Not everything is as fast as planned


EvilDragon

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Well, I just had a phone call from Greece - and according to them, it will be late January when the moulds are finished for prototyping.


That's some sad news, but I'm trying to get them to speed things up a bit.


This means I won't go to Greece in December to finish the prototypes with the case...


What has happened?


Well, according to their quotation, it'll take 12 weeks to create the mould, and they started early October. So with christmas and new year, the date would be middle of January, so they're producing the moulds according to their timeframe.


I remembered it takes 2 months though (2 months...TM?) so I thought they should be ready in December.


Well, and I let them know my timeframe in October and asked a few times whether that can be kept - but I never really received an answer (until this morning), so I assumed the timeframe would be kept.


I really had hoped for no communication issues this time (and it all worked fine with the keymat), but it seems it's always the case that takes a bit longer.


Will that delay anything?


Yes and no. It will delay the prototypes within the case, but I'll offer everyone who will get one to send the PCBs once they're tested and the cases later when they're finished.


Once the moulds are finished, there's no real leadtime in the production of the cases, they can be produced anytime. So they'll still be ready before all the parts for the mass production arrive.


The only problem is that I don't know how many units we'll produce in the first run without doing the preordering first... so I have to think about that. Maybe I'll do a non-paid preorder so I know how many parts we need to order and then the first payment will be done once the prototype including the case is finished and then the next, final one once the units are ready to be shipped.


I'll think about it, and will let you know.


Sorry about the sad news after all the good ones we had during the last few days, but things like that also happen in real life, especially when you got a tight timeframe.


The good thing is that this most likely doesn't change the planned mass production start - only the prototypes.
 
Well, and I let them know my timeframe in October and asked a few times whether that can be kept - but I never really received an answer (until this morning), so I assumed the timeframe would be kept.





A bit of a naive assumption there ED. Nevertheless, delays are to be expected. Keep up the great work.
 
Not ideal, but not terrible news - frankly things seem to be ticking along nicely and if this is the worst that happens from here on out I'll be stunned !
 
Aaaand already an update :)


The two most important molds for me (the keyboard and battery area) are already finished.


Missing are the small parts and the lid.


The keyboard area is important for me as it can't really be tested with the printed case - too many small details.


The rest can be printed.


So we can already produce samples of the lower area of the Pyra and use a printed case for the missing parts.


This makes it possible for me to test the height of the keymat, how well the PCB fits, etc.


I will probably get these samples still within this year.

A bit of a naive assumption there ED. Nevertheless, delays are to be expected. Keep up the great work.



Well, I'm probably used too much to german companies. The first thing you get is a delivery date after the order, and usually they keep it or are faster (see the keymat production, for example) :)
 
Well, I'm probably used too much to german companies. The first thing you get is a delivery date after the order, and usually they keep it or are faster (see the keymat production, for example) :)



German efficiency only applies to Germans :)
 
I actually was worried if everything went smooth... there's always something fishy when things "just works" :D
 
Well, I just had a phone call from Greece - and according to them, it will be late January when the moulds are finished for prototyping.


That's some sad news, but I'm trying to get them to speed things up a bit.


This means I won't go to Greece in December to finish the prototypes with the case...


What has happened?


Well, according to their quotation, it'll take 12 weeks to create the mould, and they started early October. So with christmas and new year, the date would be middle of January, so they're producing the moulds according to their timeframe.


I remembered it takes 2 months though (2 months...TM?) so I thought they should be ready in December.


Well, and I let them know my timeframe in October and asked a few times whether that can be kept - but I never really received an answer (until this morning), so I assumed the timeframe would be kept.


I really had hoped for no communication issues this time (and it all worked fine with the keymat), but it seems it's always the case that takes a bit longer.


Will that delay anything?


Yes and no. It will delay the prototypes within the case, but I'll offer everyone who will get one to send the PCBs once they're tested and the cases later when they're finished.


Once the moulds are finished, there's no real leadtime in the production of the cases, they can be produced anytime. So they'll still be ready before all the parts for the mass production arrive.


The only problem is that I don't know how many units we'll produce in the first run without doing the preordering first... so I have to think about that. Maybe I'll do a non-paid preorder so I know how many parts we need to order and then the first payment will be done once the prototype including the case is finished and then the next, final one once the units are ready to be shipped.


I'll think about it, and will let you know.


Sorry about the sad news after all the good ones we had during the last few days, but things like that also happen in real life, especially when you got a tight timeframe.


The good thing is that this most likely doesn't change the planned mass production start - only the prototypes.

I think you can at least produce the 200 pre-preorder for the first batch, and you can ask for final payement as soon as you need it.
 
Well, I'm probably used too much to german companies. The first thing you get is a delivery date after the order, and usually they keep it or are faster (see the keymat production, for example)



Well, Greece is not Germany for sure. ;)   Do you have capable contact partners there which can do the important communication and make sure that everything works like it should? I guess it's at least better than with the chinese Company.
 
I haven't signed in for the pre-order or the prototypes.


But i wouldn't mind paying for my unit full up in advance before the first mass production run starts  :)


As soon as a price can be determined i'll gladly pay in advance , or... "shut up & take my money"
 
1) The pandora is capable of rotating the screen in hardware without a severe hardware penalty


2) Pandora uses landscape LCDs anyway, so no rotation needed.
 
I have some contacts in the mould industry, they work basically for the german and american market directly and as far as i know they're pretty good at what they do, so if at any time you're prospecting for someone in that field i may be of some help i guess. Anyway keep up the good work. Cheers
 
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Do another 200EUR downpayment (or even the full price this time) pre-order, don't do a "no payment" one or you'll get a lot of people signing up who change their mind when it comes time to pay.



Right.  I might set the bar even lower for those who might be wary of the product not finishing.  you could have a few options:

  • 500 euro - pyra voucher and receive coupon for 1% off final pyra price ;)  (but the voucher can be used for anything dragonbox)
  • 100 euro - intention to buy pyra voucher  (but can technically be used for anything dragonbox)
  • 50 euro - pyra exclusive voucher (can't be used for anything else)
 
I think you can at least produce the 200 pre-preorder for the first batch, and you can ask for final payement as soon as you need it.



Well, the question is not 200 or 300 but 1000 or 2000 :)

This delay should be used to check if we may get the portrait landscape LCDs (you mentioned there might be a possibility for that), the rotator is a major software headache and we still basically don't have it working properly.



Sadly, not possible to get them yet, they are still working on the details.


So the first 1000 will have the current LCD for sure.
 
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