My Experience With The Excalibur Mirage

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Cyberchess
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My Experience With The Excalibur Mirage

Post by Cyberchess »

About 16 years ago, an acquaintance from my local chess club purchased the relatively new at the time Excalibur Mirage self-moving chess computer. He related to me that a self-moving dedicated unit was appealing to him, however, after only a short time, the machine began to malfunction intermittently. Fortunately he had retained all of the original packing materials, paperwork, etc., and since the unit was still under warrantee, he offered it to me for next to nothing because he was a busy professional with no time to waste on shipping the unit back to the factory for repairs.

While I wasn’t in the market for a self-moving dedicated unit, the ridiculously low price plus the fact that the machine was still under warrantee were hard to resist, so I took the defective unit off his hands. Just out of curiosity, I played some test games with the unit. It worked fine for the first few moves, then would inevitably stutter while trying to complete a move. Keeping my ear close to the machine, I was pretty sure that I detected the sound of slippage, and having some previous experience as a part-time VCR technician in the ‘80s, it reminded me of how drive belts and tires would dry out and eventually lose traction within these devices. Could the previous owner have left the machine running for an inordinate length of time, allowing the innards to get very hot and perhaps cause a belt to deform or stretch? Of course I own a replete set of replacement VCR belts and tires of every conceivable size, but I certainly wasn’t about to open the unit and void the warrantee, tempting as it was to look under the hood. Instead, I carefully packed the unit and sent it back to Excalibur Electronics. To my sheer delight, rather than simply send back the repaired unit, Excalibur instead elected to send me a brand new sealed unit! This must have been more cost effective than having to pay a technician to troubleshoot and repair these units.

My original intention was to have the machine repaired and keep it on my coffee table as a curio, perhaps piquing my guest’s interest in the royal game, but later decided to auction it off with my accumulated excess chess equipment.

Great Customer Service Regards,
John
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Re: My Experience With The Excalibur Mirage

Post by Fernando »

Cyberchess wrote:About 16 years ago, an acquaintance from my local chess club purchased the relatively new at the time Excalibur Mirage self-moving chess computer. He related to me that a self-moving dedicated unit was appealing to him, however, after only a short time, the machine began to malfunction intermittently. Fortunately he had retained all of the original packing materials, paperwork, etc., and since the unit was still under warrantee, he offered it to me for next to nothing because he was a busy professional with no time to waste on shipping the unit back to the factory for repairs.

While I wasn’t in the market for a self-moving dedicated unit, the ridiculously low price plus the fact that the machine was still under warrantee were hard to resist, so I took the defective unit off his hands. Just out of curiosity, I played some test games with the unit. It worked fine for the first few moves, then would inevitably stutter while trying to complete a move. Keeping my ear close to the machine, I was pretty sure that I detected the sound of slippage, and having some previous experience as a part-time VCR technician in the ‘80s, it reminded me of how drive belts and tires would dry out and eventually lose traction within these devices. Could the previous owner have left the machine running for an inordinate length of time, allowing the innards to get very hot and perhaps cause a belt to deform or stretch? Of course I own a replete set of replacement VCR belts and tires of every conceivable size, but I certainly wasn’t about to open the unit and void the warrantee, tempting as it was to look under the hood. Instead, I carefully packed the unit and sent it back to Excalibur Electronics. To my sheer delight, rather than simply send back the repaired unit, Excalibur instead elected to send me a brand new sealed unit! This must have been more cost effective than having to pay a technician to troubleshoot and repair these units.

My original intention was to have the machine repaired and keep it on my coffee table as a curio, perhaps piquing my guest’s interest in the royal game, but later decided to auction it off with my accumulated excess chess equipment.

Great Customer Service Regards,
John
yes, sometimes there are histories with a happy end....
Blincoe could relate us, on the contrary, hundreds of histories with a very sad end.

Script regards
Fern
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dedicate computers
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Experience With The Excalibur Mirage

Post by dedicate computers »

Hi John
There are still manufacturers who understand best send a new machine as opposed to repair? I remember when HP Calculator had a defect, they sent me a new one, rather than trying to repair.
regards
Oswaldo
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Re: My Experience With The Excalibur Mirage

Post by Steve B »

Fernando wrote:
yes, sometimes there are histories with a happy end....
Blincoe could relate us, on the contrary, hundreds of histories with a very sad end.

Script regards
Fern
Well John's tale of the Mirage is a wonderful bedtime story with a happy ending..makes one feel all warm and fuzzy
the best part of the story however is that he sold the computer at auction as i am sure it would no longer be working today

i have 3 Mirages and two are defective
i am afraid to even turn on the remaining one that still works
Defect rates on the robot were gastronomically high as Ron Nelson mentioned in another thread
i think most Mirage owners by now know the all too familiar dreaded error message that will appear in the Mirage Screen...

STALL Regards
Steve
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Re: Experience With The Excalibur Mirage

Post by Cyberchess »

dedicate computers wrote:Hi John
There are still manufacturers who understand best send a new machine as opposed to repair? I remember when HP Calculator had a defect, they sent me a new one, rather than trying to repair.
regards
Oswaldo
Greetings Oswaldo:

In the good old days we used to troubleshoot, de-solder, and re-solder components on the PCB, but ever since surface mount technology has become the norm, either the entire PCB is replaced, or the entire unit is simply scrapped and replaced. Generally, though, when moving components are involved (as in the Mirage), the unit is repaired rather than replaced.

Back in 1977, a friend gave me his Texas Instruments Scientific Calculator with the beautiful red LED display because the rechargeable batteries had died. The cells were soldered in place – just as on many electric razors – on these early models, so it was necessary to de-solder the old cells without overheating the circuitry, then I jerry-rigged a crude battery pack for dry cells. This was my first scientific calculator – later to be replaced with a thin Casio solar powered model when I entered college.

:cool: Pocket Calculator Regards,
John
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Re: My Experience With The Excalibur Mirage

Post by Cyberchess »

Fernando wrote:yes, sometimes there are histories with a happy end....
Blincoe could relate us, on the contrary, hundreds of histories with a very sad end.

Script regards
Fern
Greetings Fern:

My gut instinct was that this unit would most likely be part of the latter statistic, so I didn’t even remove the shrink-wrap, and sold it as new.

:idea: Precognition Regards,
John
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Re: My Experience With The Excalibur Mirage

Post by Cyberchess »

Steve B wrote:Well John's tale of the Mirage is a wonderful bedtime story with a happy ending..makes one feel all warm and fuzzy
the best part of the story however is that he sold the computer at auction as i am sure it would no longer be working today

i have 3 Mirages and two are defective
i am afraid to even turn on the remaining one that still works
Defect rates on the robot were gastronomically high as Ron Nelson mentioned in another thread
i think most Mirage owners by now know the all too familiar dreaded error message that will appear in the Mirage Screen...

STALL Regards
Steve
Greetings Steve:

Sad but true. The great predecessor of the Mirage, The Fidelity Phantom, however, was a lot heavier and apparently built to go the extra mile, so to speak. I recall a crowd gathered in front of the Macy’s Herald Square display window during the holiday season (circa 1982). Macy’s and other clever shop owners showcased the Phantom playing out games in Demo Mode. Young and old alike were drawn to the spectacle, and the games continued all day long without a hitch, as far as I could tell.

Didn’t Milton Bradley have one made for them as well?

:arrow: Cutting Corners Regards,
John
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Re: My Experience With The Excalibur Mirage

Post by Steve B »

Cyberchess wrote:
Steve B wrote:Well John's tale of the Mirage is a wonderful bedtime story with a happy ending..makes one feel all warm and fuzzy
the best part of the story however is that he sold the computer at auction as i am sure it would no longer be working today

i have 3 Mirages and two are defective
i am afraid to even turn on the remaining one that still works
Defect rates on the robot were gastronomically high as Ron Nelson mentioned in another thread
i think most Mirage owners by now know the all too familiar dreaded error message that will appear in the Mirage Screen...

STALL Regards
Steve
Greetings Steve:

Sad but true. The great predecessor of the Mirage, The Fidelity Phantom, however, was a lot heavier and apparently built to go the extra mile, so to speak. I recall a crowd gathered in front of the Macy’s Herald Square display window during the holiday season (circa 1982). Macy’s and other clever shop owners showcased the Phantom playing out games in Demo Mode. Young and old alike were drawn to the spectacle, and the games continued all day long without a hitch, as far as I could tell.

Didn’t Milton Bradley have one made for them as well?

:arrow: Cutting Corners Regards,
John
Yes The MB Grandmaster
like the Fidelity Phantoms..very well built and working well to this day

Nice memory of the 1982 Holiday season you shared John

It Was Long Ago and It Was Far Away And It Was So Much Better Then It Is Today Regards
Steve
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Re: My Experience With The Excalibur Mirage

Post by Fernando »

Steve B wrote:
Cyberchess wrote:
Steve B wrote:Well John's tale of the Mirage is a wonderful bedtime story with a happy ending..makes one feel all warm and fuzzy
the best part of the story however is that he sold the computer at auction as i am sure it would no longer be working today

i have 3 Mirages and two are defective
i am afraid to even turn on the remaining one that still works
Defect rates on the robot were gastronomically high as Ron Nelson mentioned in another thread
i think most Mirage owners by now know the all too familiar dreaded error message that will appear in the Mirage Screen...

STALL Regards
Steve
Greetings Steve:

Sad but true. The great predecessor of the Mirage, The Fidelity Phantom, however, was a lot heavier and apparently built to go the extra mile, so to speak. I recall a crowd gathered in front of the Macy’s Herald Square display window during the holiday season (circa 1982). Macy’s and other clever shop owners showcased the Phantom playing out games in Demo Mode. Young and old alike were drawn to the spectacle, and the games continued all day long without a hitch, as far as I could tell.

Didn’t Milton Bradley have one made for them as well?

:arrow: Cutting Corners Regards,
John
Yes The MB Grandmaster
like the Fidelity Phantoms..very well built and working well to this day

Nice memory of the 1982 Holiday season you shared John

It Was Long Ago and It Was Far Away And It Was So Much Better Then It Is Today Regards
Steve


It Was Long Ago and It Was Far Away And It Was So Much Better Then It Is Today Regards ..."
This piece of poetic sadness sound to me as the one recited by someone that has lost half a million bucks in the current trade market.

Composing my own ruined poetry regards
Fern
Steve
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Re: My Experience With The Excalibur Mirage

Post by Steve B »

Fernando wrote:
It Was Long Ago and It Was Far Away And It Was So Much Better Then It Is Today Regards ..."
This piece of poetic sadness sound to me as the one recited by someone that has lost half a million bucks in the current trade market.

Composing my own ruined poetry regards
Fern
Steve
as i wallow in my newly achieved poverty.. i might no longer have any personal net worth..but i still have my pride ..so i cannot claim to have written that bit of beautiful poetic prose

That piece of poetry was composed by the Rock Icon

Meatloaf Regards
Steve
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Re: My Experience With The Excalibur Mirage

Post by Cyberchess »

Steve B wrote:That piece of poetry was composed by the Rock Icon

Meatloaf Regards
Steve
It’s funny you should mention this, Steve, because in the following year (1983), I saw Meatloaf perform a live benefit concert in Flushing Meadows Park.

Those were some great times indeed...

:cool: Paradise by the Dashboard Light Regards,
John
trontreez

Re: My Experience With The Excalibur Mirage

Post by trontreez »

Steve B wrote: Yes The MB Grandmaster
like the Fidelity Phantoms..very well built and working well to this day

Nice memory of the 1982 Holiday season you shared John

It Was Long Ago and It Was Far Away And It Was So Much Better Then It Is Today Regards
Steve
My MB Phantom works flawlessly too! Shame about the playing strength though.

Don't make them like they used to regards,

Your Pal
tt
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Re: My Experience With The Excalibur Mirage

Post by Steve B »

Cyberchess wrote:
Steve B wrote:That piece of poetry was composed by the Rock Icon

Meatloaf Regards
Steve
It’s funny you should mention this, Steve, because in the following year (1983), I saw Meatloaf perform a live benefit concert in Flushing Meadows Park.

Those were some great times indeed...

:cool: Paradise by the Dashboard Light Regards,
John
Always enjoyed Meatloaf
anyway...to add insult to injury
not only am i financially ruined due to the recent nosedive of the stockmarket ..its not such a great time to be homeless given a killer snow blizzard is due to hit any time now
sigh..

Homeless and Cold Regards
Steve
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Re: My Experience With The Excalibur Mirage

Post by Cyberchess »

Steve B wrote:
Cyberchess wrote:
Steve B wrote:That piece of poetry was composed by the Rock Icon

Meatloaf Regards
Steve
It’s funny you should mention this, Steve, because in the following year (1983), I saw Meatloaf perform a live benefit concert in Flushing Meadows Park.

Those were some great times indeed...

:cool: Paradise by the Dashboard Light Regards,
John
Always enjoyed Meatloaf
anyway...to add insult to injury
not only am i financially ruined due to the recent nosedive of the stockmarket ..its not such a great time to be homeless given a killer snow blizzard is due to hit any time now
sigh..

Homeless and Cold Regards
Steve
Sorry to hear. If it’s any consolation, almost everyone that I’ve spoken to recently has been feeling the pinch (myself included).
A really bad second half of 2015, a poor start to 2016, and now a blizzard to boot. :cry:

I’ll be the first to admit that financial matters aren’t my (Novag) forte, but my gut instinct informs me that we’re looking at an orchestrated economic collapse.

Huddled around a trashcan campfire, we contemplate our next move...

:idea: Guess we’ll just have to...

Eat The Rich Regards,
John
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Re: My Experience With The Excalibur Mirage

Post by Steve B »

Cyberchess wrote:,
Sorry to hear. If it’s any consolation, almost everyone that I’ve spoken to recently has been feeling the pinch (myself included).
A really bad second half of 2015, a poor start to 2016, and now a blizzard to boot. :cry:
Well the market seems to have recovered a bit today
the good news is i can pull the Tasc R40 from Ebay
too late for the Wundermachine though..

Long Gone Regards
Steve
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