Pyra prototypes?

[DrHAX]

This is a question I've had on my mind for quite some time about the prototypes. How are the pyra prototypes gonna be "field tested"


Yes I know developers will be getting some prototypes. That makes perfect for software development before us uncoding plebs get our grubby, uneducated fingers on the final product.

But what about stress tests? I don't mean going out side the office and bouncing it off the sidewalk until it breaks.. Daily crap. The unexpected crap you never find out about until AFTER the damn thing's made because there's somebody who takes it everywhere. Take a look at the DS lite with that critical hinge failure that caused the screen to break off.  That was from daily use and a flaw in the plastics. 

I've noticed after using my pandoras daily there's a lot of wear in places and cracks and pattern damage across all three of them. I know its unlikely that us plebs will see or be able to field test a prototype but only so much can be learned from a person who only does one thing. There's more feed back to be had ( and potential issues with the strength of the unit in day to use. Hell two of three pandora's had the coil that fell out issue which caused the screen to go black. ) because the pyra is designed to be more then a gaming device, or a emulation device. ( I don't use my pandora for emulation at all! )  I use mine for typing stories and the texture of my keymat shows it.  Every one of the three pandoras I bought were hardly used and just put on a shelf.. Only one seemed to be used more then once.  h34r:  I know there's a few of us who use our's daily... The pyra will be better suited for daily tasks then the pandora ever was.

I see a potential for certain feed back you couldn't otherwise get, and it may be nice to have somebody who can also give feedback directly into the community and updates .  Yes I know the optimization will not be great, it will be unpolished in places and buggy in others, but if we have people who are willing to help field test these suckers I think it may be a good idea to see what issues occur.  what pattern failure occurs from wear or maybe surviving odd crap that just happens in life.

Opinions on the matter?

And no I'm not bringing up this topic just because I want a Pyra. I'm bringing it up because I think it needs to be tested by at least a few members of the board to get an idea of how a pyra will survive daily use, and it may be a good way to let us people who otherwise have nothing to offer the project some way to help it and get involved. I know the prototyping phase is WAY into the future but it is something to consider.

 

[_jr_]

I don't think there is much that could be gained by an additional test phase for this type of project where money is tight. Selling units is the only way the project can move forward anyway. And the Pandora shows that the initial batch doesn't have to be perfect.

 

[comradekingu]

The opposite of what the above poster said.

 

[DaMummy]

The opposite of what the poster above said. Once DragonBox has Nintendo money, it can throw money on test stressing its devices. If you're worried as a buyer, wait for the first thousand to ship and see what people say. There's your stress test by the average user of this thing.

 

[LogicalUnit]

I have a degree in software engineering, but am not a kernel hacker. I would pay money to field test a prototype.

 

[Xcl4m4t10n]

Yeah, I'm almost agree with the original post. We need a finished and tested product, not only a finished one. I know the relevance on send the Pyras to the developers but I think we need at least one or two users that compromised on stress the thing everyday. But maybe ED have a plan about this and this is senseless .

 

[ekianjo]

Its not planned since ED already finalized the case design.

 

[sepulep]

I think you can consider the pandora case as the pyra prototype...all the lessons learned are probably in the new case design..

 

[DrHAX]

If a select number of people are willing to test a pyra prototype and willing to PAY for one.. then people can't bitch about the potential cost. I know ED's not made of money but I wasn't stating we go to absurd company levels of testing! Make a handful of prototypes and select a few people to test them, (Giving them the option to purchase the prototype, or just let these people test them...  Lease it out or w/e and give the option of purchase if they like it.) The cost wouldn't be ABSURD since if all of the parts are present and made a few more can't be the straw that broke the came'ls back.. I'm thinking AT most five more. Since how many developers are there?

So ontop of the developers you could have A hard core gamer, A person who uses their pandora to write and code (One of the major bickers on the keyboard thread perhaps),  A gamer (Working with the developers) and a few casual people maybe..

What will work for a straight up coder only MAY stab a writer in the face, OR what works for the hardcore gamer might not work for the coder Or vice versa.. Or all of these compromises may hurt the casual user (doubt it, but its possible.)

And just letting a batch go then throwing it out in the wild is a HORRIBLE idea.

First batch of pyras..

Flaw in plastic causes case to snap in half when used in pants pocket or any specific pressure applied in a certain spot, Or cable issues or any unforseen thing a developer couldn't tell you since a developer won't have it in his/her pocket as they ride a subway or ride a bicycle. ( I truly doubt critical case failure like that could occur but did it could happen.)

 There could be longevity issues of a keymat a writer/ direct coder could find out with a bit of daily use. My pandoras showed keymat wear within the first three weeks of usage.  And on my fiance's pandora the shoulder buttons failed internally. These are issues that occurred form every day use that with ED's team he can't test in house effectively. Real life throws in variables that one can never quite consider when dealing with electronics.

Yes we all want Pyras.. But I'd rather have polished and finished and be the BEST it can be, and if a few of the forum members are willing to test a prototype pyra even by paying for it in full that'd be a great start to getting useful feedback earlier rather then later .

I'd be willing to PAY for the cost of everything to make a prototype added onto the batch to give feed back and help the developers test stuff.  Also lets say a person finds an odd bug in the os or something..Then we'd have the developers AND a few people to find out what the hell's going on beside ED. For the cost of a handful of prototype pyra's which people like ME will be willing to pay for to help give feed back I think it could reveal some issues with the system that could be fixed or addressed before the big first batch. 

The first batch is where the money will be going. You want that to be as trouble free as humanly possible. If there's a critical flaw with them then its not good news. Especially for ED whose fronting a lot of money for this. A faulty thing with X and Y could spell trouble for him...

But also to the people thinking this a potential to get a fully working pyra early.. These are Alpha level prototypes maybe even closer to the Beta level. Things will probably not work and will be polished as we go along. So those who want the trouble free experience this idea isn't for you.  Since the prototyping phase takes a few months anyways that's a few months of people using the pyra outside of the developers or WORKING with the developers to test stuff.  But if this is done I would expect the people not to just run off with the Pyra prototype and disappear from the board, and the project entirely. We'd need people who are willing to document and communicate directly with ED,Developers, and the forum and post findings and review as they go along. This would be straight up testing, because pattern failures DO occur in anything consumer based products, and even if there's a forewarning of POTENTIAL problems it'd be valuable long term.

(PS: Sorry if this post seems aggressive I just woke up at 2:39 feeling energized .)

 

[EvilDragon]

I already mentioned a while ago that we'll probably do a small pre-prroduction run before and some of those units can be bought.

Besides - I'm known to be hard on electronics. They often fall to the ground, get stepped on, etc.

I'm not really careful. And I plan to carry it around all the time

 

[fusion_power]

Besides - I'm known to be hard on electronics. They often fall to the ground, get stepped on, etc.

I'm not really careful. And I plan to carry it around all the time

One more reason to choose really durable material for the Pyra case. I really want to know what's actualy possible and available there. It will also decide how the Pyra will look and feel.

 

[matzesu]

Expect the Pyra at least that though as the Pandora: i carry my Pandora in Pokets everyday, and it dosnt faild yet


Unless some scraches on the case, where the silver color peel of a bit..


Its still the cooles thing i have in my EDC collection, so think Pyra also will be..


And whit the Mouldet Cases i think there will be at least a Stress Test whit sheep Dummy Parts in it.. (cardboard Screen and Board)..


There arent that expensive..

 

[Kev2442]

I could possibly be one of the early testers as :

- I'll do pretty much everything on it, from games to browsing and music,

- I'm willing to share my findings on the forum,

- it's getting harder and harder for me to wait,

- I'm not afraid of trouble as long as I know where to get the solutions.

It may depend on the price of the "Early Access" program. ^_^

 

[Wally]

Maybe ED could lend us moderators the preproduction unit for our "hard work"

 

[FaeMinx]

Jeez guys... patient much?


actually... I would like some of you guys to stress test the Pyra before I get one.


Thanks chaps

 

[DrHAX]

Maybe ED could lend us moderators the preproduction unit for our "hard work"

Do your moderation on it then report back to us... We would need people doing numerous tasks. The wider the variety the better feed back we  could give. Think of ekianjo's pandoralive site's post about how people daily used their pandora's.. Think that but for a Pyra.  There's many way a small batch will help

I already mentioned a while ago that we'll probably do a small pre-prroduction run before and some of those units can be bought.

Besides - I'm known to be hard on electronics. They often fall to the ground, get stepped on, etc.

I'm not really careful. And I plan to carry it around all the time

I'm glad to hear that's planed. I hope the option to purchase one isn't auction style. it'd suck to have the prototypes be horded and held onto to just lob onto ebay for a profit....They should be used to help advance the project... not to sit on a shelf and make profit for somebody 2 years down the line. People willing to help test a prototype should be put on a list so we can try our damnest to help this project. Once I got a pandora and how much I use it, how I can't really live without it I realized I needed to do stuff to help the Pyra project. Sadly the only skills I have to offer are my ability to have programs, games glitch and break on me, my ability to warp keyboards into potato chips via typing, and daily wear (The paint on my silver case was worn down in numerous areas before it got replaced.  )  I've also dropped my pandora accidentally in the snow, ice down stairs, cement out of  car door onto a tile floor. If I get my paws on a pyra I will bet you it'd be stress tested beyond an industry standard. Hell my current cell phone isn't doing well with the daily abuse I've put it through in the last past year..

 

[Xcl4m4t10n]

But remember to make the Prototype on white, blue and slightly purple:

 

[rygD]

I'm known to be hard on electronics. They often fall to the ground, get stepped on, etc.


I'm not really careful. And I plan to carry it around all the time 

I always think of that picture of you sitting with your Pandora in your back pocket and wonder "How?", because I doubt mine could handle that.  The crack in my case happened with nearly no external pressure.  I know the quality of Pandora cases is highly inconsistent.  I hope for much more from the Pyra cases.  Maybe a softer, less brittle, plastic (I have seen this discussed a couple, now I just need to find the threads).

Expect the Pyra at least that though as the Pandora: i carry my Pandora in Pokets everyday, and it dosnt faild yet

Didn't you say you carry it in a cargo pocket, too?  When I put things in those pockets it tends to hit everything I walk by, and bounce back and forth quite a bit.

 I've also dropped my pandora accidentally in the snow, ice down stairs, cement out of  car door onto a tile floor

WTF?  I know there should probably be commas, but without them what you are doing sounds...interesting.

If a handful of prototypes (hopefully in production cases, but by then not much can be changed, so what would be the point?) are handed out for real world testing I think they should be sent to people in different environments.  Someone that drives wherever they need to go and mostly does stuff with little risk of damage, as DrHAX said, may not have the same problems as someone who works/plays outdoors a lot with their Pyra with them, or someone that uses public transportation to get around.  It might be a good idea to send one or two to the southern hemisphere to get a bit closer to year round testing with different temperatures.  I don't know if humidity or altitude matter much (when I lived far above sea level I just bought regular stuff and never considered if elevation would cause problems, but I usually didn't take things much higher than 2.5 kilometers).

 

[Wally]

I'm known to be hard on electronics. They often fall to the ground, get stepped on, etc.


I'm not really careful. And I plan to carry it around all the time 

I always think of that picture of you sitting with your Pandora in your back pocket and wonder "How?", because I doubt mine could handle that.  The crack in my case happened with nearly no external pressure.  I know the quality of Pandora cases is highly inconsistent.  I hope for much more from the Pyra cases.  Maybe a softer, less brittle, plastic (I have seen this discussed a couple, now I just need to find the threads).

EvilDragon's Pandora is cased in a blue shell

 

[matzesu]

Yes in Cargo Pokets, but unlike some scratches and some outpopped SD Card it ditnt get harmed that much..


The Clamshell protekt the Screen werry good