X500 Plus Black Edition Promo Video

[Darrin]

@ The Daddy:

I think you need to set a minimum price so that you're sure to recover your costs and then ask for people to "leave a tip" if they wish.

I don't like to play guessing games on prices and I'm not going to subsidize someone else who low-balls you to get one.  I want to pay a fair price and only you know that.  

[Darrin]

Quick photo of the FPGAArcade Replay board inside the X500 Plus, loads of space for messing about

Looks great.  Put me down for one.

[Darrin]

I've asked this fine engineer to reserve me one at least 3 or 4 times! I just don't know how much to pay?! Plus, I may have missed some posts of what it comes with.... PSU, Optical drive, etc.... What config are the internal components (see previous question) supplied? I suppose at the end of the day it doesn't matter... except for ONE thing... if a guy wants to drop in a SAM460, can he use BOTH his SATA card AND Graphics card? Probably not.

Hold the phone!!! The FPGA board is available to buy? Well, my SA460 already has a nice home.... How do I get an FPGA board? The price of admission for an X500 case is worth dropping in an FPGA period!

Hey Uncle Darrin?.... will you buy me one?  HAHAHAHAHA...  J/K  :rofl:

Yep, we need some hard numbers now.

Questions I see:

How much?  (We don't want to guess)
Do we have to have the DVD drive?
How does the keyboard connect to the FPGA arcade (cabled passed through the back and plugged into the PS2 port I assume).

Any more?

[Darrin]

Is there a way to connect the X500 keyboard to the Replay inside the case?

I doubt it unless you're into cutting wires and soldering.

[Darrin]

I wonder if it would be possible to connect it to the Replay's USB header/port somehow? Would definitely make for a cleaner install in the X500.

It would need a redesign.  Here's a pic showing both sides of the FPGA board.  There's no easy access to the PS-2 lines that I can see:

http://technabob.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/fpga_arcade_board_detail.jpg

[Darrin]

Darrin,
The board has a small patch array at the top for extra IO. This can be used to drive the LEDs and probably the USB. I have a small microprocessor inside the FPGA running the PS2 interfaces, and I am working on modifying this speak USB. Then, either an external passive adapter on the PS2 connector, or the pinheader, could be used to connect a USB mouse/ keyboard.
A quicker solution is an i2c or spi to USB bridge which I can bolt on.
Cheers,
Mike

Excellent.  Sounds like a great plan.