Very interesting. Looks like they addressed a number of key issues.
- Larger battery
- Internal SD card accessible under the battery
- External SD slot built into the case rather than being on a cartridge (bet that saved some money!)
- 320x240 screen
- Better viewing angles
- Analog stick (!)
While I think the screen change is the right thing to do, I'm a little disappointed. The higher vertical resolution made vertical scaling look pretty good without blending. Still, it's a decent exchange for an overall better panel.
The analog stick is a welcome addition. It would make a very good stand-in for a mouse or traditional joystick. (Cyberia, here we come!
)
I have two key concerns:
1. I'm hoping it's truly an analog stick and not wired up as a digital stick. It's fine if it emulates a digital stick in the shipped firmware. As long as in hardware it's still analog.
2. The stick is highly usable. These sticks have often been mounted poorly, leading to sticking and other usability issues. The PowKiddy X16 as an example (which I'm pretty sure is manufactured by RenShun) has large holes under the sticks. This leads to the edge of the mushroom cap getting stuck inside the hole. The motion of the stick doesn't require this much space, so it was probably a manufacturing shortcut. Also, pressing too hard can cause centering and sticking issues. It doesn't take much force to cause this.
Altogether, I'm incredibly pleased to see RenShun engage the community like this and create a device that better suits our needs. If you guys read this:
Way to go RenShun!