Vonset L6 Questions

Hi,

Looking at the Vonset L6 (or maybe P6) to teach family members how to play.

I was wondering if anyone knows:

 - Once you turn off the sound, does it remember the setting for next time you turn it on?

 - What kind of battery does it have inside? Is it something I'm likely to be able to replace myself when it inevitably dies? I'm competent with a screwdriver and soldering iron

 - I know you can get different pieces that are more easily distinguishable, but has anyone tried simply painting the stock pieces?

Thanks

Hi,

L6: when turned on, all previously set parameters are restored unchanged. The battery is 1600mAh rechargeable Lithium, without friendly access for maintenance: opening the box is required (which I did not dare to do, so far).

My 7yo grand-daughter is found of playing it; anytime she comes home, she asks for it. Her preferred feature is the colored highlighting of target squares that helps her choosing a destination for her raised piece. She still needs some supervision help to avoid messing up with a move: you can't slide a piece across several squares, as the device registers the first legal place reached. The piece must be raised up before going back down on the target square. She has no issue with the design of the chessmen, despite playing with more usual ones at school.

Thanks for the info. Yep, it's the lighting that makes me think this will be a good teaching tool.

I'm hoping that there isn't actually much other than a circuit board, battery and a few magnetic switches inside...

I have one of these. Strange unit, but very strong for a dedicated computer. I'd estimate close to 2500 at its highest level (22). Another oddity is that it makes its moves instantly, regardless of the level set, so you won't really be able to think on the opponent's time, so it's probably not the best if you want to play timed games—still, a powerful unit for the money. I love the DGT Centaur-like e-ink display. I bought some magnetic wood pieces to replace the bizarre pieces. Please ignore the incorrect placement of the black King/Queen. I think I was sleepy when I setup the photo.

Hi everyone,

I've now had the L6 for a few weeks and wanted to share my thoughts in case it
could help someone else looking to buy.

The main reason I liked the look of this board was the lighting and it did not
disappoint. Really useful for learning and for showing the CPU's move at a
glance.

I can confirm that the sound can be turned off and it stays off even if you
turn the unit off and on.

I really like that it's totally offline and doesn't require pairing/internet
access.

The review mode is super cool. You can re-watch a game up until a point of
interest and press "play" and it will light up the board to show you how to
place the pieces in that configuration, then you can resume playing from that
point. I've found this useful for learning how to "fix" blunders that I've
made after a game has finished.

I wasn't sure if the little e-ink screen was going to be worthwhile, but
actually it's quite useful for scenarios where you are (e.g.) taking back a
move and forgot what goes where.

It's also a very capable foe. I'm not very good at chess. I can only get up to
level 10 before it basically thrashes me every time. Dread to think what level
20 is like!

I hope that the battery can be replaced when it dies, but I'm not going to open
the unit until the time comes.

All in all, I like it!

There are some things I'd improve though, if I had power to:

- It would help if the CPU's move was shown on the screen (ideally both
graphically and in notation), because in bright sunlight you can't see the
under board lighting very well.

- I'd like options to make the CPU "ponder" its move. Because it moves
instantaneously, I find that it makes the pacing of the game faster than it
needs to be, and that makes me feel rushed. Maybe you can have an option to
make it ponder between X and Y seconds depending upon how "hard" the AI
deems the position (where X and Y are configurable)?

- The "please put back that WHITE pawn" voice clip is a thing of nightmares.

- A random bot colour mode would be neat. Currently you have to choose white or black manually.

- The scoring system isn't very well explained in the manual. I think it's similar to the scoring on chess.com, but the unit of measurement can't be "pawn's worth" like on chess.com.

- If you start a game in "white bot" mode, then decide you want the bot to be black, you can change it in the settings, but it won't take effect until you hold "play" to start a new game. But there's no feedback that a new game was started. Maybe flash the board to indicate a new game has started?

- Similarly, when the game is over, it's not very obvious, especially to a beginner who failed to spot the check mate. Could we flash the side who won or something?

- This is already being fixed for newer builds I think, but the transparent pieces aren't the most visible.

- Sometimes when I power it on the settings reset to defaults (bug).

- Up and down are reversed in some menus. E.g. to go up a level, you have to press down.

@vonsetchess Would you be interested in maybe fixing some of these items? I'd be happy to test beta firmware (I assume you can flash the board over USB somehow?).

The Vonset L7 is already out, with improved, standard pieces, piece recognition, and a wood-like board. I can't find any reviews from people who actually own it, though.

Just to follow up. I didn't hear back from @vonsetchess, neither here, nor via the email I sent them shortly after (regarding the persistent crash+resets).

Prospective buyers: please factor this into your purchasing decisions.

@TracySMiller did you have any issues with yours resetting and forgetting its settings?