9 replies to this topic

[_wb_]

[My daughter was born about 6 weeks ago. I only first heard about the Open Pandora project 5 days ago, and pre-ordered one 3 days ago, so I guess it will take some time before it will arrive.]

My question: what minimum age would be a safe age to use the Pandora? My main concern is hardware strength: what kind of abuse can it take, eg the casing and the hinge? From what height can it be dropped? How easily does the LCD break? How much drooling, dirt, liquids can it take? What happens if it gets submerged in water? And so on.

Another concern is hardware safety: probably the stylus could be a choking hazard, but it is easy enough to just remove it. Is there any risk of electrocution? Can the buttons or any other parts be removed by a small child, causing another choking hazard? The SD cards would be too dangerous, so the NAND would have to be used to install the software on.

In terms of software, I already saw there is a port of tux4kids available (see http://boards.openpa.../2990-tux4kids/ ), so that's a good start. Some kind of child lock features in the minimenu would be useful.

Any answers or comments on this topic would be very much appreciated.

[Mr_Loon]

That's a difficult one, the Pandora is certainly not meant to be dropped or subject to excessive force. From a personal perspective I've been perfectly happy for my Daughter (now 7) to use the Pandora since she was 5, though I would not let some of her much older friends anywhere near the thing. My little girl has always shown respect for electronic gadgets and had used a DSlite with no problem or incident since she was 2 years old.

In fact thinking about it you could do a lot worse than picking up a DSlite getting it ready for homebrew and letting her loose with that first, and seeing how it goes.

Have a look here for a bit more about kids & Pandora.

[Budweiser]

My 3 year old uses it often maybe just a quick game of angry birds or quick simpson episode or youtube Thomas Train but I always make sure he can't drop it , or I'm holding it.

[Christoph.Krn]

During production of the Pandora, there have been numerous problems with case production. It was produced with comparatively little money so as to avoid an influence of investors on what the Pandora would be like. As a result, it is not as solid as many other electronic devices are.

Also, the Pandora really is more of a portable PC made for running open source software than anything else. It is a device made to tinker around with, and not foolproof by any means.

I think that the Pandora is not typically suited for at the very least extremely young people. As an alternative for your daughter's early years, and based on your requirements, I would suggest a Gameboy Advance SP or Gameboy Advance Micro, which to my knowledge are both rock-solid, and unlike more recent mobile gaming consoles do not have a stylus or SD-card slot. That said, I don't have any children, and neither do I know your daughter.

[ZXDunny]

As many of you may (or may not) know, I have recently acquired a small child and I have found the Pandora to be of immense value in caring for the little tyke.

The Pandora is a social beast, and warns me when the baby starts to cry or needs changing - it really is quite maternal which was a surprise. I've left the baby alone in a room with the Pandora on guard, and it's seen off many predators and dangers with little regard for its own safety, and provided hours of entertainment by either flashing up bright colours or waggling its nubs, which James (for that is his name) finds fascinating.

I've had some people express concern about allowing such a dangerous-looking device interact at close range with my child, but what many people do not know is that the Pandora was previously known as the "Nanny Console", before the youth of today adopted it as a vicious fighting animal - it was well known for being protective of the young.

My advice would be to tread carefully at first, and guage how the Pandora reacts to your child before leaving them alone together, and maybe invest in some monitoring hardware just to be on the safe side. Like many pets that are classed as dangerous, the Pandora is really only a product of its own upbringing and training - if you treat it with love and respect, it will return your sentiments ten-fold, and become a useful and valued member of your household.

Have fun!

D.

[Gruso]

[Prometheus]

This is part of why I love this place...

[_David_]

WB, my 4 and 6 each have a 3DS, and I can tell you that my OP will never survive any of what they do their console !

[Lao Rebel]

NO ONE uses my Pandora! it is for my eyes and hands ONLY!

[torpor]

I have two Pandoras just so I can keep one when my kids inevitably get big enough to want to posess it with their grubby little hands, one of these days .. well my four year old already loves playing games with it, but tires easily of holding the thing .. that'll probably change after a year or two of growth.