GPD Win (x86 Computer / Palmtop)


Ah, so they pivot on a point rather than sliding on a plane?

Yes, I think they are the same brand sticks as used in the PS Vita. Supposedly they are high quality and long lasting which is why they made a point of noting the brand of the sticks on the Indiegogo campaign page
 
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There's a teardown that shows the sticks, and they do indeed look like the Vita Slim's analog sticks, complete with blue-green ribbon cable.
 

I wonder if part of their heat concerns are rooted in applying the thermal paste with a brick trowel ?

Yes, I think they are the same brand sticks as used in the PS Vita. Supposedly they are high quality and long lasting which is why they made a point of noting the brand of the sticks on the Indiegogo campaign page
Thanks for clearing that up, first I was a bit concerned about those being not nubs. But if they are the same sticks the Vita has, they will be Ok
 
There is some nice engineering in the GPD WIN, I like how well made it already looks (except for the poor "lost in space" battery XD). They really managed to put an copper heatsink and an active fan inside such an case which is thinner than the Pyra case but still fits in a powerful battery. ED should borrow some of these GPD guys. :D
I also like the shoulder button solution, before, I had no clue how to do a propper 45° angled shoulder button mechanic. These separate pieces with contacts seems to do the trick niceley and also are still easy to assemble, very coll stuff there. :)
 
There is some nice engineering in the GPD WIN, I like how well made it already looks (except for the poor "lost in space" battery XD). They really managed to put an copper heatsink and an active fan inside such an case which is thinner than the Pyra case but still fits in a powerful battery. ED should borrow some of these GPD guys. :D

No need for that, I can easily make it as thin as the GPD Win if I remove the good speakers, change the keymat to small domecap keys and remove the replaceable battery as well as the upgradable CPU board.
That's what adds the thickness in the Pyra.
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How are they applying thermal paste like it's ranch?

That's a bit scary though - improperly put thermal paste is the main reason for CPUs that die after 2 - 3 months :O
 
No need for that, I can easily make it as thin as the GPD Win if I remove the good speakers, change the keymat to small domecap keys and remove the replaceable battery as well as the upgradable CPU board.
That's what adds the thickness in the Pyra.

I'm hoping to design and print a custom bottom part of the case that reduces thickness by switching back to the Pandora battery and having the battery slide in from the side. Do you think anything might get in the way of that, such as speakers?
 
I'm hoping to design and print a custom bottom part of the case that reduces thickness by switching back to the Pandora battery and having the battery slide in from the side. Do you think anything might get in the way of that, such as speakers?

That sounds like a lot of work to save maybe 1-2 mm.

But hey, go for it.
 
It gets worse. I want to used printed aluminum.

I had a thought along those lines. Instead of printed Aluminum though, I was thinking of thin sheets of waterjet cut aluminum stacked together then held tight by flat headed aluminum hex screws and rivet nuts. I'll never get around to it, so if someone else wants to do it, go for it.

Really, though, from what I'm seeing the Pyra case is coming together very nicely. Yes, I wish it had all of it's capabilities in a package 10mm thinner, but that is a fantasy.

Six years from now when the Pyra's successor is getting figured out with all low profile connectors (USB C instead of A) and battery technology five times denser than what is available today combined with a neural jack to eliminate the need for display or keyboard, then it can get much thinner.
 
No need for that, I can easily make it as thin as the GPD Win if I remove the good speakers, change the keymat to small domecap keys and remove the replaceable battery as well as the upgradable CPU board.
That's what adds the thickness in the Pyra.
I doubt it's the keyboards/keymats fault that the Pyra is ~ 3cm thick, battery compartment could also be thinner (if you look at the GPD batttery) and it was even a little bit to spacy already, when I remember correctly. So we could already save 1mm or so, heyyy! XD
The PCB Sandwich is an strong argument for the thickness of course and the cooling also needs room for sure (damn hot chips those days!). Well, I still believe that the GPD WIN could have an replacable battery ( again, look at the little poor thingy there inside :D ) without adding much thickness. I would make the battery a part of the handhelds backside, like many (older) mobile phones did, my Nokia 6310 for example. So no need for an Battery door etc...

So or so, there are creative ways to do handhelds for sure. :) I like the recent competition, lets see how the other ones develop (PGS, Smach Z...)
 
I doubt it's the keyboards/keymats fault that the Pyra is ~ 3cm thick

Don't underestimate things.
A domecap keymat is about 0,6 - 1mm in height whereas that's already the travel distance we have, with the keys on top of it.
To have a keymat with a nice feel to it, the height of it needs to be at least 6mm high. The plastic caps add a bit more.

So that's quite a big factor.

(Besides, the Pyra is not 3cm thicker than the GPD Win)

battery compartment could also be thinner (if you look at the GPD batttery) and it was even a little bit to spacy already, when I remember correctly. So we could already save 1mm or so, heyyy! XD

Yes, the compartment is thicker that it should be, sadly, because of the cover mechanism. I would've preferred a sliding one, but FormAction said this would increase the mold costs by at least 10.000 EUR (as you need to create special tools in the mold to create the sleds for the slider).

If I'd known upfront this adds 1 - 1,5mm of size, I would've thought about that - but that's something to think about in the future, and it's easy to change the back for everyone.

The PCB Sandwich is an strong argument for the thickness of course and the cooling also needs room for sure (damn hot chips those days!).

The sandwich adds about 2mm. So with the keymat, we're already at more than 1cm added thickness.

Well, I still believe that the GPD WIN could have an replacable battery ( again, look at the little poor thingy there inside :D ) without adding much thickness.

Well, you would need to add another layer of case inside (another 1mm, if you want it to be stable) to protect the PCB.
And the battery would also need another wrap and a PCB that ensures the battery cannot be short-circuited.
That would increase the batteries size as well.

Because of that (and the fact that the GPD Win is wider which is worse than thicker in my opinion), the battery of the GPD Win is about 1mm thinner than the one in the Pyra.

Together with the added case layer, that's another 2mm.
Yes, it adds up pretty fast.

I would make the battery a part of the handhelds backside, like many (older) mobile phones did, my Nokia 6310 for example. So no need for an Battery door etc...

That's quite expensive and would increase the battery costs A LOT.
Besides, having a 1mm thick case on the battery compared to having a 1mm thick battery cover in the case doesn't really make a difference in size.

So or so, there are creative ways to do handhelds for sure. :) I like the recent competition, lets see how the other ones develop (PGS, Smach Z...)

Of course there are. And everyone needs to make sacrifices if they want to reach a certain size.
You can leave out features (4G, sensors, etc.), you can make it thicker or wider, you can make the case thinner but not as robust, etc.
There are tons of ways.

I tested and decided that making a handheld wider is worse than making it thicker.
And the tests with the GPD Win showed me that at least for me, my decision was right.
Everyone thinks different about that, but no one really liked the keyboard on the Win at GamesCom.[/Quote]
 
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I tested and decided that making a handheld wider is worse than making it thicker.
And the tests with the GPD Win showed me that at least for me, my decision was right.
Everyone thinks different about that, but no one really liked the keyboard on the Win at GamesCom.
As someone who can pick up a basketball with one hand a little wider would probably be a good thing for me.
 
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