Prepare for the next level

[Timstertoo]

^ http://boards.openpandora.org/topic/15724-how-to-calculate-a-price-for-the-pyra/

Thanks!

~€500,- is a price I'd be happy to pay. (it said willing first but I edited it as I'm not fooling anyone that I wouldn't buy it at a higher price ) Especially with the backlit keyboard. Funny how little things like that make you use some stuff more then others. One of the big reasons I'm not using my current Pandora as often as I'd like. Only time I really have at the moment is at night in bed when the missus is sleeping and there will be hell to be paid if I put a light on.

So once the Pyra is for sale I'll probably sell it and go for the Pyra. 

Actually I'm not sure if this is interesting for ED but I'd be more than happy to send the Pandora back to ED and get a reduction on the Pyra for an amount that will leave ED enough space to sell the Pandora second hand with some profit. No idea if this is more work for ED then it will bring him in extra cash but if it's worth it that would work for me.

 

[crosspoint]

I saw some concept pictures in another topic and it looked very good. The red design is quite beautiful and reminds me of my old gameboy color (the color I mean not the model).

Where can I find them? Is this an official concept design or are these pictures just fan made?

I can't find them, but I believe what Majin Wamu saw were just fan made renderings.

I think so, too. If it was something official it would have appeared on EDs blog on pyra-handheld.com.

 

[Wrath Of Khan]

How many levels are in this game ED?

 

[klapse]

improve the PND system

There was a long debate about the PND system. What exactly do you want to improve?

 

[fusion_power]

Besides checking that the case will fit around the PCB, the case designers will first concentrate on designing the keymat.

Why? Well, simple:

A good keymat needs to be tested very thoroughly.

Besides the keyboard, it's also the important part of how the DPad feels - and we want that to be perfect as well!

Good point. I guess it will be not easy to get the right feel for both, the keyboard and the gaming controls, with only one keymat. The Pandora keyboard-keys are compared stiff and hard to press because of the gaming controls, these are fine actualy.

I suggest to use DIFFERENT key mats, one soft (transparent) for the actual keyboard and one solid, harder for D-Pad and action buttons. Would make a replacement even more easy imho and should not add to much costs.

I also suggest to use a different method than simply glue like onto the Pandora for holding the D-Pad in place, also comes in handy when parts have to be replaced (different D-Pads maybe).

improve the PND system

 There was a long debate about the PND system. What exactly do you want to improve?

The name? ^^"

 

[EvilDragon]

Good point. I guess it will be not easy to get the right feel for both, the keyboard and the gaming controls, with only one keymat. The Pandora keyboard-keys are compared stiff and hard to press because of the gaming controls, these are fine actualy.

I suggest to use DIFFERENT key mats, one soft (transparent) for the actual keyboard and one solid, harder for D-Pad and action buttons. Would make a replacement even more easy imho and should not add to much costs.

Wouldn't make sense.

The softness can be varied with the thickness of the mat as well, and the keymat can use a different thickness than the DPad (that's design).

Besides, having two mats would need two molds, so increasing the costs quite a bit.

 

[God Ginrai]

Good point. I guess it will be not easy to get the right feel for both, the keyboard and the gaming controls, with only one keymat. The Pandora keyboard-keys are compared stiff and hard to press because of the gaming controls, these are fine actualy.

I suggest to use DIFFERENT key mats, one soft (transparent) for the actual keyboard and one solid, harder for D-Pad and action buttons. Would make a replacement even more easy imho and should not add to much costs.

Wouldn't make sense.

The softness can be varied with the thickness of the mat as well, and the keymat can use a different thickness than the DPad (that's design).

Besides, having two mats would need two molds, so increasing the costs quite a bit.

Would we even need a mat for the Dpad? I'm aware that the current Dpad is on the Pandora mat, but isn't it possible just to make a plastic piece like you do for the buttons?

Also, on the subject of the buttons. Is it possible to make the buttons more like the feel of the GP2X buttons? My only two complaints with the Pandora buttons are that they are a bit too round and a bit too hard. It's not the most comfortable feeling when I push it in because of these factors. The GP2X buttons, on the other hand, had a very nice feel to them, and were more flat.

-God Ginrai

 

[fusion_power]

Good point. I guess it will be not easy to get the right feel for both, the keyboard and the gaming controls, with only one keymat. The Pandora keyboard-keys are compared stiff and hard to press because of the gaming controls, these are fine actualy.

I suggest to use DIFFERENT key mats, one soft (transparent) for the actual keyboard and one solid, harder for D-Pad and action buttons. Would make a replacement even more easy imho and should not add to much costs.

Wouldn't make sense.

The softness can be varied with the thickness of the mat as well, and the keymat can use a different thickness than the DPad (that's design).

Besides, having two mats would need two molds, so increasing the costs quite a bit.

Well ok, it would be possible to solve this with the thickness, I hadn't thought onto that. One single mat is of course cheaper than two different ones. And for the D-Pad, is DaveC still around somewhere? ^^

 

[Granitehead]

Just make sure the keyboard is great (that means significantly better than the Pandora one). I like for example the keys on my simple Samsung B2710 mobile phone much more than the keys on the Pandora - of course it has less keys and they are slightly too small, but the feeling when pressing them is much much better than on the Pandora. I would pay at least $30 more for this kind of keyboard or anything which feels less wobbly than Pandora's keyboard. I think ED once wrote that he looked at a technology (/talked with people who sold it) which would achieve such a better feeling and it seemed he found the $10 of cost those would add to be a lot - I think for a much better keyboard, $10 is nothing.

(also about the driver, but that is already being discussed somewhere else - everything should be as configurable as possible)

 

[levi]

Would we even need a mat for the Dpad? I'm aware that the current Dpad is on the Pandora mat, but isn't it possible just to make a plastic piece like you do for the buttons?

The Pandora d-pad and gaming buttons both push down on a rubber keymat to make contact with the board and signify the press. It's the mat also that makes the d-pad and the buttons spring back. The keyboard is similar, except the keycaps in the pandora are part of the keymat, and not separate bits.

I quietly hope that the Pyra keyboard will have proper independent keycaps, like the Pandora gaming buttons, but I'm aware that will require more money to design, and make assembly more complex. We'll have to see what the final solution is for the keyboard when the time comes.

 

[Grench]

One high-priority topic for the case designer will be the hinge.

They will first check if we can use the existing hinge part and improve it with a different case design (so that it works more like a laptop and stays open whereever you want it to).

But we'll also contact a company which is specialized on hinges for laptops and small mobiles - maybe they can provide us with a better one.

Thanks to MWeston (yep, you read right ) for the link to that company.

Hinge...

IMHO - scrap the existing hinge spring/tension part entirely. Instead, make that side of the hinge a through-hole, put a machine screw through it with a knurled knob on it. The end user can then adjust the tension on the hinge as they see fit. There was a red CAD mock up floating around with this design on it - looked pretty good.

 

[levi]

What spring/tension part?

 

[SNESFAN]

And for the D-Pad, is DaveC still around somewhere? ^^

Talked to him not too long ago on the shield forums. I'm sure ED knows how to get a hold of him as well, but if you need me to direct his attention this way I can drop him a line.

 

[Grench]

What spring/tension part?

The little white piece that you jam back into the hinge when changing the LCD cable.

 

[levi]

Okay, that's a solid piece of plastic - no hidden spring in there. AFAICT it just relies on friction to attempt to hold the screen in place, and to at least to some extent stop it flopping about, and a physical stop to stop the hinge overrotating.


User controlled tension is one way of making a hinge that can hold in any position, if you use both hands and first loosen the knob, open the lid then tighten the knob. But wouldn't a hinge that held at any angle, provided you don't shake it too hard, like the hinge on any laptop, that you can just open (with one hand or two) and be done with it.


If the latter can't be done then your idea might be an alternative, but I wouldn't dismiss a laptop style hinge out of hand.

 

[Linux-SWAT]

Lots of good things in perspective !

 

[Majin Wamu]

Yeah guys it was just a fan made concept, but it was very good, and had some awesome ideas, such as the slide out battery, I really think that is a very good idea. That way the battery isn't all wobbly inside like it is in the Open Pandora.

 

[EvilDragon]

Yeah guys it was just a fan made concept, but it was very good, and had some awesome ideas, such as the slide out battery, I really think that is a very good idea. That way the battery isn't all wobbly inside like it is in the Open Pandora.

It sounds like a good idea - but it isn't.

All batteries swell over time - and then you will never get it out again and at some time it will just burst your Pyra.

 

[Majin Wamu]

oh is that right? I didn't know that. Well thank you for letting me know. I guess the users on that board didn't know either. The name of the board is "Yet another concept for the new Pyra". The case concepts look really neat. Too bad the sliding battery idea wasn't a good one.

 

[thatgui]

It sounds like a good idea - but it isn't.

All batteries swell over time - and then you will never get it out again and at some time it will just burst your Pyra.

Just out of curiousity, why isn't that a problem for every phone manufacturer in the last +10(?) years ?