Wow, Over A Year Late?

[Exophase]

Would the whole motherboard need to change, or would it just be the chip?

Might I add that this is a really superb idea of upgrading the motherboard/chip, while keeping the same case that your working on so very hard to get right. I also agree that this really does add to the value and overall sweetness of this device in a huge way. This alone makes it a worthwhile purchase in my eyes.

It's like upgrading an older Thinkpad....

I'm sure the next generation OMAP won't be pin compatible with the current one. But even if it were it's not like a normal person could drop in a new one, since it's a BGA chip. Also has RAM stacked on top of it.

I think OP would be unwise to provide an option for people to replace the motherboard in their Pandora with a new one, much less encourage this.. but that's just me.

 

[mali]

Would the whole motherboard need to change,

Yep.

I think OP would be unwise to provide an option for people to replace the motherboard in their Pandora with a new one, much less encourage this.. but that's just me.

I see problems as well. Warranty for example. Anyway, I would rather keep the original Pandora as is and buy a complete Pandora2.

This is all pure speculation anyway.

 

[fischju2000]

Would the whole motherboard need to change, or would it just be the chip?

Might I add that this is a really superb idea of upgrading the motherboard/chip, while keeping the same case that your working on so very hard to get right. I also agree that this really does add to the value and overall sweetness of this device in a huge way. This alone makes it a worthwhile purchase in my eyes.

It's like upgrading an older Thinkpad....

I'm sure the next generation OMAP won't be pin compatible with the current one. But even if it were it's not like a normal person could drop in a new one, since it's a BGA chip. Also has RAM stacked on top of it.

I think OP would be unwise to provide an option for people to replace the motherboard in their Pandora with a new one, much less encourage this.. but that's just me.

Is there another way for a successor system to work without pissing everybody off and/or costing much more? I'll agree that the situation is iffy, the future seems like a house of cards. But the case works and took so long to develop, what are the options for recovering costs? Pandora 1 customers keeping the case and OP selling the replacement board, having a trade-in service, and selling a brand new system with a newer board as well as selling the case for the 'Pandora Cube' so the old boards have a purpose would seem like the easiest way to reuse resources and recoup costs. On the other hand slightly changing the internals of the case so the new boards don't fit in the old case would be cheap and force people to buy the whole system again, not cost much, and could generate more revenue. But it would piss everybody off. But there's the third option of giving up on the design and going slider or just tweaking the surface layout/dimensions/adding things people want for a new, better console. That one doesn't sound so bad.

 

[mali]

I think we are really too early to discuss this in depth at all. Two years Pandora1 is what I see. That's just my opinion.

 

[Awakening]

First off I think 2 years is a minimum lifespan, maybe 2½ years so that those who get the 2nd batch can also enjoy at least 2 years. Also, I don't think many Pandora buyers will be able to exchange the boards themselves. Unless it's very easy to do without damaging anything, warranty would also be a problem.

We really should watch where the market goes, deciding today about what the Pandora 2 should be like might not be the best idea. A device that does not evolve will slowly die. I doubt a lot of Pandora buyers will be interested in an upgrade in 1-2 years because it already does everything they want it to do so OP may have to increase their market. I would probably not buy one just for the increased power, depends on what I would be able to do with more power that it can't already do. If there's only 2 years between generations then it would seem very easy to ignore every other generation.

 

[clippa]

2 years™

Somebody had to do it

 

[MDave]

Would the whole motherboard need to change,

Yep.

I think OP would be unwise to provide an option for people to replace the motherboard in their Pandora with a new one, much less encourage this.. but that's just me.

I see problems as well. Warranty for example. Anyway, I would rather keep the original Pandora as is and buy a complete Pandora2.

This is all pure speculation anyway.

Well, I think most people's warranty would be run out anyway when the Pandora 2 comes out But for those that still have it, they could either:

1: Upgrade the board themselves. Cheapest, fastest way to upgrade though slightly risky. If it's not covered by warranty anymore and you can handle electronics, this is a pretty cool option.

2: Board upgrade service by Open Pandora or authorized 3rd Party. This wouldn't be too much work, since there will only be Pandora's in the thousands Could be a profitable business for Open Pandora!

Now that I think about it, this sounds like how PC's work. It basically is a PC, but in a much smaller form factor

 

[Masterfurbix]

Lets not even utter the words "Pandora Two" until we have our pandoras safely in hand.

 

[Nintendo]

2 years™

Somebody had to do it

Lol, but the world ends in 2 years™

 

[aesir911]

Read this and quit asking for a damn camera.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8460899.stm

i still want my damn camera...

 

[kingoddball]

Lets not even utter the words "Pandora Two" until we have our pandoras safely in hand.

Hallelujah!

 

[skyeyemachine]

Read this and quit asking for a damn camera.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8460899.stm

i still want my damn camera...

I still want my damn camera too...

Also, is it just me or are there rather a lot of lawsuits going on in the IT world these days? Maybe I'm just more aware of what's already going on, though...

 

[OrR]

Yeah, looks a little like the cold patent war is becoming hot. There have been a lot of patent disputes before but it was usually obscure small company vs big company, not big company vs big company... I think it's a good thing, though. It will remind everyone that the goddamn patent system needs some serious fixing.

 

[willrandship]

Hi Impreziv:

It sounds like you might be looking for something like I just bought. It's called a viliv and it has 3G and an excellent intregrated GPS built in. Also runs a 1.33 processor and has 1GB of ram. http://www.myviliv.com/eng/product/s5.asp

that actually looks quite nice. the site doesnt half take forever to load though! i wouldnt get it as a replacement to the pandora but it does look nice.

found this engadget link http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/24/viliv-s5-reviewed-is-mostly-smiles-with-good-video-playback/ so its an extra $270 for the extra features and for windows and no keyboard. sounds about what i would expect really and definitely outside a price range i would wanna pay for those extras. id probably put a $100 limit on what i would pay for those in a battery compartment modification.

This post is not supposed to bash the Pandora or the efforts of OP. I just want to explain why my view on the Pandora has changed. In 2008 I wanted the Pandora for everything, now I just want it as an advanced emulation handheld and I use my smartphone for the rest.

it sounds like your expectations of a smartphone has gone up due to your enjoyment of using one whereas your requirements for a gaming device has gone down, which is fair enough and i can kinda understand. still, i dont think the price of the pandora would have changed considerably if they decided to go for a model without a keyboard. maybe i am wrong there... but something would have had to give to make it non clamshell be it nub position, screen size, etc. overall i dont think it cheapens or lessens the appeal of the pandora being able to do those things

There is something worse about that thing than the pandora! (well two if you're like me)

1. It only has 6 hours battery life, pandora has 9-12 projected. Better!!
2. It runs Windows XP. Not just windows, but the now obsolete version. Microsoft has officially dropped all update support for it. it had better run linux, or I won't even consider one!

 

[willrandship]

Read this and quit asking for a damn camera.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8460899.stm

i still want my damn camera...

Then plug one into the USB, it's not that hard, and it will work. Plus, you get to choose camera quality, so no complaints about cheap parts and wasted components!

 

[cappuchok]

I wouldn't say that my expectations have changed, I still feel that no other handheld device comes close to the feature set of the Pandora, even though I did buy myself an iPhone 3GS to pass the time with some OMAP goodness. All things considered, it's taken this long for the industry to actually start using the chip that the Pandora is based on to anywhere near it's full capacity. So if the Pandora is released within Two Months(tm) it'll still be the most powerful handheld on the market, having the chipset of the currently fastest handhelds and phones, and the most versatile controls and connectivity/expandability for a device it's size.

 

[Exophase]

I wouldn't say that my expectations have changed, I still feel that no other handheld device comes close to the feature set of the Pandora, even though I did buy myself an iPhone 3GS to pass the time with some OMAP goodness. All things considered, it's taken this long for the industry to actually start using the chip that the Pandora is based on to anywhere near it's full capacity. So if the Pandora is released within Two Months™ it'll still be the most powerful handheld on the market, having the chipset of the currently fastest handhelds and phones, and the most versatile controls and connectivity/expandability for a device it's size.

iPhone 3GS isn't OMAP, it's a custom Samsung SoC that resembles S5PC100 with a different GPU. Not that it really makes that much of a difference, unless you were really interested in running stuff on the 3530's DSP.

 

[cappuchok]

iPhone 3GS isn't OMAP, it's a custom Samsung SoC that resembles S5PC100 with a different GPU. Not that it really makes that much of a difference, unless you were really interested in running stuff on the 3530's DSP.

Oh, you're right of course. It was the Cortex-A8 + SGX combination and 600MHz that got me confused there. Thanks for setting me straight. The N900 and the Palm Pre both use the OMAP 3 series, though?

 

[marshal]

I am pretty sure N900 and Palm Pre are using OMAP3. I am sure Exophase can confirm.

 

[Awakening]

Well, I think most people's warranty would be run out anyway when the Pandora 2 comes out But for those that still have it, they could either:

There would be no warranty on the new board if you do the job yourself.