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chumbysphere forum → Chumby, the Device → New Chumby 8 for 100 euro in Finland
Hi,
In Finland a shop called Verkkokauppa is selling Chumby 8 devices for 99.99 euros. I am now using two Chumby One devices but would prefer a bigger screen. What do you think, is it worth to buy these Chumby 8 devices?
I also have understood that the Chumby 8 will have an Internet browser, that I really have longed for on my Chumby One devices!
Best regards
Kentsu
It is a personal decision but it would be worth it to me.
Just be aware that Chumby devices are no longer supported, so that would very much be an "as-is" purchase. That said, the community is still alive and well, so you can always come here and ask around if you have any questions 
I agree with both responses. If you want it, get it. On our forums, search for info on Zurk's excellent "offline" software as a backup in case Chumby's servers ever go down.
Blue BuddyBuy it! I'd buy two if I could. Just so you know, the ChumBrowser is pretty basic- reminds me of a basic browser on a feature phone. It works, but it doesn't run like a widget- it's not part of a channel. Hard to explain, it's fun but limited. But overall the C8 is great! Wait till you see how your favorite apps look on the big screen! It's so much better for the interactive widgets and games. A lot of the clocks, weather, etc, you can really see clearly across the room. The fact that it takes SD cards opens up more possibilities- slide shows look good on the C8, you can (hopefully) put a clock and/or calendar overlay on the pictures.
As DoktorJones mentioned, I think this Chumby community is going to be around for a long time. There's been tremendous activity *after* the company closed up. Besides, I'm sure you could re-sell the thing if you don't like it. Used ones are selling here for about 2/3 the original price. Remember, there will not be another production run. Go for it!
Ok, thanks for your advices!
So, i now ordered this Chumby 8 from www.verkkokauppa.com:
Good luck with it! Feel free to stop by if you have any questions or problems
Hi again!
I to day (15.9.2012) got my new Chumby8. It is a great device because my favorite apps, like weathers, news and pictures from my wlan-cameras (Foscam) now looks much better on the much bigger screen.
But, I must say that the ChumBrowser was a little bit of a disappointment. I do not now how to integrate a particular web-site from the browser to one of my Chumby channels?
Blue Buddy@magnuken- Sorry to hear you're disappointed with the browser. That's pretty much exactly what I tried to prepare you for. The browser's not going to integrate with a channel. It runs as a different environment by itself, kind of like when you run a slide show from an SD card in the C8. They're not widgets, they're additional features besides the channels.
There actually is a widget related to the browser. It's called "webpage." But all it does is open the browser for you to a particular URL. After that you're using the browser alone, you've got to exit it to go back to your channels.
As I said before, the browser is fun but limited. It does get you on the web to your bookmarks if you don't want to turn on another device. I'd guess it would have been developed more if the company stayed in business longer, but priorities changed.
The functions of a browser are actually working "behind the scenes" in some ways on the C8. It's a two-way device, you can change your widgets and settings from the C8, without having to go to your account at chumby dot com on a computer.
Enjoy the rest of the features of the C8, the bigger screen, stereo speakers and all, and hopefully you'll see the ChumBrowser in a different perspective. I'm glad otherwise you feel it is a great device. I think you'll be very happy with it.
Hi,
I do not worry any more about this crap Chumby browser. The widget "Webpage" will satisfy my needs.
Instead I am very pleased with this new C8 and its large screen, my favorite applets looks in this machine very much better than in my old Chumby One. This, especially because my eyes are not any more so good due to my age.
Also the stereo sounds and the possibility to change widgets directly from the C8 machine are very pleasant features.
Best regards
Kentsu, Finland
I am glad you are happy with your purchase. I don't think I would be so hard on the Chumby browser. It was never meant to be as full featured as the browser on your main computer. While it does have its limits, it is a useful tool. I myself have used it a few times (with a usb keyboard) and found it will usually get the job done. I am glad you found a widget that will satisfy your needs. Chumbys are adaptable little devices.
I hope you get many years of service from your new purchase.
Glad you're enjoying your Chumby, despite the web browser not quite being what you'd expected of it
Hi, one question:
How to reload a channel to Chumby 8 after I have done changes to it with my PC? In Chumby One there is a reload button, but it seems that C8 is missing that. Now I reload my C8 by power the device off/on.
The C8 uses a different web services API than the C1, which included a notifications mechanism - effectively, when you made a change to the widget configuration on the server, it would post a message for the C8 to inform it of the change, and the C8 would poll the server frequently to see if it had any pending messages. That meant that the "reload" button was basically unnecessary.
However, when Chumby closed down, those of us trying to keep the systems up were in a mode where we needed to minimize the server-side costs to extend the lifetime of the system. The polling, while individually a lightweight cost to the system, was actually a significant portion of the bandwidth costs due to the sheer volume of calls for all of the C8 (and, at the time, dash) devices.
We had to throttle back the polling frequency from a minute or so, to hours, which is where it is now - in other words, it used to take the device well under a minute to detect a server change, now it takes hours. We felt this was a reasonable tradeoff because modifications of channels is actually a relatively rare event, but the we were eating a lot of costs by the design that treated them as frequent.
So - where we're at now is that at the moment, you have to reboot the device to detect channel modifications on the C8.
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