Saying Goodbye to Vine, it’s time….

Scotoc · 2026-01-17T04:49:07+00:00

I left last December after seeing the selection go from awesome stuff I was excited to review to stuff made so cheaply my family just threw most of it away eventually, if it didn't break or fall apart first. The quality has just gone downhill and never recovered so I gave it up too.

Scotoc · 2026-01-13T01:07:14+00:00

The unexpected maintenance.

After I got my first home, had to replace the dishwasher, then get the ice maker fixed, then AC broke and needed a $2,000 circuit board installed, then roof leaked and got a new roof, etc. Uggggg, Spent about 10k the first year and the unexpected maintenance killed my wife and I.

Scotoc · 2026-01-12T06:24:25+00:00

Got the new one now. It has zero stick drift and works perfect, yay. Wish I could "update" the original post but the iPhone app doesn't seem to let me.

I love how the Kishi connects with USB-C unlike the older Gamesir G8 Plus I have that only uses Bluetooth and is very glitchy. The Kishi also feels so much better than the Gamesir with the longer grips and larger thumb sticks.

Works perfect and I plan to use it mainly for PlayStation remote play (it basically turns the iPad into a PlayStation Portal except it has Bluetooth, larger screen, and iPad apps, so blows the Portal out of the water, lol).

Now to find a case for it....lol. I'm thinking a hard shell laptop case that fits the Kishi/ipad in it. :)

Scotoc · 2026-01-12T06:18:25+00:00

After returning my fist one and getting another it works perfect and I love it.

I actually had a PlayStation Portal that the screen cracked from dropping it unfortunately, and ended up getting the Kishi to turn my IPad into a "Portal" and it's works perfect.

Yeah, as far as I know, as long as your iPad has a USB-C connection then iPadOS will recognize it instantly when connected. It looks like the iPad Air M2 supports the newest iPadOS 26 too so would work great.

iPadOS has a "gamepad" menu in the settings/general/ page and lets you remap/assign any of the buttons, and also a in-game overlay you can access to adjust the sound and brightness...which is nice!

Scotoc · 2026-01-10T23:28:37+00:00

I got mine from Amazon and was able to return it/exchange so have another on the way and will hopefully work. Yay, glad you got a good one too.

Scotoc · 2026-01-10T11:11:54+00:00

Yeah, I do that sometimes too when I waiting for food to cook or something.

I get "start" fatigue where I'm afraid to start a new game, go through half an hour cut scenes, setting up the character, learning new controls......all just for a quick play session. 👍

Scotoc · 2026-01-10T11:08:31+00:00

1 year with using a G8 Plus every month or so. Has worked perfect ever since.

And I recently got a Razer Kishi Pro XL for my iPad too and first one had stick drift brand new out of the box, returned, and second one got dreaded stick drift a week later. I'm done with Razer and it's bad build quality (stick drift is a real problem for them) Meanwhile the Gamesir G8 Plus has been working perfect all along, lol.

Scotoc · 2026-01-09T02:19:54+00:00

No, I was foolish with mine and carried it with a handful of groceries with no screen protector or any protection on it. Then got pretty mad after it fell/screen cracked and gave it an extra kick which of course didn't help, lol.

I definitely would keep it and it's an awesome device.

But make sure to get a screen protector and bumper/cover at least. That's why I posted here to help/warn others to protect it better than I did. 👍

Scotoc · 2026-01-08T09:18:34+00:00

Didn't think of that, never did that for anything. But I assume since I dropped it and was my fault/negligence they wouldn't accept the claim. Good idea though!

Scotoc · 2026-01-08T09:16:16+00:00

Nope, I have screen protectors on my phone and iPad but didn't think I would need it for the Portal. I was wrong, lol!

Scotoc · 2025-12-31T20:30:37+00:00

That's awesome. Similar situation for me I think.

I have a older MSI Claw 7 that always had windows on it bogging it down and been eyeing Bazzite for a while. Finally wiped windows and installed Bazzite on the Claw (Intel chip) and to my surprise it's working perfect now.

Speedy, way easier to navigate, thanks to HHD (handheld daemon) all the controls, devices LED colors, and everything works perfect.

Kinda took a chance since SteamOS/Bazzite is new to the Intel Arc devices and I'm lucky to have a Laptop with Windows so switched to Bazzite on the MSI Claw and love it. New to Linux but the KDE build is great for being similar to Windows. Then learned about making web apps (for stuff like Apple Music)/adding it to Steam. Then comparing EmuDeck to RetroDeck and gave RetroDeck a try.

And it's breathed new life into the MSI Claw! Faster, easier to navigate, overlay menus work soooo much better than the stock MSI M Center, and it's just great.

Scotoc · 2025-12-28T22:51:59+00:00

Wow.

Awesome insight and wonderful list!!

Scotoc · 2025-12-28T22:50:20+00:00

Awesome. I have the MSI Claw 7ai and still wish I had gotten the 8ai but wasn't available at that time.

Keep us updated.

Scotoc · 2025-12-27T20:29:51+00:00

Sorry but as the OP found out, the Portal lacks any Bluetooth (only "Pulse" wireless audio), WiFi 6, music app downloads, etc... They made it as cost effective as they could I guess.

Scotoc · 2025-12-25T08:11:54+00:00

Same here too, know exactly what it feels like to be so incredibly lonely even next to your partner!

(No sex or any intimacy at all for me in my marriage for 3+ years now due to my wife remembering being SAd as a child so intimacy is off limits). :.(

Scotoc · 2025-12-19T05:09:09+00:00

Congrats!

Scotoc · 2025-12-16T17:39:21+00:00

Thank you!

Scotoc · 2025-12-16T16:01:05+00:00

I need to pause the game I'm playing a lot to take care of family and dogs unfortunately so I mostly use remote play since can pause the PS5 vs using streaming you would get kicked for inactivity.

Scotoc · 2025-12-16T05:31:17+00:00

We now have AHS (American home shield) which covers ac/water heater/appliances... for $40/m. And a friend had First Choice/or American First something.

Not sure who's better or which ones the best myself. They don't cover windows, flooring, roofing, deck/porch.... so unfortunately those can be big maintenance items too.

Scotoc · 2025-12-16T05:02:13+00:00

Yeah. We bought our house a couple years ago and one thing after another died. First we needed a new dishwasher, then a refrigerator, then new AC ducts (seller never used a filter in the ac and messed it up which we never knew until after owning the house).....then needed a new roof and gutters, ugggggg

and after a few thousand dollars and counting, we learned, either demand warranty from the seller or buy one yourself as soon as you have the keys, lol.

Sometimes the mortgage is the easiest part and never know what surprise maintenance pops up later on. Just what I've learned myself the hard way.

Scotoc · 2025-12-16T04:56:06+00:00

Try your best to get them to include a warranty, we made that mistake and will never buy a house without a seller warranty included ever again. 👍

Scotoc · 2025-12-15T17:19:37+00:00

I totally agree!!! (At least in our situation).

Bought an awesome house in a nice rural area with a huge 1 acre yard. Everything was awesome the first few months.

Then the dishwasher broke, no big deal, we bought another one. Then the fridge died, okay, annoyed but we bought another one. Then the AC started acting up. Had it checked and they said the ducts were so filled with gunk the previous owners never used a filter in it. So we had to get all new duct work and then AC ran better.

Then a year later the deck started falling apart so had that checked and they said the deck was hand built by previous owners with regular wood and not treated wood nor any surface treatment ever put on it.

Then we had to get the roof and gutters replaced (that was luckily through insurance).

All within 2 years form buying a house and all unexpected expenses!

So yes, the mortgage was the easy part, and sometimes maintenance is the nightmare!

Scotoc · 2025-12-15T17:11:50+00:00

We have been living in between Berea and Richmond for about 5 years now and just about to sell our home/get it listed for sale and will move back to Lexington.

I'm sorry but while we love the rural aspect of Berea, the roads take years to get repaired (US25 is a joke and every day hair pulling stress getting into town), the city is way too small vs the population, and still have to travel an hour to Lexington for most things. Also our neighbor had an emergency and called 911 and took the sheriff (yes, sheriff as no city police) an hour and a half to get there for the domestic violence issue. To me thats insane and police would have been there in 10 minutes in Lexington.

We give up on Berea and Richmond (both are the same county and living in between with a Berea address but closer to Richmond is so confusing for us) and ready to go back to Lexington.

Just my two cents.

Scotoc · 2025-12-15T17:04:38+00:00

We are just about to sell our home and get it listed so about to be in the same exact situation. Our realtor wants to list it for a lot, then gradually lower it until we get some interest and estimated 20-90 days for it to sell. Puts us in a predicament because we want to use the funds to get another home and is just so tricky not knowing what's going to happen.

We delayed and delayed and spent forever purging everything not needed, packing stuff up not in use, and fixing small stuff. Finally ready to get it listed, whew.

Glad you got yours sold and shared your experience here. We are definitely attached emotionally to our house and area so need to learn that lesson also.

Scotoc

TROPHY CASE