Received a notification with the shipping details. I reside in Hong Kong, and they ship from Dongguan so it is really near.
Is the usb c on the mainboard tied to the usb on the pico so that you do not have to have the unit open to flash the firmware to the pico? Any information on initial setup would be appreciated. Thanks
I had a crazy week at work so I havent had time to play with it. As far as I can see, the USB-C is for charging the device and micro-USB is for the connecting the PICO for flashing.
Would anyone be interested in me writing a review of the PicoCalc ?
Well, that does not help people all over the world. I order from Amazon in 2 days because I am in US and the distribution center is maybe 20 miles away. The average waiting time for a devterm was 6-12 months; for the uConsole was about the same (a bit less if you order without the Pi module, but still way more than 90 days advertised), so there is no reason to think that the PicoCalc will take less time for most people on average
Yes please!
20 characters.
The docs appear to have been updated to confirm this.
Thanks for the picture. The button I need to push during the flashing process should be visible and accessable via the grid on the top of the picocalc.
At least with the PicoMite firmware installed if you connect a serial terminal to the USB (I assume the micro-USB on the Pico) at 1200 baud then that signals to the Pico to go into bootloader mode without having to press down the BOOTSEL button.
… also I assume you mean the grid on the bottom of the PicoCalc; from the photos the Pico is mounted such that the BOOTSEL button is pointing towards the underside of the unit.
Thanks for the correction.
@kowloonjew, I would not mind seeing a review.
I ordered my PicoCalc on the 12th March and I got an email this morning that it’s been despatched to the UK.
I know you’re sceptical because of the uConsole debacle but I feel many people are failing to realise that due to covid there was a shortage of supplies. If you order it without the CM4 then it will come quicker but it seems to be the CM4 that’s holding everything up now whereas during covid it was a multitude of parts plus issues with manufacturers. With that said, some of us have been around since the GameShell Indigogo days (their first product many years ago) and none of the device deliveries were every as bad as the uConsole. Things also take time. They’re a small group of people doing the best they can and creating good products. Although, I do agree that the customer service in terms of notifications of what’s happening can be better but other than that, the customer service has always been fantastic when I’ve needed it.
If things have changed, that is fine; but keep in mind that both my orders arrived after almost a year. While I would consider the pandemic as a reason for chip shortages, I would also remind that the pandemic was 5 years ago; in the meantime we got over it and the distribution chain got re-instated since 2022.
So yes, if you bought something duing the pandemic or right after the pandemic, there was shortage; after that, what happened is that there has been disregard towards pricing things appropriately, so many OEM in China ended up not wanting to pay extra for the parts that few years ago would cost X amount of money, and slowed down production.
Same for distributors that preferred to lower output of goods instead of paying more for ICs (you all remember RPI modules sold for 2-3 times their price, I am sure; Pi zero sold for 60dollars when the MSRP is 8 dollars…). And that is fine, I would not ask people to lose money over my order. But at least tell me… At least change the conditions and terms on the website so new customers can see what they are getting into.
Giving a refund after months if you ask for it, is not a viable way to run a company; especially if you think that I can invest money I get in advance and make profit out of it. Feel free to send me for 3 months or a year, your money; I can put the money in a fund with growth between 5 and 7% guaranteed and make a profit with money I don’t even ever own, as they are for transactions of goods.
Not saying that this is what CWP does, but MANY companies have been doing this game, getting preorders for months and then release the product, making extra income out of it. Again, that is fine if you TELL ME about that Then it is up to me if I want to participate in these shenanigans or not,.
Still today you see 3 months wait time for uConsole and Devterm… We can probably count in the 10-15% the amount of users that do not live in China, that get their device in 3 months or less. Waiting is fine, as long as things are clearly outlined, because nobody likes to be handled like an idiot after being supportive of small business.
@thedarted, I am with you on this, we are long passed COVID and the supply chain problems. I understand that it is getting difficult to acquire CM4’s, but that means it is time to update their product. Even 90 days is too long in this day and age, no one should be taking my money and not shipping the product for 3-12 months.
Ordered when ?. Will give me and others an idea when ours might be shipped.
I have ordered it on 12th March
I installed luckfox lyra on picocalc. Now it’s powerful enough to do a lot of things.
I just got LCD driver and keyboard driver working.
Out of curiosity, what can you do with it besides calculator? What kind of limitations did you encountered?
Great. Which system do you run?
New to this unit, copying the u2f file to the pico from windows does not seem to update the firmware. I can mount it as mass storage, but after a new firmware file is uplpoaded, nothing happens. Booting the Pico goes back to the stock mmbasic firmware. sure I am missing somethign.