Some pictures from the GamesCom 2015


Thanks for the pictures, ED!

just the plastic with a rough surface
This I like. Please remember that we shouldn't add in any way any kind of coating, painting, finishing, etc on the Pyra.

This would wear off and we'd loose any addition. I'd much rather have a colored ABS, PVC, GPPS, HIPS, PP, PET, PC, NBC.
Are there any other reasons to add coating / painting / finishing to the case, besides looks?

If not, then yes, please no coating / painting / finishing.

The case surface of a handheld doesn't need to be shiny, smooth and slippery. If it's colored all the way through, then scratches don't matter much.
 
That lemming look a it like a Prometheus work piece.
They are. The Dragon is made by her as well :)
And the Arcade board under the Lemming in Pic 15 is a very well made Super-Famicom "skin" mod I must say, nice. Seems like an Mad Catz Arcade Fight Stick underneeth, I have one but of course not modded.
The Audience has fun for sure, I like how well they accept these weird little Handhelds with the Keyboard... :D
 
About the emmc memory, will it be soldered or will it be replaceable? I'm asking because I have an odroid C1 and the emmc memory is like a micro SD: you can plug it in and out.
 
About the emmc memory, will it be soldered or will it be replaceable? I'm asking because I have an odroid C1 and the emmc memory is like a micro SD: you can plug it in and out.
eMMC will be soldered onto the CPU daughterboard... However there is an internal Micro SD card that you can switch to instead of using the eMMC... Typically eMMC memory is faster than SD. After a long heated debate on the forums on which is best, a fast eMMC memory or the benefits of using an uSD to later upgrade to larger memory we were given both. A SIM card socket was chosen that had a build on uSD slot, However with the lack of channels to use both at the same time the eMMC and uSD had to share the same bus, so you have to switch to one or the other.
 
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About the emmc memory, will it be soldered or will it be replaceable? I'm asking because I have an odroid C1 and the emmc memory is like a micro SD: you can plug it in and out.
eMMC will be soldered onto the CPU daughterboard... However there is an internal Micro SD card that you can switch to instead of using the eMMC... Typically eMMC memory is faster than SD. After a long heated debate on the forums on which is best, a fast eMMC memory or the benefits of using an uSD to later upgrade to larger memory we were given both. A SIM card socket was chosen that had a build on uSD slot, However with the lack of channels to use both at the same time the eMMC and uSD had to share the same bus, so you have to switch to one or the other.
How about some small SSD chips that are much faster than eMMC, actualy? SSD doesn't cost the world anymore. ^^
 
How about some small SSD chips that are much faster than eMMC, actualy? SSD doesn't cost the world anymore. ^^
From what I gathered an eMMC has a built on controller, with typical memory cells they use on SSD requires additional circuitry that most likely wouldn't fit on the small CPU PCB.
 
How about some small SSD chips that are much faster than eMMC, actualy?
The eMMC has an 8 bit bus while the uSD only has a 4 bit bus. The eMMC is literally twice as fast as even the best uSD that can go into it. There are individual chips that can go faster but it's the OMAP that's the limiting factor here.
 
He said SSD. They are more or less a SATA SSD in a single BGA package. Different interface, vastly incompatible, that ship has sailed.
 
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That lemming look a it like a Prometheus work piece.
They are. The Dragon is made by her as well :)
And the Arcade board under the Lemming in Pic 15 is a very well made Super-Famicom "skin" mod I must say, nice. Seems like an Mad Catz Arcade Fight Stick underneeth, I have one but of course not modded.
Nope, that's an 8bitdo Arcade Stick, which will be available in my shop next week, together with some other 8bitdo controllers. They can do Bluetooth (various modes) and USB, they work fine with the Pandora as well.


I played some Magical Drop 3 with it today. Really nice arcade stick, soon also supporting the Retron5 (which is in need of a proper controller anyways)
 
Interesting, it has the same layout like the Mad Catz Arcade Fightstick. Hm, now that you mention it, I never tried to plug it into my Pandora actualy. I guess I need a Hub then. Funny when the Input Device is bigger than the actual Computer. :D
 
Out of interest are you going to stock the FC30Pro (the famicom version of that pill-shaped NES30Pro the ED toy is holding)? The NES30Pro looks neat, but I think I prefer the FC30Pro's looks personally.
 
Out of interest are you going to stock the FC30Pro (the famicom version of that pill-shaped NES30Pro the ED toy is holding)? The NES30Pro looks neat, but I think I prefer the FC30Pro's looks personally.
Maybe later, if the NES30Pro and SNES30 sell well.
 
How about some small SSD chips that are much faster than eMMC, actualy?
The eMMC has an 8 bit bus while the uSD only has a 4 bit bus. The eMMC is literally twice as fast as even the best uSD that can go into it. There are individual chips that can go faster but it's the OMAP that's the limiting factor here.
Mmm....  not entirely accurate.  

The eMMC bus is theoretically capable of up to 208MB/s.  The uSD UHS-II speed that the SOC is theoretically capable of supporting is 104MB/s.

eMMC memory is available in speeds from 2 to 150+ MB/s.  The faster and larger the chip, the more expensive it is.  At this time, to my knowledge, ED hasn't announced what chip he's using.  The Kingston eMMC in the dev boards, from a cited metrics standpoint is, for lack of a better term, crap.

Relatively inexpensive and very large (up to 200GB) uSD cards are readily available that can theoretically max out the bus, at least in the burst rates that all of this get 'rated' or 'claimed' at.  90+MB/s 128GB uSD cards are available for under $100.  Example:  http://www.amazon.com/Lexar-High-Performance-MicroSDXC-Reader-LSDMI128BBNL633R/dp/B00O1M21H8

It is for the above reasons that I have been requesting that for the eMMC that is soldered in, speed is given more consideration than size.  Frankly, anything at or larger than 8GB for the eMMC gives enough room for the OS and a 'normal' program install load.  Directories full of media files are assumed to be on SD media in the 2 external slots.

IF someone needs a BIG boot/program drive, they can buy one that still isn't slow, but can fit their needs to put in the uSD slot.

Speeds in excess of 104MB/s though can ONLY be obtained from the eMMC IFF (If and only if) it is soldered to the SoC board at build.  

Small and slow eMMC chips are cheap.  Fast OR Large eMMC chips should be cost effective (affordabel).  Fast AND Large eMMC chips are very expensive.  Large space can be obtained via a uSD isntalled by the user.  Insanely fast speeds can only be obtained at build.

So - can it have the fastest eMMC 8GB or larger that the project can budget for this component please?  Speed, not size, counts on this particular component.

If ED chose to, he could sell all Pyras with 8 or 16 GB of very fast eMMC and offer space upgrades to 32, 64 or 128GB via OS pre-installed cards in the uSD slot (for respectively increasing values) WITHOUT needing two different build runs or stock.
 
I would feel a bit more secure with 16GB of fast eMMC


But if it's a toss up between 8GB of fast eMMC, and 16GB of mediocre speed eMMC, I say go with the 8GB.


But please let it be 16GB.
 
Is the device seen in DSC02545.JPG an actual Sega MegaDrive/Genesis that's been modded and miniaturized, or is this something custom? Looks like it has a VGA port on the side?
That's the RetroPi, a case that combines a Retrode with a Raspberry Pi.It's a small project I started besides the Pyra and will soon be on Kickstarter.
Awesome. I'll be taking a good look at this too in addition to ordering a Pyra :)
 
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