DragonBox Pyra Goes Up For Pre-Order

[starshipeleven]

Either way, you don't have to be stuck with PowerVR if the Pyra continues to take off.

Only embedded GPU with a half-decent open driver is Qualcomm's Adreno.

[tigerroast]

Only embedded GPU with a half-decent open driver is Qualcomm's Adreno.

My point still stands; down the line, a revised CPU board with a different SoC could become available should the Pyra become a success. You likely won't have to buy another Pyra; just take the CPU out of the one you own and replace it.

[starshipeleven]

My point still stands; down the line, a revised CPU board with a different SoC could become available should the Pyra become a success. You likely won't have to buy another Pyra; just take the CPU out of the one you own and replace it.

your point is wishful thinking (true but irrelevant).

Product needs to be decent NOW to sell, and currently it is NOT.

[tigerroast]

your point is wishful thinking (true but irrelevant).

Product needs to be decent NOW to sell, and currently it is NOT.

Are you actually incapable of reading my FULL response? I clearly said, "...a revised CPU board with a different SoC could become available should the Pyra become a success."

That's not wishful thinking; that's demonstrating a plausible hypothetical scenario with reality in mind. Stop slinging dirt.

[starshipeleven]

Are you actually incapable of reading my FULL response? I clearly said, "...a revised CPU board with a different SoC could become available should the Pyra become a success."

That's not wishful thinking; that's demonstrating a plausible hypothetical scenario with reality in mind. Stop slinging dirt.

I'm seeing through your thinly disguised fanboysm, that's what I meant with "wishful thinking".

You cite features that would matter if the device wasn't VERY meh at launch as if they could save it.
Like "oh they can change the SoC module later" or "oh they could change the casing later". I mean OH REALLY? FUCKING REALLY? You have any kind of understanding of mass-production cost savings?

Sure, it's true and fine, but they don't change the fact that currently it's VERY meh, so its chances of selling enough for them to matter is slim.

[speculatrix]

Gpd also make handheld badge devices which are a lot cheaper than this.

The GPD Win device (too bad if you only just now heard of it as it closed on indiegogo just recently) is a lot better and cheaper, with Intel atom and Intel HD graphics.

[tigerroast]

I'm seeing through your thinly disguised fanboysm, that's what I meant with "wishful thinking".

Rather than try to change the meaning of commonly-used phrases and shoehorn them into your posts thereafter in an effort to belittle the opposing POV, perhaps you could make a better attempt at being clearer the next go-around?

You cite features that would matter if the device wasn't VERY meh at launch as if they could save it.

Does that magically make said features go away? Does that automatically mean, after schematics and layout of the CPU PCB are released (which is also in the roadmap), that no one else could potentially make another CPU PCB?

No. No, it doesn't.

Sure, it's true and fine,

And this, right here, is the only point I'm getting at. The fact that the CPU PCB is replaceable. That's it. I'm not saying that there WILL ABSOLUTELY be any official PCBs from Dragonbox. Not at all. All I'm saying is that, down the line, Pyra owners MIGHT NOT be stuck with PowerVR graphics, one way or another.

but they don't change the fact that currently it's VERY meh, so its chances of selling enough for them to matter is slim.

Time will tell. I doubt the Phoronix audience will have much bearing on Pyra sales anyway, if this thread is any indication.

[ElectricPrism]

If I was gonna throw down ~$600 I would buy a Ubuntu Tablet and connect a Steam Controller, PS4 Controller or Xbox 360 Controller, I guess handheld is "convenient", but it looks like you can barely read the text on that thing.

[starshipeleven]

Rather than try to change the meaning of commonly-used phrases and shoehorn them into your posts thereafter in an effort to belittle the opposing POV, perhaps you could make a better attempt at being clearer the next go-around?

"wishful thinking" is exactly what oozes from your posts, I didn't call you fanboy for nothing.

Does that magically make said features go away? Does that automatically mean, after schematics and layout of the CPU PCB are released (which is also in the roadmap), that no one else could potentially make another CPU PCB?

No. No, it doesn't.

Please state in what post I'm saying it is not true. Hint: I did not.

Stop pretending I'm saying it's not true, I'm saying it is irrelevant, which is another thing.

All I'm saying is that, down the line, Pyra owners MIGHT NOT be stuck with PowerVR graphics, one way or another.

Sure, it makes so much sense buying a device that costs nearly a grand, that is sucky, but MIGHT NOT be sucky in an unspecified future, after the payment of an unspecified amount of additional money

Time will tell.

Everyone in the opensource world know PowerVR, I'm not holding my breath.

If they used a Snapdragon or similar I would be right there throwing money at them, even if the casing is crappy as hell, but that SoC is meh, the GPU is a big NO, and the fact that it is theoretically modular means jackshit as if this thing does not sell it's not going to be very appealing for anyone to do so.

[kingu]

A lot of people are angered by greed and exploitation.

Whether it be in production, spying, or non-existant customer service.

This is a German made device, manufactured in Germany, with a case from Greece.
Open schematics, gerber files, bill of material, CAD-files, the lots.

That is a far cry away from anti-features too often taken for granted. Like non-removable batteries, non upgradable anything,
screen bonded to the frame, chips that destroy themselves when read, etc.

If you don't get upset by the slave-like conditions electronics normally are produced under, I'd like to head the argument that defends it…
Its a cost argument only, so doing away with it isn't, for the reason it exists, gratis.

In this part of the world tracking and spying certainly is no joke, and this device does none of it.
Even with Android devices, flashing and rooting gets old quick.
The Pyra is one of the very few devices where you can actually turn off the modem, whereas in phones, they
are integrated into the SoC, with unscrupulous privileges and exploits resulting from it left and right.

If you compare it to any alternative, you will find theirs isn't a community device.
This device is the way it is because people who care immensely have poured everything into it.

I deeply admire a man who puts in 16 hour days every day to make a dream device. Its what I would otherwise
ask myself as to "why couldn't they have done it like this", which is common with devices that don't understand their marketbase, or that I don't want.

You can freely talk to both ED and hns, and the developers. Not quite so with Apple, Samsung, MS or apple. Depending on who you are, there is a number of arbitrary lies and hurdles in between.

Take also note of how none of the exploitation they get up to end up in your favour, its all markup.
How do you think its like playing the small dog in that game?
Low-volume costs more, and competitively the honesty in the pricing raises questions that should be directed elsewhere.

If you go for the flat and flashy you end up with a uselessly fast nothing. The very modern definition of bland.

Remember when laptops were good? ThinkPad, of the IBM variety. Richard snapper. Thats utilitarian, and people
who understand their tools appreciate that.

The retro-gaming crowd is ageing into their 30s, so they have more money. And its puzzling to see the kind of
sentiment on a site like this suggesting we don't use our devices. We use them every day, and depend on them.

People who do photography also will also be able to make good use of the dual fullsize SD-slots. Remember when electronics actually did something?

You can buy parts for this, and hacking is _encouraged_.

As for the PowerVR, I agree it sucks, but the drivers for it were leaked, so at-least there is that. It is also on the part that is modular.
It is possible to run without it. If the blob-less life is what you are after. Get a USB Wi-Fi stick and blobless it is.

The openpandora came out in 2008, and had a OS update only a month ago, how is that for planned obsolescence?
That outlasts the average lifespan of a particular mobile device I can think of by at-least two times.

It is up to over 350 units now, first day, and that is without any marketing campaign or dramatic piano-playing. I will trust word of mouth to the letter any day over buying into the hype and shame of advertising.

The pyra is tried and tested, ready for production, no taking money to start a round of wishing and non-communication, which
so many projects get into these days.