56 replies to this topic

[EvilDragon]

Well - almost!
Everything was going WELL too well for the last few weeks, therefore something HAD to go wrong.
I'm happy to tell you it's nothing too serious - but just read on, and you'll know

1. Prototype production

Prototype production is still planned to happen in November, it might also be early December though (depending on the speed of FedEx and the customs).
These few days delays don't change the January full production run which is scheduled to start January 16th.
The only thing that could REALLY delay the production run would be problems with the prototype run - but we'll hope (and expect) everything goes well here.

Quite a few parts are currently being shipped to me: USB Ports, volume wheels and soon the parts that are lying at CircuitCo as well. It was quite an act to prepare proper documentation for customs, but FedEx has already been given the confirmation to pick up the parts.

Some Pandora parts are already out of production, so we had to find some equivalents but that's already been taken care of as well.

So everything here is still in schedule.


2. TV Out Cable production

Well, I mentioned not everything is still going smooth as it should.
As soon as I got the confirmation for all the investments, I placed the order for the TV Out Cables - but suddenly the company doesn't want to do this anymore.
This is totally weird - they produce the samples, they created the needed tools and now when they only need to PRODUCE them, they don't want to do it.
They don't want to get our money? Weird. Well, that's China.

As said: It's not serious, as it won't affect the Pandora production and it's not hard to find another company. Such a cable is nothing complicated.
It's just annoying. I would've been happy to ship you the TV Out cables for christmas... but sadly, that didn't work out



That's all I have for now
I'll keep you updated with anything that happens

[ndbsolar]

Bugger!

[Dead1nside]

Got to get receive my Pandora before I can use the TV-out cables, so no big loss for me. Glad the rest seems on track. Very odd from the cable company, "SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY" comes to mind. At least they were honest about it, and didn't just take the money and fail to produce!

Glad things seem to be working out pretty well. Looking forward to hearing about the prototype production etc.

[Amon_Re]

Just wondering but couldn't you have used a standard cable for tv-out? Like a 3,5mm jack or something? Just wondering

[Darkknight512]

Were they a smaller company when you first approached them? Maybe they got larger and making such a small batch of cables is a loss, instead of a gain for them now.

[iArnold]

EULO's? No cables!

Same with the out of production parts. Some companies do not want to produce things people do want to have. (Even Apple does this with the new wireless mouse: I want it without the battery ;-) ) You can complain about it, wonder about it, but the best thing to do is laugh about it

[Fusion_Power]

2. TV Out Cable production

Well, I mentioned not everything is still going smooth as it should.
As soon as I got the confirmation for all the investments, I placed the order for the TV Out Cables - but suddenly the company doesn't want to do this anymore.
This is totally weird - they produce the samples, they created the needed tools and now when they only need to PRODUCE them, they don't want to do it.
They don't want to get our money? Weird. Well, that's China.

As said: It's not serious, as it won't affect the Pandora production and it's not hard to find another company. Such a cable is nothing complicated.
It's just annoying. I would've been happy to ship you the TV Out cables for christmas... but sadly, that didn't work out

Actualy not that surprising when thinking about. Why they should trust you anymore, after more than a Year without ordering/paying the Cables, they may think you are bankrupt or whatever. I guess they told you no reasons?
I guess you also never asked them early enough over the last Months if they want to make the cables at all.
I see it comming: we never get these damn cables, and at last for me it was ONE of the MAJOR rerasons to buy a Pandora, I have plans with the cable, I've payed for it and I want it. I'm so disappointed that I want to trash my furniture right now. But I guess I can guide my anger to a round of Duke Nukem 4 Ever, the King always makes me happy. ^^""

[Argtrak]

By pure curiosity, have you purchased the connectors for the cables, and where are they?

Guess I don't regret buying some connectors from WizardStan hehehe!

[EvilDragon]

Actualy not that surprising when thinking about. Why they should trust you anymore, after more than a Year without ordering/paying the Cables, they may think you are bankrupt or whatever. I guess they told you no reasons?

They didn't tell reasons, but it doesn't make sense, since they get paid upfront

I guess you also never asked them early enough over the last Months if they want to make the cables at all.

I asked them in June / July and they were still okay and gave me a lead time of 1 month.

I see it comming: we never get these damn cables, and at last for me it was ONE of the MAJOR rerasons to buy a Pandora, I have plans with the cable, I've payed for it and I want it. I'm so disappointed that I want to trash my furniture right now. But I guess I can guide my anger to a round of Duke Nukem 4 Ever, the King always makes me happy. ^^""

Any reason we should never get the cables?
They are probably the easiest-to-produce thing of the Pandora. Even the LCD Cables are more complicated to produce.

By pure curiosity, have you purchased the connectors for the cables, and where are they?

They are lying safe at the case production company.

[Korlithiel]

In all I still consider this excellent news.

[PokitFoxx]

In all honesty i love my pandora but havnt used it much lately due to not having my cable that i payed for...i understand there are still people waiting but i also paid to not wait by upgrading to premium, now if getting the cable made is easy, i think it should at least get some priority! dont hate im just venting a bit because i have a 600$ toy i dont play with
all the power to ya Ed!

[Link]

^
Peca's cables are great. You could help him out and sell your other cable when it arrives, or have a backup for 2012.

[MarioPandio]

Is Peca even still alive after the workload he took on? I had planned to order from him but the work involved, atop his work and family commitments led me to back off and now that the official cables, are also on a backlog (No offence meant ED and thank you for the update), its gonna be snowing in Peca's neck of the woods. Which is good if you want cash but bad if you have the need for any time in your life. I was really hoping the official cables would get the go ahead around now but hey ho ho ho

[valhalla]

Just wondering but couldn't you have used a standard cable for tv-out? Like a 3,5mm jack or something? Just wondering

The TV out connector has more signals (there are 14 pins) than would have fitted in the same area using 3.5mm jacks.

[foxblock]

Actualy not that surprising when thinking about. Why they should trust you anymore, after more than a Year without ordering/paying the Cables, they may think you are bankrupt or whatever. I guess they told you no reasons?

They didn't tell reasons, but it doesn't make sense, since they get paid upfront

So you are now getting your money back, aren't you. Or at least part of it (since some was probably spent on the samples and tools), which is still a bummer as that would mean another chunk spent for nothing

[F_Slim]

I don't think the cable company got any money yet, why on earth would they? ED just asked for a quotation last month, and appearently their reply was "forget it". Of all the bad things that might still happen, this is probably the least severe, just ask the next company.

[EvilDragon]

Well, they got the money for the tools, but that wasn't that much, and we can probably get the tools.
Of course nothing else has been paid upfront.

[ensoniq2k]

Is it possible to move the cable production to Germany as well? Or is it too expensive here?

[Fusion_Power]

All I can say: Never deal with China again! You can't even sue a chinese company if they build shit, pretty annoying. Imagine such a behaviour with a normal western Company, epic lawsuits I bet.

[Christoph.Krn]

Generalizing against an arbitrary group doesn't do justice to those who were not involved, and it doesn't prevent future problems either. As I always say: "One of the biggest mistakes one can make is to underestimate others. One of the other biggest mistakes is to trust others."

The better thing to say would be that there are lessons that can be learned:

• Never produce at a place you can not visit unless you know what you are doing
• Never trust unless you know what you are doing
• Always be conscientious and comprehensive when making plans
• Always provide for contingencies