First impressions - criticism.

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txcforever
Posts: 12
Joined: Thu 6 Sep 2018 13:03

First impressions - criticism.

Post by txcforever »

I just got my Retrostone today and even though I was really excited when I got it in my hands, that excitement gave place to disappointment.

First off, the hardware part. Not sure if there are any reasons behind it, but the screen is disappointing for me. Maybe it looks better in retro games but just for navigation or using the desktop is barely functional

Secondly, the dpad also is a bit of a let down. Size and shape is fine but a non-pivoted dpad is a huge mistake since people with big hands will probably find a lot of times a motion not registering since they will be pressing the entire thing down instead of just a direction. Buttons are decent.

The worst offender so far is the process of getting an OS on the damn thing. First time, it never even booted anything even though I did every step in the tutorial to the letter. Second time it booted the (initial setup picture/music) but after the reboot it never did anything. Third time I used a different image released yesterday and after the initial screen it froze on a black screen. I shut it down and rebooted the system and it finally booted into the OS for the first time.

So I plugged in a mouse and a usb and loaded a few roms into it. Tried to boot the Amiga emulator... nothing. After a few seconds it crashes back into the home screen. Tried MAME. Same thing. Tried SNES. This seemingly worked but no matter which version of the emulator I picked through the settings, the games are so slow it took almost a minute to show the first image from the games. So I thought maybe it needed a reboot. So I did just that, a software reboot through the OS, not the switch. After that, sound stopped working and it for some reason only booted from the classic Retroarch menu (I know that from my PS Vita). Also no game was working anymore, even the SNES ones this time. And even if I wanted to stick to the Retroarch, it doesn't detect anything there, even if I manually pinpoint the folders.

At the time writing these lines I am again flashing the OS into the SD card. It baffles me that something so straightforwards seems to work so erratic and unstable. Why it seemingly only works only when it feels like it?

I backed this project expecting a more versatile and more compatible device than my Vita using Retroarch, but so far the device barely starts let alone perform better.
txcforever
Posts: 12
Joined: Thu 6 Sep 2018 13:03

Re: First impressions - criticism.

Post by txcforever »

Ok, quick update. After a couple more OS flashes, it always boots without any issue. The problem I have is that the installation gets corrupted way too easily. Not sure why, but resetting the system almost always kinda corrupts the OS. Sound is the first thing that goes, then the games stop working properly, and for some reason the boot priority always changes to something random. THe first time, it booted into Retroarch. The second in the desktop mode. I will experiment some more until I get the ideal settings and most of the emulators working, and hopefully I won't need a OS reinstall every time I need to reset.
DevNull
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri 7 Sep 2018 18:55

Re: First impressions - criticism.

Post by DevNull »

You should always power off the system from within the OS or emustation.

Hard shut down via power button will definitely heighten the probability of corruption.
radiowaves
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu 6 Sep 2018 11:20

Re: First impressions - criticism.

Post by radiowaves »

Interesting. I also failed first OS install, but then I found out I formatted the sd card wrong, it got partitioned to the image size and large chunk of it was left unused-unwriteable, even though I followed the tutorial. SD card partition needs to be larger than OS image, since it also needs space to operate. (I am no pro, but this is my guess). After second format, I manually partitioned the card to its full size and then flashed an image on it. Everything works fine now. I do wonder how many people having problems are actually doing things right, just hard to believe there are so many hardware issues (although I am sure there is some, just like with every product). I also installed the latest OS update, which I got from the forums (link on site may lag behind a little), so maybe many of the issues got fixed there.

Most problems I have had is purely the software, like emulators crashing or just accidentally running stuff that requires keyboard and thus needed to reset whole device (good thing there is embedded button with the latest OS release which logs off and restarts).

I am actually most critical about the manual, which came in so many languages and was full of regulatory warnings, but in fact there was nothing much useful. For example it did not explain which leds light up when the battery is loading etc. I got quite a bit confused at first reading in the forums about which leds light up when charging (since manual said to give the device a full charge before installing anything). Led behaviour is different when the device is just charging or is actually turned on. It may sound simple, but manuals should really be written with idiots in mind (like myself, no offence to anybody).

It also took me a while to actually discover there are labels written on the buttons -- I just could not see it. Yes, I am one of those people who did not watch the production nor KS project carefully, I just saw an opportunity and backed it.

Thirdly, the position of buttons is quite uncomfortable for me. My hands get tired quickly with it. I think the back buttons are a bit too high up and the grip is a bit odd on front buttons -- maybe also a bit too high up (I do have smaller hands). I do understand human hand sizes vary and it is very hard to make a comfortable device for all hand sizes and types, so I am just putting my thought out here.

Overall, those minor issues aside, I am happy with the device. So far runs great, and it actually is what I expected it to be. Text is hard to read, but this seems like software issue, which is open-source freeware... I even like the start-up flickering and I like when battery gets low the screen gets all VHS tape skew like, looks kind of cool. It also gets a bit hot but thats what you get when you run full OS behind it emulating everything.
DevNull
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri 7 Sep 2018 18:55

Re: First impressions - criticism.

Post by DevNull »

radiowaves wrote: Sun 9 Sep 2018 21:54 Interesting. I also failed first OS install, but then I found out I formatted the sd card wrong, it got partitioned to the image size and large chunk of it was left unused-unwriteable, even though I followed the tutorial. SD card partition needs to be larger than OS image, since it also needs space to operate. (I am no pro, but this is my guess). After second format, I manually partitioned the card to its full size and then flashed an image on it. Everything works fine now. I do wonder how many people having problems are actually doing things right, just hard to believe there are so many hardware issues (although I am sure there is some, just like with every product). I also installed the latest OS update, which I got from the forums (link on site may lag behind a little), so maybe many of the issues got fixed there.

Most problems I have had is purely the software, like emulators crashing or just accidentally running stuff that requires keyboard and thus needed to reset whole device (good thing there is embedded button with the latest OS release which logs off and restarts).

I am actually most critical about the manual, which came in so many languages and was full of regulatory warnings, but in fact there was nothing much useful. For example it did not explain which leds light up when the battery is loading etc. I got quite a bit confused at first reading in the forums about which leds light up when charging (since manual said to give the device a full charge before installing anything). Led behaviour is different when the device is just charging or is actually turned on. It may sound simple, but manuals should really be written with idiots in mind (like myself, no offence to anybody).

It also took me a while to actually discover there are labels written on the buttons -- I just could not see it. Yes, I am one of those people who did not watch the production nor KS project carefully, I just saw an opportunity and backed it.

Thirdly, the position of buttons is quite uncomfortable for me. My hands get tired quickly with it. I think the back buttons are a bit too high up and the grip is a bit odd on front buttons -- maybe also a bit too high up (I do have smaller hands). I do understand human hand sizes vary and it is very hard to make a comfortable device for all hand sizes and types, so I am just putting my thought out here.

Overall, those minor issues aside, I am happy with the device. So far runs great, and it actually is what I expected it to be. Text is hard to read, but this seems like software issue, which is open-source freeware... I even like the start-up flickering and I like when battery gets low the screen gets all VHS tape skew like, looks kind of cool. It also gets a bit hot but thats what you get when you run full OS behind it emulating everything.
Yeah, same here. I only noticed the labels on the buttons the other day. Also if you look closely, near those lights there are also some labels. They are very hard too see though :P.
Braincell
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat 29 Sep 2018 10:52

First impressions - diabolical !!!!

Post by Braincell »

Hi all.

I was just presented with a 35eur purchase because this came from Switzerland...... being in the UK, had I known this I wouldn't have purchased.

But. That said I then flashed the supplied microsd with Retroorangepi.......... started and resized itself properly . Allowed me to play 1 single Atari 2600 game ......... then corrupted.......

Flashed again ...... corrupted........Flashed a 3rd time. This time I quit to terminal and typed in the auto command elsewhere on here and it has corrupted yet ...... ( half hour ago I did this so there's still time )

So.... the screen....... as this is a handheld unit why on earth would anybody favour the best quality to an external screen ???? The built in screen is of so low a quality it's laughable.......

The rear buttons..... why are they so high ?? Unless your fingers are 6 inches long it doesn't feel right they should have been lower........

The emulation....... ok so retrorange on isn't as polished as retropie. Fine .but this unit cannot play gorf (arcade) . Sonic 1 ( megadrive ) or many others at full speed........ wtf????

This unit is ( especially with import taxes ) far too expensive and the performance is beyond terrible. Badly designed. Barely works without corruption and the screen is pure garbage...... should be avoided........

Epically disappointed.......... gonna make a video showing how poor this unit is :(
Braincell
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat 29 Sep 2018 10:52

Re: First impressions - criticism.

Post by Braincell »

I agree. Just posted a damning review...... wonder if it will be allowed.

This unit is so poor :(

Lee
daveculp
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue 2 Oct 2018 21:50

Re: First impressions - criticism.

Post by daveculp »

I had some issues at first with the system booting but switching to a verified, name-brand 128 GB SD card fixed it and it boots everytime.

1. I dont think the screen is as bad as people say. IT isnt great, and I wonder why they choose a composite screen but it is serviceable. You can adjust the contrast, color and brightness to get a pretty good image. Games look good, the UI isnt that great, mostly because RetroPie is meant to display on a large screen. I also notice the glitches and rolling start happening when the battery starts getting low.

2. Build quality seems good for the price.

3. I have only tried NES, SNES, 2600 and Megadrive games but they seem to play well.

4. My biggest complaint is the back buttons - they are not quite placed right. A little lower, or even a little higher would have been better.
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