Finished! (Well... the schematics, that is)

[fusion_power]

I'm fine with the small LCD so no adjustments are needed to fit the bigger one in.

But I would not have an issue if the overall case would be a little bit bigger, as long as it's streamlined enough to fit in the pocket (lenght doe not matter much there, only width and thickness). The "brickness" of the current Pandora has a much higher impact imho, it does not fit well into pockets, to bulky imho, at least at the underside. Could be more sloped/rounded like the lid, but of course the Battery limits that area so it would need to be longer to fit the more rounded edges in.

 

[TrashyMG]

Embrace the brick, love the brick.

 

[matzesu]

Just testet if the Pandora fits my Pants like the Galaxy Note:


My aktuall Outdoor Cargo and my Jeans and my "German Bundeswehr Cargopants" arent realy a Problem to carry the Pandora, but the Pandora is much hevear than a smartphone..


And the Pyra ditnt seems to be much thinner..


But for everyday carry (Pyra Phone)i would like if the Case will bee much more tought,


My Pandora got some treatment in the 2 Yeahrs, and just have some scratches but no serieos wounds, but if i decide to use the Pyra everyday, its need to be much better..


Whit all these "Bling Bling" like the Iluminatet Keyboard and Logo, i ditnt aspeckt it to be waterproof, but a bit water isnt hopefully a problem..


I heard from a Caano, which survived a Rainshower on 1 Mai, so hopefully the Pyra, as a inoffiziell Successor of the Gameparks, should also survive a bit foist..

 

[Kev2442]

I think he wants the model numbers.

Indeed. Can we have the reference numbers ?

 

[ShleeDragon]

POCKETABLE!!!!! 

 

[WizardStan]

the small LCD

Which is still about 20% larger than the Pandora's screen.

 

[CrazyIvan]

Well, the Sharp is 0,2 inches bigger, and the BOE is already a close fit.


What names are you meaning?

As long as the case design is not finished, there could be still made adjustments to make it fit if really needed.

That would need a bigger case, so EVERYTHING would have to be redesigned (keymat, PCB, all parts of the case, etc.).

That's on minor adjustment, and it would just make the difference between pocketable and not pocketable.

we're talking about extra 2.5 mm of height and 4.5 mm of width maximum (if 5.0 lcd is the absolute maximal size current case can hold) unless that Sharp screen have extra thick bezels. How would this affect pocketability or keymat is beyond me.

I'm not against 5.0 screen but that pocketability argument when talking about a single change that is less than 0.5 mm looks like some debate about smartphone thickness.

 

[EvilDragon]

we're talking about extra 2.5 mm of height and 4.5 mm of width maximum (if 5.0 lcd is the absolute maximal size current case can hold) unless that Sharp screen have extra thick bezels. How would this affect pocketability or keymat is beyond me.

I'm not against 5.0 screen but that pocketability argument when talking about a single change that is less than 0.5 mm looks like some debate about smartphone thickness.

And why is 2.5mm or 4.5mm only 0.5mm increase?

The BOE barely fits in height - so even 0.5mm would need a complete case change (if the lid gets more height, the keyboard area needs to get more height as well, and the PCB, and all the controls need to be rechecked so that they can be reached comfortably).

But it's 2.5mm, not 0.5mm.

The Pandora barely fits my pocket, 2.5mm more would make it a lot more uncomfortable and impossible with some trouser to put it into my pocket.

 

[fusion_power]

The Pandora barely fits my pocket, 2.5mm more would make it a lot more uncomfortable and impossible with some trouser to put it into my pocket.

Buy bigger pants? Well, the Pandora fits actualy pretty good in my pockets (jacket, I never put it into my jeans pockets of course). But I still would prefer a little bit more sleak and "sttreamlined" design. I'm sure you agree as long as the Pyra will not getting bigger through this. The new PCB has rounded edges, that's an big improvement. But I guess the battery will make it hard to change the shape of the bottom part.

I have a streamlined design sketched up but this would need a (slightly) bigger case if the inner parts are kept the same. It's always a compromise between size and shape. I just hope the Pyra will not be a 1:1 design copy of the Pandora, which would be a waste of opportunities.

 

[CrazyIvan]

And why is 2.5mm or 4.5mm only 0.5mm increase?

0.5 cm, sorry.

the controls need to be rechecked so that they can be reached comfortably

 
I wonder if there are people who can position their fingers with that kind of precision (1-2 mm) to actually feel anything if their fingers is 2 mm off?

The Pandora barely fits my pocket, 2.5mm more would make it a lot more uncomfortable and impossible with some trouser to put it into my pocket.

I consider it a miracle that you didn't tear your pockets while walking with pandora inside. Very tight fit. 

 

[Grench]

we're talking about extra 2.5 mm of height and 4.5 mm of width maximum (if 5.0 lcd is the absolute maximal size current case can hold) unless that Sharp screen have extra thick bezels. How would this affect pocketability or keymat is beyond me.


I'm not against 5.0 screen but that pocketability argument when talking about a single change that is less than 0.5 mm looks like some debate about smartphone thickness.

And why is 2.5mm or 4.5mm only 0.5mm increase?


The BOE barely fits in height - so even 0.5mm would need a complete case change (if the lid gets more height, the keyboard area needs to get more height as well, and the PCB, and all the controls need to be rechecked so that they can be reached comfortably).


But it's 2.5mm, not 0.5mm.


The Pandora barely fits my pocket, 2.5mm more would make it a lot more uncomfortable and impossible with some trouser to put it into my pocket.

You're right.  We can't go 2.5mm more height on the screen component unless the hinge were redesigned to take up the slack - which would entail a large amount of changes to, well, a -lot- of stuff.  5.0" 720p screen is perfect.  Use it and move on.

 

[rygD]

The Pandora barely fits my pocket, 2.5mm more would make it a lot more uncomfortable and impossible with some trouser to put it into my pocket.

I consider it a miracle that you didn't tear your pockets while walking with pandora inside. Very tight fit. 

My Pandora fits in most side and back pockets with no real issues.  It is a bit tighter in some back pockets, but I can't tolerate how it feels to have things back there (even worse if I sit).  I have a very small wallet with nothing but a few cards in it, and I won't put that in a back pocket.  I don't wear very tight pants/trousers, so that may be a factor.  Unless I sit, there is no discomfort, or trouble pocketing or retrieving, with my Pandora in a front pocket.  It is big and heavy enough that I know it is there, though.  I don't know how much even a small increase in size will be a problem, but I can see what ED said being true for me with some of my pockets.

 

[Kev2442]

I agree with everything said so far.

I wouldn't put it in pockets though. I've got a little bag, Indy Jones-style, with my wallet, phone etc.

I've also been looking for references myself, and while I found the most-likely Sharp screen in this topic, I can't seem to find anything about BOE.

 

[Mr_Loon]

There's no real right or wrong to this of course, just personal opinion, here's mine.

Assuming both screens can be reliably sourced for the foreseeable future, use whichever screen has the best all round display quality / works best with the rotator chip. If that's the smaller one then all well and good, if the Sharp is a noticeably better screen then bite the bullet and redesign.

My personal preference is more towards comfortable prolonged use as a handheld rather than pocketability, i.e with my slightly poor eyesight and large hands a slightly (0.5cm) bigger device would be no problem.

 

[rygD]

I've got a little bag, Indy Jones-style, with my wallet, phone etc.

Purses, backpacks, messenger bags, and such are a much easier target than pockets.  They are good when you need to carry a lot of stuff, but it is better to keep your valuables close to you, physically attached in some way, if possible, to avoid things "falling out" or otherwise being removed or left behind.

There's no real right or wrong to this of course, just personal opinion

My opinion is that there should not be increases to the cost/delays by requiring additional changes if there is an option that works with the current designs.

 

[Natsu]

More screen would be nice, but this is fine. Probably have great battery life.

 

[rygD]

Probably have great battery life.

I was wondering how much the larger display would decrease battery life yesterday.  I feel like I have read a discussion about it already, but I was too lazy to search.

 

[Night]

I have a question about the possible SoC upgrades in the future. Are they going to be included in different productions of the boards and sold as differnet Pyra models ("OMAP5 Pyra"/ "AMD Pyra") in a similar way to how the different Pandora models ("Classic"/"Rebirth"/"1GHz") are sold nowaday?

 

[rygD]

I think the intent is that only the CPU board needs to be swapped, so it shouldn't be hard to use CPU board B instead of A when they are assembled.  I will let someone else give you a yes or no, but I am pretty sure what you are asking is why it was made that way.

 

[Granitehead]

Just to add to the pocketability discussion: I have very few pants with pockets large enough for a Pandora. And it's still not comfortable in those pants where it fits. I do have a few jackets/vests where it fits, but it's not really practical to put it there (and also uncomfortable when riding a bike, which I do very frequently).

To carry it in my pockets it would need to be much smaller. Pandora's and Pyra's portability is somewhere in between a 5" smart phone (which is about the maximum I'm okay with carrying in my pocket) and a netbook.

I would describe the Pandora/Pyra form factor as "Can comfortably hold it in my hands during use, but too large to sensibly pocket.".

If Pyra was tailored to my needs, it would be like 7" or 8" (screen diagonal). I could comfortably touch type on something with this size (I'm talking about myself, I don't care if your finger tips are 2cm in diameter, mine are less than 1), but still hold it in my hands for gaming use.

Or if smaller than that, I would prefer it about the size of my Nexus 4 with its 4.7" inch screen, with maximum 1.5 times the thickness of the Nexus, i.e. ~15mm. Then I could pocket it again and it would make thumb typing more comfortable (easier to reach all the buttons. Again, I have good fine motor control and my finger tips aren't too fat). A device this size could completely replace my phone.

But it should be obvious to everyone that at this point in development, you really /can't/ change something like this. Pyra is 5". Done.

This is why although I'm very very tempted to buy a Pyra when it's released, I'm not sure I really will.