January 7th, 2010
Is this just another one of Rubik’s Inc.’s last breath, gimmicky, non-turning products like the Rubik’s 360 and the Revolution? Read on to find out. (Click on any of the pictures below for the full size. The blues, whites, and yellows didn’t come though on the camera so well I touched them up as best I could. The side that looks white in the picture below is actually very blue, it’s the LED’s I think.)
If anything tells us that we’re in the future it’s the Rubik’s Touchcube. If anything tells us that the future is imperfect, it’s the Rubik’s Touchcube. Most people will immediately say it’s multitouch, that’s not entirely true, it only supports one input at a time (monotouch?), rather than making a two finger swipe of R L’ the quicker way to do this is to swipe M. It’s not always responsive of course, I found you can make the same move R by tapping on the top right then the bottom right sticker/square, and a U by tapping the 3 o’clock edge sticker then the 6 o’clock one. OH GOD WHY DID THEY EVEN ADD THAT GESTURE?! Seriously now, I didn’t even realize I could do U without turning the cube to another side until I read the manual more closely. I would much rather see a gesture that swipes the first layer on one of the vertical sides. But meh.
That little diagonal line you see is a small ridge on the charger I actually never noticed before, huh. Anyway while charging it’s really mesmerizing, it just does random turns as far as I can tell. When its low on battery the whole cube flashes red accompanied with a series of tones. That red light on the charger also turns green when it’s at 100%. I don’t know exactly what the battery life is yet, it charges rather slowly though. The position from when you put it on the charger to when you take it off is saved though, so if you’re trying to invent some crazy algorithm and it runs out of batter the position will be saved.
I realized I never said anything about the size of the cube in my video review. The Touchcube is off is the above picture, it’s sandwiched between a V-Cube 5 and a Type A DIY. So it’s actually somewhat of a handful.
Once again THE VERDICT: if you have $50 and want a unique item in your collection that you’ll be sure to play around with every now and then it is fun. Then get it. Otherwise if you’re not really the collector type, or you’re very serious about cubes that actually turn then don’t get it, your call this is all just my opinion.
Tags: cube review
Posted in Speedcubing | 12 Comments »
February 26th, 2009
This is a little over due now, the video that probably made you want to go here was filmed maybe a week too late, like I said, I filmed over it. All the challenges and stuff I did last week prevented me from making the ones I really wanted to. So then here are my full thoughts on the V-Cube 5 (the black one mind you, not white… black).
The scructure, design, and turning clearly takes from the V-Cube 6, or rather the other way around. The whole internal mechanism is one large spherical structure allowing the pieces to smoothly rotate around them. The outer edges click a great deal for the amount they turn, I’ve seen a mod reversing this effect if necessary, apparently its the corners, but it doesn’t really bother me at this point I can still easily cut corners, without the fear of it exploding unlike the Eastsheen 5×5 and the Rubik’s 5×5. Matter how I turn it I really can’t get it to pop like a normal cube. As the picture below shows.
You can do some wierd stuff with it
Needless to say, because it’s not popping it’s rather tight right now, I have only gotten a few sub-3 times with it in the past week. Despite this, the turning definitely makes up for this. Doing the centers and edges has never been so fun as I can cut the corners in a whole new dimension without it popping (again, as the picture shows). The stickers have the same qualities as the 6×6 they chip a little bit (as the picture here and the one below does) but at least they don’t peel like Rubik’s brand ones do.
The biggest con, and the most frustrating one yet that I’ve encountered is some weird oily stuff that was already in the cube, I have no idea what this is or how it got there. What I am certain though is that it’s not just because it’s black. I’ve gotten messages from people on YouTube asking me what to do about their excessively oily cube. So apparently I got it on a minor scale, but despite my cleaning efforts I can’t really get it out right now. I have an idea to run all the pieces but the core through my dishwasher, but not sure what effect that will have on the stickers. So if anyone knows anything about that then comment it below and I will be grateful.
So in conclusion: if you have big hands, you can’t get a good Rubik’s 5×5 to work out for you, and you are frustrated with the limiting turns on an Eastsheen. Then you should consider getting this if you’re going to pursue this puzzle more competitively. After I started to average <6 mins on the 6×6 and <1:30 mins on the 4×4 I really wanted to get my times between 2:30 or 2:00 at this point those times seem very far off but the V-cube seems to be a pick in the right direction, it just needs to be looser for me right now.
To finish I’d like to touch on something a little older. I’ve read a lot of comments on my original V-Cube 5-wrong-color video when I received the wrong product, saying that white is actually better? I cannot deny or confirm this, I don’t have a great amount of cubes or time to experiment this concept. I wanted black because I really like the classic look and I can recognize the contrast between the colors more easily. Sure I have some white cubes (a Minx of the Pyra and Mega variety, and a 6×6) and they work fine, but when it comes to the 2xx-5×5 I really can’t use anything but black effectively. I furthermore don’t see why a white cube would be faster, if you present some scientific evidence behind this I might believe you (like coefficients of friction and chemical reasons why white cubes are faster) and consider switching to white cubes.
An Eastsheen 5x5, the V-Cube 5, Rubik's 4x4, and a Rubik's 3x3
Tags: cube review
Posted in Uncategorized, Website | 7 Comments »
July 9th, 2008
Before I start I’d like the revise a statement about the 6×6 tutorial in the video. I might make one, I’m considering a written guide rather than a video tutorial as its more common of a medium for communicating How-To’s. So I’ll make the final decision on that later.
If you’ve already seen my most recent video on YouTube then you already know the majority of my opinions about this cube. What I wasn’t able to mention were the things that I’ve found out on the second day of owning it.
To start, this cube isn’t perfect, no cube is there are some cons and pros I wasn’t able to list in the initial review due to that I only wanted to have an hour to try it out and make a video of it showing my true first thoughts on this product. It’s a little over 24-hours since I made the video, and despite the cons and pros I’ve discovered over the last few hours, my opinion that was expressed in the video remains unchanged.
Discovered Pros:
- You can cut corners like a pro without popping: As mentioned in the video this cube is extremely sturdy and takes a lot to pop it significantly. The only limit is how willing are you to push this characteristic to it’s advantage. Even on the second day of owning it I still move the sides rather cautiously, but at least twice as fast since yesterday.
- Without lubrication, it’s still pretty fast: (wow that’s dirty) Like any cube it can be worn down, and is naturally adjusted to your solving style, this cube does exactly that.
Discovered Cons:
- Like a Rubik’s 5×5, the center corners occasionally twist: This is the scariest con I’ve discovered, anyone whose seriously tried a Rubik’s 5×5 knows of the curse of the center corners twisting and sometimes breaking. You’d think that this fear completely carries over to the 6×6. However the two pops I got today are reassuring, closer examination of the center corners reveals that they’re built totally different than a flimsy Rubik’s 5×5′s center corners. So while they may not break (phew) they still twist (awwww).
Yes, I only discovered one con. The final thing I want to write about is why I only got the 6×6 and not a 5×5 or 7×7. There are several reasons behind this. For one, I already have a 5×5, it’s not very fun, somehow the 6×6 with all it’s parities is. As for the 7×7 this one’s a no-brainer for me, as much as I’d like a massive cube with pillowed sides, if the WCA introduces any of these cubes into competition, It’s most likely going to be the 6×6, due to it’s size and the time it would take to solve it, i believe that the the 7×7 will not be introduced to competition.
So there you have it, hope you’ve enjoyed the the pictures that came with this post. Keep cubing!
Tags: cube review
Posted in Opinion, Speedcubing | 6 Comments »
