Craig posted this on Twitter:

Final boards are being ordered this week….

Source

Four to six weeks from the first to the last of the first batch Pandoras. Give or take a couple weeks for testing and tweaking the assembly process.

Once the manufacturing process is 100% nailed down (2nd batch onwards) the plant can make ~5000 per month, though they can only make them as fast as we can get parts. Second batch will probably start up about two months after the first is finished (again, depending on parts availability).

So at least 3-4 weeks before first batch starts, 4-6 weeks after that it finishes, then ~8 weeks until the 2nd batch starts. If you want a Pandora soon, order from the first batch. Otherwise you’ll be waiting a while.

Source

Source

As most of you know, emails are now going out with reordering instructions for bank transfers and mailed checks / money orders. Here is the text of the email that has been sent:

QUOTE

We are unable, at this time, to accept re-orders via credit/debit cards. We we’re briefly taking CC and Debit card orders but we have now had to stop after reaching our account limit.

The re-payment options available are:

1. Bank Transfer directly or using an online service such as www.tranzfers.com – please use your original order number as the reference on the transfer.

Bank Details:

OpenPandora Ltd.
26 Meadow Road
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE15 7LP
UK

bic/swift is BARCGB22

IBAN IS GB33BARC20238183525767

Sort Code: 20 23 81
Acc. No. 83525767

Bank address is:
BARCLAYS BANK
9 STATION ROAD
ASHINGTON
NORTHUMBERLAND
NE63 9XB

Confirmation via email with be sent as soon as your transfer credits our account and it will be matched to your original order.

2. Cheque/Money Order -

To be made payable to: Openpandora Limited

Postal address:

Openpandora Ltd
26 Meadow Road
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE15 7LP
UK

Please include a brief note with your original order number.

Confirmation via email will be sent when we receive your cheque and it will be matched to your original order.

Please reply to this email to let us know if you wish to re-order and the payment method.

Thanks

_______________

I have been sent some additional instructions for anybody who chooses to use the Xoom service. This info will be added to all future emails:

QUOTE

I have just been informed by a customer that it may help people who decide to use Xoom for transfers, if details of how to complete our details in the transfer are posted, as they are quite specific. It requires you to enter the company name twice – I think it asks for a Christian name and Surname – 2 boxes. Also it requests the County – Tyne & Wear – which I had not included in the re-order emails already sent but will now.

OPENPANDORA LIMITED OPENPANDORA LIMITED
26 Meadow Road
Newcastle upon Tyne
Tyne and Wear
NE15 7LP
United Kingdom

_____________

Again, we would like to request that anybody who is unwilling or unable to use one of the payment methods listed above please send an email to openpandorasales@gmail.com letting us know that you will not be reordering at this time. The more people let us know that they are relinquishing their preorder, the more we can make available for those who can pay now. The more we can sell now, the sooner we can get working on the second batch which, hopefully, will be purchasable via credit card.

Hello everyone,

Payments are coming in at a steady rate now via alternative means.

We will honour the AMEX orders so don’t worry about those.

Payment methods you can use:

Tranzfers: $5 cost which we will cover, especially good for USA orders.

Bank Transfer: Will vary depending where you are, good for Europe and UK.

Money order: This will cost you nothing and can be requested from your bank and you will have to post it to us, it costs us $10 to cash it here but we will cover that.

Cheques: These work but again you will have to post them to us, the fees for accepting them seem to vary.

I need to go in to a little more detail on the CC situation, if we were selling PSP and DS consoles, yes, they would probably be fine, but as soon as they see we are selling something ‘made by the community’ they instantly back off and don’t let us take orders or limit the orders to such a low amount as to make it pointless, this is due to the project not having a big name behind it I guess, although the reasons vary depending on who you speak to.

There is nothing we can do here, I’ve been down every route, things are very different to a few years ago in regards to merchant numbers. Two banks have said they are willing to review this situation in 4-6 months time (ie when we are more established in their eyes).

So that’s how long the CC situation will take.

But the good news is you guys are ordering and things are slowly getting back to normal.

The FDM has been ordered (I think the top half has already arrived with Michael).

We already demoed the icontrolpad here which is at CNC stage:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=7ojLKeewbEk

The Pandora demo will be following soon (actually whenever the FDM arrives).

The 3D driver is working, Wifi is saying hello, the batteries are working, *ALL* LCD screens are finally in the USA (they should be in Texas today).

Now, those of you who don’t want to reorder right now please let us know so we can open up some slots for people on the waiting list, I know that seems harsh but we have to move on this now as we approach MP.

Your original order price will still stand if you decide to order in the future (ie maybe in 4-6 months when we hope to have merchant numbers). You will get the fast track treatment at that point.

I hope this will be the final post regarding ordering for a long while, it’s time to get some finished Pandoras out there.

Thanks,

Craig

Source

We’ll make an announcement via email and probably here as well when we’re ready to take orders for first batch leftovers and second batch preorders. If you’re interested, then I highly recommend you sign up for the newsletter on the official site.

Don’t expect this announcement until the first batch has mostly (if not completely) shipped.

The newsletter sign-up is in the top right hand corner of http://www.openpandora.org/ There is no signup confirmation.

Based on the timeline in the January update, that means not before February, possibly March.

Hello everyone and a very happy new year!

We wish to thank you all for your ongoing support and tell you a big sorry for all the delays we had so far.

2008 had been a very exciting year for us. With a lot of stepping stones. First we had the PayPal issue, then the banking problem with all those credit cards (and Amex is still troubling) and because of this we needed to reroute money from various other accounts to pay for the production… which caused delays, especially for the LCDs (though that issue is solved now, the last LCDs will ship soon, thank goodness).
And if that wasn’t enough, we a bit trouble with the rechargeable battery, as it was pretty hard designing a battery with that high capacity that also FITS into the case. This delayed the case – but I’m happy to announce that the final battery is already being prototyped. As soon as we get it (which should be within the next week), the case design will be ready a few days later (we set the deadline for the case design to January 15th). Prototyping shouldn’t take too long – and then it will only be a matter of a few weeks more until everything is ready for delivery.

So, while we’re really sorry for those delays (believe me – we didn’t expect THAT much problems – especially not from the banks… we couldn’t have found a worse time to start this than that of a worldwide economical crisis.

However, we also got some good news for you AMEX guys: We know you didn’t get your money back yet (we’re having another meeting with the bank in the near future), however, we assure you that EVERYBODY WHO ORDERED AND PAID will get a Pandora, even if you didn’t get the chance to reorder yet!

But, oh well, we did learn a lot – and now, after 2,5 years designing the system, the end of the trip is coming to an end. All thanks to you guys! Without your support, all this wouldn’t have been possible!
Stay tuned for final prototype pics within this month!

So, here is a mini-roadmap:
* Case Design: January 15th
* Case Prototyping: approx. 1-2 weeks later
* Final production and delivery: approx. 2 – 4 weeks later

2009 will surely be the year of the Pandora.

Also, as you do know that this site is not updated with every step we do, we do post a lot of mini informations at the forums. As a lot of you don’t have time to read the boards frequently, people did create an unofficial blog with a lot more updates. Keep in mind that the information there is NOT directly from us, so some stuff might not be completely accurate, but it’s a very nice site.
Head over to http://openpandora.wordpress.com/.

Source

Two GP32X forum members confirmed today that the final round of re-order emails are beginning to hit inboxes. According to one of the members, the email contained a Google Checkout link for credit card payment. Both happy chappies confirmed that they didn’t get stung by exchange rates; the payment amount was within a few spacebucks of the refund they had received.

Remember, the emails are being sent person by person, so don’t fret if yours doesn’t arrive today, or this week. It’s on the way.

It’s been said before, but we’ll say it again: We’re on the home stretch now!

Source 1 (post #401)
Source 2 (post #75)

The emails will be sent over the next week or two, so it’s a pretty small chance that any one person will get theirs by monday. As for the reorder notification emails, they were sent to everyone. If you didn’t get the first one, it was probably blocked on your end. They were not linked to the refunds (they were processed separately) so you would have gotten a refund regardless of the email.

Source