Pocket C.H.I.P

Alanstrainor

Has anyone ordered one of these?

http://getchip.com/pages/pocketchip

I know they haven't been released yet, but all going well they should arrive over the summer. I have my order placed, and I'm hoping it'll be a bit of fun to tinker with!

I would love to get some emulators running, and having Pico-8 seems like it could be a bit of fun. Hopefully there will be a decent community and support for this device.

Andrew76

Never even heard of it but after watching some videos of it in action I'm sorely tempted.

Did you order the charger aswell? Wondering if tha HDMI adapter might come in handy.

Alanstrainor

I had been following the kickstarter from some time last year, so have seen it progress. Its not too expensive so decided to take a punt there a week or two ago. I have my reservations about the expected shipping date of June though!

As for the charger, it's just a micro USB, so I'll use whatever chargers I have at home to get it up and running. It's nice that it has bluetooth and wifi too, so it should be handy as a portable gaming device.

Andrew76

Went ahead and just ordered the unit itself. Pico-8 (looks intriguing!) and that Pico Racer game sold it to me (reminded me of Pitstop/Buggy Boy).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-h4-a9jBSA

Ironically I just got shipping confirmation on the Arduboy so they'll keep me busy anyway.

Thanks for the heads up!

Alanstrainor

Ha, and I hadn't heard of Arduboy. Looks like we've both given each other other toys to look into!

Looking forward to getting to tinker with my CHIP. I've been toying with my Pi1 again recently. (Although admittedly not gaming!)

Andrew76

Any word yet on yours shipping Alanstrainor? Were you a kickstarter backer?

Alanstrainor

Andrew76 wrote: »

Any word yet on yours shipping Alanstrainor? Were you a kickstarter backer?

No word yet! I was a late buyer, so I'd say it'll be some while before I hear anything! I'll post back here when I get my postage notification!

Andrew76

Nice, just got an email asking to confirm my address (confirmation needed before they will ship).

Here's a link with some shipping details. The PocketC.H.I.P. orders could be delayed by as much as late July - actually, mine would not have shipped until then anyway since I only ordered last month so fair enough. Long as it gets here sometime around then I'll be happy.

Alanstrainor

Andrew76 wrote: »

Nice, just got an email asking to confirm my address (confirmation needed before they will ship).

Here's a link with some shipping details. The PocketC.H.I.P. orders could be delayed by as much as late July - actually, mine would not have shipped until then anyway since I only ordered last month so fair enough. Long as it gets here sometime around then I'll be happy.

Yeah I got my mail asking to confirm my address too, haven't heard anything since. I'd say it'll be August before we see this thing! Hopefully in that time people have gotten emulators to work!

@Mods

Have either of you gotten this yet? Opinions, feedback?

I ordered mine a couple of weeks ago; I reckon I'd be lucky to see it in August. Looking forward to it. One more toy for my wife to give out about :rolleyes:

(@Mods: sorry about the necropost, but didn't think it worthwhile for a new thread for something so niche.)

Andrew76

No sign of it yet, probably August before I see mine I reckon.

Alanstrainor

Yeah no word here at all. I would say it'll be August as well. Looks promising, lots of videos online of peoples setups.

You both probably got a similar email to this:

We've run into a handful of obstacles relating to your pre-order, which you can read way more about on our forum. With those obstacles in mind, we've updated our shipping estimates, so without beating around the bush, here they are...

Pre-orders placed before APR 30 are estimated to ship by AUG 31.
Pre-orders placed before MAY 31 are estimated to ship by SEP 8.
Pre-orders placed before JUN 30 are estimated to ship by SEP 15.
Pre-orders placed on or before JUL 22 are estimated to ship by SEP 22.

Ordered mine on 3rd July, so unfortunately won't see it until September Cancelled order.

Alanstrainor

Although I never received any notification about my shipment, mine has finally shipped ahead of the revised schedule. So here's hoping I'll have it by the end of the month!

(My order was placed on the 3rd of May, and was shipped 3 days ago without any mail being sent.)

Andrew76

Just got the email a few hours ago. Lovely jubbly.

Alanstrainor

Really looking forward to it now. I see plenty of people have had good success running nes emulators which is a good start!

Ordered one of these for CHIP-Hole but have to wait til October!

Andrew76

Just had a Nightline van pull up outside, wasn't expecting any deliveries.

:eek:





Only got the dispatch email on Saturday so that was fast. Will open it up at lunchtime and have a look. :cool:

Alanstrainor

Mine just arrived this morning too! Arrived in 5 days from China, no too bad at all. It's sitting at home waiting to be opened! It'll be late this evening by the time I get to it!

Andrew76

Have it charging beside me. Connected it to the wifi and play a few of the Pico-8 games, the screen is very nice. Must check if there are any volume controls as it was a bit loud with the headphones plugged in.

Will get Googling this evening.

Alanstrainor

So I've been messing around for a few hours today and last night. It's a lovely piece of kit, and exactly what I hoped for.

I've installed a GameBoy emulator and have Pokemon Blue running, I have a snes emulator too, but have yet to get it working. First thoughts:

Screen: Lovely, a bit low res, but for what it does it's great and bright. You do need to calibrate it though, it was less than accurate at the start.

Keyboard: It's grand, you wouldn't be typing anything serious on it, but it does the job and is well laid out. It is very clicky though, had the gf giving me stares last night when I was clicking away on it whilst watching TV!

Form factor: It's big. Even though I have watched a lot of videos and reviews I expected it to be a tad smaller. But the size is good, I think if it was smaller it would just make it harder to use.

All in all, good first impressions, and I'm looking forward to getting more interesting pkgs installed. Nice toy for the money.