110 replies to this topic

[mali]

I am guessing that the "it" in the sentence is the FDM prototype shell.

MWeston means, that the mat is thicker, not the case. ED confirmed it on the German board.

[Asmo]

Is this an older FDM case? The hinge edges seem the same, whereas the recent rendered redesign has more rounded edges to match the lid?

[jdh2550]

Is it just me or would anyone really love just to have the panda in a case like that (with a screen of course!) and take a pen and write the keys on the white keys?

How cool would that be!

(yeah, no need to tell me why it can't be done - I'm just day dreaming)

[DaveC]

Is this an older FDM case? The hinge edges seem the same, whereas the recent rendered redesign has more rounded edges to match the lid?

Yes, it is an older prototype before the curves.

[Crunchwrap]

Is the final case going to have that texture to it?

[Phawx]

I think the texture is the Fused Deposition Modeling

[MDave]

The D-Pad looks like its in a pretty tight fitting, like barely any room for it to 'tilt' for a button press. Hope there's a bigger gap for the final case and d-pad!

[JerryG20]

That isn't the same FDM case that the team had a long time ago...right? I recall them saying that they paid something like $500 for this prototype case, but it looks a lot like the one in this video back from May:

http://www.youtube.c...re=channel_page

Of course, MWeston hasn't completely assembled the prototype yet (at least not according to the picture), but once it is assembled are the only real differences between the prototype in the above video and the one MWeston now has the following:

-Updated PCB
-Different Nubs
-Unlabeled/painted keymat

I'm just a little surprised/concerned/(impatient??) that it's almost 2009, it's been 7 months since the above video, and I feel like we haven't made too much progress toward a completed Pandora unit as we (according to the picture) don't even have a fully assembled prototype (I know there was the financial crisis and everything, and that the banks have been a trouble to deal with, but the team have stated that the bank problem didn't stop things on the production of the Pandora and that the Pandora manufacturing wasn't funded by the money help up by the banks). I figure since the picture has been taken MWeston has fully assembled it, but even then we still don't have a fully working prototype as he said the keymat doesn't really work well.

When it was first announced that the Pandora would be delayed for sure into December or 2009, people started thinking February would be the month and were surprised/concerned/(impatient??) and freaking out. But of course all the extremely pro-Pandora people rushed in and quieted them down, saying that February is a S T R E T C H and that they shouldn't panic and that it'll probably be released in December or maybe January, etc.

Well, here we are at nearly 2009 and we are lacking a fully functioning prototype unit for a device that people expected to ship within a month from now. Plausible?? Honestly, I know this'll sound stupid/illogical or something, but maybe people need to start having a more pessimistic attitude about this project and projected dates because an optimistic attitude has proven to fail and fail again when it comes to meeting projected dates and timelines.

Appreciate the updates though, mfk and MWeston. Can't wait for this great handheld to finally be released. It's going to be ace!

Edited by JerryG20, 27 December 2008 - 08:45 AM.

[Bosbeetle]

I am curious about the keymat being to 'thick' because of brittle parts. How is this going to be solved?


Will the pandora end up with either keys you have to press really hard or with a very fragile mat. Or will there be a good inbetween?

Edited by Bosbeetle, 27 December 2008 - 09:26 AM.

[Chip]

I am curious about the keymat being to 'thick' because of brittle parts. How is this going to be solved?


Will the pandora end up with either keys you have to press really hard or with a very fragile mat. Or will there be a good inbetween?

The key openings in the case will be made larger to compensate. This is why we make prototypes before going into full production

[Yigguth]

I don't understand

[Asmo]

That isn't the same FDM case that the team had a long time ago...right?

Looks the same:




What does this mean for the screen? There can't be much value in shoehorning a screen into the upper half of the case if it isn't based on the recent 'final' design?

[Bosbeetle]

I am curious about the keymat being to 'thick' because of brittle parts. How is this going to be solved?


Will the pandora end up with either keys you have to press really hard or with a very fragile mat. Or will there be a good inbetween?

The key openings in the case will be made larger to compensate. This is why we make prototypes before going into full production

So widening the openings allows for an easier push. Could make sense because the rubber will bend outward a bit when pressed.

Thanks for the info and I hope the devs will find a nice solution

[mali]

Aaaalso, hier nochmals (hatte es zwar oben schon mal geschrieben, aber das wird wohl immer überlesen):

Die Tasten lassen sich schwer drücken, weil es sich um einen PROTOTYPEN handelt, NICHT, weil wir da einen Fehler haben.
Das ist produktionstechnisch so. Solche Tasten drücken sich ja mithilfe von sehr dünnen Wänden (bei uns genau 0,2mm). Sieht man gut, wenn man mal einen Taschenrechner aufschraubt
(den hab ich als Vorlage genommen). Mit dem fertig erstellten Werkzeug sind die Wände dann auch exakt so dünn - bei der Prototypherstellung läßt sich das aber nicht so genau einstellen, daher wären solche Wände eher dünner (und reißen) oder dicker.
Der Prototyp dieser Matte ist dafür geeignet, zu testen, ob alles ins Gehäuse passt, ob der Abstand zur Platine passt, etc.
Und das tut er.
Heißt: Jetzt kann das Werkzeug hergestellt werden - und das läßt sich dann auch drücken.

Thema Bedruckung: Wir sind am Überlegen, ob wir eine individuelle Bedruckung (Deutsch, Englisch, Türkisch, Spanisch) machen sollen - und da schaut es im Moment recht gut aus, da die Bedruckung NACH der Mattenherstellung stattfindet, also von den Kosten her durchaus möglich ist

The keys are hard to press, because it is a prototype and not because we made a mistake. This is caused by production necessities.
Those keys are able to be pressed because of their very thin walls(in this case exactly 0.2mm). You can see that, when you disassemble
a pocket calculator for example(which I took as reference).
When the tool(the part of the molding machine in which the hot fluid rubber is injected) is ready, the walls will be exactly that thin -
in a prototype-process it isn't possible to adjust it that exactly, so the walls would be thinner(and break) or thicker.
This prototype is adapted for testing if it fits into the case and if the distance to the PCB is right etc. And it does fit.
This means, now the tool can be made and the keys will be pressable.
Regarding the key-printings: We think about making individual printings(German, English, Turkish, Spanish) -
it looks good at the moment, because the printing is done after the fabrication of the mat, so it would be possible regarding kosts

Edited by mali, 27 December 2008 - 01:14 PM.

[Bosbeetle]

thanks mali, I can read german but to go through 2 fora would be a bit much . This seems to answer my question

Edited by Bosbeetle, 27 December 2008 - 01:33 PM.