Contaced a Factory in China about producing a run of fully populated Mini-migs

[Tomas]

I am definitely interested unless it ends up very expensive, so that is one more potetential buyer.  ;-)

[Hattig]

50,000 units might be a big stretch!

1,000 ... yeah, I think you could shift them over time - enough to be profitable, especially if someone developed a C64 core, an Atari 8-bit core and an Atari ST core, and it came with some licensed games. I guess you could even get a Megadrive core implemented... but you'd never get any games.

But for orders being taken via web forums? 100 assembled boards, maybe 200. But better to take a risk with the V1.1, whereas you would probably want the V2 design complete for any larger run.

However a company might decide to fabricate the Verilog into a proper chip with a 68k core, and create a proper product out of it. FPGAs aren't cheap, but a <20mm^2 chip is, made in suitable quantities. Again, let's get V2 designed first!

[little]

... but you'd never get any games.

That is why I think that for version 2.0 it is important to add a floppy drive connector (and maybe a usb connector for a cd-rom). It would add legitimacy to the proyect, people could not say "it is a machine that can only run pirate copies". Just thinking out loud :-)

[amigakid]

I am interested in about 3-5 boards.  Keep us informed.

[guru-666]

ever wonder why America economy is in bad shape........
We don't DO much anymore.....

sad

[whiteb]

What is it with people and "OMG gotta have USB".

You will need around 200Mhz for USB, Then you want IDE, 128MB of ram, AGA and all that, why not just Design a totally new board.  Oh and yes, of course you only want to pay US$30.

[Crom00]

 Oh and yes, of course you only want to pay US$30.

This is a limited run specialty item. We would have to produce hundered of thousands of units to get a price that low.

Factory is working on the quote as I type.

Cheers!
 :-D

[tonyyeb]

I think the target price for a 1.1 fully assembled should be no more than $150US (around £75 - £80GBP). Not too expensive but getting closer to a relistic mass production cost. But of course until we know real figures it still all pie in the sky stuff.

[downix]

little wrote:

... but you'd never get any games.

That is why I think that for version 2.0 it is important to add a floppy drive connector (and maybe a usb connector for a cd-rom). It would add legitimacy to the proyect, people could not say "it is a machine that can only run pirate copies". Just thinking out loud :-)

USB won't work, it demands too much in the way of CPU resources.  HORRIBLE design from the onset.  Firewire is better in that regard.

Incidentally, I have been working on modifying the MiniMig for a basic ATA controller, which means viola, HD and CD-ROM's are now an option.  But yes, we do need an Amiga floppy disk controller.

[little]

What is it with people and ... USB".

IMO at some moment people will get interested in adding compatibility with CDTV, CD-i, Sega CD, NeoGeo CD, Turbo CD, etc. so an interface to plug a CD-ROM would be needed (it is feasible to use the memory card, but adding the capability of using real CDs will add legitimacy to the hardware). SCSI is legacy technology, SATA is so new there are no cheap CD-ROM drives for it. That leaves IDE or USB and in my opinion the later is harder to implement but can be used for other peripheals later on so it would be the best choice.

You will need around 200Mhz for USB

No you don't, I remember someone hacked an USB port into his (unaccelerated) A1200 and it worked albeit it did not reached the maximum USB 1.1 speeds, but IDE would be just as slow.

Then you want IDE

It would be redundant with the SD and USB interfaes.

128MB of ram

Would be nice :-D

AGA

Would be nice for some workbench applications, albeit I do not think it could run 32 bits apps/games/CD32.

why not just Design a totally new board

I name thy minimig 2.0 :-D

of course you only want to pay US$30.

I think that if a price range between 50 and 99 USD for a machine without a floppy drive or CD-ROM drive or keyboard or mouse but with a simple case, a 5 volts DC adapter, a sega genesis joystick and a SD card with some games, an AROS kickstart and OS would sell like the C64 Direct-to-TV. Maybe I am dreaming, I know :-)

[Crom00]

I think that if a price range between 50 and 99 USD for a machine without a floppy drive or CD-ROM drive or keyboard or mouse but with a simple case,

It costs several thousand dollars (conservative est.) to produce the tooling molds for a case. This does not include the design, prototype and debug. No way you can get a low run board with a case for $50-99.

We've worked on 15" models with simple IC's and lights that cost $40 at retail. Our margins were break even at best. You only make money for reorders. We had to order 50,000 units to get that retail price. It cost $12,000 alone for the model prototype.

No factory is going to tool that without orders or somekind of commitment from customers. This is being quoted as motherboard only in a master case, packaged like an oem product in a protective esd bag and white box.

Think of how mod chips are packaged. You get the idea.

This is going to be a great learning experience for everyone on this board though.

[LoadWB]

I beg to differ.  I buy SATA DVD drives for the same price as IDE DVD drives wholesale.  In fact, all new workstations and servers I build and sell are 100% SATA.

[little]

It costs several thousand dollars (conservative est.) to produce the tooling molds for a case. This does not include the design, prototype and debug. No way you can get a low run board with a case for $50-99.

*puts thinking cap on*

Call me crazy, but why not use the 1chipMSX case?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:OCM_007.jpg

It has:

2 RCA audio outputs
RCA Composite video output
S-Video video output
VGA video output
PS/2 keyboard connector
2 USB connector
2 DE9 Joystick ports
220V adapter or 110V converter plug

more photos here:

http://www.bazix.nl/onechipmsx.html

The only drawback I see is that only has one ps/2 port, but some PC laptops use have only one ps/2 port but a Y adapter can be used to connect a mouse and a keyboard.

[jj]

No cheap sata Cd-roms, are you mad.  You can get a top of the range fastest availiable dvd-burner sata ddrive for £20 ($40)

[little]

are you mad.

Quite :-o

dvd-burner sata ddrive for £20 ($40)

AFAIK there are no cd-roms for SATA and  I can get an IDE CD-ROM for about $13 USD. When I talk cheap I mean it :-D

[Zac67]

Who needs a SATA CDROM when a SATA DVDROM is just 16€... :-P
(LG GDR-H20NRBB @reichelt.de)