Novag Star Sapphire

[Larry]

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/111748277136 ... EBIDX%3AIT

The buyer got this one for a pretty good price, IMO. Was it one
of you guys?
I've got one, otherwise I'd have bid. They are a pain to use, with the
terrible graphics, but quite strong... strongest ever dedicated hand held
chess computer ever made.
L

[Cyberchess]

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/111748277136 ... EBIDX%3AIT

The buyer got this one for a pretty good price, IMO. Was it one
of you guys?
I've got one, otherwise I'd have bid. They are a pain to use, with the
terrible graphics, but quite strong... strongest ever dedicated hand held
chess computer ever made.
L

Yikes!

I’ve owned the Star Diamond, though never took a close look at the Star Sapphire.
Those are by far the worst handheld game graphics I have seen on anything since the 1978 Coleco Electronic Quarterback unit.

Why is it that the SciSys Chess Champion MK V from way back in 1981 had much better graphics than the late model Star Sapphire?

Devolving Regards,
John

[Monsieur Plastique]

Why is it that the SciSys Chess Champion MK V from way back in 1981 had much better graphics than the late model Star Sapphire?

This wins the HIARCS Sensible Question of the Month Award. No, I don't have an answer. Scisys did it right with the Mark V and portable Executive Chess of the same era, Saitek got it right with the Maestro portable and even today, Powerbrain and particularly Millennium get it right.

I'd wager that apart from the Fidelity Travel Master, the Star Sapphire was one of the most returned chess computers in history. I know this from a distributer who told me as much!

[SirDave]

That was a good price, but this is a situation where I ask myself why would I get a handheld unit with, by any standard, lousy graphics, when I can use a far superior iTouch or iPhone with Hiarcs?

Dedicated Boards Yes, Old Dedicated Handhelds No, Regards,
Dave

[Cyberchess]

Why is it that the SciSys Chess Champion MK V from way back in 1981 had much better graphics than the late model Star Sapphire?

This wins the HIARCS Sensible Question of the Month Award. No, I don't have an answer. Scisys did it right with the Mark V and portable Executive Chess of the same era, Saitek got it right with the Maestro portable and even today, Powerbrain and particularly Millennium get it right.

I'd wager that apart from the Fidelity Travel Master, the Star Sapphire was one of the most returned chess computers in history. I know this from a distributer who told me as much!

Greetings Jon:

Now that I’ve seen the Star Sapphire up close, I’m really surprised that Peter Auge allowed the unit to go out looking that way. This just may have been the blunder that brought down the house. I can fully appreciate why people would return the unit for a refund or store credit: the Godawful LCD display pretty much mandates that the otherwise highly desirable unit be used in conjunction with an external chessboard, and this defeats the purpose of opting for the portable version in the first place. Mind as well just run the Star Diamond on batteries as a portable unit. This would be a lot more convenient than making double moves for white and black the entire duration of the game.

Poor Game Planning Regards,
John

[Monsieur Plastique]

It was probably a victim of the era as well. By the time it came out PDA displays were looking better than the best of the traditional LCD displays so people probably had higher expectations as to what constituted an acceptable display.

It's similar to when Chessmaster came out for the GameBoy colour in the late 90s. It was a very decent program, just handicapped by a CPU about the equivalent of a 2 MHz 6502. People not only criticised the display, but the playing strength as well. If it had been 1985, people would have been over the moon with a tiny portable 1600 ELO machine powered by only two AA batteries and with a full LCD display showing real colour and "proper" pieces. In 2000, not so much. The distributer returned those as well! (but I don't count that because it wasn't a dedicated machine).

[Monsieur Plastique]

That was a good price, but this is a situation where I ask myself why would I get a handheld unit with, by any standard, lousy graphics, when I can use a far superior iTouch or iPhone with Hiarcs?

I am noticing a general trend that portable chess computers these days are no longer particularly good sellers compared to desktop machines. There seems to a solid market for desktop dedicated machines of all strengths and feature sets but portable sales are - as you intimate - likely effected by the fact that anyone can have a good looking grandmaster on their telephone (to paraphrase Ichabod Crane).

[ricard60]

That was a good price, but this is a situation where I ask myself why would I get a handheld unit with, by any standard, lousy graphics, when I can use a far superior iTouch or iPhone with Hiarcs?

I am noticing a general trend that portable chess computers these days are no longer particularly good sellers compared to desktop machines. There seems to a solid market for desktop dedicated machines of all strengths and feature sets but portable sales are - as you intimate - likely effected by the fact that anyone can have a good looking grandmaster on their telephone (to paraphrase Ichabod Crane).

All this is true and from time to time i play chess looking at a PC monitor or a screen of a cellphone, but i will allways like best to play over a chessboard, thats why one of the main reasons i like dedicated chess machines.

[klute]

Now that I’ve seen the Star Sapphire up close, I’m really surprised that Peter Auge allowed the unit to go out looking that way.

I'm one of those people who has never aspired to own a Star Sapphire simply because it's one of the most dreadful things ever to escape from the testing labs of a chess computer manufacturer.

It's an absolute shocker and I just can't understand the silly prices some seem willing to pay for these grotesque ticking time bombs!

[Steve B]

It's an absolute shocker and I just can't understand the silly prices some seem willing to pay for these grotesque ticking time bombs!

unless of course ..as a collector..you want to own the strongest handheld portable dedicated chess computer ever released for sale

I'm Just Sayin Regards
Steve

[klute]

unless of course ..as a collector..you want to own the strongest handheld portable chess computer ever released for sale

Well, each to his own. I suppose that's where I differ - I'm driven more by basically sound design, reasonable build quality and decent prospects for longevity - hence no things like Travel Masters or Star Sapphires in my Schachcomputer cupboards, even though I'm especially into portables these days.

[Steve B]

unless of course ..as a collector..you want to own the strongest handheld portable chess computer ever released for sale

Well, each to his own. I suppose that's where I differ - I'm driven more by basically sound design, reasonable build quality and decent prospects for longevity - hence no things like Travel Masters or Star Sapphires in my Schachcomputer cupboards, even though I'm especially into portables these days.

i might add i own the Star Ruby as well
proud owner of both computers

anyway...

Ah Yes ...the infamous Travel Master
with defect rates close to 90%
actually the high defect rates make owning a working TM today quite rare and desirable for the collector.. not to mention they are tied with the Novag Opal's as the smallest pressure sensory computer's ever sold

The Accolades Just Keep On Coming Regards
Steve

[klute]

i might add i own the Star Ruby as well

That's almost ok - the Star Ruby is somewhat more palatable than the Star Sapphire.

[Steve B]

Well, each to his own. I suppose that's where I differ - I'm driven more by basically sound design, reasonable build quality and decent prospects for longevity - hence no things like Travel Masters or Star Sapphires in my Schachcomputer cupboards,

speak of the devil(s)...

both a Star Sapphire AND a TM

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Novag-Star-Sapp ... 1a05a0506d

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fidelity-Electr ... 1a05a09141

both with one and the same bidder
he probably lurks here

the TM looks like it might actually be working!
of course the real issue with the TM's was the sensory board going bad..not the display

Well Waddya Know Regards
Steve

[spacious_mind]

Oh What a timely coincidence. Methinks that's your cousin selling of your defects Steve