Saitek MK12 trainer

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kosterix
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Posts: 81
Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2017 11:35 am

Saitek MK12 trainer

Post by kosterix »

I just got a Saitek trainer, the black and white thing from http://www.spacious-mind.com/html/mk_12_trainer.html, for very cheap, from some yankee. Included was.. everything.

Contrary to the information on space mind, the first thing you'll notice is
- the totally unhelpful manual.
- the batteries 4xAA do not fit. You can circumvent this by using 3xAA + 1xAAA, which is a bit weird
- it does not have 16 levels. It has 8.
- after pressing LEVEL it is unclear which is the weakest level. I played a normal party, took my time, it kicked my ass. Perhaps it has a permanent brain, i.e. it thinks in my time. No information on this on the Internet that I can find.
- However, in the end game, while it was overpowered with a rook, bishop and whatnot, it made a mistake which led to stalemate (a draw), something which baffled me. Perhaps it plays weaker if I play faster, with only one piece (king) it is easy to play fast.
- the LED lights are VERY faint. I'm sure it is good at conserving battery power, but in normal daylight you have to search for what move the thing is trying to convey to you. Also at castling it beeps unhappily if you move the tower after you moved the king.
- pieces are magnetic, feel fine (just like the star aquamarine pieces), are plastic, and the whole board is quite small (same size as star aquamarine).
- the control buttons are flat, not real buttons, and you really have to apply pressure on them.
- overall play style is a bit boring.

All in all, it feels a bit cheap. I'll put it against the novag star aquamarine, just for fun, but I think I can already tell which one will win.

It seems information on chess pages is not very reliable. Perhaps the target audience is old, inept chess computer collectors that don't actually play chess and have trouble using the Internet. I value different things in life, foremost real life experience to warn/inform.

EDIT: in the aforementioned space page is shown an actual match "EXCALIBUR E-CHESS & CHECKERS, LV 16 - SAITEK MK 12 TRAINER, LV 4":
I take it that the Saitek MK-12 won.
Does this mean that its program is strong?
Or is the excalibur so weak?
No comment.
Strive for avoiding anything flat that emits light. Love the unhackable chess computer with real pieces and a tactile feel. I do not collect, I live.
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