Alex indicated via email that they were working on addressing the screen issue since so many were getting broken. He didn’t say exactly what they were doing though. That’s why I’m guessing they might have paused shipping them. I’m not sure if they’re going to use a different case design, if they’re sourcing different screens, or if the screen manufacture will be modified to have more reliable ribbon cables or what. I’m also not sure what that means for those of us who got ours early, beyond that they’re shipping us a new screen. I hope we can also get whatever else might be changed without ordering an entirely new device. (Though, I guess no matter what happens, the safest option will always be to have a separate device for each module you might want to use…)
Whatever they decide to do, I think it may be better to be in the group of folks who haven’t received their devices yet, because they’re probably going to get the new revision of the hardware (whatever that means) as a complete package. They’ll also acess to more usable/mature software by the community, though that means missing out on some of the early troubleshooting and opportunities to figure out how to get stuff working. That’s the tradeoff with these sorts of things – it’s exciting to receive it early, but we’re also essentially beta testers so hardware issues can mean more difficult solutions. Clockwork has good customer service though and has always made good on it in the end. The only other major thing I remember in the past (which didn’t affect me personally, but was mentioned on the forums) was the black uConsole shells – the paint was flaking off and I’m pretty sure they sent out new cases made with a different process to everyone who got the early units that were affected. Other issues seem to have been more isolated, like uConsole case milling issues, or maybe a defective main board, etc.
That’s another reason to not buy from scalpers – no way to receive support. Whatever initial orders of PicoCalcs they bought will have this issue too, and without an invoice number received from Clockwork, anyone who buys that stuff will be out of luck.
UPDATE: Just received a shipping email from Alex for the replacement screen. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone else mention that, or mention receiving it. So maybe that means whatever pause in production has resumed, or is resuming soon.
Ideally the screen should clip into the front/top half of the case, and the main board should also clip into that…
Also, there is a bit of board flex near the bottom which makes typing not as enjoyable. Filling the large gaps under the battery holder (with batteries installed for max gap!) fixes this problem. I used le hot snot.
I didn’t even know this was a preorder. The site mentions nothing about it taking months for delivery. I am glad I checked the community site, I thought I just lost the money I paid. Is there a time line that was disclosed? I contacted support with no response.
Do you think, it’s a good time to order a PicoCalc now then? Have most issues been discovered and resolved or do you think one should wait for a couple months? The only real hardware issue I’ve been hearing is the cracking of screens. Anything else that I’m not aware of?
The screen issue is also the only one I’ve seen mentioned on the forums and discord. So I don’t think there’s a reason to wait.
Note that if you’re in the US, or otherwise affected by it, the tariffs may be a problem for the price, as it probably won’t arrive before that goes into effect. That’s the other thing I’ve seen people discussing, but they’ve ordered already and haven’t received it yet and are considering cancelling so they don’t have to pay double the price, or whatever the tariff cost might work out to be for them. Some mentioned considering scalpers as their inflated prices still might be less if it arrives before the tariffs go into effect. But a risk with scalpers is that you won’t get any support/replacement parts if needed (since you won’t have a valid Clockwork invoice), not to mention supporting that bad behavior.
Those who have a PicoCalc already, where was it shipped from ??. Mine was apparently waiting to be picked up by the shipping agency, now ‘sent to the shipping agency’
If you buy a uConsole you should post here instead Update: uConsole shipping related - #3189 by Iblowatsports
While I’m not defending that they take time to deliver, its very known that clockwork products have very long delivery times, on the webpage when you buy it says that it can take up to 90 business days. It can be sooner or it can be longer…
That’s understandable and I knew that when I bought my uConsole, but there is a big difference between “approximately 90 days” vs the 8 months (and counting) it has actually been
That doesnt bode well for 345xx orders ! (mine also placed March 14th). Word was that last year they moved to new premises and took on more staff so you’d expect orders to move much faster
I just purchased mine last week. I’m in the US. Am I just throwing my money away to something I’ll never actually receive. With tariffs looming, and shipping halting between the US and China, what are the odds that I’ll actually receive product?
6 Months?