XPost: alt.sega.genesis   
   From: bel@whipassgaming.com   
      
   > I thought I'd just post some current observations about the Sega Nomad   
   > as a current user.   
      
   It'll be the first real post this group has seen in a while....bravo!   
   Will crosspost this to RGVS as it's every bit as relevant there, and the   
   three people who still check it from time to time will probably be as   
   thrilled as I am to see it.   
      
   > I bought the system a few months after its initial   
   > release and I bought the Nomad-specific battery pack about a year later.   
      
   I used to own one...and back in the day I got a lot of mileage out of   
   it. On the road, at work(shhhhh) and just about any other place that I   
   didn't or couldn't have a full blow Genesis unit up and running. Thing   
   is, after I got my first laptop and started messing with emulation, the   
   Nomad almost instantly got put to the side. It wasn't that it was no   
   longer interesting, but that I didn't want to have to lug around this   
   thick-ass unit, however many carts I could fit in the carrying case, the   
   power brick, etc...especially when I could just simply take my laptop,   
   it's power supply and a Saturn controller(with USB adapter) and have the   
   entire Genesis library at my disposal.   
      
   That's not just the Nomad either, the Game Gear really only sees any   
   play when I'm sitting in bed and don't feel like getting out the laptop.   
   Said laptop has killed a lot of portable gaming systems for me.   
      
   > First of all, the Nomad system still works.   
      
   Indeed.   
      
   > The D-pad and buttons still   
   > respond without any evidence of missing a button press, the LCD and   
   > backlight are still working with only a small amount of image retention   
   > seen when the background is really bright. Some vertical scrolling games   
   > are showing some minor blurring when the screen pans left to right, but   
   > objects are never blurred to the point of having trails, so that's   
   > probably just the way a passive matrix LCD behaves as it gets older, I   
   > suppose.   
      
   My biggest issue with the LCD screen, and it's the same way with every   
   old school portable that uses that type of screen: The sort of vertical   
   ghosting. It's hard to explain...but let's say your on a completely   
   black background and your character is wearing some sort of   
   lighter-colored clothing. You'll get this sort of light "beam" coming   
   down from the top of the screen that goes all the way through your   
   character and then to the bottom of the screen. Like the pixels your   
   character has somehow messes with the vertical field he's standing in.   
   Nomad does it, Game Gear does it, original Black and Green GameBoy does   
   it, etc.   
      
   > I do need to find a suitable screen protector for the screen, because   
   > the surface is showing several small and thin scratches that are very   
   > visible if the screen is angled just right.   
      
   Oh man, isn't that shit the worst? I replaced mine a few times, and have   
   done so with the Game Gear as well.   
      
   > I definitely don't want any   
   > deeper scratches in that screen, since replacing it won't be easy with   
   > the system well out of production. I also don't want  numerous of air   
   > bubbles trapped between the screen and screen protector, and that's the   
   > problem I've had so far with several of the universal cut-to-size screen   
   > protectors.   
      
   The actual screen plastic replacement isn't too hard...and I would think   
   that finding one of those cell phone "armor" sheets that would fit   
   wouldn't be too tough either. Try to get one of the ones you can peel   
   and re-set as they tend to go the distance.   
      
   > The cartridge slot still has this issue where if the Nomad is somehow   
   > shaken, the cartridge will shake and the game will lock up.   
      
   Yup. Every-single-fucking-time. Man, that's all I used to hear about   
   when I'd let people play it at work. It got to a point where I wouldn't   
   let anyone borrow it just due to the incessant whining that was sure to   
   follow due to that issue.   
      
   > This is IMHO   
   > a design defect but it is easily fixed--using some sort of spacer fixes   
   > this issue. (I just cut some thin flexible plastic to use as a   
   > spacer--the cartridge is inserted first and then the spacer is inserted   
   > behind the cartridge and still inside the cartridge slot to keep   
   > everything rigid.) Every so often--after removing a cartridge and   
   > inserting another one--I'll have to remove and reinsert that other   
   > cartridge two or three times to get the game to load properly. (Once   
   > that's done, I'll put the spacer behind the cartridge and begin playing   
   > the game.)   
      
   Ugh, sounds like a lot of work.   
      
   > I've not yet had any cartridge totally fail to read, but I do   
   > have an odd situation with a Two Crude Dudes cartridge where it has to   
   > be inserted so the contacts are only halfway into the cartridge slot,   
   > not fully inserted into the cartridge slot. However, that also applies   
   > to using that cartridge with an actual Genesis system as well, and is   
   > not specific to the Nomad, so I figure it was just some weird   
   > manufacturing variance with that specific cartridge.   
      
   Could be. I had similar issues myself.   
      
   > For the built-in speaker, the volume has to be turned up at least   
   > halfway to hear clear sound, except for extremely quiet environments.   
   > The sound from that speaker is monophonic, and the speaker quality   
   > really isn't that great. Using headphones is much better.   
      
   Yeah, that was the other thing people whined about back in the day.   
   First it was "Genesis audio sucks dick", then with the Nomad it was "I   
   wish I could turn it up more louder!!!11!!".   
      
   > Headphones can be connected so the sound is much improved and that also   
   > allows for stereo sound. The headphone input still works too, with sound   
   > still heard from both the left and right headphone. Better quality   
   > headphones give a better full range sound. It's also very easy to turn   
   > up the volume very loud to enjoy the sound, but then turning up the   
   > volume too loud seems to seriously reduce battery life.   
      
   Oh man, don't even get us started on battery life in the Nomad...   
      
   > Also, turning   
   > the volume all the way up seems to drive the amp into near clipping for   
   > distorted explosion type sound effects, so it's probably not a good idea   
   > to turn the volume all the way to maximum also to avoid possible hearing   
   > damage later on.   
      
   It seemed to crackle a bit on mine as well, when turned to the max.   
      
   > Battery life, I've had about 6 to 7 hours of battery life from a full   
   > charge of the 1600 mAh Nomad battery pack--still working that many years   
   > later--and about 8 or so hours from fully charged 2000 mAh NiMH   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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