none of the phases is my dream computer?

Chat about anything CX16 related that doesn't fit elsewhere
BruceRMcF
Posts: 224
Joined: Sat Jan 07, 2023 10:33 pm

Re: none of the phases is my dream computer?

Post by BruceRMcF »

CapnZapp wrote: Wed Feb 15, 2023 7:45 am If phase I is a completed computer product, what then is phase II and III? I thought the phases was different stages of dev kits along the way to the finished product...?
Words do sometimes mean what they mean. Projects have phases. Designs have generations. A generation produced by a phase of a product may have multiple distinct products based on that design.

So the design team (and any members of the community making development contributions that they adopt are presently in phase 1. The purpose of phase 1 is to design, produce and deliver the Generation 1 design, once dubbed the "Command X16p". That is the "through hole, new production ASIC IC" based design, where that description is "to the extent practicable" ... there is an FM chip that is widely available as good quality parts, so that is used over the alternatives of an FPGA core or not having an FM sound chip at all, there is no through hole, in production hardware sprite and tile VGA video chip available, so the project team went with a video chip "in the spirit of" an 80s era, like a mash-up of the two video chips in a Commodore 128 which was then upgraded. But the 8-bit CPU, 8-bit MCU, VIA, SRAM, Flash ROM, and glue logic are all through hole, new in production ASIC ICs.

If this is successful enough to warrant putting out a cost-reduced version of the Gen I board, then the design, production and delivery of the cost-reduced Gen II board, based on surface mount components where available (the CPU, MCU, VIA, SRAM, FlashROM all are, the YM2151 is not) would be the second phase of the project.

If everything goes well to that point, then making an "as FPGA as possible" -- either a pair of FPGA's of the type used for Vera or a single FPGA that has enough logic and pin resource to add 6502, VIA, YM2151, etc. cores to the Vera design -- plus perhaps 512KB SRAM and FlashROM -- that would be the Gen 3 board and designing, producing and delivering it would be Phase 3 of the project.

The extent to which the boards will be available in a product that includes a case option is up in the air. The design team obviously knows there is some interest in that from some parts of both the Gen 1 and Gen 2 target markets. The original Gen 1 case was not financially workable for production volume reasons, but it seems they may be sorting out an alternative which will work better at the scale of demand for a Gen 1 system with dedicated case. I think it looks cool, but on the other hand I am (hopefully) part of the target audience for the Gen 2 design, since Gen 1 will definitely be out of my price range.

So if the first priority is the case, then the second priority is "real chips", whether or not the subject of the OP is true cannot really be considered decided at this point in time, though for Gen 1 it sounds like the answer will be sorted out sometime this year.

Edit: As discussed in the Official Announcements forum, the design concept for the Gen2 is heading in the direction of looking like a game console, with the single slot being "the cartridge port". That would make the "cost reduced" version also the version that is sold as a complete ready to go unit. Note that that would still be compatible with a 2 or 4 card riser card, but since it would stick out of the box, it would be more like a "multi-cart adapter box" than just a "riser card".
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jedavies
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2023 7:54 am

Re: none of the phases is my dream computer?

Post by jedavies »

TomXP411 wrote: Wed Feb 15, 2023 7:31 pm David has managed to come up with something even better. IMO, this one just screams "80s 8-bit".
case proto 1.jpg
case proto 2.jpg
case proto 3.jpg
I registered just to post this… but these look amazing. I would buy this in a heartbeat, even if it’s in kit form and I need to screw it all together and mount the board. Waiting eagerly for an announcement. What a fabulous project this is. Kudos to everyone for their hard work and talent.
mortarm
Posts: 298
Joined: Tue May 16, 2023 6:21 pm

Re: none of the phases is my dream computer?

Post by mortarm »

Jestin wrote: Tue Feb 14, 2023 6:39 pm There has recently been a new case prototype shown somewhere (I forget where), but I don't know how final that is.
Is this it?
viewtopic.php?t=6499

There was also mentioned a wedge-style case you can 3D print from Thing-A-Verse.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5170783
retro_hamster
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Nov 06, 2023 1:09 pm

Re: none of the phases is my dream computer?

Post by retro_hamster »

CapnZapp wrote: Wed Feb 15, 2023 7:55 am As far as Dave's initial target of 50-200 dollars I immediately understood that to be unrealistic. There simply is no point in tring to replicate the Sinclair way in this day and age. Everybody interested will be in their middle age with disposable income. Inflation also means that $50 is an absurd goal in the year 2023.
It definitely was in 1984. A Sinclair Spectrum+ cost around 180£, or around 250$ back then. Today that would be almost 500$. The C64 was priced somewhat in the same ballpark.

So even if his dream was 50$, the total price for a complete starter system (keyboard, case), would be fairly priced at 400$ today. I mean he is no Jack Tramiel or Irving Gould with own factories, so I don't think the price is that awful.
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