of key and sensitivity customizing i am having a lot of fun with the buttons already available. there is still potential to have touch screen keys where your thumbs can have quick and easy access to during a fast paced game, g sensor as a mouse, a rumble feature, and tv out.

i wished the pandora took the "have just enough with the ability for expansion" road instead of the "have everything already with room for expansion" direction. what i mean by this is the caanoo has minimum of what you basic needs are: a lot of gaming buttons, good batter life, and large touch screen. and it allows you to expand with it's ports for keyboard, wifi, joypad, tv out, etc. it really is only limited by the internal hardware, lower resolution screen, and lower battery life.

i mean come on some people will plug in a usb keyboard and mouse into the pandora when it already has a keyboard and mouse capability and never use the pandora's keyboard and screen.

and to those that say the delay was unfortunate and unforseeable that just isn't true. the pandora has so much going on in it's design that they had no choice but to choose a cheaper and unreliable alternative. with a simpler design they could've spent the same amount with a more reliable manufacturer and this thing would've came out years ago.

i want a pandora i really do...
 
blues2 said:
with a simpler design they could've spent the same amount with a more reliable manufacturer and this thing would've came out years ago.
Surely in such a case, technically "this thing" wouldn't have come out years ago - something completely different would have, no? :p
 
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Since I was a kid I dreamed of having a truly portable Commodore 64. The closest I came was my beloved GP32 and my modified ericson keypad - but it just wasn't good enough. To be just right, it needs something like the Pandora, a decent keyboard (that is part of the design not a shitty plug in thing) and enough power to emulate a 1541 disk drive properly as well as the C64 it's self. My dream is almost within grasp... if they'd just send me my Pandora. I waited 25 years so far, so a bit longer is ok, provided it doesn't turn out to be a massive disappointment (like the Wiz, though it was more a miniscule disappointment).

As a bonus I should be able to enjoy some old Amiga games, and a few DOS ones too. And if I can also play "Medal of Honor" on a PSX emulator - well, I'm not sure I'd have enough ejaculate in my system to convey my happiness.
 
the only feasible thing that could be added is dual stylus support!
 
naples39 said:
Also, the nubs are a gaming feature, but were they worth all the headaches when they are of little to no use for most things up to N64/PSX emulation? A matter of opinion.
Are you kidding me? all the old computers and the arcades used analogue joysticks, It's only consoles in the Snes/Megadrive time frame that dumped them for a digital pad. Something that the companies obviously regret as they're bringing analogue controls back in with all the newest consoles now ;)

Amiga/C64 emulation just isn't the same with a joypad :(
 
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Tripmonkey_uk said:
Are you kidding me? all the old computers and the arcades used analogue joysticks, It's only consoles in the Snes/Megadrive time frame that dumped them for a digital pad.

Amiga/C64 emulation just isn't the same with a joypad :(

Um the joysticks used by the Amiga and C64 were most DEFINITELY digital.
 
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And the majority of well-known joystick-based arcade games that one can bring to mind all also used digital controls. :p Not to mention almost all of the consoles before the SNES and Mega Drive...
 
Yeah most back then where digital, I had the Tandy Color Computer 1 and 2, later a Tandy 1000 HX.. these used Analog joysticks, which where always annoying because they needed calibrating all the time.

Now not to get confused that most joysticks were interfaced in a digital manner, But were just 4 or 8 way switches.. kind of like a Gamepad with a stick.The Tandy joystick used Potentiometers and a ADC circuit.
 
Of course they were, my bad.
I made a joypad out of an old Amiga joystick once and replaced the joysticks and all the buttons on my Neo-Geo arcade machine so I should know better. I really need to stop posting whilst half asleep.

Still say that the older machines are better played with joysticks though instead of joypads. Seems to feel more natural, even when using thumb sticks instead of the proper joysticks but as you say that's pretty much users choice :)
 
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