Commander X16

After seeing Perifractics video with the great advances he made with the casing design (thumbs up!) an idea popped into my mind. I'm sorry if this has already been discussed and dismissed (I didn't find a reference to that).

I wondered whether there would be interest in a flatter version of the X16 case. It would then only have room for a single expansion card (through a riser board) of course but it would be much flatter and more compact. Possibly many people will not require all slots. Idk, the idea of a more portable unit holds a certain appeal to me. Am I alone in this? Has this already been discussed and dismissed? Would such a casing possibly be even cheaper or would it be more complicated?

After seeing Perifractics video with the great advances he made with the casing design (thumbs up!) an idea popped into my mind. I'm sorry if this has already been discussed and dismissed (I didn't find a reference to that).
I wondered whether there would be interest in a smaller version of the X16 case. It would then only have room for a single expansion card (through a riser board) of course but it would be much flatter and more compact. Possibly many people will not require all slots. Idk, the idea of a more portable unit holds a certain appeal to me. Am I alone in this? Has this already been discussed and dismissed? Would such a casing possibly be even cheaper or would it be more complicated?

Splitting the options especially during startup is expensive. Even if a smaller case was used it does nothing unless the board is smaller too. So now you are talking two versions of the board. Making more variations is always more expensive as a whole.


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14 minutes ago, Lorin Millsap said:

Even if a smaller case was used it does nothing unless the board is smaller too.

The board can stay exactely the same. I'm simply thinking of a casing that is less high.

The board can stay exactely the same. I'm simply thinking of a casing that is less high.

The case is already less high.


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10 minutes ago, Lorin Millsap said:

The case is already less high.

I might have phrased that in an unclear way, please excuse that. I meant a design for the casing that is less high than the current design, by using something like a riser card:

 

I was wondering if such a design were attractive and acceptable to the potential userbase even if it meant less expandability at first.  Also I wondered whether that could result in a lower entry price.

I’m gonna so no it’s not useful or attractive. The team is not seriously considering that route. Especially as it does not reduce the footprint. Necessity is the mother of invention. Here there is no necessity to reduce the height.


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11 minutes ago, Lorin Millsap said:

Especially as it does not reduce the footprint.

If it does not help bring the price down though, I also see little use of considering this.



I was reminded of the route from the Amiga 1000 to the Amiga 500. Of course the Amiga 1000 was the better computer, but the A500 sold better as a product, even though it offered less capabilities in term of expansion.

After seeing Perifractics video with the great advances he made with the casing design (thumbs up!) an idea popped into my mind. I'm sorry if this has already been discussed and dismissed (I didn't find a reference to that).
I wondered whether there would be interest in a flatter version of the X16 case. It would then only have room for a single expansion card (through a riser board) of course but it would be much flatter and more compact. Possibly many people will not require all slots. Idk, the idea of a more portable unit holds a certain appeal to me. Am I alone in this? Has this already been discussed and dismissed? Would such a casing possibly be even cheaper or would it be more complicated?

Thanks for the thumbs up. What you are describing is some thing we discussed and debated at great length internally about six months ago. Long story short that is likely what the phase 2 design will be as I showed in the video. The case is less tall but may still allow for a right angle expansion card inside, and possibly and external expansion card adapter to allow for cards to sit outside the machine, like those C64 cartridge port expansions. [emoji106]?️


Perifractic, X16 Visual Designer
http://youtube.com/perifractic

Just seen Perifractic's video and I have to say that this ticks all the boxes for me. Expandability is paramount; that's what kept me glued to my old Apple II back in the day.