The case of the case.

[Natsu]

Is the Pyra meant to be wider than Pandora?

 

[LEOXD]

^specs say 140 x 84 x 29 mm*. That's 1mm wider than the Pandora.

 

[God Ginrai]

I suspect that those ignore case plastic mechanics entirely.

 I suspect that your only reason in making this post is to insult me.

The most leftward one appears to leave inadequate room for the case plastics between it and the nub.

The bottom most one appears to leave inadequate room between it and the key underneath it - notice that it is about -half- of the distance from that key than between the regular keyboard keys - that are separated from each other by minimal plastic widths.

Hard to tell, but I suspect that the topmost key in that layout may impinge on the speaker area.

 There is plenty of room for the case plastics between the button and the nub. There would actually be more case plastic between the nub and the button than there would be between the buttons themselves. Also, as we've seen with the GP2X, you can have even smaller amounts of plastic between the buttons on the case without sacrificing structural integrity of the case.

To top it off, two rows of 3 as you have laid out is LESS efficient in use than the layout in the blue molds above.

 That is not in the least bit true. It is more strenuous for the thumb to move in the up-down direction than it is to pivot in the left-right direction. The current layout EvilDragon is using enforces a 4-row up-down movement, while the 2x3 solution is a 2-row up-down movement.

Give it up please?  Your 2 rows of 3 idea is a train wreck.  The only way to do it that way is to make the buttons annoyingly small OR mechanically compromise everything else in that area.

This would not compromise anything. And my current suggestion does not change the size of the buttons at all. It is perfectly possible to use the current size of buttons. I'd appreciate if you'd be the one to "give it up". Your post was not constructive at all, and was simply mean-spirited.

-God Ginrai

 

[Yoyobuae]

I'm a bit curious about the nub mechanism. It works via a magnet and a hall effect sensor, right? But then how is the nub reset to it's neutral position? Via magnetic force also?

The nub discs shown in the renderings don't seem to be able to move freely, without connection to anything (no nothing to pull them back to neutral position).

 

[Natsu]

^specs say 140 x 84 x 29 mm*. That's 1mm wider than the Pandora.

Maybe that's just enough to dodge that screw.

 

[Hồng Thất Công]

while I like the features of the case design, its a bit boringly similar to pandora

hope next iterations get better looks and better ergonomics..

Yep.  Some thing along the line of 3DS Circle Pad Pro would be awesome

 

[Fzero]

Never even seen that Circle Pad Pro before, just checked it on Amazon, offers another analogue nub and additional shoulder buttons ultimately, which is a good thing I guess for games which require it.

Personally though, from that photo above there, it looks a bit too large/bulky. Nice to hold perhaps, but like the Shield, ergonomically nice but at the same time pocket-unfriendly.

It's important for me that Pyra is pocketable. I guess you could have best of both worlds, some nice comfy curves which don't bulk it out too much

 

[God Ginrai]

I'm a bit curious about the nub mechanism. It works via a magnet and a hall effect sensor, right? But then how is the nub reset to it's neutral position? Via magnetic force also?

The nub discs shown in the renderings don't seem to be able to move freely, without connection to anything (no nothing to pull them back to neutral position).

See the little pock mark on the back disc from the render? That's where the actual nub base locks in. That is the part that has the mechanism.

-God Ginrai

 

[Natsu]

It can still have a grooved grip without being that big.

 

[SirAileron]

the picture had me scared with those awkward face buttons. But if it does work out to have a Sega Saturn-like 6 button layout, that'd be grand. Definitely looks good to have the fourth row with the rest of the keys.

 

[Natsu]

That makes the number keys easier for dialing too.

 

[ekianjo]

It can still have a grooved grip without being that big.

Being flat is more important - for docking station and all.

 

[EvilDragon]

Please take a look at the actual keymat of the Pandora.

The button is actually a bit larger than the pad on the PCB. It needs to be, as there's a bevel surrounding the actual button which is needed so that the button springs back up into position.

This is what's missing here on GodGinrais layout - the keymat would collide with the nub...

 

[takato14]

The way the contacts are positioned in the Pandora is terrible, every time I so much as tap the console, or set it down even remotely roughly it shuts off and I lose whatever I was doing.

I have three Pandoras and this isn't an issue on any of mine, you either have an issue with your battery or your unit.  I heard of some units having this problem, but easily solved by adding some padding between the battery case cover and the battery.

Tried this ages ago, didn't help at all. All it did was permanently warp out my battery cover so it doesn't work at all without the extra padding.

Top contacts would be a lot more secure. Perhaps a PSP-style battery pin setup instead of smartphone-style. I don't care as long as it's more secure.

 

[TrashyMG]

You must of had a deformed battery..

 

[God Ginrai]

Please take a look at the actual keymat of the Pandora.

The button is actually a bit larger than the pad on the PCB. It needs to be, as there's a bevel surrounding the actual button which is needed so that the button springs back up into position.

This is what's missing here on GodGinrais layout - the keymat would collide with the nub...

How thick is this bevel? I still don't see how the keymat comes close to colliding with the nub. However, if you can provide me with dimensions, I will work on my mockup and find a solution. Also, can you tell me the diameter of the button contacts so I have a unit of measure to convert the bevel measurement to an accurate unit on my mockup?

Also, if you could tell me what specifically on the keymat actually collides with the nub, that would be a great help in figuring this out.

-God Ginrai

 

[Natsu]

Being flat is more important - for docking station and all.

Well, just make the docking station and all grooved too.

This is what's missing here on GodGinrais layout - the keymat would collide with the nub...

Even if you were to move the nubs a bit inward or

^specs say 140 x 84 x 29 mm*. That's 1mm wider than the Pandora.

if this is just enough room to move the buttons outward?

 

[ekianjo]

Well, just make the docking station and all grooved too.

That's asking for trouble when it comes to putting it in and out  

 

[_wb_]

Please take a look at the actual keymat of the Pandora.


The button is actually a bit larger than the pad on the PCB. It needs to be, as there's a bevel surrounding the actual button which is needed so that the button springs back up into position.


This is what's missing here on GodGinrais layout - the keymat would collide with the nub...

Too bad. Would moving the nubs a few mm inwards help? I'm not even sure if the nubs really need to be perfectly symmetrical, it could be fine to keep the left nub where it is and move the right nub a couple of mm to the left.

In the GG layout, the new buttons are in the top right; I would put the new ones on the bottom left, so the main 4 buttons are mostly in their Pandora location (just a bit higher but that's OK).

I'm fine with anything that keeps the 4 main buttons easily reachable, in the same cross shape. If we decide to go for 6 buttons, it does make more sense to have a 2x3 layout -- I can live with the current proposed layout too, but I agree with GG that 2x3 is better.

Moving the nubs more than 5-10mm would be too much (nub comfort would start to suffer), but a few mm would be no problem imo.

 

[levi]

Personally I find ED's layout growing on me the more I see it. I'd still prefer a standard 6-button layout, but I think I can live with configuring light punch/kick to the two new buttons, medium to A and X and heavy to Y and B.


Not sure on how I'd use it for N64 though. C buttons on ABXY, leaving the two new smaller buttons to the the primary A and B? I guess I'd have to put A and B on B and X, up C and down C on the new buttons and left C and right C on A and Y, which would mean the upper buttons for Zelda are all clustered together in the top left, but it'll still take a bit of learning I suspect.