Smach Z is back and looks like it may get it's funding. I put some money down on the early bird offer but may end up backing out got, burned before on KS with hardware.
However this thing is a dream come true to me, and they have a real prototypes that some youtubes I watch got to play ( talked about it in passing how fun it was to play, not an express video on the SmachZ but just in a quick "that was cool" deal) and I have seen some video of them at gamescon letting people play the thing.
It's not pushing new titles to its limits to be sure, but it came keep some pretty demanding games at 30+ FPS. That "pro" edition looks to be the best one to me, with more ram, front facing camera and 4g... but that price point ehh considering all I would like its more ram, I'll pass for now.
I'm going to wait and see if this one makes it to retail before I put a dime down on it. The track record isn't great and I see them trying to accomplish an awful lot in a very small package.
But with the ability to put Linux on it, from what it looks like any distro could work. If so, you could have a pretty nice mini pc to play GOG games, emulators, or anything else that can be played on Linux.
To me this is kinda Valve was going for with their "Steam Box" idea, would be cool to see a "regular" version of this (no screen or controls, just a small box to put in the living room). Seems more, and correct me if I'm wrong, powerful than others out there like the Brix
@thecaveman ya, I probably will back out at the end of the month unless I can sell some stuff. The smart thing would be to wait.....
That handheld is taking a dump on my Surface Pro in performance, it ran newer AAA games at 720p High 30-45 FPS, while I have to run at 720p Medium and sometimes Low to get 30-40 FPS. And it's up-gradable!? If only I could put a Zen+Vega SoC in there.
...You do realize a surface pro is using intel integrated graphics while this has an AMD Apu, one which is very gpu heavy, right?... Like your comparing a thin and light work machine to a gaming oriented hand held lmao
Not to mention the age of the system, my Surface Pro 2 is nearing 3 years old, but hey, it has around 300 GFLOPs of GPU performance, a shame we don't have much better tablets honestly, but it's too much of a niche product I fear.
But this system is costing $500 for the Pro and $300 for regular. My SP2 at launch was $1300 and has 8 GB RAM/256 GB mSATA SSD, got student discount but was still expensive. Until I built a desktop, it was the most powerful computer I had.
Looks really thick. As a person who actually likes to use his handheld game consoles as portable consoles, that just looks bulky and uncomfortable to keep with me.
But, I have to ask; what's the point? The demonstrations make it look about the size of a WiiU game tablet, with an equally large screen. Even if they make the profile thinner, it's still going to be too wide.
Who is their audience? What is the purpose of this? Is it just so I can take my Steam library to the toilet when I am at home or can I actually put this in my pocket while I take the metro to work? Right now it looks like a hyped up piece of hardware that doesn't know what niche it wants to fullfill and will only be relegated to tech consumers who like novelty electronics but fulfills no other purpose.
Again, same thing could be said about the shield when it came out. Its niche for sure, which is why primarily they are console now (more money in it). However people still want what the shield had, still hear people saying they liked the idea but, and why I think it failed, wanted it to be a real pc and not a ARM android based system.
For what I would use it for would be on plane/train/traveling mostly, or play a in bed before I go to sleep. Smaller than a laptop and for tight spaces like a seat on a plane, much easier to game.
And really you could say that about handheld gaming in general. It's not need that it will full, but a want..... if it plays games like it says and is a good gaming experience (still iffy on the steam controller, though I haven't used my as much as I should) .
Did I also mention you can upgrade it after you get it? (so they say)
Clickarm means the perfect interaction between hardware and software (firmware). With Clickarm the performance of your SMACH Z can be improved even after its purchase.
You will be able to purchase more modules of RAM, HDD or even a new SoC and install it easily yourself or send it to us.
that is what I find exciting about this. I hope other products have this (like laptops for the cpu) or small "Steam machine" style computer for the living room.
I canceled my pledge today.... I guess I came to my senses. If it comes out commercially I will get it. But considering I got burned by King's Assembly (don't ask how much I paid....sob)I told myself I would never again KS a hardware product that was not ready for production.
I really hope this takes off, would love to get my hands on the tech that is in the Smach Z.