Analogue Pocket

Any update on the "other charges" ??

Just pay it using their portal otherwise they will hand it over to a company that will torment you.

Aye.

Great little device so far with some caveats. Obviously the full implementation of the so-called Analogue OS is still down the line so there's none of the database etc, but on a functional level playing GB, GBA and GG it is absolute top drawer.

Dock is a wee bit 50/50 right now, nothing wrong with the video side or anything like that, but can definitely hear what is almost like arcing when removing the unit from the Dock. Doesn't seem to matter whether the Dock is plugged it or not. Lot of reports but no word from Analogue of yet. Just not something you expect to see. Must try it plugged in directly to a wall socket. Shoulder buttons on the Pocket itself are a little dinky but no more than an old SP.

Haven't put on the screen protector yet, but the screen, especially in GB and GG mode is a revelation. The ability to flick between the screen modes is and excellent touch allowing the extra customization between different titles. That scratchy GBA audio does get shown up though on the decent speakers of the Pocket but it is what it is. There is a high quality mode or filter but not messed with it as yet, or noticed much improvement. Probably needs firmware work. Audio from GB and GG carts is clear and loud.

Had heard reports of issues with Everdrive GBs that seem hard to pinpoint, but must have a fortunate combination of PCB and SD Card as I've not had any issues. GBA and GG variants work fine, as do any original carts I've been trying out - GB and GBA anyway (don't have a single GG original).

Overall, well impressed, and given Analogue's history of addressing issues via firmware, I'd expect any loose ends to be cleaned up.

Game Gear gets a new lease of life

Don't have comparison to hand but similar to the GB, you can switch on the fly to GG LCD display mode etc

Yeah really enjoying mine as well so far, more than I expected tbh. Maybe it's because I haven't played a lot of these games but it's been the most rewarding device for me from Analogue I've gotten (had the SG & Super NT). Seems likes there's a lot of scope to add stuff as well if they fill out the OS. Only put the screen protector on tonight and was waiting until I had to properly play it but I'd been reaching for it constantly before that, it's been my go to device.

I see people saying the D-pad is registering diagonals - I haven't noticed at all but honestly I mightn't be good enough/familiar with the games to notice (I did see in Metroid II, first time I've played it, that sometimes when she was running her gun was pointing up but it just seemed a matter of treating the d-pad with this in mind - be a bit more forceful with the presses etc - rather than being hampered by it). However would be a nightmare if problems like this started I suppose, not sure how fixable they would be.

So far I've been using the original display modes and can't get over how good they look. The device seems designed with GameBoy in mind but the GBA games look fantastic as well. Would be nice if there is further display controls in future updates, I'm not too sure atm what exactly they all are. I'm using the original GBA display mode which feels like a waste but the SP101 seems too saturated to me. Not sure if they're the same except for that adjustable level or there's other levels in the background that you can't change?

Haha, yeah shocked how bad GBA audio is. The difference going from the pristine sounding GB games to that is rough. What a regression from Nintendo.

The battery is probably the thing I'm least impressed with so far. I'm using flash carts and the Omega is supposed to be power hungry but it seems like it's not lasting as long as I expected. Early days and maybe I've been playing it more than I thought but I'd be thinking 3-4 hours rather than the advertised 4-6?

Otherwise, touch wood, this seems like an absolute winner for me. I wasn't sure a handheld device was necessary - like isn't a lot of this type of stuff to deal with screen issues (PAL, CRT vs modern LCDs etc) and these devices often don't have them or can be modded easily but this with all the advertised cores (and a possible jailbreak)...

(some terrible photos I can't delete/rotate attached)

Yes! Spoke to FedEx before Christmas and they said they'd be issuing a pro-forma invoice which would explain the "other charges", but nothing ever arrived. Today, I got my regular paper invoice (the original email didn't even have an invoice number) and this time they were asking for

Original Duty €1.72
Disbursement Fee €15.00
Original VAT €73.56
Total €93.73

No "other charges" on the official invoice, so this new total was basically half of what they were originally trying to charge me originally.

FYI my last three US shipments through FedEx have all resulted in an email asking for an amount of money and then a paper invoice a few weeks later asking for a different sum of money. If you paid the email amount, they don't chase up the paper invoice. This is why I was happy to sit and wait for the physical invoice before doing anything here.

Definitely worth querying them for a refund if you paid the "Other fees".

Same, going to have to put a multi year ban on weird portable devices for myself to justify the price of the steam deck. Do kind of wish I ordered a playdate now though. Its unique enough that it might not feel like a waste.