Fanatec Podium Direct Drive Wheel Bases Thread

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Fanatec...
DD1 and DD2 were produced first and shipped by sea. The Racing wheel was too late to make it in time for the April release so we decided to use airfreight. Now the Racing Wheel arrived first but we will start sending out DD1 and DD2 next week as well.

The new software suite for the Podium Wheel bases is mandadory. We added new features until the last moment and now the final version is under testing. The firmware and driver is ready of course so you can play without limitation.

Should we have deleyed the shipment and ship everything on the 30th of april as advertised?

We wanted to get out the bases asap and ship earlier as we did not see much benefit to wait. The wait was way too long anyway.
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Maybe you should have also shipped DD1&2 bases by air? That way you would have ensured all of your customers got their base as soon as possible.
 
PzR Slim
Maybe you should have also shipped DD1&2 bases by air? That way you would have ensured all of your customers got their base as soon as possible.
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As long as people in the first batch get them on or before the date given you can’t really argue with that.
 
I’m in California and have the PS4 version ordered. I was hoping to get a shipping notice tonight but so far nothing. Hopefully have it for this weekend. Anybody in the US get a shipping notice?

Thanks to Fanatec for shipping the PS4 versions by air to get them to us on time. Appreciate the effort.
 
People need to stop finding anything to complain about. Fanatec said 30 April. If people receive it before then, then great for them. Be happy, DDx's are coming - it is an exciting time.

You can't expect Fanatec to spend all their money on air-shipping all the DD wheels. The DD-PS4 is also due 30 April, obviously they are struggling to keep up with demand on Podium Shift Modules, and literally missed the boat. They took a cut out of their pocket to meet the promised 1st-batch customer deadline of 30 April. Fanatec already took a further considerable cut out of their pocket on the DD pre-orders by providing the very generous voucher. We don't want to send them broke, otherwise we will have to find another company to complain about.

As a software developer & business owner myself, here are my 2c:

Software: Fanatec have no reason to release the software early. They would have had a version ready in December if they needed. It probably would have had some bugs. With the new April 30 version, there will still be minor bugs, tweaks required, there will be future firmware & software updates (same as other wheel bases). This is the way things work these days - phones, games, TV's, printers, nearly everything!

Each version of the software requires internal testing. They are doing this now to the current version and will be checking the new tweaks implemented / bugs resolved don't lead to any other unforeseen issues. We have already seen the wheels in action, so don't stress. Firmware & drivers will always be evolving.

Kill Switch & Mounting: Yes, it is unfortunate that information has been limited with the F1 2019 wheel, the pricing on emergency kill switches, mounting brackets, etc. As a company, image if you have 1000's of DD1 orders, then people decide to upgrade to the DD2 once they realise the price of kill switch plus extended 5yr warranty brings them near the price of the DD2?

Say Fanatec released the information & pricing last week
1) Imagine now how many of those DD1's who might decide to change to DD2. Fanatec staff would be backlogged changing everyone's orders. They may not have time to change orders before some ship - leading to more unfair complaints about Fanatec being incompetent. It would also throw off the quantities being shipped to each part of the world.

2) How many who want to change their order would then realise they loose their pre-december 2018 pre-order voucher. People would be complaining left right and centre about that. - clogging up support even further.

It is difficult to release many new products at the same time. December/Jan was the F1 2018. Feb was the Clubsport V2. April/May is the DD wheel base series. June - July will probably be podium modules, kill switches & mounts. August - September + will probably be new steering wheels. End of the year will probably announce new Podium Peddles pre-order for 2020.

We are early adopters. Accept what you have purchased. Be happy with what you have purchased. Delays are common. Let Fanatec enjoy developing and pushing the boundaries with simracing rather than having to deal with constant negativity.
 
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motoman617
I’m in California and have the PS4 version ordered. I was hoping to get a shipping notice tonight but so far nothing. Hopefully have it for this weekend. Anybody in the US get a shipping notice?

Thanks to Fanatec for shipping the PS4 versions by air to get them to us on time. Appreciate the effort.
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I’m also in the US of A with a PS4 DD coming by the end of this month and no email either by Fanatec nor UPS/FedEx

I didn’t even know they were being shipped early since most of my day is gone refreshing the Vive Index Reddit for any info leaks
 
It is longer than the main body of the wheel base though going by dimensions.

Considering it is 480 watts, I am not sure what else people were expecting? My Alienware laptop had a 250 watts power supply that was was ~200mm long and weighed close to 1 KG.
 
PzR Slim
I just saw the UPS man drive past the office and for an instant thought it might be here!
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kikie
Don't let Fanatec get in your head. :D
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Ha, ha. Was a big mix of emotion yesterday to initially think they were shipping but then to realise it was only the PS4 bases was a big come down. I've wanted a DD wheel for years and been so tempted to buy a DD wheel over the years from different manufacturers but always stuck with Fanatec as I've been with them from the very beginning and love their products so feel very loyal to them. So this wait has seemed much longer than just the time since the Fanatec DD wheels were announced. Just want to get my hands on a DD wheel to see what all the fuss is about!
 
Happy for you guys but also annoyingly refreshing my inbox every couple of mins :boggled:
I will be honest - having trouble getting any work done because of all the hype :dopey:
 

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