Atari Flashback Portable!

[koolmoecraig]

Boy, I sure wish there was a 400/800 portable...

[Keatah]

Ohh but there is. And this is how you get it.

 

1- Purchase a laptop of your choice.

2- Install Altirra emulator.

 

You'll have comprehensive coverage of vintage Atari 8-bit machines and unparalleled reliability and convenience as well as versatility. It's really that simple!

[Flojomojo]

Yeah, that's the way to do it. Keyboard included! Bring your own game controller(s). 

 

I like the HP Stream line because it's cheap and cheerful. The screen is just OK but it has no fan or other moving parts, so it's super quiet. Plenty of power for retro emulation of everything up to SNES and DOS, including Atari 8-bit. 

 

Here's what I would get today for that purpose. 

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F273885411821

[Keatah]

And it has a bezel to boot! For sticky notes..

[Flojomojo]

Secure password storage!

[Guest]

On 1/28/2019 at 3:01 PM, tiktok4321 said:

Is there any way to buff scratches off the plastic screen lens?

I'm guessing it's polycarbonate. Almost impossible to buff, you'll just give it more scratches unfortunately. 

[Guest]

On 7/10/2018 at 5:06 PM, Bill Loguidice said:

 

No, no Lynx emulator in there. I'm afraid there's not enough of a market to justify the effort.

It's coming from: https://www.analogue.co/pocket/ 

Not sure if the cartridge adapter will be available when it launches.

 

Now back to AFP...

I just loaded mine with the latest rom set. Unfortunately Halo 2600 doesn't runs on it.

And I gotta crack it open. Something is stuck between the screen protector and the lcd.

 

 

Edited November 9, 2019 by Zeptari1

[Flojomojo]

1 hour ago, Zeptari1 said:

I'm guessing it's polycarbonate. Almost impossible to buff, you'll just give it more scratches unfortunately. 

I agree. The new one should use tempered glass, like we are seeing in the BittBoy PocketGo type things. 
 

Those have Lynx emulators onboard, too!

 

[Hwlngmad]

On 11/9/2019 at 4:51 PM, Flojomojo said:

I agree. The new one should use tempered glass, like we are seeing in the BittBoy PocketGo type things. 
 

Those have Lynx emulators onboard, too!

 

I gotta say the BittBoy New PocketGo with the 3.5in screen and updated CPU looks great.  I am planning to pick one of those up pronto.

[Flojomojo]

51 minutes ago, Hwlngmad said:

I gotta say the BittBoy New PocketGo with the 3.5in screen and updated CPU looks great.  I am planning to pick one of those up pronto.

Yeah, I have one on the way. Colors aren't what I would pick but everything else sounds good. https://retromimi.com/products/new-pocketgo

[Hwlngmad]

4 hours ago, Flojomojo said:

Yeah, I have one on the way. Colors aren't what I would pick but everything else sounds good. https://retromimi.com/products/new-pocketgo

Agreed.  Not a fan of the color choices either, but that seems to be BittBoy's defacto color scheme for now.  However, I am intrigued by the Z-Pocket (https://obscurehandhelds.com/2019/10/the-z-pocket-game-aka-zpg-is-an-upcoming-android-handheld/) as well, though that looks to be a bit pricey if/when it comes out.

[Flojomojo]

Yeah, custom Linux seems to beat Android in my experience. Less lag, cost, boot waiting, security concern (no need to put google credentials into a game-only device with no store on it)

[Asaki]

On 8/23/2019 at 11:39 PM, koolmoecraig said:

Boy, I sure wish there was a 400/800 portable...

Nintendo 3DS has pretty good emulators for 8-bit/5200 and Lynx...I think there's one for 7800, too.

[Asaki]

No reviews for the new model, yet? The wood grain is tempting, but if the screens are still the wrong orientation, I'm not sure I need to "upgrade" from the first release.

[+groundtrooper]

52 minutes ago, Asaki said:

No reviews for the new model, yet? The wood grain is tempting, but if the screens are still the wrong orientation, I'm not sure I need to "upgrade" from the first release.

While the wood-grain is cool. I think the first gen version has the best D-Pad. I am just gonna stick with it for now.  

[garyd97]

I picked one up at dollar general for $25.00. Appearance is a lot nicer for this one with the wood grain. I believe it has more games than previous also.

[eegt97]

yeah, my wife picked one up for me for $25 at doll gen as well.  She said the deal is all weekend.  My first one of these portables.

[marlowe221]

I picked up the 2019 wood grain version today. 
 

M Network games are gone. A few Activision titles in their place. Haven’t added any games to it yet. Quality seems decent overall compared to my 2017 version. 
 

Edit - The Dpad is significantly better than my 2017 model. 

Edited November 30, 2019 by marlowe221

[KevinMos3]

I'm really glad you all posted about the woodgrain portable and it being at Dollar General.  I wasn't aware it existed.  I just went down to my local DG and looked all over the store for it, up and down every aisle.  Didn't find it so I grabbed a couple drinks and chips and went to check out... where I saw the woodgrain portables up above the checkout.  There were 2 left, so at the sale price of only $25, I picked up one for myself and one for a gift. 

 

I love that they went back to the original molding.  I also love the red button and brown dashes around the D-pad.  It's definitely my favorite portable in appearance.  It's currently charging, so I haven't turned it on yet, but it looks like they went back to the larger screen as well.  Looks like AtGames did a good job on this year's portable and actually found a gimmick to get me to buy another when I was not in the market for one.   ?

 

[+sramirez2008]

@marlowe221 Nice to hear that the d-pad is better than the 2017 model. Does anyone have an original model to compare against?  I have an original and would consider buying a new model if the d-pad has been upgraded and if I could find it for $25.  Otherwise, it’s still not worth it for me.

I don’t get why they include paddle games as they are really unplayable with a d-pad.

[KevinMos3]

32 minutes ago, sramirez2008 said:

Does anyone have an original model to compare against?

Yes, the original is what I kept around because I liked the D-pad and the larger screen I'd swapped with the genesis one of the same year.

 

The D-pad on this one is the same as the 1st model.  Only difference is it's red instead of orange.

[+sramirez2008]

27 minutes ago, KevinMos3 said:

Yes, the original is what I kept around because I liked the D-pad and the larger screen I'd swapped with the genesis one of the same year.

 

The D-pad on this one is the same as the 1st model.  Only difference is it's red instead of orange.

Excellent!  Thanks for the quick reply?

[Asaki]

I decided to see if they had any left in stock, and one location had one unit left, so I figured I'd give it a chance. I've been playing it a bit, and here's what I think.

 

Keep in mind, I only have the original 2016 model (without Jungle Hunt or whatever), so I don't know how it compares to the '17 or '18.

 

First off, the screens are still the wrong orientation--they are vertically oriented, so if you hold the device horizontally, one eye will see a slightly inverted picture. The effect isn't quite as bad as the original model, but if you have more than one eye, and if you play any horizontally oriented games, this might bother you.

 

The screens are slightly larger than the original model, but the colors aren't quite as vibrant. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, just different. They also added a sticker over the protective film, instructing you to "PEEL OFF BEFORE USING".

 

The shell looks about the same as the original, but there have been a few extra buttons added to the top (save and replay), and the mini-USB has been changed to micro USB. There is no charger included, only a USB cable. They've added an extra panel to the back for easier battery access.

 

The wood grain looks nice, but I think it might be painted on, so time will tell how long it lasts.

 

The d-pad feels about the same as the original, but pressing to the right doesn't usually register unless you press it and then squeeze. Hopefully I just got a faulty unit and can exchange it, but otherwise, if you play any games that require moving to the right, this might bother you.

 

If you play in the dark, you'll notice a small crack to the right of the d-pad that will most likely end up letting dust particles in. I might suggest opening the unit up and sealing this with hot glue or something, to prevent dust getting in-between the screen.

 

The speaker sounds different, maybe a little better, but it kind of sounds a little muffled, like they cut back on the higher frequencies. This is probably a good thing.

 

There are a few improvements to the emulator, but not many. The BW/color switch is now a toggle instead of momentary (which, if memory serves, might break a couple controller hacks), and they fixed it so that the difficulty display goes away after a moment. The SD card browser is reskinned to match the rest of the menus, but hitting the "menu" button in-game still takes you back to the main menu. The vertical refresh still does its "diagonal line" thing.

 

I can't say too much about compatability, but I did run through a few games. Curiously, Dig Dug is a featured game now, but hasn't had its graphical bugs fixed. Pole Position still seems about the same. Defender II (and its Defender Arcade hack) is graphically glitched now. Nukey Shay's Ms. Hack seems to be working much better now. I'm not sure if Berzerk is fixed, or if I'm using a ROM that someone else already patched.

 

Frogger's box art has been changed to the Parker Bros. art (in the menu and on the packaging), but is still the Konami arcade port. Similarly, the homebrew Pac-Man 4K included uses the original Atari game's art. Deception!!

 

Okay, I think that was everything.

[KevinMos3]

16 hours ago, Asaki said:

First off, the screens are still the wrong orientation--they are vertically oriented, so if you hold the device horizontally, one eye will see a slightly inverted picture.

Not sure what you mean by that.  Can you explain?

 

16 hours ago, Asaki said:

The d-pad feels about the same as the original, but pressing to the right doesn't usually register unless you press it and then squeeze. Hopefully I just got a faulty unit and can exchange it, but otherwise, if you play any games that require moving to the right, this might bother you.

Mine doesn't have that issue, so maybe you could exchange it for another.

 

16 hours ago, Asaki said:

There are a few improvements to the emulator, but not many. The BW/color switch is now a toggle instead of momentary (which, if memory serves, might break a couple controller hacks), and they fixed it so that the difficulty display goes away after a moment. The SD card browser is reskinned to match the rest of the menus, but hitting the "menu" button in-game still takes you back to the main menu. The vertical refresh still does its "diagonal line" thing.

I'm really glad for this change.  Games that use the B/W switch should work as expected now.  In Casino 21 Blue, you can now play against the "family friendly" dealer.  Of the games I've tested so far, with hacks that are meant for a momentary press, you can just double tap the button.  In the Spy Hunter hack, for example, I just hit the B/W button twice so the alternate weapon doesn't keep firing.  Unfortunately, one of the homebrew games that would have benefited from this, Anguna, still doesn't work properly (the ball used for closed doors [I think it's the ball] stretches the whole screen and moves pretty randomly, sometimes blocking your path and sometimes not).  The Anguna incompatibility isn't new though.

 

I noticed in the manual, it mentions placing a firmware.bin update on the SD card, so at least they've made updates possible.  It says if the firmware.bin is not there, the stock firmware will be used, which is also nice since it seems like it won't be brickable from a bad update.

 

Here's a question for @Bill Loguidice, can we now place a database file on the SD card to have boxarts like in previous genesis portables?  Are there any firmware or feature updates currently planned, or is it still too early?

 

 

On 6/12/2018 at 10:28 AM, fireslayer26 said:

I just designed and 3D printed this D-pad to replace the awful D-pad that comes on the Flashback portable!

Care to share the stl file?  I'd love to replace the D-pad in last year's model.  I'd also like to have an alternative to this year's and 2016's models, although they'd require some editing (their D-pad is not as tall), so this print would stick up too far in them.

Edited November 30, 2019 by KevinMos3

[Asaki]

8 hours ago, KevinMos3 said:

Not sure what you mean by that.  Can you explain?

On the original model, if you hold it horizontally and tilt it left and right, you'll see what I mean. If you hold it vertically and tilt it left and right, everything is fine. It will look less obvious the further you hold it from your face.

 

I was just checking, and the 2019 model does it in both orientations, but not as bad...so I guess it just has poor viewing angles in general? The color temp is also a lot cooler than the original...a lot more blue than yellow. Still a pretty decent tradeoff, IMO. I'm almost tempted to try hacking the screen in my original, but...eh...

 

Also, I took it apart, adjusted the carbon pads a bit, and now pressing right works a lot better. The wood grain is paint, BTW...or at least some kind of wrap.

 

Edit: eh, nevermind, the d-pad is flaking out again...

 

 

Edited December 1, 2019 by Asaki