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GCW Zero - new retrogaming open source handheld!

I would much rather get the Nvidia Andriod Handheld. It will be able to run all these emulators too but with much better graphics, hardware and support.
 
Okay, I finally committed to the $135 backing (+$20 for out of US shipping)... Looks like it's doing pretty well, and with less than $50K to go over the next ten days it seems on track to make it... It's a great looking little system - wish ARS would pick up on it or something...
 
Blue Submarine No. 6 said:
Okay, I finally committed to the $135 backing (+$20 for out of US shipping)... Looks like it's doing pretty well, and with less than $50K to go over the next ten days it seems on track to make it... It's a great looking little system - wish ARS would pick up on it or something...
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Awesome! Yeah there is no doubt in my mind now that this won't succeed.


Stephen Colbert said:
I would much rather get the Nvidia Andriod Handheld. It will be able to run all these emulators too but with much better graphics, hardware and support.
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That's quite an assumption... the price hasn't even been announced yet, and that thing is huge. I'm gonna wait for a redesign. That device looks bad despite how powerful it is... with a Vita and even a gaming notebook with steam ill have to pass. I think one of the huge benefits of the zero is how small and pocket sized it is! Perfect emulation on a small device that's super cheap. Hard not to pass up on this lol ( bought two zeros! )
 
Stephen Colbert said:
I would much rather get the Nvidia Andriod Handheld. It will be able to run all these emulators too but with much better graphics, hardware and support.
Click to expand...

Except that Nvidia Shield thing is NOT really a handheld IMO. It's a portable console, but not pocketable. Any device that doesn't easily fit into a small pocket is not a handheld IMO. The fact that you don't notice that clear difference just shows the Zero is not for you.

KS is now heading toward $86,000!!! =P
 
A little over 90k now. Under 40k to go!

Spent last night watching some GCW vids and getting very hype. GBA 'vanias here I come. DKC2 here I come. Dont play my ds lite much anymore but will gladly play GBA games on a system that also playsy SNES and genesis games. So hype :)
 
Ok me and my bro both want one, but he doesnt have an Amazon account. Is there a way i can get 2 devices from my one Amazon account??

Any chance of them upgrading the CPU?
 
Lettuce said:
Ok me and my bro both want one, but he doesnt have an Amazon account. Is there a way i can get 2 devices from my one Amazon account??

Any chance of them upgrading the CPU?
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Not sure about the Amazon question, sorry. And no, the CPU will not be upgraded.

KS heading toward $93,000!
 
Latest GCW Zero demo videos:

Quake 2 ONLINE multiplayer: http://youtu.be/6T6_M0zKM3M
Quakeforge: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAyB-3Wvb0U
MSX emulator (8bit computer): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em3ufZnlSJo
Atari 7800 emulator: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUP_rt7dwGI
Rise of the Triad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xHaKQinO_I

And for anyone wondering if the GCW is better than a hacked PSP for SNES emulation...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZfwtGSZA1I

KS heading toward $95,000! Pledge and get yours!
 
Chinner said:
id really get a gcw zero if i had spare cash. will it be buyable after the kickstarter period?
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If the KS is successful, you will probably have a long wait as they will have hundreds of Zeros to produce and ship to pledgers. If it isn't, the wait will be even longer because they plan to regroup and try KS again. But it looks like it will be successful at this point.

But if you don't have the money, you don't have the money. I get that. :-/
 
Maybe they'll round up and order a few units more than they need for the Kickstarter backers, then sell the rest to latecomers through PayPal or something.
 
Orayn said:
Maybe they'll round up and order a few units more than they need for the Kickstarter backers, then sell the rest to latecomers through PayPal or something.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's very likely I'd imagine. But first come first serve (AKA I want mine ASAP!). :-)
 
Just pledged $135 for the console plus $20 shipping to UK. I sent a message asking if I need to add any more on to cover VAT, because of my location. Hopefully not though - its currently under £100 for me, and that's the ideal cost as that's how much im saving on my bills next month after moving house!

I do have one more question: when will my money be taken from my account? When the goal is hit or when its shipped? Never used Kickstarter before.

Anyway.. march. Gahhh. Seems ages away.

Edit: goddamn, just saw that starfox comparison video. Looks like I'll finally be able to play SNES decently emulated on the go!
 
I'm prety tempted... I think I'll bite.. I wish north american shipping was included instead of having to add 20$ for them to ship it to Canada :P

Edit : Richie at the end of the kickstarter usually.
 
Ah, excellent. Just read that on the help page actually!

Excited now. I'm guessing the doubled amount of RAM will go a good way to improving the already impressive emulators too.
 
Does anyone have any comment on the quality of the screen? Its not easy to gauge from the videos, are the colours good and is there any sign of ghosting? One thing that really put me off the Pandora was the screen really wasn't that great. Other than that everything else about this handheld makes me want to pledge.
 
Backed! $155 ($135 + $20 shipping) brings it to just under £100, which is great for me! Looking forward to getting my hands on this.
 
LordAlu said:
Backed! $155 ($135 + $20 shipping) brings it to just under £100, which is great for me! Looking forward to getting my hands on this.
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Just so you know, I hit the gcw guys up with a message regarding VAT. He said it shouldn't be an issue, as the customs forms will take the price into account.

so yes, it comes to £97 for me. Pretty good, as its only a bit more than a PSP GO would be (£60 at CEX), and absolutely hammers it in emulation.
 
richisawesome said:
Just so you know, I hit the gcw guys up with a message regarding VAT. He said it shouldn't be an issue, as the customs forms will take the price into account.

so yes, it comes to £97 for me. Pretty good, as its only a bit more than a PSP GO would be (£60 at CEX), and absolutely hammers it in emulation.
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Not only that, but my PSP Go is pretty iffy at emulation - I'm looking forward to having a handheld that can actually do emulation well!
 
LordAlu said:
Not only that, but my PSP Go is pretty iffy at emulation - I'm looking forward to having a handheld that can actually do emulation well!
Click to expand...

Yep, that's what I was referring to.

I do hope progress is made to really improve these emulators. If it can get to Wii level on SNES (and it should), ill be estatic.
 
richisawesome said:
Just so you know, I hit the gcw guys up with a message regarding VAT. He said it shouldn't be an issue, as the customs forms will take the price into account.
Click to expand...
Is that a guarantee there's no customs charge? How can they do that?

I'm expecting an extra 20% plus £8 handling on top, which means at least £125 total.
 
gingerbeardman said:
Is that a guarantee there's no customs charge? How can they do that?

I'm expecting an extra 20% plus £8 handling on top, which means at least £125 total.
Click to expand...

Well, I asked Justin that and he said no. $155:

The VAT tax is not included as we won't know what it would be exactly but the console will be comparable in price on customs form to help alleviate that
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In his words, im guaranteed a console at $155/£97. So therefore, that's all I need to pay.
 
richisawesome said:
Well, I asked Justin that and he said no. $155:

In his words, im guaranteed a console at $155/£97. So therefore, that's all I need to pay.
Click to expand...
I would hazard a guess that what he's saying is that he won't charge you VAT - he has no control over whether UK Customs charges it to you however, and being American he's probably not that familiar with foreign import taxes and duties.
 
Blue Submarine No. 6 said:
I would hazard a guess that what he's saying is that he won't charge you VAT - he has no control over whether UK Customs charges it to you however, and being American he's probably not that familiar with foreign import taxes and duties.
Click to expand...

Hm. I have to admit, im not quite sure how this works. I've ordered plenty things from the USA before and never been hit with any charges.

If customs did decide to add 20% VAT, how would it come about? Would they charge the sender? Send me a bill? I have absolutely no idea.

Either way, would pledging more to cover it actually solve any issues? I'm not too sure.
 
richisawesome said:
Hm. I have to admit, im not quite sure how this works. I've ordered plenty things from the USA before and never been hit with any charges.

If customs did decide to add 20% VAT, how would it come about? Would they charge the sender? Send me a bill? I have absolutely no idea.

Either way, would pledging more to cover it actually solve any issues? I'm not too sure.
Click to expand...

Just ask him to mark the value on the package down to under £40 (i think is the threshold) and also list it as 'Gift'.

On another not anyone know what was different between the SE version and the standard GCW???
 
Lettuce said:
Just ask him to mark the value on the package down to under £40 (i think is the threshold) and also list it as 'Gift'.
Click to expand...

hm. Not sure about that - a significant enough amount of backers seem to be from the UK, going by the forums. Marking them all as gifts seems like the ideal way to get them seized.

I can see two options:

1. I pledge the extra £15 or so to cover the VAT and send a message to confirm that I have done so.

2. GCW simply mark the cost of the console on the UK invoices a bit cheaper than actual cost so that the overall amount with VAT comes to the advertised £97/$155 amount.

Going by the email, it seems like they're taking the second option. It makes sense, and I don't see there being any issues at customs either.
 
richisawesome said:
hm. Not sure about that - a significant enough amount of backers seem to be from the UK, going by the forums. Marking them all as gifts seems like the ideal way to get them seized.

I can see two options:

1. I pledge the extra £15 or so to cover the VAT and send a message to confirm that I have done so.

2. GCW simply mark the cost of the console on the UK invoices a bit cheaper than actual cost so that the overall amount with VAT comes to the advertised £97/$155 amount.

Going by the email, it seems like they're taking the second option. It makes sense, and I don't see there being any issues at customs either.
Click to expand...

Actually does option 2 make sense? If he marks it at £77.60 (£97 - 20% VAT) so if customs catches it and charges us that 20% to make it £97, we're actually paying £117, since we've already paid £97 to GCW and customs would charge us £19.40 VAT?
 
LordAlu said:
Actually does option 2 make sense? If he marks it at £77.60 (£97 - 20% VAT) so if customs catches it and charges us that 20% to make it £97, we're actually paying £117, since we've already paid £97 to GCW and customs would charge us £19.40 VAT?
Click to expand...

...oh man I don't even know anymore. They need to get a straight answer to this put up onto the kickstarter page. Maybe if enough UK backers ask, they'll decide on the correct action.
 
The import tax is charged to the recipient by the carrier, so when they knock on your door you will have to pay before you can have your goods. Sometimes you slip through the net, and if it is under £40 in total value you don't pay anything. If the sender marks the goods as a gift and customs find out different in theory the sender cash be fined.
 
longnosedgoblin said:
The import tax is charged to the recipient by the carrier, so when they knock on your door you will have to pay before you can have your goods. Sometimes you slip through the net, and if it is under £40 in total value you don't pay anything. If the sender marks the goods as a gift and customs find out different in theory the sender cash be fined.
Click to expand...

Right. So that would imply I stick with the $155 pledge, but be prepared for a £16 or so charge by the Royal Mail?

That's not bad really.
 
richisawesome said:
Hm. I have to admit, im not quite sure how this works. I've ordered plenty things from the USA before and never been hit with any charges.

If customs did decide to add 20% VAT, how would it come about? Would they charge the sender? Send me a bill? I have absolutely no idea.

Either way, would pledging more to cover it actually solve any issues? I'm not too sure.
Click to expand...
Anything over £15 coming from outside the EU is liable to VAT being slapped on by The Royal Mail, on behalf of HMRC. There is no luck involved, read here: http://bit.ly/VSS1nz

The way it works is that they slap a sticker with notice of the bill and it gets held by your local sorting office until you pay up and collect. I recently got charged VAT on a $30 (£19) USB LED that came from kickstarter, which added $18 (£11.50, £3.50 charge, £8(!) handling) to the price.

The best way around this is for Justin to talk with his shipping provider or fulfilment company about this issue, and either accept or nullify the VAT charges beforehand on our belhalf, or allow us to pay them as part of the pledge. That way all charges are guaranteed and nothing will be hidden or unexpected. You can see this approach at: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/impossible/impossible-instant-lab-turn-iphone-images-into-rea

Other discussion, related to the Pebble watch that was funded on Kickstarter: http://forums.getpebble.com/topics/288
They sent 150 test shipments around the world to figure out where charges would be applied. Results still to come in.
I'm guessing with the Zero, early adopters of the SE might be able to provide this data already?

Another way around this is for the manufacturer to import into the EU and reship from within the EU, which is what people like dealextreme and a lot of eBay sellers do.
 
Well ive always asked for an item to be valued at £40 and never paid any tax. What leg does the tax office have to stand on and say how much an item is worth, especially if its a device like the GCW
 
Already past 100,000! Good thing to see first thing in the morning.

tumblr_mgrutqOXRk1rlovqdo1_500.gif


I know Justin and his team are happy

tumblr_mgrutqOXRk1rlovqdo2_500.gif
 
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