[Mike_P]

This hand-held bridge playing computer (sold by Baron Barclay and others) is tempting. Anyone have any first hand experience? I'm sure its bidding and play is not terrific but then neither is mine. Something you could pull out of your pocket for drill at odd moments could be fun. Any comments on whether its screen display or interface is good, ok, or awful? Other strengths/shortcomings? Alternatives?

Thanks,
Mike

[nickf]

any hand held bridge game doesnt provide you with a high level partner or opponent. They are not targeted for advanced+ players but nonetheless can be a fun gadget if you dont have a PC or will be spending a lot of hours in airports or in trains for eg.

As it happens, I re-sell a lot of these gadgets and as far as I'm aware, everyone is satisfied. But they pale by comparision to the best PC software. They have a b/w LCD screen and the interface is a bit clumsy but I suppose they are trying to make best use of a small screen.

and the 610 has better features than the 311

nickf
sydney

[1eyedjack]

I remember when the saitek pro bridge 500 was first released, and I was quite impressed at the time. Not impressed in comparison with a human game, but impressed in comparison with other software in the public domain at the time. That was many years ago in the days before GIB and Jack (well a primitive GIB may have been around in its infancy but crap in those days). It always struck me at the time as odd that such a (relative) degree of competence was so hard to achieve on a PC if it could be done on a dedicated hardware machine (it was a horrendously expensive piece of kit for what you got, as I recall). Well, that has of course now been superseded.

Sorry for the thread drift - cannot comment on the OP.

[Mike_P]

nickf, on Nov 25 2006, 04:00 PM, said:

As it happens, I re-sell a lot of these gadgets

and the 610 has better features than the 311

nickf
sydney

Nickf -- thanks for the input. These things represent a very small market but I'm surprised I'm finding so little user feedback on the net anywhere -- difficult to determine real differences in capability, although .pdf's of the 311 and 610 manuals are available online.

The 610 is physically bigger and presumably more capable, with a larger screen which I suspect can show 4 hands at a time as opposed to 2 for the 311. On the other hand, the 610 seems to be at least a couple years older, which is eons with today's technology. The 311 seems to be a recent upgrade to the 310, and is the one the manufacturer has chosen to label the "World's strongest hand-held bridge computer," and is the only one Barclay has seen fit to put in their recent catalog.

I suppose I'll try giving both Saitek and Barclay a call for further info, but would welcome any additional comments here...

-- Mike