Black, sexy and menacing...X500 PLUS

[TheDaddy]

Red and Amber LEDs



Blue and Red LEDs









Amiga users just replace the windows keys with the "A[/i]" adhesives from ACube/amigakit....

 

HD video and photos to follow, price soon after that, those who have registered interest will be first in line.

This last black prototype is now my personal machine (ditched the Antec 300 case, 8GB, ATI 5830 1GB card which has served me well until last night)

From the feedback received it looks like the black will be the most requested, later this week I should be testing Mike's fpgaarcade Replay board with it.

I'll keep you posted.

[TheDaddy]

Just updated on one of the guys' request over at amigaworld.

Replaced the LEDs and took two quick photos...(ARGH! the quality of my mobile sucks especially with poor light!)

I can put my hands on amber, red, blue and green LEDs, for me...red and amber, like my old A500 Plus

I'll see if I can find the time to shoot one HD video and take some more pics.

Thanks!

[TheDaddy]

okay, definately need more pictures of the whole thing, more sexiness

Specs?
Price?

The price is not set yet, what I am doing is letting people decide, those who have registered their interest that is.

Why?

Because I've realised that I'll never get anywhere near the development costs (and time) back.

I have completely violated all the laws of economics and entrepreneurship, next time I'll ask Darrin, he seems to know a thing or two about business

So people'll decide the price based on what they think it's worth and what they are prepared to spend!

If anyone is interested email me:

amigarulez@hotmail.com

and tell me what you think.

Specs:

The X500 PLUS case comes in black (which seems to be the one everyone wants) and white.

2mm thick aluminium possibly sprayed in matt black or white (still deciding on powder coating, it sounds expensive!)

Plastic sides and cover

Loads of screws!

40mm silent fan (white and black)

Full size, low profile, chiclet USB keyboard

Internal USB adapter

3.5" USB card reader (black, can't find a matching white ones just yet)

slim SATA DVD-RW (black)

1x braided and heatshrunk at both ends power LED your choice of colour (amber, blue, green or red)

1x braided and heatshrunk at both ends Hard Drive LED your choice of colour (amber, blue, green or red)

Custom made LED window

Rubber feet

Space for up to 3x 2.5" Solid State Drives (these are the ones to go for as they are silent, fast and use little power and don't produce heat) or 2.5" Hard disk drives

Space for a mini-itx board, x86, PPC, you choose (height of heatsink applies) or flex-atx board (only one expansion slot can be used)

1x low profile expansion slot (for a graphics card - up to 170-180mm long)

1x ON/OFF switch (cheap and cheerful, hidden under the keyboard)

I think that is it...

[TheDaddy]

I should get a quote on the powder coating tomorrow,if too expensive the options are:

1) Leave aluminium coloured
2) Bite the bullet
3) Do it myself (but since I am doing most stuff myself I really don't want to primer and spray 20-30-50 cases!)

[TheDaddy]

That sounds pretty wicked. Any formal process for declaring interest at this point? Obviously first come first serve, but I won't have spare cash for a little while anyways.

Just email me here:

amigarulez@hotmail.com

Speak to you soon, thanks.

[TheDaddy]

@Iggy

I did investigate cherry keyboards (I am old enough to remember, LOL!) but I had to say no as they cost an arm and a leg.
The keyboard on its own, just the board and keys would have cost $120!

I can get the chiclet keyboard for $16 and it's quite good, I find it easy to type on and fits with the overall design and colour scheme. Maybe one day, it could come as an upgrade...

Regarding the DVD-RW drives...all the cases will have one then you do what you want with them need to cover the hole as I have no time to also make a cover...I think the drive could connect to via SATA to USB internal adapter, like Darrin says, need to check with Mike though.

I did consider an Apple keyboard but again cost and somehow it felt wrong

This one is good I believe and cheap so a compromise

I'll see if I can find the time to take more photos and maybe a video this week end.

[TheDaddy]

I am divided on this, I love both types although a pure Cherry switched keyboard is really noisy and needs rubber grommets to absorb some of the sound, on the other hand they are precise and perfect for typists and gamers...but they are also incredibly expensive, but they last longer...ah dilemmas! :-)

[TheDaddy]

Don't get me wrong I love mechanical keyboards and I would have gone that way hadn't it been for the price, they are really expensive...if I can get some money back from this project maybe one day

[TheDaddy]

Thanks guys, appreciated.

I'll post some more pics later.

[TheDaddy]

Added two photos of the left side; DVD-RW and 3.5" card reader...

[TheDaddy]

Added the Cola test...