Weighing nearly 1lb in the black leather zip-case, this new touch screen model has a more substantial look and feel than previous Excalibur touch screen computers.  Upon installing the 2 AAA batteries and turning the computer on, you'll hear a greeting in one of three languagees - a woman's voice - English, French, or German, whichever you choose. You can turn the sound or voice on/off and everything you need to know is also shown as text or scrolled as text across the text portion of the screen.

I do not know the battery life, however similar units will usually last several hundred hours. If anyone knows feel free to post that here. The leather case is very nice with a smooth working zipper, inside pocket, and stylus holder.

I played one game against it and lost badly. I am rated about 1900 and this computer is rated at 2000. The level tested was 40 moves in 60 minutes per side. The computer moved within a few seconds for the first few moves, then it slowed to using about 20 seconds and up to a few minutes later in the game. It was a very realistic opponent considering the level I chose.

Talking Touch Chess has six level styles. Beginner, Fixed Time, Sudden Death, Tournament, Ply, and Mate. Each level has various time and length of game options. You can also assign a fixed time per move, or fixed time per game.

The Book Opening Trainer feature makes it easy for you to learn any of 32 different openings. It will train you in the correct moves for these openings.

It offers numerous other playing features such as Piece Training (mini games with special positions for you to play out), Ratings, Game Setup Mode, AutoPlay and more.  It offers Player vs. Player mode as well.

The closed leather case measures 7" x 4 1/2" x 1 1/4". The computer itself is 6 1/4" x 3 1/2" x 3/4"

One year warranty. Available for purchase now