Beauty competition.

[wardred]

Hey ED,
Either color works for me, but I slightly prefer the plain black.

Kiga,
I don't care about the logo plate, it looks fine to me, but if it's a big concern for people $300 Euro isn't a lot.

If you could find 30 people who cared enough to pitch in $10 Euro to make logo plates of whatever color, problem solved.
(With coordination and approval from ED, and with the knowledge that that's another part that needs to be produced before you can get your unit.)
Hell, if it matters that much to the community I'll pitch in 10 Euro and I don't even care that it contrasts so much.
I want most people who receive it to be happy with what they get.

ED,
I'm happy with the progress you're making.
It's been a long road, and as much as any delays because of Corona or anything else frustrate us in the community, I have to imagine it's 1000 times worse for you who has poured out so much of your time and money on this. Thanks for sticking with it!

 

[kuru]

May not be the point here, but I really like the look of the clear key caps. And the speaker grills allowing a look at the PCB are somehow nice, too. Kind of a raw charm. I guess you'd normally put some sort of sponge or foam in there.

 

[levi]

The clear cases were sent out with early prototypes, and as a bonus for some of the paid prototypers. They were only made before colour considerations were even worth considering, as they're basically the default colour of polycarbonate if you don't add a pigment. They were mainly made to check fit and finish of the moulds against the pcbs. They don't work well with the keyboard backlighting, as light will leak out in inopportune places and nuke from orbit any sense of night vision, when you might reasonably actually need the backlighting.

Edit: In reply to @Young Ace

 

[levi]

May not be the point here, but I really like the look of the clear key caps. And the speaker grills allowing a look at the PCB are somehow nice, too. Kind of a raw charm. I guess you'd normally put some sort of sponge or foam in there.

I can't see the PCB through the speaker grills, or indeed through any of the holes in the photo's I checked. There shouldn't actually be any PCB through the holes, since there should be a speaker in there and if there isn't for any reason, it should be a moulded plastic box sealed with a little sticky paper. It's a tuned resonant space, designed that way for your listening pleasure.

 

[kuru]

I can't see the PCB through the speaker grills, or indeed through any of the holes in the photo's I checked. There shouldn't actually be any PCB through the holes, since there should be a speaker in there and if there isn't for any reason, it should be a moulded plastic box sealed with a little sticky paper. It's a tuned resonant space, designed that way for your listening pleasure.

Oh! I assumed the green I can see in
Pyra-Chrome2.jpg
was PCB.

I'd love to hear how the speakers sound. Good speakers was something I missed in good old Pandora.

 

[Djoga'Ro]

And the speaker grills allowing a look at the PCB are somehow nice, too. Kind of a raw charm. I guess you'd normally put some sort of sponge or foam in there.

Speakers will end up behind those grills and there'll be a foam seal between their rim and the case. So no view of the pcb.

They don't work well with the keyboard backlighting, as light will leak out in inopportune places and nuke from orbit any sense of night vision, when you might reasonably actually need the backlighting.

I know, you're not new to the idea of taking a clear case and and painting it on the inside.
I wonder, if there'll be new clear cases made. Those ED had to buy from the old company hadn't received the latest tweaks.

 

[levi]

Oh! I assumed the green I can see in
Pyra-Chrome2.jpg
was PCB.

I'd love to hear how the speakers sound. Good speakers was something I missed in good old Pandora.

That's a good spot, I don't honestly know what that is. I was looking at the black photos and I can't see it there, but I can when I look at chrome.

 

[Kiga]

How would you even coat it? It's self-adhesive on one side. So you can't put it into the lid and coat it - otherwise you'd coat the translucent logo as well. And coating it before putting it into the case would probably be a bit unclean as color would get into the opening where the logo is. Additionally, the self-adhesive would probably suffer as well.

I thought the translucent logo wasn't sticked with the plate, that's why it made perfectly sense for me to stick the plate on the case then coat. Nevertheless it could be sticked then coated, unless some paint or dirt would stick on the adhesive or unless the adhesive would dry too much.

It's probably impossible to get the exact same look - and if you try to get the look as close as possible, everyone would just say "Nice try, but didn't work".
Two colors that are nearly the same but not exactly ALWAYS look horrible.

I know that you tried a black logo because one of the prototype preorder have it and I respect your choice.

And out of about 40 - 50 who love the look here and on twitter, you found three or four who think the contrast is a bit too much?
Oh well.

There is also 3 people who said that they prefer the grey version because it match the logo and I think more are.

You are also welcome to pay me the costs for coating your logo or producing you a logo plate with a color you want. I have no problem arranging that.
The last one would probably be the best solution, that would be around 300 EUR, you're okay with that?

I don't have that kind of money but thank you for proposing.
Wait, is it 300 EUR for one logo or what ?

The logo is useful for notifications if it lies around somewhere and it's closed. I can be used to see if your compilation is finished, you can use it as notifications for emails, SMS, phone call or even finished downloads.
You can let it show the remaining battery, etc.

I have no problem with the logo. I was talking about the shiny contrasting logo plate.

You need to think about stuff like that as well, not only what you yourself care about.

I just thought it was odd to not try if it was as easy as to stick the logo and then coat. If it's not possible I have nothing more to say.
I appreciate your dedication for the project and I keep on following it.

@Kiga, whether you feel your frustration is valid or not, please don't quote others out of context for the sake of your own argument. My feelings on the logo do not reflect yours.

I didn't quote you out of context, your phrase was perfectly clear and if you didn't mean it then next time type what you mean, that's what words are for and words have meanings. As long as I feel like I don't betray what you mean I will quote you any time.
And I never said that your feelings on the logo reflect mine, it seems that my feelings are too bright to reflect on such a dull mirror as you.

Kiga,
I don't care about the logo plate, it looks fine to me, but if it's a big concern for people $300 Euro isn't a lot.

If you could find 30 people who cared enough to pitch in $10 Euro to make logo plates of whatever color, problem solved.
(With coordination and approval from ED, and with the knowledge that that's another part that needs to be produced before you can get your unit.)
Hell, if it matters that much to the community I'll pitch in 10 Euro and I don't even care that it contrasts so much.
I want most people who receive it to be happy with what they get.

Thank you but I think he mean 300 EUR for one logo.
Even if we could get 30 logo for 300 EUR people will probably choose the grey case so it'd not make sense. If people choose the black case and it's possible to make a poll or preorder, I will do what I can.

 

[ClockworkCoder]

it seems that my feelings are too bright to reflect on such a dull mirror as you.

Funny, I like that.

 

[EvilDragon]

That's a good spot, I don't honestly know what that is. I was looking at the black photos and I can't see it there, but I can when I look at chrome.

There are no speakers in there, it's just a quickly assembled unit to make pictures

 

[EvilDragon]

I thought the translucent logo wasn't sticked with the plate, that's why it made perfectly sense for me to stick the plate on the case then coat.

Umm... and how would the translucent logo stay in position then?
The main function of the small plate is to combine the translucent logo with the top lid. It's the reason it exists
Therefore, it sticks onto the top lid and the translucent logo sticks into it, combining everything together.

Nevertheless it could be sticked then coated, unless some paint or dirt would stick on the adhesive or unless the adhesive would dry too much.

Okay, let me try to understand this:
You want us to stick the logos onto the case, then put all these cases into a box, transporting it to the coating company who takes them out, coats them (where tons of color particles are in the air), then they return it to us and we should hope no dust or other dirt has found it's was onto the open adhesive?

Besides adding another unneeded step during assembly, how realistic do you think that after all these movement the adhesive does still work?

I know that you tried a black logo because one of the prototype preorder have it and I respect your choice.

Not at all. We first had aluminium logos. I requested black anodized one, as black anodized aluminium would've looked cool (it's not really black but a dark grey).
They weren't able to to that - so the coated the plate in paint. This made the plate too thick to even fit.

I've never requested a black logo nor did I want to test that color - it was just produced, so I added it as bonus to some of the preorders

Another issue was the assembly of the logo. It wasn't possible to use metal with self-adhesive applied.
The logos we had were laser cut - and they would've melted the self-adhesive away.
Then I looked for other ways, using a stencil. But a stencil always deforms the edges, so it wouldn't have fit.

So using a metal plate wasn't possible, so I had to look for an alternative, which was the self-adhesive plate we have now, and which looks gorgeous in my mind.

There is also 3 people who said that they prefer the grey version because it match the logo and I think more are.

Yay, so for 5 or 6 our of 100 I should produce new logo plates?
And maybe if 5 don't like both colors, I should also do some pink ones?

Sorry, but at some time, you have to make decisions and continue. I've got 1000 of these self-adhesive plates here.

If you want some in your own color, I can tell you the company, I can give you the design file and you can produce your own custom-made logo there.
Replacing it in your unit is easy: Open the lid, remove it, put it back in.

Costs should be around 300 EUR, as mentioned.
Ask others if they also would like a different one and you're set.

I don't have that kind of money but thank you for proposing.
Wait, is it 300 EUR for one logo or what ?

Most of the costs are for setting up and preparing the machins and the data, that's the reason you usually don't do small quantities.
Producing 100 or 1000 makes a difference of about 10 - 20 EUR.

I have no problem with the logo. I was talking about the shiny contrasting logo plate.

We're all only talking about the logo plate here, as the coating the logo would even make less sense

I just thought it was odd to not try if it was as easy as to stick the logo and then coat.

Honestly:
You think it would be odd to coat a plate you produced with your own custom design?
Why? For me, it would be odd to coat it - instead of just changing the original design

As said, it's like you want a green car but you buy a yellow one because you can coat it green anyways.

Thank you but I think he mean 300 EUR for one logo.
Even if we could get 30 logo for 300 EUR people will probably choose the grey case so it'd not make sense. If people choose the black case and it's possible to make a poll or preorder, I will do what I can.

No, around 300 EUR was the price for all 1000 ones (AFAIR, could also be more).

 

[levi]

I guess you'd have to assemble the complete lid with the outer plate and the translucent logo, paint and laquer all of it, then hopefully you'll be able to push out the now coated inner part before the laquer sets or what have you. You'd then need them to insert a fresh one so that the exposed adhesive doesn't get covered in dust during transport back.

So you'd need twice as many inner logos, and more steps for them to do when painting it, and this is all assuming the paint will stick to the type of plastic the logo outer is made of as well as it does to polycarbonate. Or you could just decide on the case colour, then decide on the corresponding colour to make the logo outer out to be, I dunno

 

[ArchiMark]

The Dark Chrome looks absolutely fabulous.......

Thumbs up!

 

[EvilDragon]

I guess you'd have to assemble the complete lid with the outer plate and the translucent logo, paint and laquer all of it, then hopefully you'll be able to push out the now coated inner part before the laquer sets or what have you. You'd then need them to insert a fresh one so that the exposed adhesive doesn't get covered in dust during transport back.

And not even that would work - as soon as you stick the logo onto the adhesive, a chemical process starts. It's the same type of glue used with mobile smartphones to attach the screen to the body. Ever removed one?
If yes, you were probably surprised how small the glue strip is that holds the screen that strong...

After 24 hours, it's very very hard to remove the plastic from the plate. This also ensures it doesn't simply fall out after a while

 

[rSl]

let's not spend any more energy into nitpicking and let's start producing final units that we can all use, love and change ourself if we want to.

 

[Legodude522]

I just want to say, I like the logo plate.

 

[Devin.tesla]

I like the Dark Chrome

 

[Kiga]

Umm... and how would the translucent logo stay in position then?

I thought the translucent logo was trapped somehow and you can't push it against the screen because the plate is blocking, anyway it's better glued.

The main function of the small plate is to combine the translucent logo with the top lid. It's the reason it exists

I thought the main function of the plate was to prevent led light from bleeding, well I remember you also wanted to make the lid easily modable.

Besides adding another unneeded step during assembly, how realistic do you think that after all these movement the adhesive does still work?

Honestly? If the adhesive isn't the kind that dry chance are high that it still works enough. I'm that optimistic. It's something which could have been tested in a test run.

If you want some in your own color, I can tell you the company, I can give you the design file and you can produce your own custom-made logo there.
Replacing it in your unit is easy: Open the lid, remove it, put it back in.

Costs should be around 300 EUR, as mentioned.
Ask others if they also would like a different one and you're set.

Are you sure that no glue will remain on the case, or that the chemical reaction doesn't attack the plastic?
I will ask if people are interested, I might even order anyway and sell some.
That is also interesting if there is a camera mod we could easily replace the logo plate.

You think it would be odd to coat a plate you produced with your own custom design?
Why? For me, it would be odd to coat it - instead of just changing the original design

To me coating the logo plate was a great idea, so I found it odd to not take advantage of a test run to see how it looks like, even just by sheer curiosity.

As said, it's like you want a green car but you buy a yellow one because you can coat it green anyways.

If you buy a yellow car but you doesn't like it anymore and you can coat it in green for free, you better coat it.

let's not spend any more energy into nitpicking

Yeah let's rather spend energy talking about random off-topic stuff as usual.

 

[matzesu]

To be honest: beauty doesn’t matter much for me, booth looks good , but after all it’s just a box whit electronic in it ..
for me it dos matter how good these electronics are protected from physical impact,
I carry my Pandora always in my Pocket, so it’s got a bit of not that good treat, par exemple, I lift sometimes empty palettes on a Stack by Hand, or other things, or something similar
My Pandora survived everything fine, so I hope the Pyra will be just as though..
It’s actual issue whit one shoulderbutton was just my own fault, nothing it’s became from this carry method...

Off topic: what is this douple v shaped Port on the left side of the Blue USB Port??


Whit best regards, Matthias

 

[daveshah]

Off topic: what is this douple v shaped Port on the left side of the Blue USB Port??

That is the microUSB-3 OTG port. The "sidecar" bit contains the extra full-duplex SuperSpeed pairs, in addition to the regular USB 2.0 signalling (so it can either be used with an old USB2 cable or a new USB3 one).