First announced in 2019, the Playdate handheld game console is scheduled to ship later this year, and now its makers have announced that it’ll go up for pre-order starting in July for $179.
That’s $30 higher than originally anticipated, but there’s a global chip shortage going on, which led to the price hike. The good news is the Playdate team has upgraded the RAM from 2GB to 4GB and announced that the first season of games that will be delivered to customers will include 24 original titles, up from the 12 that had originally been planned.
But that’s not the only handheld gaming device on the horizon. The ONEXPLAYER handheld gaming PC with an Intel Tiger Lake processor I reviewed last month? It’s still up for pre-order through an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign. But that campaign ends tomorrow, and prices will go up when the device hits retail.
And GPD is continuing to preview its upcoming GPD Win Max 2021 handheld gaming computers that look like little laptops crossed with game consoles. The new version will be available with a choice of Intel and AMD chips, and while performance will likely vary depending on the task/game, the latest video shows why the Intel Core i7 model might be the best fit for mobile gaming. Still, it’s nice to have options.
Here’s a roundup of recent tech news from around the web,.
- Playdate Update [PlayDate/YouTube]
Playdate handheld game console (the one with a black and white display and a hand crank) goes up for pre-order in July for $179 and ships later this year with 24 new games available in the first “season.” Accessories including a Stereo Dock that works as a Bluetooth speaker and external battery pack/charger as well as a Playdate Cover are also coming.
- ONEXPLAYER handheld gaming PC crowdfunding campaign ends soon [Indiegogo]
The ONEXPLAYER handheld gaming PC crowdfunding campaign closes in less than two days. Early bird rewards are gone, so prices are now $900 for a Core i5-1135G7/16GB/512GB config or $1000 for i7-1165G7/16GB/1TB, but that’s still 13-15% off the list price. - OneNetbook 4 Platinum & Linux: short notes [/r/umpc]
More observations on running Linux on a One Netbook One Mix 4 mini PC with a 10 inch display. I took Ubuntu for a quick spin when I reviewed the min-laptop earlier this year, but didn’t install it to local storage and do any long-term testing. This user went more in-depth and reports that, among other things, the fingerprint reader doesn’t work, but Thunderbolt does, and the stylus works, but requires a kernel patch. - Sony WF-1000XM4 Review: A Sonic Triumph [The Verge]
Sony’s new $280 WF-1000XM4 true wireless earbuds may be expensive, but early reviews suggest they offer some of the best noise cancellation, sound quality, and battery life around. - JingPad A1 demo: VS Code, Thunderbird, LibreOffice, Terminal, and Android apps [JingOS/YouTube]
The latest JingPad A1 demo shows a prototype of the upcoming tablet running Linux including VS Code, Thunderbird, LibreOffice, Tux Racer as well as an Android game.
- Dark Souls â…¢ comparison on GPD WIN MAX 1165 and 4800U [GPD/YouTube]
GPD will offer Intel Tiger Lake and AMD Renoir versions of the Win Max 2021 handheld gaming PC. Performance may vary from game to game, but here’s a comparison video of Dark Souls III on Core i7-1165G7 vs Ryzen 7 4800U. Hopefully the AMD model is cheaper.
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