Subj : Re: Foenix F256K
To   : Kimberly Mears
From : Daniel Traechin
Date : Sat Jul 15 2023 05:30 am

 KM> Has anyone tried out one of the Foenix F256K machines? I was watching a
 KM> video on them (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57FuA8YuXn0) and they
 KM> look interesting enough. I was wondering if others had experience with
 KM> them.

I've seen a few reviews. First was with Jan Beta and then a short one with
Retro Recipes. It is too expensive for me but as time goes, things should
hopefully change. I may be wrong, but the largest expense for this device is
the case printing and keyboard (which is fully mechanical).

I'm not really picky about my keyboards. The one i've overused for three
years is a chicklet style Dell keyboard issued by my office. I really like
it. If they were to release the foenix with a standard membrane keyboard I'm
sure the price would go down sharply and I would have zero issues using it. And
if they were to do a kickstarter for a batch of injection molded cases, I'm
sure it would be cheaper and I would likely donate. I'd buy a kit too.

I wish more of these outfits were able to set their shops with their own
injection molding stations - but I'm sure that's really expensive and
requires a load of learning to utilize properly..

I had early interest in the 8-bit guys's cx16 and lost interest about two years
ago. It managed to scratch it's way out of vaporware territory to
barely-made-it-out territory - no doubt due to the generous donations of a
surprisingly eager community.

I grew frustrated in the project. They put up a site & forum, listed a large
scope of plans. As a result, a community formed around it and many people
wrote software for the platform. They ignored the forum they created (instead
focused on their facebook page), asked to be left alone (because many months
would pass without updates), collaborators admitted to taking multiple months
off of the project to do other things. It seemed obvious that the project
team had zero interest in continuing (I won't forget David's winter emergency
and flooding problem - which was beyond his control). In this time of ignoring
everyone, David wrote an entirely new game and ported it for every retro
system that has ever existed and posted videos about it. It was a bit
insulting to see his community waiting for updates while he was in an
entirely different mindset. I know everyone has to make a living - but when a
community is at your door knocking, you don't blow them off. That's a dick
move.

It really bugged me that they asked to be left alone. If they were more
steadfast in giving information, their community wouldn't badger them. Retro
recipes dude was the moderator of the forum, and soon got removed from the
project due to many disagreements with his collaborators. You may be able to
notice that I've grown to dislike David.

They raised a buttload of money on the project and spent much of it on
hardware that effectively didn't work well (like the auto-solder machine and
the solder bricks) - and were forced to outsource the board manufacturing to
an outfit in texas - which they could've done from the beginning and saved a
ton of heartache and money.

The Foenix is what the cx16 could have been - it was created quicker with
fewer issues. It's a small, intimate package that gives that feeling of
retro-goodness.

For the Foenix, I'd have to get the wifi module to connect to bbs systems
(which is how I'd primarily use it). I'm just waiting for applications to be
written. I'd eagerly buy game cartridges for it too.

Daniel Traechin

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