Draxxon Posted February 16, 2020 Share Posted February 16, 2020 (edited) I finally tracked one down at a 5th Dollar General store today. It was back to $40.00. (I also have last years model with the black D-Pad, and the save and replay buttons.) THE GOOD: D-Pad feels great. One game of river raid and I'm convinced it's better than the black D-Pad at least. (I never tried the 1st two versions with the orange D-Pads) But, for the record I was fine with the black d-pad. Its the old shell, like some have said, and I like that it matches my Sega Genesis Portable, but, again, last years model was just fine. But its nice to have two devices that match. The design is slick. At Games nailed the design elements. Only small thing missing is the Atari logo design engraved in the battery door cover like last years, but it doesn't even matter. THE BAD: The larger screen is really nice, but its still a cheap screen that looks fine when viewing from the left, like shit when viewing it from the right. (Just like last years model) THE UGLY: You still cannot add artwork to titles on the SD Card. even though we could with the Sega Portable. Makes no damn sense. Edited February 16, 2020 by Draxxon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draxxon Posted February 16, 2020 Share Posted February 16, 2020 After further messing with last years model, this years model and the 2017 sega genesis ultimate portable, I think its all the same D-Pad and Out Of The Box this orange one is great and last years black one was just fine. It probably varies from unit to unit, I'm sure. And to reiterate, I've never used the 60 and 70 game models with orange d-pads. so I have no idea how it compares to those. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hwlngmad Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 18 hours ago, Draxxon said: After further messing with last years model, this years model and the 2017 sega genesis ultimate portable, I think its all the same D-Pad and Out Of The Box this orange one is great and last years black one was just fine. It probably varies from unit to unit, I'm sure. And to reiterate, I've never used the 60 and 70 game models with orange d-pads. so I have no idea how it compares to those. Thanks for the information and details. It is much appreciated. I have the previous version (2018), and I think I'll just stick with that unless I find the 2019 version at a Dollar General fire sale or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atariboy Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 (edited) They've made no significant changes to the d-pad, so save your money. It's still essentially the same poor design it originally launched with. The system overall was a decent first effort with some flaws and a lot of promise, but has stagnated since then similar to how the Atari Flashback 4-7 were essentially just rereleases of the Flashback 3 with a new name. Hopefully we'll see the handheld get overhauled sooner rather than later since there's lots of room for improvement and it's long over due at this point. After years of just rebranding the Atari Flashback 3 with slight game list changes until 2017, they've shown us that they're capable of making something very good. So I suggest waiting on a true Atari Flashback Portable 2 when they decide to redesign that part of their product portfolio like they've been doing on the console side. Hopefully it will feature a better screen, a far better d-pad, improved buttons (Mine work fine, but they do feel a bit cheap), the inclusion of a recent build of the Stella emulator, and with the retention of SD rom loading like the previous Atari Flashback Portables had. AtGames overall is doing much higher quality work than just 5 years ago, so when they do get around to finally refreshing this in a significant way, I believe it will be worth purchasing as a replacement for our original Atari Flashback Portable handhelds. Edited February 17, 2020 by Atariboy 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draxxon Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 (edited) I will say I enjoy the larger screen a lot. Even if it is the same quality. Last years model had the smallest screen of the bunch, so that was a big improvement for me. I'm also glad for the modern size SD Card support. Not that I need up to 16GB, but those are readily available these days for 5 dollars at Wal-Mart. Things I would like to see in the future: FOLDER SUPPORT FOR ROMS LOADED FROM THE SD CARD ABILITY TO ADD BOX ART FOR ROMS ON THE SD CARD CURRENT VERSION OF STELLA ATARI 7800 SUPPORT Some kind of small spinning knob for paddle games Link port/cable for multi players. Do we even need an SD Card slot anymore? Couldn't the system have the tiniest bit of space on it for game saves and whatnot and the Atari romset could be added to the system itself with the micro usb charge cable and a PC? I mean, the roms virtually take up no space. I'd love Wifi/leaderboards/online play/Achievements, but that seems like a stretch for AtGames at this point in time. Also wasn't there talk of implementing more improvements on these in the past. I remember reading this thread and Bill asking what 7800 games people wanted? I know he kept saying there isn't a market for Lynx and stuff? but with all these buttons on this portable, why not allow 2600,7800,Lynx, hell even 5200 roms and Atari Arcade games to be loaded from the SD Card for the people that want to play those games? I mean, you can play NES,SNES,GENESIS,SEGACD, and ATARI2600 on the Legends Flashback Deluxe. So, what gives? They say there is no market for a Lynx flashback portable system, but I think there IS a market for an Atari Flashback Portable with a wide variety of different Atari system emulators (like Lynx) built in. This years model didn't even get a larger number of games. 80 last year, 80 this year. This years model was a cosmetic makeover (A super slick makeover), and a chance to get one with a large screen. Had it also had 90 games (ten 7800 additions) and 7800 rom support thru sd card. everyone would have upgraded this year. If I was AtGames, I would ditch the "Atari" flashback portable and just make it a "Legends" flashback portable and let people put whatever they want to on it. Keep the same form factor. Bundle a few Atari 2600 games and games from other systems. Sick the Atari logo somewhere on the box with Capcom and data east and shit so people know it runs 2600 roms. Have it support the same systems the legends flashback console does. Edited February 17, 2020 by Draxxon 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draxxon Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 (edited) Almost forgot. This one can run new firmware and update with a "firmware.bin" file, like Kevin Mos3 said. So, it DOES have that going for it. Although, I doubt they will ever release firmware updates, as it doesn't even appear on the AtGames flashback update portal zone whatever page, with the other new units. Maybe I should email customer service and tell them none of my games are showing up in my list after I updated it with a flashback X image and see if they send me a "firmware.bin" file??? Edited February 17, 2020 by Draxxon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hwlngmad Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 19 hours ago, Draxxon said: If I was AtGames, I would ditch the "Atari" flashback portable and just make it a "Legends" flashback portable and let people put whatever they want to on it. Keep the same form factor. Bundle a few Atari 2600 games and games from other systems. Sick the Atari logo somewhere on the box with Capcom and data east and shit so people know it runs 2600 roms. Have it support the same systems the legends flashback console does. I agree. It is time to move beyond the portable playing just 2600 games. AtGames could stand to overhaul and update the handheld, especially considering they are no longer producing the Genesis version. Also, while I agree with Bill in that there is not huge market for Lynx, there is enough that Evercade decided to get a collection for its upcoming handheld. Including the ability to play Lynx games would be nice to include in a unit, that's for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draxxon Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 So, I emailed AtGames and tried to get a copy of a firmware.bin file, but I don't think they even have anything to send me. At this point I probably won't pursue it any further. "Hi Thomas, After further checking with our development team, the system should recover once the SD card is removed and power cycle done. Unfortunately, there is no option to perform the factory reset on this product and turning it on and off should set the unit back to original settings. Is it possible you find the binary file location it was downloaded from so we can investigate at our side and find out what might have caused this unusual issue. Thank you for checking. Best regards," Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draxxon Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 (edited) My camera sucks. I opened up the new portable, The board says "AP3280B_MK1F_V1.0_20190705" and "20190716" One chip says: ESMT M12L128168A- 6T AZN1P83TX 1832 The other says: MXIC L183341 MX29LV64DEBTI-70G SD007900A4 So, I'm guessing we can't get neo boot loader working on this as it is not a RedKid chip but instead a Monkey King (rockchip)??? Edited February 18, 2020 by Draxxon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draxxon Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 So, I pressed the issue, and there is no firmware.bin file available. Hi Thomas, Thank you for the follow up. Please note that there was never update released for the Atari Flashback Portable Player on our website so we suspect that probably the website it was downloaded from might have damaged the unit. Atari Portable should play the games that are uploaded on the SD card (with correct format) without any firmware update. We would like to offer you a replacement, however, we don't have this unit available in stock. Would you be interested to receive a version without wood-graving as a replacement. At the meantime, we would like to retrieve your unit back for checking. Please let us know. Best regards, AtGames Customer Support Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legend Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 I managed to get the 2019 woodgrain edition from the Montgomery Wards website for about $50 with shipping. Just arrived in the mail and charging now. Anyone know if the compatibility of games is the same as the 2018 edition? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arenafoot Posted March 12, 2020 Share Posted March 12, 2020 11 hours ago, Legend said: I managed to get the 2019 woodgrain edition from the Montgomery Wards website for about $50 with shipping. Just arrived in the mail and charging now. Anyone know if the compatibility of games is the same as the 2018 edition? The "Firecore" emulator is exactly the same from the 2016 handheld thru the 2019 woodgrain, so my ROM pack will work on all of the AtGames Atari Flashback Portables. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indogerman Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 Hello everyone, not sure but maybe someone could help: is there any replacement battery available for the Atari Flashback Portable? Or maybe something similar that would work? Many thanks for help ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minorleagueguy Posted November 3, 2021 Share Posted November 3, 2021 (edited) On 1/12/2021 at 8:14 PM, Indogerman said: Hello everyone, not sure but maybe someone could help: is there any replacement battery available for the Atari Flashback Portable? Or maybe something similar that would work? Many thanks for help ...looking for the same...having a hard time finding a battery...and while im asking..can anyone put the 2600 roms on a SD card for me? im not very tech savvy...lucky i know how to turn on my computer..lol...tahnks in advance..Matt Edited November 3, 2021 by minorleagueguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiddlepaddle Posted November 4, 2021 Share Posted November 4, 2021 Who else is having problems...are all these batteries going bad already? I still use mine fairly regularly, but haven't had any problems recharging yet... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hwlngmad Posted November 8, 2021 Share Posted November 8, 2021 On 11/3/2021 at 8:24 PM, fiddlepaddle said: Who else is having problems...are all these batteries going bad already? I still use mine fairly regularly, but haven't had any problems recharging yet... No problems recharging mine either. Though, I don't use it that much, but I do still enjoy it for sure and wish I could get the woodgrain version. Tried and failed to get one the other day on eBay. Still going to try and get one if/when possible. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minorleagueguy Posted November 12, 2021 Share Posted November 12, 2021 On 11/3/2021 at 9:24 PM, fiddlepaddle said: Who else is having problems...are all these batteries going bad already? I still use mine fairly regularly, but haven't had any problems recharging yet... ....yup...tried charging again...nothing..looking to buy another handheld if one pops up...strange that even ATGAMES doesnt sell batteries to their own systems... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubikz Posted December 3, 2021 Share Posted December 3, 2021 Looking for help on bin files on SD card. They load fine on my Atari Flashback Portable (80 game edition) but appear to be in random order. Not sorted alphabetically, by date, by size. Don't see a pattern , looks random. I tried reaching and don't see ay threads related to this. Figured I'd ask for help. Any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arenafoot Posted December 4, 2021 Share Posted December 4, 2021 6 hours ago, rubikz said: Looking for help on bin files on SD card. They load fine on my Atari Flashback Portable (80 game edition) but appear to be in random order. Not sorted alphabetically, by date, by size. Don't see a pattern , looks random. I tried reaching and don't see ay threads related to this. Figured I'd ask for help. Any suggestions? AFP FAQ's are here: https://atariage.com/forums/topic/258970-atari-flashback-portable-faq-and-compatibility-list/ My comprehensive review is here: https://forums.atari.io/topic/2796-long-awaited-atari-flashback-portable-is-here/ @rubikz what you are looking for is listed on #9 under "Notes" (an alphabetical sorter - that is the one I used when I did my original ROM pack in 2016) Let me know if it works or you still have issues. Brian 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bfstats Posted December 4, 2021 Share Posted December 4, 2021 To rubikz: Trust Brian (Arenafoot) on this. I have an AFP and his ROM set. Great stuff! 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draxxon Posted December 4, 2021 Share Posted December 4, 2021 (edited) they are in the order you put them on the drive in, correct? by date/time? Edited December 4, 2021 by Draxxon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arenafoot Posted December 5, 2021 Share Posted December 5, 2021 22 hours ago, Draxxon said: they are in the order you put them on the drive in, correct? by date/time? the DriveSort program will let you "sort" by alphabetical order then save it, you should have all the games sorted (by the Long name) on the SD card after this 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jgkspsx Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 I added some new games to the Atari Flashback Portable that would not show up for me, and sorting the drive fixed it, for whatever reason. I suspect I may have lost some of the existing games I had (since it's still 103 pages and the last page still has the same number of games on it) but it will do for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex_MX Posted June 1, 2023 Share Posted June 1, 2023 On 3/12/2022 at 7:39 PM, jgkspsx said: I added some new games to the Atari Flashback Portable that would not show up for me, and sorting the drive fixed it, for whatever reason. I suspect I may have lost some of the existing games I had (since it's still 103 pages and the last page still has the same number of games on it) but it will do for now. How many games do you have on your flashback console? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jgkspsx Posted June 4, 2023 Share Posted June 4, 2023 On 6/1/2023 at 3:00 PM, Alex_MX said: How many games do you have on your flashback console? All of them? (Handheld, not console) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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