Happy Easter everyone!
And as easter has a few free days where I have to neither work in the shop nor do some video stuff (my main job), I finally have the time to write up some news.
I had hoped to present you some nice pictures of a final assembled unit - but while the cases are on the way (finally!), they won't arrive until next week.
Ah well, but I still got some good news
1. The case
Let's start with the case. As mentioned above, the cases are now finally on the way to me, together with the sealing for the speakers.
I've posted some pictures that Form Action sent me a while ago already, but in case you missed them, here they are:
Please keep in mind that these are pictures made with a mobile phone and a flash, that's why it looks really ugly and glossy. Don't worry, I'll make proper pictures once they have arrived here
Hopefully, they won't need any change anymore and will be the final ones.
I'll let you know once I received them
2. The keymat
I received the new keymats two days ago. And wow. This is the reason I wish that you could feel things over the internet!
It's SOOO much different to the previous versions! The new material and fixed coating has really made a difference.
This is a perfect example why not to rush things!
The keys are really light to press now. They're very easy to press down but have a full nice tactile feedback.
My wife thinks they're a bit TOO easy to push down, but I'm not sure of that - I've got the feeling this is just because we're all used to the harder Pandora keymat.
I've typed a bit with the Pyra and you get used to that pretty fast. I don't have any problems here - but maybe we could ship it around in a dummy case so others can test it as well
I'll make a post about that in the General section later.
Changing the pressure needed to push it down is something that can be changed without any mould change as that's just a change in the material mixture.
So we could even offer keymats with different strengths in the future so everyone can choose the one he likes best.
I'll still try to get another one with a bit more strength for testings, but these already are nice.
So all good with the keymat, ready for mass production?
Almost! The keymat is fine as is, nothing needs to be fixed anymore here.
But I've got a small minor gripe I'd like to address: The caps for the ABXY-buttons. They're a bit too small - which makes the buttons wiggle around a bit (especially now that the keymat is so easy to press).
That's just a minor change in the mold, can be done within an hour and as I got keymats WITHOUT these caps, I can even test that with 3D printing.
So I'm happy to say: Keymat is basically ready as well. Another step closer in getting the Pyra to you!
3. The PCBs
Nikolaus modified a PCB to have all fixes included zmatt found so far. zmatt already has the board but didn't have the time yet to look at it.
Don't forget he's a community member like most of you, he has a normal daytime job. He's not hired or paid by us, and we're really happy for every hour he can spend to help us.
Hopefully he'll find more time next week so we can confirm and implement these fixes - and hopefully he won't find anything else
4. The LCD Cables
The dummies of the new design is already on the way to me.
All I need to do the is confirm the physical parameters (length, etc.) and submit the final files including the traces.
These LCD Cables have a design I've not yet seen anywhere else which should make them a LOT more robust.
As you know, the cables need to be rolled through the hinge - and rolling the traces will always cause stress on them.
This happens on ANY system I know that uses these cables, Pandora, GPD XD, Nintendo DS. Some will last longer, but at some time, they'll die.
I changed the design of the cable so that the traces will NOT be rolled (I've posted about that in an earlier newspost).
What I did was making the traces run horizontally through the hinge - so the roll will not affect them.
That should make them hopefully last forever. Which is important for a device that's meant to be used for a long time due to its upgradibility.
So as a summary, what's the current status?
Some other things we'll take care soon:
So much for my first news post today.
I'll do another post tomorrow (not with news but surely other interesting things).
And as easter has a few free days where I have to neither work in the shop nor do some video stuff (my main job), I finally have the time to write up some news.
I had hoped to present you some nice pictures of a final assembled unit - but while the cases are on the way (finally!), they won't arrive until next week.
Ah well, but I still got some good news
1. The case
Let's start with the case. As mentioned above, the cases are now finally on the way to me, together with the sealing for the speakers.
I've posted some pictures that Form Action sent me a while ago already, but in case you missed them, here they are:
Please keep in mind that these are pictures made with a mobile phone and a flash, that's why it looks really ugly and glossy. Don't worry, I'll make proper pictures once they have arrived here
Hopefully, they won't need any change anymore and will be the final ones.
I'll let you know once I received them
2. The keymat
I received the new keymats two days ago. And wow. This is the reason I wish that you could feel things over the internet!
It's SOOO much different to the previous versions! The new material and fixed coating has really made a difference.
This is a perfect example why not to rush things!
The keys are really light to press now. They're very easy to press down but have a full nice tactile feedback.
My wife thinks they're a bit TOO easy to push down, but I'm not sure of that - I've got the feeling this is just because we're all used to the harder Pandora keymat.
I've typed a bit with the Pyra and you get used to that pretty fast. I don't have any problems here - but maybe we could ship it around in a dummy case so others can test it as well
I'll make a post about that in the General section later.
Changing the pressure needed to push it down is something that can be changed without any mould change as that's just a change in the material mixture.
So we could even offer keymats with different strengths in the future so everyone can choose the one he likes best.
I'll still try to get another one with a bit more strength for testings, but these already are nice.
So all good with the keymat, ready for mass production?
Almost! The keymat is fine as is, nothing needs to be fixed anymore here.
But I've got a small minor gripe I'd like to address: The caps for the ABXY-buttons. They're a bit too small - which makes the buttons wiggle around a bit (especially now that the keymat is so easy to press).
That's just a minor change in the mold, can be done within an hour and as I got keymats WITHOUT these caps, I can even test that with 3D printing.
So I'm happy to say: Keymat is basically ready as well. Another step closer in getting the Pyra to you!
3. The PCBs
Nikolaus modified a PCB to have all fixes included zmatt found so far. zmatt already has the board but didn't have the time yet to look at it.
Don't forget he's a community member like most of you, he has a normal daytime job. He's not hired or paid by us, and we're really happy for every hour he can spend to help us.
Hopefully he'll find more time next week so we can confirm and implement these fixes - and hopefully he won't find anything else
4. The LCD Cables
The dummies of the new design is already on the way to me.
All I need to do the is confirm the physical parameters (length, etc.) and submit the final files including the traces.
These LCD Cables have a design I've not yet seen anywhere else which should make them a LOT more robust.
As you know, the cables need to be rolled through the hinge - and rolling the traces will always cause stress on them.
This happens on ANY system I know that uses these cables, Pandora, GPD XD, Nintendo DS. Some will last longer, but at some time, they'll die.
I changed the design of the cable so that the traces will NOT be rolled (I've posted about that in an earlier newspost).
What I did was making the traces run horizontally through the hinge - so the roll will not affect them.
That should make them hopefully last forever. Which is important for a device that's meant to be used for a long time due to its upgradibility.
So as a summary, what's the current status?
- CPU Boards: All parts lying at GC, ready for mass production.
- Mainboards: Testing the last findings, once fixed, boards will be ordered.
- Displayboards: Ready for mass production
- Displays: All lying around at GC, ready for mass production.
- Keymats: Last change needed in the caps, apart from that: Ready for mass production
- Case: Will receive the latest samples next week. Hopefully fine - and if yes: Ready for mass production
- LCD Cables: Waiting for the dummy, then we submit the final files for sample production. After that: Ready for mass production.
Some other things we'll take care soon:
- CE/FCC-Testing: We needed to have a final working prototype, so we can do that now.
- Boxes: Boxes have been chosen long ago, we only need to work on the design and produce them.
- Accessories (AC Adaptors, Carry cases, etc.): Will take a look at that as well.
So much for my first news post today.
I'll do another post tomorrow (not with news but surely other interesting things).
