A video. Again. Mostly about cases.

[Djoga'Ro]

Put a shiny coating on every post-prototype case you make.

Please not shiny. I'd have to review it, and say I don't dare to take it out in public.

 

[dracmas]

From seeing the concerns with reviews I would also say to just paint the device. While I'd rather have the pyra faster, I also agree that any preorders have the potential to give bad reviews if they feel the quality of the case is cheap.

I'll agree that Ed does have to think about how this affects future sales.

 

[oskda]

If it’s going to be painted and there won’t be an option for an unpainted version...

Microsoft, a massive consumer products company, painted the Surface Pro 6 series in black and the thing literally flakes off if you run a nail over it. I don’t care how many promises are made about the paint matching the plastic, or being durabke....

It’s a niche enthusiast device. Why does everyone want this thing to look like Nintendo made it. That’s the whole point.

1st/ I don't know why you say if there is paint version tgen it can't be a no painted version. I think both versions could exist. And I think unpainted should be an OPTIONAL CASE, not standard, because bad reviews damage sales and market survival.

For us, after years bad pkastic aspect isn't an isuue, but it can be for sales and new people watching Pyra for 1st time. If they see a device which looks cheap, theu will thinl inside it is worse.

2nd/ Do you know magnesium alloy in notebooks. It is hi-tech, incredible good, light, resistant, but ugly: you can't leave it raw, but you need to cover it on external sides. Best notebooks have used it and a layer/paint over it soit feels and looks good. Some layers resist wear nicely other doesn't. It depends on layer/paint.

Thinkpad nitebboks have used that layers for decades. In some midels it was less durable in others it was very durable and I loved them. I have not found better noteboks.

I want to show you can do ir good or not with paint/layer/cover. Microsoft in notebooks is simply unexperienced.
[doublepost=1569897944,1569896952][/doublepost]

Hmm... these calculators have very very thick plastic cases. I wonder if the textured plastic hides flaws or if the thick plastic prevents them. (Or minimises them, I should say, because both my 48SX and my 48GX have (barely noticable) flaws in the plastic. And in your lower photo isn't there a semicircular flaw spanning the middle of the back?)

If you see HP 48 plastic by inner side, where it isn't textured, you will see flaws, I think external texture hides them, and the best is that it makes plastic no slippery and less prone to scratches.

You can see intersal side in battery cover and in card slots in SX and GX models.

PD: I love original brown color in HP 48SX.

 

[Pyramancer]

While I'd rather have the pyra faster

You'll have to wait for a second-generation CPU board for that...
[doublepost=1569898341,1569898092][/doublepost]

PD: I love original brown color in HP 48SX.

Some people think it is the best-looking calculator ever made. To my taste, that description applies to the 48GX with its grey plastics and purple and turquoise text on the keyboard!

 

[Grench]

Some people think it is the best-looking calculator ever made. To my taste, that description applies to the 48GX with its grey plastics and purple and turquoise text on the keyboard!

I prefer the HP 28s myself. Who doesn't love more keys and a clamshell device with a floppy double hinge? Fully open it took up a significant chunk of my desk during Chem-E classes.

 

[Pyramancer]

I prefer the HP 28s myself. Who doesn't love more keys and a clamshell device with a floppy double hinge? Fully open it took up a significant chunk of my desk during Chem-E classes.

A significant chunk of your desk? ... My 28s took up a significant chunk of my time! It nearly caused me to fail my first year of university: I'd stay up night-after-night programming on it and then go to my morning classes without having gone to bed yet. Yup, having two "pages" of keyboard was pretty awesome, but I never really took to the colour scheme. (It was a serious-looking calculator that might possibly be described as "handsome" but never as "beautiful".) Hmm... did I get a bit off topic?! Not only did it become a keyboard thread, and not even a Pyra keyboard thread.

 

[comradekingu]

…

That's why I'm taking my time THINKING about it, testing out the different options, weighing out the positive and negative aspects.

If you can ensure I'll get thousands of more happy customers if it looks like this, then I'm happy.
The issue is: A LOT of users (even niche enthusiast users) care a lot about the looks.

This is only aesthetic, and If I may say so myself, we are not aesthetic.
Painting it may end up not being only aesthetic. The keys could rub, it may isolate heat, and so on.
Adding some rugged texture seems it would certainly increase the chances of that.

I don't think that the question of paint is an issue that divides the already niche community, it think it branches out into
environmental appeal, which overlaps, and is not contrary to the original audience.

Why don't we just decide for ourselves that the Pyra is different, and shrieks are cool.
I am super fine with a utilitarian approach, which is in tune with what the Pyra is already.

The more interesting question is who wants what, how about a poll to get a general idea, with some info

Preorder want it unpainted
Preorder want it painted
Would buy unpainted, positive
Would buy unpainted, neutral
Would buy unpainted, negative
Would buy only if painted

 

[KidPaddle]

I want it as soon as possible. And then pay the rest of the outstanding bill so that ED gets his money for the next steps, maybe with painting/coating, what ever he decide.

 

[matzesu]

Coating or not is a pretty thought desicion, : if whe coat the Pyra, its needs longer for the Preeorders to get theyre Pyra, and lots of us (including me) are a bit selfish and wants thyre Pyra fast, dotnt matter if there are some discolorisations visible,
but if whe dotnt coat the Pyra, everywhone who wants to reviev the Pyra, and spread the word to others who then would buy one, will critique its look..

So whe get our Pyra faster whitout coating, but it could be its the last Pyra whe got from EvilDragon, no money left for CPU Updates or something..

So if whe decide to coat, im fine, but i personaly dont need a Pyra thats looks too perfekt as long its works much better than the Pandora..

And during the Time, the Company coats the Cases, whe could make the Testing Image..

 

[gunrock]

I'd be happy with the discoloured "raw" case on my Pyra.

If the issue gets resolved later, I can buy another case like I did for the Pandora (went from black to silver).

 

[sepulep]

No paint. No further tinkering please...get it out asap..its long overdue..leave improvements for later production runs.

 

[ClockworkCoder]

It's fair enough to ask for unpainted versions sooner (I'm in that camp), but do we know if it makes logistical/economic sense to mass produce a relatively smaller batch of unpainted versions (let's say 50 percent of the initial 500)? Interested what @EvilDragon has to say re what is possible, or what might be financially crippling...

 

[khk]

As a long time lurker, I have to chime in finally. I agree with those who say that painting the case can wait. Maybe I haven't been following closely enough, but this is the first time I'm hearing that the cases would ship painted from ED. Of course I wouldn't mind that the cases are painted -- I think it does look nicer -- but I just don't believe it will only take a week or two to source, select, and place an order the painting the cases.

Just start a initial small production run and call it a beta or something if you want to assuage the social media reviewers.

 

[matzesu]

also had the same thought, if whe paint, then everything,
I wouldnt worry much about scratches, when the Color of the Coating fit the Color of the Plastic,

My only worrry whit the Coating is that the Plastic will get ticker on some parts that should move, like the Hinge or the Buttons,
I can remember from the Pandora that there were some issues because the paint like buttons that stuck etc, but i have faith in EvilDragon that he know the issues and know how to avoid them

 

[comradekingu]

While I agree, I think @EvilDragon is concerned about starting to circulate "less than ideal" versions which may get a lot of initial media attention. It's that first impression that may be key to success.

I'm sure there could be a clear caveat to indicate that certain cases are pre-production issue ones...

That isn't how you sell people on it being different.
Any attention there is good attention. You capture the environmentalist crowd, which can be sold on other things too, and it is publicity. Can always sell other cases/versions later, even for those that are caught on that one sticking-point. The media is looking for an angle, not shit that is all the same.
(Full disclosure, I have worked in tech media, and advertisement.)

 

[levi]

I really don't think you want to try to attract the environmentallist crowd. Those of us who know the environmental cost of things have to hold our noses somewhat to get something like this. The plastic comes from oil, and most of the compoents will have come a long way on a polluting boat to get to germany in this first place, and then there's rare earth elements and other problematic chemistry (in an environmental sense) in the battery alone.

 

[rSl]

Just start a initial small production run and call it a beta or something if you want to assuage the social media reviewers.

+ 1
a beta release would be cool. so our units would be even more rare and we have more time to polish the software side and the case coating...

edit:
thinking of it, all unpainted "beta release" cases could be made in safety-orange to clearly mark them beta...

 

[matzesu]

At least for the Pree Pree Orders,
But the question is : how useful is the Pyra at this state??
If I would get my Pyra today, what can I do whit it?? (Beside of look at it and enjoy??)
I know it’s a normal Debian, and some of us got it already in use.. also Toastbucked is currently working on the Charging Software, which is great because it’s better to recharge the battery than grow it away everytime and buy a new battery..
can I use libre office, can I play Debian Games , Solitär, Minesweeper etc??

 

[Swordfish II]

People are talking about reviewers bashing the case without paint and it costing buyers...

What do you think the reviewers will say about the state of the software (no hardware acceleration and rotation at the same time, charging issues, can it operate full speed yet? How about the audio drivers. Or switching between nand/microsd...To say nothing of the current user experience/soft) and afaik all of these issues are still here.

Let's face the facts, the pyra is essentially a beta product for about the first year after it comes out and paint/no paint it WILL get bashed by reviewers for size, weight, case, software, hardware blah blah.

That's ok though that's what we signed up for and that's why it doesn't make sense to delay when there will be a case revision in the future anyway.

 

[TrashyMG]

can I use libre office, can I play Debian Games , Solitär, Minesweeper etc??

Hardware is essentially the same as my devboard... And that could handle all of it. Hell I did a lot of work using libre office on that OMAP5 devboard. I think all that is possible even right now out of gate.

But yeah I think there still needs a bit of polishing software wise, aTc has done a bit on getting a proper means for getting Pyra specific system update packages bundled and such.