Minimig PCB run - interest thread

[narmi]

Count me in too, I'd like a board that is at least partially assembled (SMD components at a minimum).  I like the idea of making the board miniITX sized, but it's not that important to me because I'll probably make a custom case for it.

If you sell unassembled kits, it's best to include all the parts because buying parts in small quantities is expensive.  If you buy them in large quantities it will save money for all the buyers.

[narmi]

I thought about this for a bit, and have decided that I like the 12x12 board size better.  I'd prefer to buy a board with some improvments made, the improvements suggested by Dennis, as well as pin headers for the serial port and joystick ports.  The video, power, kb, and mouse ports should probably be on board at the back (short wires = less noise).

Would it be possible for the final schematic to be posted if and when the big order is placed?  If some of us wants more boards in the future we can have them made by Futurlec or some similar company.

EDIT: forgot to mention, that having a SO-DIMM socket (or similar) in place of the onboard ram would be awesome.  I know I've got a 32MB SO-DIMM around here somewhere.

[narmi]

I was going to do the laser printer transfer myself, until I printed the layout and realized how many vias there are, and how small they are.  They all need to be drilled, and connected on both sides of the board.  I'll have to see if I can find a small enough drill bit first.

The other problem is parts, some can only be purchased in large quantities.  The SRAM appears to be obsolete, which is an even bigger problem.

[narmi]

Adding composite/s-video output would take up precious board space.  You need several components in addition to the encoder chip, including some large electrolytic capacitors, and possibly one or two clock sources.

[narmi]

Xenepp wrote:

As I said before there are two flavors of order, bare PCB or pre-assembled, but the pre-assembled boards are going to be limited to 5 per run. There is no limit to bare PCBs obviously.

 -Joel

Is there any chance you might sell kits?  i.e. board + all parts?  I don't mind doing the assembly myself, but sourcing parts for just one board is not easy or cheap.