72 replies to this topic

[trooper]

Whats wrong with a couple of these, Saves you having to carry a computer around with you.





Trooper

[Holokauston]

Living out of a suitcase for a few weeks *really* makes you long for USB charging on everything!

When you've got you phone, music player, camera, GBA and laptop with you and have to take a separate charger for each, you really wish you could just take the one for your laptop and a USB cable.

(I'm hoping the Pandora will replace several of those gadgets, but still...)

I can understand that but what is more common with for ex. the iPod (which is USB charged unless you buy extra stuff for it)
I have my iPod with me all over, specially if I'm going away for ex. in the summer I often end up at friends summer places where they don't have a computer or likewise, so on the way there, then no problem music all the way, but then I can't use it there or on the way home

and to be honest I'm most likely going to use my Pandora more or less as a "laptop" in the sense that it will be the thing I take everywhere for email, movies etc, why have a Pandora if you carry your laptop to the same places? sure I can understand the fun of playing on it but it feels a bit redundant to have both and the Pandora fits in your pocket while the laptop needs much more space.

btw my Mobile (SE k810i) recharges via USB if that's connected, my mobile is my camera (and my internet), my music player is an iPod Nano (recharges via usb) and GBA and laptop, well that what Pandora will replace (it could replace the ipod but would rather use memory and battery life for other stuff)


EDIT:
Tropper, if you throw in a few converters to match sockets in other countries then sure

but that actually is a good perk with usb, same standard all over the world

Edited by Holokauston, 19 April 2008 - 08:08 PM.

[Karel Jansens]

Living out of a suitcase for a few weeks *really* makes you long for USB charging on everything!

When you've got you phone, music player, camera, GBA and laptop with you and have to take a separate charger for each, you really wish you could just take the one for your laptop and a USB cable.

(I'm hoping the Pandora will replace several of those gadgets, but still...)

I've been living out of suitcases before, and a simple (although regulated) multi-voltage charger with a couple of interchangeable tips was all it took to keep my N800, Pepper Pad 3, P910i phone, Archos PMA430 and MP3 player charged and happy.

The biggest nuisance of USB charging is that it is (usually) topped off at 500 mA, meaning that it'll take up to three times as long to charge a battery and usually make it impossible to charge and use the device at the same time.

[Chip]

Not to drag this topic further off topic, but if you have a ton of USB devices to recharge, you can buy one cheap powered USB hub and plug them all into it - even if it's not hooked to a computer. Cheap hubs cost about as much as one AC-USB adapter and have the added benifit of being an actual hub when you DO have a computer to plug into

[crazedover]

I've never seen a half-decent cameraphone, they just can't the pictures like a proper camera can.

I was being kind of tongue-in-cheek.

[Squidge]

The biggest nuisance of USB charging is that it is (usually) topped off at 500 mA, meaning that it'll take up to three times as long to charge a battery and usually make it impossible to charge and use the device at the same time.

Thats what I like about a couple of my devices, if they are connected to a PC that talks to them, they use upto 500mA. If they are connected to a AC-USB adaptor that just provides power, they'll soak upto 3 times that amount.

I was being kind of tongue-in-cheek.

Ah, then in that case you missed an emoticon!

[CoMiKe]

Thats what I like about a couple of my devices, if they are connected to a PC that talks to them, they use upto 500mA. If they are connected to a AC-USB adaptor that just provides power, they'll soak upto 3 times that amount.

Interesting, we need that kind of behavior for Pandora.

[Squidge]

Thats what I like about a couple of my devices, if they are connected to a PC that talks to them, they use upto 500mA. If they are connected to a AC-USB adaptor that just provides power, they'll soak upto 3 times that amount.

Interesting, we need that kind of behavior for Pandora.

I've found out how it works now too. The mini-usb socket actually has five pins. The PC only uses 4, so the fifth pin is left floating; on the power supply it is grounded, so device can detect the difference and charge accordingly.

[Holokauston]

I've never seen a half-decent cameraphone, they just can't the pictures like a proper camera can.

I was being kind of tongue-in-cheek.

sure they might not be anything like a professional system camera but imo there are some that can give decent pictures


Taken during drunken haze in a not so well lighted kitchen (size reduced) with my K810i



also with my K810i in a cellar room with one dimmer lamp on.



Macro picture, not the best in the world but ok for a mobile camera imo (K810i)



My dog outside (K810i)



Sure it ain't nothing I would put in a gallery but saying the quality isn't ok would be wrong imo?
It comes down to lights and the ok autofocus isn't the best bot works and xenon flash helps a lot in dark places, but you can't say it's not decent?


I know this was a bit OT but just couldn't not say it ^^

Haha forgot that the site blocked outside linking >_> fixed ;P

Edited by Holokauston, 20 April 2008 - 09:47 AM.

[trooper]

@ Holokauston

Cor!, Those pictures are small though.

Trooper

[crazedover]

How about this camera phone?

[Holokauston]

@ Holokauston

Cor!, Those pictures are small though.

Trooper

Fixed haha


crazedover >> hehe love that one ;D

Edited by Holokauston, 20 April 2008 - 12:15 AM.

[Firefox]

I've never seen a half-decent cameraphone, they just can't the pictures like a proper camera can.

I use the camera on my phone for fun snaps, or for quickly snapping the sign that gives a shop's opening hours, etc. The pictures it takes can't compare in quality with those from my proper camera, though. I think the difference is that the lenses on phone cameras just don't gather enough light.

*However*, lately phones have started appearing that have proper camera lenses on them. I'll definitely be looking at those when I upgrade, because carting a "proper" camera around is a pain in the arse and so I often don't bother.

You can consolidate your music player and GBA by way of pandora, and you can also consolidate your camera and phone by buying a cameraphone. Then you'll just have the pandora, cameraphone, and laptop left

Yeah, I currently use an iRiver hard drive based player running Rockbox as my music player. I'm hoping the Pandora can replace it (especially with big SDHC cards getting cheaper by the day), and my GBA as well.

[izzie]

You won't really need to take the battery out at all until it goes bad several years down the line. I can almost guarentee that a custom 4AH Li-po battery will cost more than $20, but it's not something you will have to worry about any time soon.

actually it is. I don't expect to have to wait for an empty battery to charge before I can use the pandora, I do expect to pop out the empty battery put it into charge and pop in a faully-cherged spare battery as I currently do with my gp2x.
so yeah I intend to take the battery out quite often (almost every time it's empty) and to be able to charge the battery outside the pandora without having to buy any additional equipment.

any info about the possibility to charge the battery outside the pandora ?

I`ve never really understood usb charging myself either, I suppose it was implemented for convenience for those people that never leave their pc`s. *snip*
Couple that with the fact that it takes a lot longer to charge via usb, I just can`t see the appeal.

At first, I thought the same as you, but it turned out to have practical applications I didn't suspect. being able to charge a device when you're on the go and forgot the required ac adapter or cable is quite enjoyable, when you plug the device to a computer for any reasons it gets a slight boost of charge with whatever you plugged it in in the first place.
when in a remote place with no working power outlet, you can rely on foldable/portable solar panels; most of them provide usb connectivity and a full charge of your device will be awfully slow anyways.

of course it's not going to fully replace an ac adapter anytime soon., but it turned out to be added comfort and a useful backup way of charging a device.

[Tobriand]

actually it is. I don't expect to have to wait for an empty battery to charge before I can use the pandora, I do expect to pop out the empty battery put it into charge and pop in a faully-cherged spare battery as I currently do with my gp2x.
so yeah I intend to take the battery out quite often (almost every time it's empty) and to be able to charge the battery outside the pandora without having to buy any additional equipment.

any info about the possibility to charge the battery outside the pandora ?

Legitimate concern, certainly, though personally I don't expect to buy an additional Pandora battery, bearing in mind it's predicted to be 10 hours for mainline apps. Which presumably means, for CPU-light apps, significantly longer. That means the actual probability of the battery running out between charge-points falls very significantly compared to the Gp2x.

In addition, I believe it has been stated (though there was a backlash, and it has yet to be re-iterated) that the battery cover will be screw-on, because they aren't expecting people to change batteries very often. This could, as mentioned, be old info.

Add to that that if you buy a spare and *don't* use it, its capacity will still decrease in line with the normal way Li-Poly batteries' capacity decreases with time regardless of use. Personally, I'll go with buying a replacement three years or so down the line.

Oh, and given how cloe to the wind they're sailing this project profit-wise, I'd be *very* surprised if there is an out-of-the-box external charger for Pandora batteries, though presumably a universal Li-poly trickle charger will do. We shall see .