BrainRook.com

As a user of this hand held for some years, I believe its yet to be surpassed. Although there are two main models on the market that compete hand held chess computers, they don't quite cut the mustard in terms of the facilities of the Maestro. It has backlight settings for poor light conditions and contrast settings for better visibility. Besides that it looks like a great piece of kit, feels good in the hand or pocket and performs well for even senior players. The contenders are: the Novag Ruby hand held chess computer and the Excalibur Talking Touch hand held chess computer. The formidable Novag Ruby looks like a minature tank in maroon colour (whoever designed that needs a slap), and the Exalibur, whilst excellent for graphics, has a major downfall of not having a backlight and contrast settings. Saitek'#s example could be improved for the strength of the chess engine with an improved processor, but for the majority of players it's going to thrash them every time. If you're looking for one of these chess computers, look for engine strength, generally measured by ELO rating (1400 is low, 1600 is good, 2000 is almost unbeatable), price, graphics, and light/contrast settings. On most counts, the Maestro beats competing chess computers beats the competition into a 64 square hat box.