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Operating System Specific Discussions => Other Operating Systems => Topic started by: TheRogue on September 23, 2011, 05:21:53 AM
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Hi guys,
I am in the process of ordering a ZX Evolution (aka ZX Evo, PentEvo, PentEva) from the manufacturers in Russia. The ZX Evolution, for those unfamiliar, is the greatest Spectrum clone of all time. In the USSR, and later the Russian Federation, the spectrum was very popular. The Russian speccys are VERY different from what we know in the west though. They have numerous enhancements, including much better graphics modes and so on, and there is tonnes of software to go along with the hardware. The two major Spectrum compatible lines in Eastern Europe are the Pentagon (and it's successor the ATM Turbo) and the Scorpion. The ZX Evolution is compatible to both. It is an FPGA based miniITX motherboard, and when shipped is in Pentagon/ATM Turbo 2+ compatible mode. With a ROM change, it becomes Scorpion compatible. The specs are as follows:
- Z80 3.5 MHz (classic mode)/ 7 MHz (turbo mode without CPU wait states)/ 14 MHz (mega turbo with CPU wait states);
- 4 Mb RAM, 512Kb ROM;
- MiniITX board, 2 ZXBUS slots, power ATX or +5,+12V;
- Based on fpga (Altera EP1K50);
- Peripheral MCU ATMEGA128;
- PS/2 keyboard and mouse support;
- Floppy (WDC1793) Beta-disk compatible interface, IDE (one channel, up to 2 devices on master/slave mode), SD(HC) card, RS232;
- Video out: RGB, VGA (scandoubler);
- Sound: AY, Beeper, Covox (PWM);
- Original keyboard and joystick support;
- Tape interface (in/out);
- Real-time clock.
If people are interested, I can see about making a large order from the manufacturers. The price I am paying is $130.00USD plus $30.00USD shipping to Canada.
In addition, there are two hardware expansions available, the NeoGS General Sound/MP3 ZXBUS card, and the TurboSoundFM 12 Channel (6 channel AY/6 channel FM card) dual YM2203 sound card. The NeoGS is $80.00USD and the TSFM is $30.00USD. The manufacturers website is http://nedopc.com (http://nedopc.com/).
When in scorpion mode, all of the features of a Scorpion ZS 1024 turbo+ with ProfPZU ROM expansion are supported.
Based on this, is anyone interested?
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Having had one of these babies for a while, I can say that it's a really nice piece of equipment, and for that price it's a really cool deal.
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Just a quick update. NedoPC has put my parcel in the mail today, so depending on the speed of Почта России and Canada Post, I should receive it soon. Videos and pictures will follow shortly.
In the meantime, Here is a demo that really shows what this hardware can do. This demo was written for the Pentagon 1024SL, and as such will run on the ZX Evolution. It uses the NeoGS sound card as a hardware accelerator, and the TurboSoundFM for sound. It really is a good example of why this hardware kicks some serious ass. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYmyuF2UVWg
And just so everyone is clear, the NeoGS sound card brings MODs to the ZX Spectrum, in addition to hardware acceleration if a programmer chooses to use it.