Pocket Duck?

[Linnie]

Did anyone have these growing up? They were an offbrand Gigapet-like device and really cute.

Unfortunately, mine is broken. I want to see if I can fix it... but I don't have much for digital pet repair skills!

(Let me know if you are selling one. )

 

[Penguin-keeper]

I've never heard of the Pocket Duck before, so I wouldn't know where to find one, but I did just look up a video review of it, and it turns out that it's a Nano-clone - and a super-cute one, too! What a great virtual pet!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOux6Hmxo-o

What's wrong with yours? Maybe someone around here can provide some pointers on trying to get it working again?

 

[Linnie]

I've seen that video too, that's how I was able to identify mine since it doesn't have any markings (at least, not anymore!)

Mine's orange and I remember it working exactly the same.

Well, I remember one line of the screen's pixels died, and now it won't turn on at all. I'm not entirely sure why.

 

[Penguin-keeper]

Well, I remember one line of the screen's pixels died, and now it won't turn on at all. I'm not entirely sure why.

Unfortunately, that's beyond my level of expertise.

I really hope that someone knows if anything can be done, though - it'd be a real pity to go to the trouble of finding a replacement if the one that you already have can be repaired, after all!

 

[Linnie]

Looking around the forums, I'm going to try seeing if it's the batteries not sitting correctly in the case.

I'm also going to see if there's a way to open it up without damaging said case, and see if there's anything lose. Something seems to move around in there.

I wasn't the nicest to the thing when I was a kid so who knows what I did. That was 20 years ago now.

 

[Penguin-keeper]

I'm also going to see if there's a way to open it up without damaging said case, and see if there's anything lose. Something seems to move around in there.

Good luck with this!

I've had to open up a few of my virtual pets due to unresponsive buttons, and I can say that they're never difficult to open - just make sure you've got the right size and type of screwdriver, enough time to take it slowly, and the space to lay things out. And make sure to put the screws on a table in the positions that they're meant to go back into the case! That way, you can't get any of the screws mixed up.

Also, be careful when you pry the two halves apart, as there's invariably a wire that's soldered to the speaker, which will bridge the two halves of the casing. Just go careful around it so that nothing tugs on it or breaks it, and you'll be fine.

Last of all, don't be alarmed if the innards of the screen "come loose" - they're usually not attached to anything, and normally just make physical contact with a particular spot on the circuit-board, whilst being held in-place by the shell. With this in mind, just take care not to drop this part.

 

[Linnie]

Speaking of unresponsive buttons, I need to open up my V6 to investigate it's buttons, haha.

I got all the screws out except one really badly stripped one. Not sure what happened there, since it's not one you would regularly unscrew. Makes me wonder if I had asked someone to try to fix it when I was a kid and I don't remember.

Visually nothing seems to be wrong so far so it's a puzzle.

I'd just buy a new one if I could find them anywhere!

 

[Jhud]

Sadly all v6's have unresponsive buttons, it's just a quirk this version has. You'd be lucky if you got one with good buttons.

 

[Linnie]

Sadly all v6's have unresponsive buttons, it's just a quirk this version has. You'd be lucky if you got one with good buttons.

Dang, that's disappointing. Mine's so unresponsive I can't play any of the games with my band.

 

[Penguin-keeper]

Sadly all v6's have unresponsive buttons, it's just a quirk this version has. You'd be lucky if you got one with good buttons.

Has anyone ever tried the old trick of using a pencil to scribble on the backs of the little carbon-pads inside the buttons, to see if that would help? Or is the unresponsiveness down a design-flaw, instead?

 

[Penguin-keeper]

I'm very sorry to double-post, but I just discovered that this virtual pet was also sold as "My Little Duck". One has come up for sale on eBay, here.

My apologies for the large image, but I think that it's important to preserve this information while it's still available.

Unfortunately, it sounds like this version of this virtual pet has controls that are slow to respond.

Still, Linnie, if you're still looking for one of these, this should hopefully provide you with another avenue.

 

[Linnie]

Oh wow, looks like it has the same guts, just a different shell. Going to keep a look out for those!

 

[TamagotchiTreasury]

Hmm. I have a duck in my collection too. I'll share pictures of it later.