stationary desktop version?


mjohansson

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Feb 10, 2011
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How about releasing a version of Pyra as a desktop machine, with just the hardware in a box and perhaps included or sold seperatly mouse + keyboard. Without battery and display it would be quite a bit cheaper wouldnt it? Make a micro tower with built in AC adapter and good looking design on the tower case. A fully worthy computer without noisy fan and no external brick power supply and still quite cheap, it sure would be a dream for me!
 
A bit like the head-less pyra's they sold. I guess depending on the succes of the pyra this could be an option, however the building of a new case would require a new mold to be made and thus some dev costs.
 
I'm sure something generic can be found for this type of usage.
I guess a new main board would have to be designed though, one without the keyboard and it's leds and stuff so I guess it could be made smaller and thus be sized to fit some pre chosen generic casing beforehand.
 
But if you just simply dont put the keyboard mat ontop of the main board then there wouldnt be any problems requiring a redesigned main board would there? And a new mold should be a lot easier and cheaper to make a basic desktop design then the tight snug and complicated details of the portable case. I didnt think about the leds, but leave them in there, it would only be cool if there was small windows for them, or even a transparent case!
 
I guess a new main board would have to be designed though, one without the keyboard and it's leds and stuff so I guess it could be made smaller and thus be sized to fit some pre chosen generic casing beforehand.
Sounds like "RPi CPU board in Pyra - reversed".
Why should one get a Pyra, if not for the mobile aspect? And if you have a reason, why not just get an OMAP5432 dev board?
 
That'd make it the lead ultra portable computer out there..

Use your Pyra in clamshell mode with keyboard and mouse connected to a USB 3 hub?

Shipping would be more expensive as the keyboard / mouse are added..
 
For lowering the price, I dont seem to be the only one who would want a Pyra for various reasons but cant afford it, but it might be useful for other people also for ex putting it by your TV and using it as media box and emulation, the ease of use of the Pandora package is great, and Pyra seem to only become better. How many small desktop PCs with Linux and no noisy fans for a low price is on the market? And sure you could build your own, but not everyone is interested in the craft of building anything yourself and is not gonna look inti how to even do it.
 
Even without the screen and things, the added cost of tailoring a special case for it might not be worth it price-wise. What makes the Pyra special is its portability ; without it, you're better off with a cheaper Pi or similar. There are plenty of miniPC around, but most of them are Windows-based and with active cooling. I can find complete Pi kits with case and audio out for a hundred euros, but you'll have to assemble it yourself. Not that it is difficult though.
 
PC-FX-Console-Set.png x68000.jpg
This is what Im talking about! Just smaller.
 
Well well well ! PCFX and X68000, I see someone has great taste :)
I understood what you meant, but I'm not sure you'll find anything relevant without the need to at least assemble it yourself. Your best bet would still be getting a Pi with addons and case and put it together. For a couple hours tops, you'd get what you want for much cheaper than anything else.
If you were interested in building a real PC compatible and didn't mind the space and assembly, you could also make a great fanless Linux computer. I've know someone with a passive GPU, worked well and absolutely silent. You can do so with your CPU, but you'll need the space for a massive radiator and fine-tune its clock so that it doesn't throttle itself.
 
There are plenty of passively cooled nettop-like systems out there for less than 300 Euros, even without Windows, usually based on some Intel Celeron CPU.
So I don't even see, why one would use something based on an ARM SOC. Power consumption doesn't make much sense if you hook the computer up to a big TV screen.
 
I would still like to see a dock eventually, which doesn't help reduce the price for a tiny desktop box. For some reason the Nintendo Switch popped into my head.

I don't know how much demand there would be for something like this. My guess: not much. A dev board is probably a better idea. If you must have actual Pyra hardware, yeah, just leave out the things that aren't needed, don't populate components that probably won't get used (keyboard LEDs, LCD connector, battery connector, etc.) and it might reduce the cost a bit, and tips it all in another case. Not sure if it would be cheaper to have a plain case made special for this, or to use something off the shelf and add holes and everything. A semi-populated main board and CPU board set could be sold and the buyer can buy or print a case that fits their needs. I don't know if we could convince ED to do it, or how much of a potential headache it would be for him. Buying only those two boards, even if the main board is fully populated, will most likely be cheaper than buying a full unit. After things get flowing smoothly drop him a line and see if he will sell them individually.
 
I think his objective is to have a simplified console version - not a bad idea on the surface.

The natural response if to assume that removing the screen and keymat and battery and simplifying the case design should make it cheaper, but still be able to use the 'stock' OS and play all of the games and use all of the applications. It isn't that simple, and the expensive parts are still present.

Just my broad estimations - not actual, but I think I should be in the right ballpark for production costs (not development). I'm using very rounded numbers that are easier to play with for this example. Screen ~20EUR, Keymat ~10EUR, Battery ~20EUR. So, it -might- save around 50 EUR in raw parts. However, creating a new case would be something in the order of 15,000 EUR. If the 'stand alone' Pyra console sold 1/3 as many units (~300) as are pre-ordered for the Pyra (~900), it would need to cost the roughly the same as the 'fully loaded' Pyra.

(15,000 / 300) = 50 Euro additional per unit costs aggregated over 300 units in order to make a units with 50 Euros fewer parts.

Net savings for consumer in this example = 0 Euro.
 
I think his objective is to have a simplified console version - not a bad idea on the surface.

The natural response if to assume that removing the screen and keymat and battery and simplifying the case design should make it cheaper, but still be able to use the 'stock' OS and play all of the games and use all of the applications. It isn't that simple, and the expensive parts are still present.

Just my broad estimations - not actual, but I think I should be in the right ballpark for production costs (not development). I'm using very rounded numbers that are easier to play with for this example. Screen ~20EUR, Keymat ~10EUR, Battery ~20EUR. So, it -might- save around 50 EUR in raw parts. However, creating a new case would be something in the order of 15,000 EUR. If the 'stand alone' Pyra console sold 1/3 as many units (~300) as are pre-ordered for the Pyra (~900), it would need to cost the roughly the same as the 'fully loaded' Pyra.

(15,000 / 300) = 50 Euro additional per unit costs aggregated over 300 units in order to make a units with 50 Euros fewer parts.

Net savings for consumer in this example = 0 Euro.

I didnt realise the screen and battery cost that little, that destroys the price reason, but it would still be a cool thing to have if possible in the future.
 
I didnt realise the screen and battery cost that little, that destroys the price reason, but it would still be a cool thing to have if possible in the future.

The point wasn't the individual component costs (which are likely inaccurate in my example) but that the 'savings' from a cut-down version is likely not in the order of magnitude you might be imagining.
 
just the bare pyra main- and cpu-boards and a lego case-kit would do it for me. ;)

btw. i still want an 'official' external battery-charger-circuit, so one can pop an empty battery out
of the pyra and insert a fresh one, while the empty one goes into the charger...
-> no handheld-gaming downtime anymore! :)
 
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