Smach Z will pose some serious competition to the Pyra
- Thread starter GoldenSun3DS
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Wally
I am a banana!
Obviously doesn't own a Pandora..
fusion_power
Advanced Member
And I have bad eyes and even the browsing on the Pandora is not easy for me. Zooming is no option, this only increases the need for horizontal scrolling which is already a pain with only 800px wide. And no Browser on the Pandora (or on the PC except Opera <=12) has a real "fit to width" option where you can set big web font size but still have auto-matching wordwraps on every webpage.
Truth is, mobile devices need mobile software solutions, staight 1:1 ports from a PC don't do it always. I'm really worrried about the (compared) high res Pyra screen. Pyra will use also more or less "Desktop" Software, it may not be easy to make it suitable to a small screen with matching big elements like (fitting) menus, fonts, icons, screen elements...
One reason I first wait how it develops. Web-Browsing would be also one of my main tasks with a Pyra, so this must be working better than on the Pandora.
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Your eyes don't seem to agree with you (hence the need for glasses). :rolleyes:
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vcoleiro1
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Kickstarters rule for product development projects
" Projects that involve the development of physical products must feature explicit demos of working prototypes. While you can run a project focused on the creation of a prototype, you can't offer the product that is under development as a reward. "
Expect this to be booted before the project ends just as the Lazer Razer was, as I mentioned earlier
" Projects that involve the development of physical products must feature explicit demos of working prototypes. While you can run a project focused on the creation of a prototype, you can't offer the product that is under development as a reward. "
Expect this to be booted before the project ends just as the Lazer Razer was, as I mentioned earlier
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Wrath Of Khan
Soul soother...
I feel like your whispering when I read it, weird.
Wrath Of Khan
Soul soother...
They are taking their time with booting it.
vcoleiro1
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They didn't boot the Lazer Razer until the final few days. The most cruel of timings. Perhaps the guy looking after this at Kickstarter has a sadistic streak
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Wally
I am a banana!
Looks as if the Pyra now poses a serious threat to the Smachz.
edgex004
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Have you tried the "Zoom Page" extension for Firefox (and probably Pale Moon)? I just installed it on my work computer, and after playing with the "zoom text only" option, it seemed to implement a reasonable word wrap.
EDIT: "Full Page" zoom actually seems to work better, but you have to set your minimum text zoom to whatever you think is readable. Turn on "Fit to Width" and the page will zoom to the size of your window, but the text will be forced to be at the zoom level you chose.
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Exophase
Nothing good will ever come of Exophase.
They showed a picture of some dev setup booting up Fez from Steam. This may be good enough for Kickstarter despite the dev setup not even remotely resembling what a Smach Z's electronics would look like, nor pretty much any of its physical housing.
I mean, that picture could have been pretty much any off the shelf motherboard with soldered x86 CPU connected to an off the shelf replacement LCD through an off the shelf HDMI bridge eval board but who knows what's enough to coax KS.
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vcoleiro1
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Has to be an explicit demo of a working prototype. What they showed wouldn't pass at all..
Bear in mind that the Lazer Razer team eventually showed way more than what the Smach Z team has, and yet they still booted it.
Bear in mind that the Lazer Razer team eventually showed way more than what the Smach Z team has, and yet they still booted it.
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coreyjohnson711
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I backed the Smach Z and have been following the project for awhile, I even got one of the super early birds. I do agree with comments here that their KS video doesn't really show a true "prototype". At a minimum it'd be nice if they had shown an enclosed unit, playing game (even with older tech inside), just to show they have something that works. I may cancel my pledge, I wouldn't be surprised if it got suspended or if the Smach takes it down (I'm assuming that's possible).
I have a Pandora and love it for older games, but it's too slow for the other tasks I'd like it to do (web browsing most notably) and the nubs just don't do it for me to play FPS, either natively or remotely. I still plan on getting / trying out a Pyra. And I will continue to hold out hope for some mobile x86 device with gaming controls. Even a Shield Portable 2 would be tempting.
I have a Pandora and love it for older games, but it's too slow for the other tasks I'd like it to do (web browsing most notably) and the nubs just don't do it for me to play FPS, either natively or remotely. I still plan on getting / trying out a Pyra. And I will continue to hold out hope for some mobile x86 device with gaming controls. Even a Shield Portable 2 would be tempting.
WizardStan
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They may also be expecting it to fail, or for the creators to cancel it themselves, leave them with a bit of dignity.
Grench
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A few items of note...
When their project fails, will there be a general consensus drawn that handheld gaming is dead?
A handheld steam-compatible device IS theoretically plausible. Picture the Pyra with a Cherry Trail x7-Z8700 SOC and the nub surrounds widened out to accept a smaller version of Valve's dish pads - or just keep the nubs as is. So - I could see it as possible - with that 2W Intel SoC.
It's all good fun, but I'm starting to feel sorry for the trolling OP. It's pretty clear that they're emotionally attached AND ignorant to what the Pandora/Pyra is. Maybe if they exposed the name of the city or nearest city to them, someone local could meet up with them somewhere public and give a short demonstration of an actual Pandora? After all, ignorance can be cured.
ED posted up a quick 200 pre-preorder partial prepaid credit and 8 prototype sale in support of the Pyra's prototype board population and sold out inside of a weekend raising something in the range of $75,000. It wasn't advertised anywhere other than the boards here. Those with the money to do so didn't even seem to blink as the $1600 prototype purchases sold out fast.
As stated, the SmachZ and the Pyra are two completely different devices with some overlapping capabilities. The SmachZ has no attraction to me because it's clearly a gaming first machine. It's too long to fit in a front pants pocket and sit down. It's lack of a keyboard is it's death knell. The Pandora on the other hand can live in and be justified as having out in a business environment and still game on the train home. That last part of scenario versatility seems to be missed on the OP as they seem to be seeing only games.
When their project fails, will there be a general consensus drawn that handheld gaming is dead?
A handheld steam-compatible device IS theoretically plausible. Picture the Pyra with a Cherry Trail x7-Z8700 SOC and the nub surrounds widened out to accept a smaller version of Valve's dish pads - or just keep the nubs as is. So - I could see it as possible - with that 2W Intel SoC.
It's all good fun, but I'm starting to feel sorry for the trolling OP. It's pretty clear that they're emotionally attached AND ignorant to what the Pandora/Pyra is. Maybe if they exposed the name of the city or nearest city to them, someone local could meet up with them somewhere public and give a short demonstration of an actual Pandora? After all, ignorance can be cured.
ED posted up a quick 200 pre-preorder partial prepaid credit and 8 prototype sale in support of the Pyra's prototype board population and sold out inside of a weekend raising something in the range of $75,000. It wasn't advertised anywhere other than the boards here. Those with the money to do so didn't even seem to blink as the $1600 prototype purchases sold out fast.
As stated, the SmachZ and the Pyra are two completely different devices with some overlapping capabilities. The SmachZ has no attraction to me because it's clearly a gaming first machine. It's too long to fit in a front pants pocket and sit down. It's lack of a keyboard is it's death knell. The Pandora on the other hand can live in and be justified as having out in a business environment and still game on the train home. That last part of scenario versatility seems to be missed on the OP as they seem to be seeing only games.
pmprog
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You rejoiced in asking him if he felt thoroughly pwned by people smarter than him? Irony much?
b_o_b
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Vs discussions are always boiling down to the lack of a keyboard. I don't understand why people bother to propose devices without keyboard for a comparison - I am really not interested in hearing the rest of the specs then. Even a Sharp Zaurus ZR-5000/FX from 1995 is a better competitor than a Smach Z.
Majin Wamu
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Smach Z (ridiculous name)...
I remember when it was called the steam boy...
I'm surprised it still isn't developed. Steam advertises it like it is in store, but thanks to this post, I see it is still in development. It has been for a long time too then. The device looks interesting, but pointless to me. For one, I am not really a fan of AMD as I used to be, and also...my laptop, which is light weighted and has a i7 runs every steam game I own. So there is no need for such a device for me. I always have my laptop with me anyways. I feel the Pyra is still far superior to that little handheld which probably scratches easily. Also I doubt you can configure the interface to the way you want it like you will be able to with the Pyra, and already with the Pandora. Plus more, the Pandora and Pyra are open sourced, I doubt that little thing will be. Even if the Pandora's specs are out of date, there still isn't anything quite like it, and I still use it often. Even the students in my Computer Science classes are still blown away at the fact that something like the Pandora actually exists! I have a friend who is a total Linux buff, wants to buy my Pandora off of me. I doubt you would get that kind of reaction towards the Smach Z after a couple months. Most people will just see it as just another handheld. I can't really imagine many people I know actually owning that thing, or feeling the need to own it. They are asking for almost a Million USD, and they only have about 17.4% of that goal covered and less than a month to cover it during the holiday season were everyone is busy spending there money on gifts and not backing projects that wont arrive until probably next year sometime. Good Luck!
I remember when it was called the steam boy...
I'm surprised it still isn't developed. Steam advertises it like it is in store, but thanks to this post, I see it is still in development. It has been for a long time too then. The device looks interesting, but pointless to me. For one, I am not really a fan of AMD as I used to be, and also...my laptop, which is light weighted and has a i7 runs every steam game I own. So there is no need for such a device for me. I always have my laptop with me anyways. I feel the Pyra is still far superior to that little handheld which probably scratches easily. Also I doubt you can configure the interface to the way you want it like you will be able to with the Pyra, and already with the Pandora. Plus more, the Pandora and Pyra are open sourced, I doubt that little thing will be. Even if the Pandora's specs are out of date, there still isn't anything quite like it, and I still use it often. Even the students in my Computer Science classes are still blown away at the fact that something like the Pandora actually exists! I have a friend who is a total Linux buff, wants to buy my Pandora off of me. I doubt you would get that kind of reaction towards the Smach Z after a couple months. Most people will just see it as just another handheld. I can't really imagine many people I know actually owning that thing, or feeling the need to own it. They are asking for almost a Million USD, and they only have about 17.4% of that goal covered and less than a month to cover it during the holiday season were everyone is busy spending there money on gifts and not backing projects that wont arrive until probably next year sometime. Good Luck!
levi
Still fresh, damnit!
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Majin Wamu
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I have just finished reading all the comments posted to this point, and from what I read I can tell that GoldenSun3DS really has no idea what he is talking about like 75%. There is even one point were he starts agreeing with the project's mistakes, but doesn't openly say he is wrong. I think he continues to argue, even though he knows he was wrong to begin with, because he doesn't want to face the shame that he posted something ridiculous on a forum that is devoted to what he is trying to attack. The comments he has been posted recently have nothing to even do with the topic, but that his bad eyesight (since he wears glasses) is good...which makes no sense. At think at this point everyone has proven their point. I'm not even sure how this thing is even completion for the Pyra, or even how they are related. Why don't you waste your time comparing the Smach Z to the Vita or 3DS, which is, again, hardly related at all. He even complains how people keep relating it to the Ouya, when we all are saying the exact same thing: "Why are you relating the Smach Z (which doesn't even really exist yet) to the Pyra (which DOES exist, kind of)?"
