Current statistics and some predictions

[Klumpen]

Interesting read.

Regarding the colours:
Dark grey (slick common denominator), dark red (toy style) and transparent (hardware hacker's delight?) sound like reasonable base models.

 

[ashcloud]

5:27 AM *sigh*
Hush now, quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head
Hush now, quiet now, it's time to go to bed

How many Pyras do you have to sell to finally get some sleep? I'll buy all of them!
(well, I would, but money)

 

[rygD]

He mentioned it in the podcast. I forgot what he said...

 

[Foxgod]

Thanks for the update, i hope you sell way more then 3000 units.

 

[stephan_m_r]

Maybe we could get ashens to talk about it. He's done a quite nice review about the pandora. And the there are the rocketbeans as quite important german influencers.

 

[Neelix]

Maybe we could get ashens to talk about it. He's done a quite nice review about the pandora. And the there are the rocketbeans as quite important german influencers.

In order to do that he'd need to receive a unit to show off on that couch of his. (that is after all what he does) As I understand it all the prototypes are accounted for so there are no spare units to send out for review, so that would need to wait until after ED does the first mass production run.

-Neelix

 

[Wrath Of Khan]

Does anybody know, how many Pandora's have been sold?

7,500.
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ED or other people were discussing Kickstarter (or indiegogo etc.) ideas too, recently; don't recall what the end result of that discussion was other than entertainment of said idea - is this something you'd consider doing, as you have a working prototype?

He say is his post here that he may consider it for a later pyra batch. He chose not to do it for the first batch as kickstarter takes 10% of funds raised for themselves. It would make the pyra more expensive I think in some regards.

 

[sadata]

From the press kit:

Yes, that's a very nice rendering and what I would hope to get, but, from the Pyra order page:

Q: What color will the Pyra have?
A: The color has not yet been decided. We will get various test colors with the delivery of the final case. I'll post pictures of it and you help me decide! We might even make multiple colors. You will be able to choose your color with the final payment.​

Again, the point is, until I know for sure that I'd be getting a black unit, I'm not willing to put this sort of money down. And it's fine to say "You will be able to choose," but that has little meaning if there ends up being no choice or the choice is between colors I have no interest in. I think by this stage in the game (i.e. when money is being exchanged), the final color should be decided.

Black is a relatively safe bet and shouldn't present the wide range of variation that could occur with other test colors. Yes, there are different shades of black (before it starts getting into what would traditionally be considered grey territory), but I'd most likely be fine with most of them. With other colors, I believe there is a higher degree of risk -- and precisely why test colors need to be ordered (all of which may add further delays if these need to be continually tweaked). There is a fine line between dark red, burgundy, maroon, crimson, wine, claret, etc. And while many may be fine with the dark red rendering (I'm not), they may be less than pleased when they see the real thing. There may be other factors to consider as well, such as fading over time, how staining, scratching or dirt appear, how it appears in different lighting conditions, differences between batches, etc., all of which I believe are minimized with black.

The Pyra provides a lot of unconventional, but very appealing, capabilities (super compact size, multiple full-size SD card slots, analog volume control, gaming controls, specialized keys, backlit keyboard, matte/fingerprint-resistant surface, etc.) that you generally would not see in a typical commercial product that caters to the masses, and this is precisely why I'm so interested in it. I think a tremendous amount of effort and input has gone into making it look good despite its wonderful oddities. But there's a very fine line before it starts to look tacky or unprofessional and ends up resembling "The Car Built for Homer" (which is exactly what came to mind the first time I saw the silver Pandora).
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Out of interest, how do you feel about dark grey rather than black?
https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/up...lack.png.b64c490ca067568bf957d6ed6a357ca2.png

-Neelix

I think that rendering is very attractive and for all intents and purposes is black. Where I have a problem with "dark grey" is that it's more subjective -- some would call the silver Pandora dark grey. For example, type "dark grey" into Google and you'll see 4 shades presented at the top of the search results -- I don't consider the last one "dark grey." And even the other two shades may be too light -- there's a certain contrast ratio between the case color and the keyboard/controls where things start to look tacky. I think I'd be perfectly fine with dark grey if it was at the blacker end of the scale. I'm just not sure what everyone else has in mind when they say "dark grey." Perhaps a better term would be "lighter black."

 

[Hồng Thất Công]

Ed, give him a black one.

 

[Djoga'Ro]

Ed, give him a black one.

Better yet, a dark red one spray painted black.

@sadata There's not much in terms of colours what could be acceptable to you, is there?

 

[sadata]

Better yet, a dark red one spray painted black.

@sadata There's not much in terms of colours what could be acceptable to you, is there?

No, I think I've made that abundantly clear. I just think black or dark grey (at the darker end of the scale) will have the widest appeal (and the polls seems to bear this out -- the blacks and dark greys combined outnumber the dark reds by a factor of nearly 3X). However, my main purpose in speaking up was to highlight the fact that there may be others like me who will not pre-order until we know exactly what we'll be getting, which may be important now that the rate of pre-orders is starting to plateau.

 

[Djoga'Ro]

Dont' rely to much on the most recent poll. I for one don't participate. Waiting for poll by ED. Would have voted red, though.

 

[Jumpman]

Great update ED. Once you have some more completed prototypes with running software, and final cases, I'm sure any kind of KS or IGG campaign would meet our needs and then some. Those kinds of programs work best when a product is finished and already in production, as then it is easy for the end user to participate. In those situations, the funds are mostly needed to help with production, and not so much for producing an actual product, and then the public is more willing to put funds behind a finished product Vs. months or years of hopes and dreams.

Honestly, once the Pyra gets going, word of mouth and positive reviews may be enough where a crowdfunding campaign isn't even needed at all. I don't personally see an issue either way, but so far everything is looking great. I can't wait for some proper promo videos. All the best to everyone involved.

Chris

 

[Link]

@sadata you could always preorder and request a refund if you don't like the color(s) picked to be mass produced.

 

[Cralex]

Very cool, ED! For comparison's sake, do we know about how many Pandora units are out in the wild now? I'm curious what the level of demand is looking like compared to when orders were first being taken for the Pandora.

Kudos for having everything planned and calculated for this process. As a customer, I can't wait to find mine sitting on my doorstep, but as a member of the community, it will be very nice to see some of the larger milestones be reached and be able to celebrate with all of you.

 

[sadata]

Dont' rely to much on the most recent poll. I for one don't participate. Waiting for poll by ED. Would have voted red, though.

I think the polls speak for themselves (and not sure what purpose is served by not participating), but I think the real question is, if black/dark grey was the only color available, would you still buy the Pyra? I think a lot of people who prefer other colors would still purchase, but I don't know that the reverse is true (i.e. if the only available color was dark red). Personally, I would not.

 

[Djoga'Ro]

I just don't see the latest poll as that usefull. One could ask, if people felt well enough represented by the choices in the poll before or if those who'd prefer black/dark grey would rather choose black or dark grey.
And after that ED would know enough or make a better informed one.

I think he already said, there'll be more than one option. I'm quite certain either black or dark grey will be among them.

 

[gotwake424]

Very cool, ED! For comparison's sake, do we know about how many Pandora units are out in the wild now? I'm curious what the level of demand is looking like compared to when orders were first being taken for the Pandora.

Kudos for having everything planned and calculated for this process. As a customer, I can't wait to find mine sitting on my doorstep, but as a member of the community, it will be very nice to see some of the larger milestones be reached and be able to celebrate with all of you.

7,000 give or take of mixed versions, CC, RB and GHz


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[pmprog]

(and not sure what purpose is served by not participating)

Maybe there's just apathy to the relentless "Let's make a poll asking a question that's already been asked". Here's two other case colour polls...

https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/poll-case-colour-clarification.76192
https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/multichoice-poll-what-colour-should-the-pyras-case-be.73653

Edit: And to add, these polls are usually raised by board members whom are making wild guess at what "options" will really be available. So they're basically useless.

If ED throws up a colour poll, I'll participate...

 

[ssokolow]

No, I think I've made that abundantly clear. I just think black or dark grey (at the darker end of the scale) will have the widest appeal (and the polls seems to bear this out -- the blacks and dark greys combined outnumber the dark reds by a factor of nearly 3X). However, my main purpose in speaking up was to highlight the fact that there may be others like me who will not pre-order until we know exactly what we'll be getting, which may be important now that the rate of pre-orders is starting to plateau.

While unexpected expenses ate up my preorder fund, so I'm not directly part of that statistic, I'd still be waiting for either a confirmed black option or a community HOWTO on the DOs and DON'Ts of spray-painting a Pyra case if I had the money.

Personally, I found the black Pandora a lot more attractive than the hideous silver one that followed but, unfortunately, it seems that the Pyra is going down this same path.

When I determined that I couldn't quite justify the cost of buying a 1GHz unit to complement my 600MHz one, I actually factored in the cost of buying a spare black shell and swapping the parts over.