Customer Reviews

SUDOKU Handheld Game

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I did a lot of research before buying an electronic version and this game and this one seems to be the best one. Other than no backlight, which I don't really care about anyway, this one is great. The game is all controlled with the stylus. Just touch the empty slot with the stylus and touch the number you want in the slot. It's that simple. It has three levels of play with an endless supply of computer generated puzzles. It even has 400 pregenerated unique puzzles. And an added bonus is that you can take a puzzle from a newspaper or some other source and enter it into the game to solve electronically.

This particular unit has been around awhile (I also have one from London branded "number puzzle"), now rebranded by Franklin for an American release.

First, there is no backlight.
Second, some of the puzzles end where two answers are both correct, which drives some Sudoku purists nuts.

But these are the Only drawbacks.
The unit fits well in the hand, and is easy to use. You can put in your own puzzles, pause, Undo, and toggle sound.

I cannot imagine having a Sudoku handheld game whose screen isn't fully a touchpad, and which doesn't have the ability to put in puzzles from your favorite source! And I can't imagine I'm the only one either!

Nice size, good mode of entry. However, I have two complaints. The first is that some of the generated puzzles have non-unique solutions, which means that logic takes a back seat to guessing. The second is that there's no provision for pencil marks. Pencil marks are the ability to keep track of which numbers have been eliminated from a square. For example, the downloadable Sudoku games available for the Palm system offer this--you enter the available numbers, which appear in smaller font, arranged 3 X 3 in each square, and delete each number as you logically eliminate it.

Looking at the hardware, I can see why they don't offer pencil marks: each box is a 7-segment LCD, so it can only display full sized numbers. The Palm screen, on the other hand, is bit mapped to about 320 X 320 (depending upon your model) and can display many different fonts in many different sizes.

My wife says my dogs bought it for me for Father's Day. I think she helped them wrap it, however.

I bought the unit for my husband who is a big Sudoku fan. All is good except that the font of the puzzle is way too small for him, so I don't think he even finished one game. I tried it myself, and it became very tiring for my eyes after a while. We are very disappointed, but I still gave the product three stars, as I think it's a good concept, but just not right for us. Someone with young eyes may find it good.

There are too many puzzles that have more than one solution and a feature to write in numerous choices until you can eliminate the others would be a nice feature, especially for the puzzles that have too many ?correct? solutions.

Good product but I'm disappointed that it's not possible to write down temporary solutions using different font or color like in some online sudoku games.

The Franklin SDU-320 can not be used by me because the letters are far too small to be readable. At max contrast, all right hand information is illegible. Glare on the screen makes use doubly hard. I regret buying this item. After about one hour, unit went into the solve mode and will not leave this mode.

I only had this item for two months before it broke. One entire row stopped working. I tried resetting and it worked for one game. I also do not like the fact that it does not have a backlight.
Almost every game ends with four numbers that are interchangable. I will be tryng another brand.

The unit is perfect for beginners. Easy games can be solved by simple process of elimination. If you just need a quick Sudoku fix on the bus or waiting room, it's a great way to spend time. However, if you are an experienced player who wants a challenge, this device may only be a source of frustration.

It offers three levels of difficulty, but only Level 1 games are playable on the unit, because it does not permit listing of candidates for each box (which is an absolute requirement to progress to medium or hard levels.)

The unit comes with a stylus for the touch sensitive screen, and will also work with your fingernail or other pointy thing if you lose it. Also, the unit will remember the state of your game so you can continue it later. The screen is roughly 2.5 inches square. The numbers are a bit small, and the menu choices are tiny. Even at maximum contrast they're not at all dark like in the example photo. There is no backlight, so in low-light situations it can cause eye-strain. (A minor point; my unit has a gray number bar, unlike the photo.)

I've been using this device for about a week now, and I enjoy it for what it is. Reading the manual is a must, if only because you will want to turn the sound off immediately. (And because you won't be able to hear the music, the manual explains how to visually tell if you have solved the puzzle. It really isn't obvious when you've successfully completed a puzzle when the sound is off.) There are several features detailed in the instructions; but don't get too excited about them! The majority of them are useless in this version. One interesting feature is a game-solver; you can enter the numbers of your puzzle and the unit solves the game for you.

I bought this for my dad who sits three hours a day three days a week in a dialysis chair and can't do anything usefull. My mom got him hooked on Sudoku and i thought this would be a great toy for him to use while he is a prisoner of dialysis.

I didn't know how SMALL....no, tiny, it was.

I give this five stars because it isn't a bad product. Buyer be ware, it is small for those (like my father) who are hard of seeing