We have received many requests from commercial customers about their need of more FEZ Panda. We were very surprised to see how many commercial, high end products, have FEZ Panda hidden inside!
So, Panda II is back in stock. It has always been one of my personal favorites http://www.ghielectronics.com/catalog/product/256
We are seriously thinking about 4.2 for USBizi (panda) now. No promises are made yet.
Speaking of panda, have you seen this? http://www.tinyclr.com/forum/topic?id=9759
4.2 on the Panda would be an interesting surprise.
I love me some Panda-II! Honestly, though, it seems rather expensive compared to the other offerings available now considering the speed. 4.2 for USBizi is definitely welcome!
The panda is a great option mainly due to its premium firmware. Otherwise, the hardware is definitely a bit weak, especially considering the cost.
The LPC2388 is rather pricey compared to the Cortex-M3-M4 processors. The M3-M4s are faster and cheaper, how wonderful for us.
2 years in technology is a very long time
The Panda has niche in the GHI product line in terms of its lower power consumption and arduino form factor. For users that have fixed a product design on the Panda II it becomes a hassle to redesign to a new GHI module even if that module has more capabilities. Many applications don’t need the latest gen processor and it would be reassuring to know that GHI can supply a few of the “legacy” products that demonstrate an ongoing customer base (read that as GHI sales). I know we could always build our own and indeed that is a fallback position, but less desirable.
When the Panda II went out of stock and it looked like GHI wouldn’t supply it anymore, I tried to compare the newer system on module offerings but many of them were missing specs on power consumption and all had very different form factors which would have meant significant redesign for a small operation. The website and sources of support information have also changed and it seems more difficult to find info and products on the older GHI technology.
None of us want to be stuck with dinosaur technology and the new GHI offerings provide an opportunity for new ideas and products. However, it would be nice if GHI could provide some idea of projected product support cycles similar to what the Ubuntu does with long term support cycles on their operating systems. You have access to updates every six months, but you also get an idea of how long your old version will be supported.
All that aside, thanks for the innovation and great support through the forum and GHI website
And that number keeps shrinking… two years ago I would have said 5 years was a very long time.
@ idafez - well stated!
And yet, 8051 microcontrollers (31 years old!) are still around…
Yeah, terrible! 8bit should be illegal unless it is a hand watch if you ask me 
I remember when Panda II was announced a year or so ago and now it can’t run 4.2. I would really be unhappy not being able to run 4.3 on Cobra II a year from now, because there will be Cobra III.
I see what you mean but that is not true for everything. Cobra (emx) runs 4.0, 4.1, 4.2 and soon 4.3.
Plus we still haven’t said never 4.2 on usbizi panda lets see what happens in the next couple months. Original thougt was, users want Cerb family, but looks like panda is still loved.
Yep, I think it’s also important to remember that not everyone buys new boards as often as we do. I know guys who are still recycling the boards they bought years ago on new projects. I’ve also found myself with a surplus of USBizi boards as I’ve replaced them with newer boards. Those boards are still great for most projects and it’s a shame to retire them.
However, with 4.2 nearly complete my vote would be to add USBizi support back in 4.3 rather than trying to add 4.2 support now. 
+1 for going to 4.3 if that’s a better option 
Please keep in kind that 4.2 dies not add a lot of value to the smaller devices and 4.2 SDK supports 4.1 devices. Today or tomorrow, you can still use your panda and any other usbizi device. Having 4.2 is more of “nice to have” in most casses.
Anyway, we will try our best to balance between new devices and old ones.
Agreed. That’s why I’d recommend if you decide to do it to save the effort for 4.3 which would add some value with VS2012 support.
Even then, you can use VS2012 with netmf 4.3 SDK to use your panda with 4.1 firmware. Might be even better as the 4.1 firmware is VERY stable.
Really? I thought only 4.3 was going to work in VS2012. If that’s not the case, then I agree there’s not much to be gained.
That’s a silly statement. I get that you’re joking, but 8-bit (and even 16-bit) microcontrollers have current draw numbers for active state that ARM microcontrollers only ever see in sleep state (that’s why they’re used in watches). They’re suitable for a WHOLE lot of things. Most everything that Gadgeteer is used for that doesn’t involve a camera or a TFT display could be done on an 8-bit microcontroller in native code. Someone even got one of those super-cheap CMOS camera modules running with an ATMega, something that no Gadgeteer mainboard could dream of without native code. That being said, my current super-low-power long-battery-life-as-in-years-on-AA project will run on a Cortex-M0
As for the 4.1/4.2/4.3 on USBizi, I don’t see it as a huge priority. Most of what 4.2 gave us we already had in the premium libraries, and 4.3 doesn’t add much over 4.2 except faster boot time. We’ll get VS2012 support either way. WinUSB drivers might be nice, but we might be getting that already?
If I had a vote, I’d say, devote that time to the Cerberus family firmware. It has much more potential for future growth. If you’ve got commercial customers breathing down you necks for it (and willing to pay for it), then go for it, otherwise, meh.