I picked this one up used on Ebay because, well, I'm a chess computer junkie. Specifically, somewhere I read it had a "brushed metal case" and I saw a picture with it's strange looking chess piece icons and thought "Cool, I've gotta have one !". This was in addition to it's main selling point of being marketed as the "most powerful handheld chess computer" First of all, its case is plastic not metal. It does however have an eye pleasing sleek simple design which Mies Van Der Rohe would be proud to call his own. (You'll notice in my reviews I tend to emhasize style, since they all are capable of playing chess) It's build quality appears a ltttle less sturdy compared to the Saitek Maestro. For a price of $250 I was somewhat disappointed. As far as features are concerned, one would be MUCH better off with a pocket PC running Fritz. (admittedly it would cost a little more).
The main reason I like small chess computers in addition to playing games is so I can set up positions from diagrams in books, etc. It's very easy to do with Pocket Fritz. It's a little more difficult to do with the Novag. The screen looks like a GO board as the colors are difficult to distinguish, and nearly impossible with the back light on. Compare that to a Pocket PC running Fritz where one can configure the colors of the board, and piece design. Of course, most people buying this would know the squares and their colors so I guess that's not a major issue. Bishops can get a little tricky though ! The queen/rooks/king/bishop are not easy to distinguish with a quick glance. Still, the "feel" of touch screen is superior to the maestro's which requires a heavy tap. One thing I've noticed is that the NOVAG sapphire and for that matter, the NOVAG Obsidian don't "dumb down" very much. Even at it's lowest levels they both play around 1300, perhaps a bit lower if one turns on the "easy", or "RAND" option. My suspician was confirmed with an email inquiry to NOVAG who estimated it's lowest rating in that ballpark. Usually, people are concerned at how strong computers are, I'm also interested in how they try to make them play like a "dumb human": But unleashed, the NOVAG can play like a Grandmaster ! The Maestro by comparison at it's highest non-tournament fun level (60) would get smoked by the little Novag on it's "easiest" level ! (The Maestro is a lot slower on the higher levels too. To play at an Elo of 1600, the Maestro would be painfully slow, the Novag by contrast could respond nearly instantly. )The sapphire is not overly user friendly, but once you get familiar with the manual, it's functions are easy to access. One thing I wish they had done was have a button on the side for the back light. As it stands, in order to turn on the back light requires one to access a submenu and 8 taps ! Try doing that in the dark when you actually need the light ! Games store by tapping a square, but there's no way to annotate or to know which game is in which square.
In contrast to the Sapphire, a PDA running Pocket Fritz stores games more intuitively, can access a database, has a "tactics" puzzle section etc. There are also features built in to the NOVAG which I would be surprised if anyone used, such as a serial port (anybody seen one in the past 5 years ?) for uploading games to a pc. It also has a video mode when connected to a computer which I have also never used. The NOVAG is much more advanced than the MAESTRO in being able to change hash tables, custom book openings, etc. A nice perk for the Sappire is that NOVAG included a custom, handsome leather case with it and a small pen and pad. (It really is nice, honest !) Coupled with it's indiglo like uniform background and strange looking pieces it does look "cooler" than all my other pocket chess games. If you are someone who is in to attention seeking behavior, then this is the one for you. On the plane to NYC, I had several people ask me what I was playing with. It will, of course, play a wicked and FAST game of chess also. Overall, I've had fun with it, and with the case and unique appearing icons it looks pretty cool.
In Short, What I like 1. Cool looking icons, backlit screen , although "playability" suffers 2. Plays very fast 3. Screen has nice "feel to it" 4. The leather case
What I don't like 1. plays too strong on easy levels for a true novice/beginner 2. Flimsy, plastic case 3. Not as easy as Fritz for setting up positons for study.
The sleek, stylish NOVAG Sapphire. This is what it looks like with the backlit screen off. It is a Ruy Lopez opening. 1. E4 E5 2. NF3 NC6 3.BB5 a6 4. BA4 NC6 5. NF3 BC5 6. d4 exd4
This is what it looks like next to my Ron Santo signed baseball. The fliptop cover is being used as a stand.
And this is how it looks with the Indiglo like backlit sreen on. You can just perceive the difference between light and dark squares.
And here it is in its handsome leather PDA style case with pen. The notepad should be present on the left flap but is missing
Next to the Mephisto Maestro. (backlight was off)