X500 PLUS prototype stage

[Kesa]

That is seriously cool. Especially those LED lights! The whole thing reminds me of a 1970's kit computer. If only it had some giant switches on it :rolleyes:

How much do they cost to make? What about cpst per unit? Are they going to be mass produced or special orders only?  :confused:

[Kesa]

That is seriously cool. Especially those LED lights! The whole thing reminds me of a 1970's kit computer. If only it had some giant switches on it :rolleyes:

How much do they cost to make? What about cost per unit? Are they going to be mass produced or special orders only?  :confused:

[gertsy]

Nice...

[Florida]

Beautiful job! I am very interested. I personally think it is great that it is made out of aluminium.
 
Quote: "a computerbeige paintjobb, white keys and airholes along the top would go a long way though"
Yes, I agree, those things would make it even better!

[Darrin]

Very nice.  I've been hacking away at an old C128 case for my FPGA Arcade, but this looks a lot better.  My ownly concern with it being aluminium is how easy it will be for me to cut any new holes for the FPGA Aracde and the extender board neatly.

Great work!

[TheDaddy]

@Crom00 and Duce

Thanks both, appreciated.

      
I didn't know you designed the Natami logo, good job.

[TheDaddy]

@Kesa

>>How much do they cost to make? What about cpst per unit? Are they going to be mass produced or special orders only?

I haven't done the sums yet but I have worked on this project on and off for 3-4 years...maybe longer (I did the Minimig and 1541U cases in between) I'll have to sit down one day and check, I have also made several prototypes etc...

It depends on how many people are interested, at the moment we are looking at minimum 20 complete cases:

You get the whole case with keyboard (possibly localised) completely out of brushed aluminium, anodised in silver, black or white.

And all the other stuff:
pico PSU 150-160W and external brick
Slim DVD-RW or Bluray (on request)
Reset and ON/OFF switches
Rubber feet
LEDs and cables
2 side USB ports and Audio connectors (headphones and Mic).
2-3 aluminium brackets for DVD-RW and HD/SSD


Thanks

[TheDaddy]

@ Florida And @Gertsy

Thank you very much.

Being a fan of manufacturers such as Lian Li and Antec (they work mainly with brushed aluminium, and I have bought a few of their cases for my pcs) I thought it had to be aluminium.

Once I get it brushed and anodised it should look like the aluminium on the iMacs.

The case is very light and there is enough space for people to mess around with, I have ordered a Sapphire PURE Fusion MINI E350 with the latest AMD cpu and a PCI-Express card, SSD and it should make for a nice system, dual boot whatever you like with that retro feeling

[TheDaddy]

Very nice.  I've been hacking away at an old C128 case for my FPGA Arcade, but this looks a lot better.  My ownly concern with it being aluminium is how easy it will be for me to cut any new holes for the FPGA Aracde and the extender board neatly.

Great work!

Thanks Darrin, aluminium is versatile, case usually manufacturers use 0.8-1.3mm thick which is easy to bend, I have chosen 2mm to give it strength but at the same time cutting and drilling with a Dremel should be no problem, I have found it better than steel, oh by the way, I did make a prototype in steel and it weighed a ton!

[Darrin]

Thanks Darrin, aluminium is versatile, case usually manufacturers use 0.8-1.3mm thick which is easy to bend, I have chosen 2mm to give it strength but at the same time cutting and drilling with a Dremel should be no problem, I have found it better than steel, oh by the way, I did make a prototype in steel and it weighed a ton!

In that case (pardon the pun), add me to your interested list.  All I require is the case and the keyboard (I take it that it has a PS2 connector on the inside?).  I have a external cased power supply that I can run into the X500 case through a small hole.

I think the key to non-Eurpean sales is going to be weight reduction.  

[persia]

Reminds me of my first computer where I scavenged a keyboard out of a an old Univac.

[TheDaddy]

Well...you can't please everyone

[TheDaddy]

In that case (pardon the pun), add me to your interested list.  All I require is the case and the keyboard (I take it that it has a PS2 connector on the inside?).  I have a external cased power supply that I can run into the X500 case through a small hole.

I think the key to non-Eurpean sales is going to be weight reduction.  

Hi Darrin,

Sorry for the late reply...I have added you to the list, thanks.

The keyboard is USB.

About the weight reduction...one of the first prototypes was in steel! It weighed a ton!

Now it's very light being all alluminium.

[TheDaddy]

Just a quick update:

Changed the round nose (towards the end of the keyboard) for a corner one, because of production costs but, to me, it looks even better, following the clean lines of the rest, it also makes the case slightly shorter.

On top of this Amiganews.it member Alblino has already started modifying the X500 PLUS and give a representation of possible colours, have a look at the white version:

http://amiga.ikirsector.it/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=15490&start=60

[persia]

Can you put a UNIVAC logo on it?

[Darrin]

Hi Darrin,

Sorry for the late reply...I have added you to the list, thanks.

The keyboard is USB.

About the weight reduction...one of the first prototypes was in steel! It weighed a ton!

Now it's very light being all alluminium.

Errr...  USB?  Cross me off then unless a USB to PS2 adapter works to connect it to the FPGA Arcade.