Linux or Windows, Tablets to Slimbooks, APU's to GPU's. All tech talk goes here.
TiberiusBravo87
15 hours ago Tech Talk
Retroid Pocket 2+ is $150US from Amazon with free Prime shipping. This includes the 30-day money-back guarantee for any reason which I have personally used quite often for things from a dead pixel on a monitor (that the companies themselves won't cover) to DOA pc parts. @redpillschool how much was your shipping from China? Subtract that from the Amazon price, as well as the $100 base price, and that is the premium you pay for the Amazon return guarantee as well as fast shipping from within the US.
www.amazon.com/retroid-pocket-handheld-multiple-emulators/dp/b09z2fwnbl/
destraht
4 days ago Tech Talk
@redpillschool @TiberiusBravo87 For some of these pain points I'm all about Switch for modern games, and then NES, SNES and maybe Genesis (but I could take or leave it). Wii is more trouble than it's worth considering that that Switch has either real widescreen improved or just similar but better later Wii U games that were officially ported to Switch. Also the huge amount of official retro collections like Contra, Castlevania, Megaman, Ninja Gaiden, etc that sometimes span many systems and more than a decade.
Also, it's very pleasant to have the same buttons doing the same thing across all games. For example one button for menu ok, one button for menu cancel. I've since found my WINE games to be less pleasant than before since it's the Xbox/Windows button mappings, and I'll always have far fewer games there.
For this I'm not really interested in anything beyond SNES unless it's Switch.
I'd like to see a new up-to SNES handheld using a new chip in a few years that also provides the most modern HDMI, bluetooth, etc and also runs cooler, quieter and longer since it's a newer underclocked and maybe undervolted chip.
At this point Switch is so good that I don't see any point in putting in time for anything else other than a very rare Windows game that I can get going with WINE. This is what I meant that I wasn't impressed with the current chips that are going into these new widescreen handhelds because they don't really get me anywhere extra that I want to go.
Read Moreredpillschool
4 days ago Tech Talk
@TiberiusBravo87 It's not terrible, the performance is nice. The buttons on the right side have a little stick to them I would have preferred to not have. The biggest issue I have is getting the buttons mapped properly per game and per console is a headache and the hot keys to get into settings don't work.
If you're not super tech savvy, it's just an android phone with extra buttons.
TiberiusBravo87
4 days ago Tech Talk
@redpillschool There is a new OTA update for the Retroid 2+, tell us how yours is faring? I heard this last update had an issue with artwork boxes or something as well so watch out for that if you do update
According to the Reddit for Retroid stuff supposedly Amazon should be getting RP2+'s in stock for a slightly higher price to sell in the US with quick shipping. This would beat waiting for the container clusterfuck in the Chinese ports, especially if you got a broken unit. Returns to China or waiting on parts could be a nightmare.
destraht
5 days ago Tech Talk
This is a very cool laptop that hopefully has legs. Like many people are saying everywhere in the comments (other places where this is posted), it needs a AMD chip instead of Intel. It's just too hard to get them though.
I really think that the thickness of a normal non-thin version of a 14 inch Thinkpad is thin enough for most people these days. They want something more than soldered everything.
The sweet spot for one of these things becomes when you have two or more in your house. For example, if you fry something important than you can snag your woman's or kid's part to be able to keep working. Also, let's say that you've upgraded your mainboard already and then you fry it with spilt beer. Well then you can temporarily use the old board to get you by until a new one arrives.
I'm a big fan of the repairability of long run production lines. For example, they can keep the case and everything the same well past them having a better way to do it. That offers more advantage than some minor tweaks. Then they can do what the Soviets did with the Ladas by continuing to produce both, and having a lot of carry over between the models for as long as possible.
The world needs more tech in the spirit of the Lada and the Framework Laptop, but of course made with 2020's technologies. Fuck it, just produce that shit until the molds give out. Then there are many millions of parts floating around for decades. That is better than all of these two year production runs and then it all changes again.
Also, fuck the unnecessary computer chips. That is for sure. Or have them become so typical and openly produced that they are interchangeable between many systems.
Well, I don't expect that to happen again with cars any time soon, but it could start happening with laptops.
Upgraded Linux-Friendly Framework Laptop Shifts To Intel 12th Gen "Alder Lake"
Read Moredestraht
about a week ago Tech Talk
The got Mortal Kombat 11 booting into the menu. I imagine that the work required to get this game running well will make a few dozen other games good enough. I guessing about 12-18 months.
Yuzu Progress Report April 2022

destraht
2 weeks ago Tech Talk
I just realized that I have an exhaustive list of all Switch games that I would like to play, and I'm only half way through the tedious process of pirating them (plus the updates). I think that I'll work through that this month. Hopefully I can get at least five more that are playable right now.
It may sound unrealistic, but I think that Switch emulation is such the holy grail of gaming for those who don't need the era's best graphics that it could literally keep me busy for YEARS. As the emulator gets better then more of the games that I already have will just start working one day. It's really just so much, not to mention that they're still making Switch games and likely will be porting indie games for about five more years.