Back from Greece.

[matzesu]

Also whe are now barely on our way to mass production, changes are too time expensive now..

Im a bit unsure whit my Pyra:
I would like to have it thinner. But on the other side it’s some sort of a collectors item as it’s number 28..

Whit a diverent batterycompartment it isn’t original Serial Number 28..

 

[ElPoco]

Some information about colors:
In theory, the cases can be produced in ANY color we can think of.

I used to work for a phone manufacturer and it turned out to be more complicated than that: some paints would impact the signal, some gave the plastic a weird texture or fragilized it, etc.

 

[Binky]

Paints? I thought the plan was explicitly not to paint the cases, because it wears off and leaves ugly patches of base colour after a few years.

 

[Kev2442]

@Binky : I think he means "dyes".

 

[fusion_power]

That's not even possible without creating multiple new moulds (lower case part, battery door, shoulder buttons) which would cost around 25k EUR.
It's planned for later, but impossible now.

Would keeping the critical plastic parts longer in the moulds before ejecting prevent warping better?

I hoped after 2 Years or how long it took to make these molds, the quality should be perfect or at least better than the Pandora Case which also had almost the same issues until the end (plus crappy plastic material which should be hopefully not the case this time). I mean, if time is money, every other company would be already bankrupt if they had to wait for their injection moulds that long. I find this really inacceptable that this Plastic parts company did not even tried harder or was honest at the beginning thet they just can't make this case at all.

 

[ssokolow]

Don't know about that. I think, I only know controllers, that come with plastic shoulder buttons, which definitely includes the controllers I like best. On the other hand I know some rubber parts, that get a rather nasty surface over time - sticky and dirty. Can't tell, if they do it on their own or if it has something to do with the oils the human hand brings into the mix.

It apparently happens on its own with time, as it does not limit itself to the regions you grip in devices that are coated in such grip coatings all over and retro-enthusiast youtubers encounter it on devices that flopped so hard that the units they're covering got almost no use.

 

[levi]

I'm a bit worried about prolonged use of plastic nubs when it comes to comfort.

Assuming they're very similar in size and profile to the Pandora ones, those were made out of hard ABS plastic or something (the same stuff as the case, I suspect). Moving them to PC might make a small difference, but I never experienced any discomfort when using the Pandora nubs.

Conversely, I've had a few things that have been rubber coated, and the rubber has always ended up flaking off if over used, or even if not used that much, they often take on an ugly discolouration in use. If they were made out of solid rubber it could be even worse. Maybe a stiff enough rubber that's impervious to finger sweat could work as a future upgrade, if enough people have trouble with the PC part, but based on my experience with the Pandora's ABS part, I think we'll be fine. Now's not really the time for wild speculation.

Edit: To be fair though, I've not noticed any discolouration or flaking on the sticks on my analogue playstation pads. I think that's a coating on a hard plastic model, so whatever that's made out of might be worth investigating, if we only had the time.

 

[Djoga'Ro]

Would keeping the critical plastic parts longer in the moulds before ejecting prevent warping better?

Maybe the injection process was optimied and they processed it too quickly. Or it isn't that optimal, yet, and maybe letting it sit for longer would help in that regard, but then I'd claim the better way to go, 'd be proper optimization and have appropriate throughput afterwords. This would cut the varible production costs.

 

[Grench]

will this current company level out the battery compartment as well, or will it be left as is?

That's not even possible without creating multiple new moulds (lower case part, battery door, shoulder buttons) which would cost around 25k EUR.

It's planned for later, but impossible now.

A bit of asymmetric aesthetics is expected - and for some of us may even be desired. It is the unintentional but effective label of, "not a mainstream device from a giant company".

Grench sounds like you may get a tracking number soon

We'll see. Keep in mind that I'm last in line. I'm number 8 of the 8 prototype pre-purchasers. I don't know who the other 7 are. I just happen to be the one who has been public about being on the list. There also need to be units for 'real developers'.

If ED does get close to shipping, though, I'd like the opportunity to add a few bits to the order to combine them into the postage.
+Spare set of case plastics.
+Spare keymat (I wore out one on my first Pandora after ~4 years of heavy use).
+One of the early keymats that did not have the plastic caps on the keys yet. I plan to frame this. There was one of these in the traveling/review case that I had the fun of checking out.
+Second battery (this is the primary bit that I want to save postage by combining in - they're expensive to ship).

Still - so - close -.

 

[Djoga'Ro]

A bit of asymmetric aesthetics is expected - and for some of us may even be desired. It is the unintentional but effective label of, "not a mainstream device from a giant company".

as long as there's no rocking and no wobbling on flat surfaces

 

[levi]

as long as there's no rocking and no wobbling on flat surfaces

I'd be more concerned about the battery making good contact with the PCB. The Pandora battery had that trouble, and it took a lot of trial and error with little paper shims to get right, and I'm assuming it's not too distorted to stop the battery fitting inside the holder at all.

 

[Grench]

I'd be more concerned about the battery making good contact with the PCB. The Pandora battery had that trouble, and it took a lot of trial and error with little paper shims to get right, and I'm assuming it's not too distorted to stop the battery fitting inside the holder at all.

It isn't as if it were bent like a banana. The traveling keymat case plastics were made from the same molds. It did not have any visible tweak or bend - at least not that anyone noticed. So, if these have a warp, it isn't going to be much. Likely this is ED noticing because he had the chance to look at the individual pieces on a very flat surface.

 

[levi]

True, but those were early prototype parts, made to convince the customer that these were parts he could rely on. These newer parts were made in something of a rush to save a contract, so might be more variable. Still, you're probably right, and it'll be more like the plastics we saw on the round-the-world trip, rather than the badly designed Pandora battery compartment.

 

[Djoga'Ro]

As if there were no fixes.

I'd be more concerned about the battery making good contact with the PCB. The Pandora battery had that trouble, and it took a lot of trial and error with little paper shims to get right

- solder springs to the contacts

, and I'm assuming it's not too distorted to stop the battery fitting inside the holder at all.

- get a custom made distorted battery

They call me Herr Problembuster for a reason. Bam!

 

[levi]

The contacts are already springs. We solved contact problems with the Pandora by putting wedges inside the battery cage, and I see no reason why small amounts of misalignment can't be achieved the same way on Pyra prototypes using these clear cases.

But in any event, it's probably worth remembering you don't actually need a battery to power a Pyra, unlike a Pandora. You could hook it up to a USB charge bank while on the move even.

 

[rSl]

 

[Xcl4m4t10n]

Hey @EvilDragon , just noticed that this friday is the 5th anniversary of the official pyra presentation. Are you going to show us something special for this five years?

 

[EvilDragon]

If you already use rubber, could it be possible to try out the material for the nubs (and maybe the shoulder buttons as well) ?

Already did that a while ago. Didn't work that good... and the rubber made the nubs move harder.

On the other hand I know some rubber parts, that get a rather nasty surface over time - sticky and dirty.

That's not rubber - that's some coating on plastic which gets all sticky after a while.
That coating is horrible.

I used to work for a phone manufacturer and it turned out to be more complicated than that: some paints would impact the signal, some gave the plastic a weird texture or fragilized it, etc.

Ahh, yes, but we're not using paint!
These are colored pellets mixed into the plastics, they don't change the characteristics of the plastics at all.

Would keeping the critical plastic parts longer in the moulds before ejecting prevent warping better?

As written in the newspost, the warping only happens because of unoptimized injection points, and these are being fixed.
So it's a non-issue.

I hoped after 2 Years or how long it took to make these molds, the quality should be perfect or at least better than the Pandora Case which also had almost the same issues until the end (plus crappy plastic material which should be hopefully not the case this time).

Umm... you DID understand the reason we moved to a new company last week, right...?
If the old one had done it properly, I wouldn't have had any reason to move.

Hey @EvilDragon , just noticed that this friday is the 5th anniversary of the official pyra presentation. Are you going to show us something special for this five years?

Sorry, I would love to, but I'm already overworked... I can't stuff that into my timetable.

 

[TheOldOne]

If the old one had done it properly, I wouldn't have had any reason to move.

What did I mess up? I'm sure I haven't broken anything important that I can recall.

 

[WizardStan]

A bit of asymmetric aesthetics is expected - and for some of us may even be desired. It is the unintentional but effective label of, "not a mainstream device from a giant company".

My Pixel 2 from Google, purchased the month before the Pixel 3 was released, has a back plate part that does not sit flush with the rest of it. Several reviews also mention it; it's been a problem since it was first released with absolutely no intention to change.
Minor issues happen, that's just a fact of manufacturing. The fact that such a thing might exist on the Pyra is not what labels it as "not a mainstream device from a giant company", it's the fact that EvilDragon fully intends to fix it eventually where a giant company just goes "eh, good enough".