Pyra S (Slim) idea...

[Grench]

The Pyra, as ED has it currently designed, is ideally suited to it's stated purposes.  It is a no compromise pocketable gaming and general computing device.

This idea is not meant to disrupt that capability or flow, but to allow consideration of entry into an entirely other space.

The conversations in another thread over design and form and function made me give some thought to how the current case design is largely dictated by the components inside - their height mostly.  So, what would it take to make a Pyra Slim?  The idea is to do, 'whatever it takes', to get it down to 1/2 the Pandora's 3cm.

Starting at the top...

Flat micro corrugated 0.25mm  titanium alloy lid.  Corners rounded left to right only - sharp vertically.  No logo cutout with back LEDs because there won't be a board behind there, just a display.
- OLED display saves thickness as it generates it's own light - no back light board.  OR edge lit paper white grey scale LCD (non gaming version).
- Resistive touch stays.
- Flat micro corrugated 0.25mm titanium alloy bezel.
- Screen assembly held together by a metal gutter band.
Total lid thickness ~2mm.

Keyboard would need to flatten - a lot.  Direct printed flat top keys 0.1mm taller than the plastic keyboard surround.  Nub pads would need to become more or less a raised dot in the middle of a flat disk on both sides.  Keyboard travel would be reduced to nearly nothing.

Shoulder buttons would have to be shrunk - most likely meaning that they have to be moved to side by side.

Motherboard features would have to change a bit - but not 'drastic'.
Topside microUSB 'charging port' simply gets nixed.
microUSB 3.0 OTG stays
USB 2.0 ports both become microUSB 2.0 host ports.  eSATA wiring in 2nd port gets nixed.
microHDMI stays
Audio jack stays
Full sized SD cards stay

Battery becomes U shaped or 3 small packs forming the stems of a U running in parallel with a central control module so that they can circumscribe the SoC board.  Capacity is likely around 30% of the existing Pyra's design - so 2Ah instead of 6Ah.  Battery life would reflectively drop to ~3.5 hours continuous use.  Standby would be ~3 days.

Bottom and sides of case are stamped alloy.  Stamped & punched alloy keyboard surround sleeves around/over the bottom case metal much like a 1930s cookie tin.

Overall thickness estimate:  @15mm.  Cost/retail estimate...  Likely 2.5 to 3 times the Pyra's.

 

[eric]

Interesting idea but the two things that I like best about my Pandora (and will want in the Pyra!) are the battery life and the keyboard with proper (relatively speaking) keys!

 

[Grench]

Apparently the new board software has a post length limiter.  Interesting.

Eric - personally I would prefer the Pyra as ED's pictures and renders have depicted it.  "Full size" with proper key travel and battery life.  I'm getting the idea, though, that there may be room for another form factor in the same device category.

The Pandora and Pyra are fantastic - but far from svelte.  Is there room for another device with "compromised" components and a fraction of the battery life and double (or more) the cost but half the thickness?

Note - this is all 'fun conversation' and should not in any way be interpreted as criticism of the existing Pyra designs.

 

[Urben]

The good thing about a slim version of the Pyra would be the emulation of the PS2 slim edition.

 

[edgex004]

If the slim version could be "expanded" as needed with a normal size battery, I would go for it. Having the option to slim down the unit would be a great feature for me.

 

[TrashyMG]

♫  [COLOR= rgb(34, 34, 34)]Fat bottomed Pyra you make the rocking world go round. [/COLOR]♫

 

[DaMummy]

I would expect this topic out of someone who just joined, not by you Grench....not by you. Shame on you.

 

[Grench]

We have seen these questions about the phat phorm phactor of the Pandora and now Pyra on several occasions from people who make bald statements that they don't like the aesthetics, but then fail to understand that to change the aesthetics would require substantial changes in the specifications and capabilities that live underneath.

That brought me to the idea of, well, if that's what they want - what would it take to get there?

And that is what I tried to detail above.  That "Pyra Slim" device isn't for me.  I really like the current Pyra renders.  But - is there an audience for both?  Software would be interchangeable.  Port configuration would be somewhat different.  Battery life would be very different.  The thinner device would likely cost more.

How is detailing those trade-offs and asking the question shameful?

 

[Urben]

If the slim version could be "expanded" as needed with a normal size battery, I would go for it. Having the option to slim down the unit would be a great feature for me.

Now I have a weird accordion-pyra picture in my head. Not the worst idea.

 

[Wally]

Let's get the pyra out first aye? 

 

[Grench]

Let's get the pyra out first aye? 

Agreed.  However, that shouldn't be a pre-requisite to discussing what the trade-offs would have to be to do a 'slim' one.  A likely pre-requisite to actually -doing- a slim Pyra would likely be for the Pyra to sell 100,000 or more units first.

I think that if the people claiming that the Pandora/Pyra are too fat, rounded, ugly, etc. truly understood what would have to be traded off to make the device they seem to think it should be, they would likely reconsider.  What they say they want aesthetically cannot be done with the Pyra's included hardware.  To get there the hardware would have to change.  Those trade offs are too much for me.

So - I went through and made some guesses at the trade offs that would have to happen to halve the thickness.

Personally, the Pyra as ED has envisioned and rendered it is an ideal form factor for me.

 

[elw3]

1. Make pyra slimmer
2. People complain about it feeling stupid for gaming.
3. Sell high increasing ad on to make it better fit in hands.
4. Profit.  

 

[ZXDunny]

I take it your previous post was a dig at me. Despite my having said no less than twice (possibly three times) that I understand and accept why the Pandora is shaped the way it is. What you seem to be missing, Grench, is that I posted my opinions on why the Pandora is ugly, and what about it would need to change in order to be a bit better looking in my opinion. Reading comprehension fail.

Do you really think that I was posting because I would somehow be able to influence the design of the Pyra at this stage? Now? Really?

I had a higher opinion of you than that.

D.
 

 

[Grench]

Sheesh - it was not directed at you.  You're not the first to bring up the, "It's too thick" argument.  Yes, you and I are discussing a parallel topic in another thread - the aesthetics of the Pyra as rendered.  That discussion is not centered around, "Make it thinner!"  This one is.

It is a recurring theme - normally voiced by individuals who get jumped by the veterans for how wrong their opinion is then disappear.  What I was discussing is:
1.  What would the trade-offs be to make a dramatically thinner device based on the Pyra's motherboard & SoC board?
2.  Would anyone still want it at that point?

We have so far had examples of why the people who ask the question leave.  Not much for actual discussion of the trade offs required to get to their, "dream device", or whether the end result would be all that, "dreamy."

 

[rygD]

Flat micro corrugated 0.25mm  titanium alloy lid.

If nothing else, I like this.  I want a Pyra with the whole case in metal, but we have to start somewhere.  

Back to reading...
I am not that fond of a couple of the issues related to OLED displays (fading and screen rot).  Since you are going for slim I suppose it is acceptable.

I don't like the keyboard/nub idea.  I haven't felt the Pyra keyboard yet, but I don't want to lose any improvements over the Pandora to have something that feels even worse than Pandora keys by going too far in the other direction (from long travel and squishy to no travel and barely moving).  Could something like a trackpoint be made thin enough to fit your idea.  My guess is no.  Maybe an optical sensor combined with a button for clicking.

Battery idea doesn't sound too great.  Would the batteries still be user changeable somehow?  Since we are cutting battery life we might as well add more RAM.

I like all the metal I just wonder if it will be even less durable than Pandora cases.  I do not like that it wouldn't be user serviceable like the Pyra is designed to be, although the people looking for a slim Pyra are probably not concerned about that (and are probably ok with "disposable" electronics...no upgrades after purchase it seems).  I guess this isn't far off from some laptops and smartphones, but it isn't for me.  I think adding a couple  tiny screws might keep it slim and give users that want in access.

Elw3 is right, it would feel stupid for gaming.  Controllers got thicker and thicker for a reason.  Not sure about recent handhelds (I haven't even spent much time with a 3DS).  Give me the option to add a full battery like edgex004 said and I might consider it.