People don’t get what a big accomplishment this is and how so many other “kickstarter” type devices wind up being a disappointment also. It’s completely unfair that people complain about the...
People don’t get what a big accomplishment this is and how so many other “kickstarter” type devices wind up being a disappointment also. It’s completely unfair that people complain about the price, particularly when he was really clear about how expensive a DIP-based device w/ a lot of slots would be and given inflation and supply chain problems we have today.
Anyone complaining that their toy is going to cost more than they thought should just buy a different toy. If there are any people actually sending hate mail - absolutely fuck those people. It’s...
Anyone complaining that their toy is going to cost more than they thought should just buy a different toy. If there are any people actually sending hate mail - absolutely fuck those people. It’s clear David is a genuine person. He’s not trying to fool anyone.
I love David and his channel, been watching him for years; whenever/ifever the Cx16 gets a wider release I'm considering buying it and supporting him. As someone who was born past this era of...
I love David and his channel, been watching him for years; whenever/ifever the Cx16 gets a wider release I'm considering buying it and supporting him. As someone who was born past this era of computing and grew up with WinXP and the Gamecube, I've never experienced these classic 8 bit computers and have over the years been super facinated by them. Classic computers are dope and the hardware powering them is even cooler. Hopefully the Cx16 scratches this bit of an itch. Sucks he's getting hatemail from fans who don't know how to read properly, that kind of sucks.
I’m fascinated with the Cx16 for many reasons. The toughest problem they faced was building the video subsystem: all the original 8-bit computers used ASIC video controllers because a video...
I’m fascinated with the Cx16 for many reasons. The toughest problem they faced was building the video subsystem: all the original 8-bit computers used ASIC video controllers because a video controller built out with 54xx low-integration parts is huge, I remember seeing an ad for such a video controller in Byte magazine from around 1978 or 1979 or so that was about the size of a large expansion board for an IBM PC that was completely packed with chips on both sides.
The FPGA-based VERA is not a cheap solution but it’s a good one. It’s solidly better than the video systems from real 8-bitters (layers!) and it has a brilliant answer for getting data from the CPU to video RAM where you don’t have the video system leeching performance from the main memory by stealing cycles but you can do bulk transfers at the same rate as writing to ordinary RAM.
This article goes into a lot of depth about how they are manufacturing it which points out another challenge they have which is cost. Really the x16 is manufactured a lot like 8-bitters were manufactured back in the day so, inflation adjusted, it costs about the same. The next run of machines will cost $350 for not a lot of computer. Of course it can get the hyper-large scale integration treatment of the Raspberry Pi and wind up costing as much as a R-Pi but as cool as it is it is much less computer…. But it might be accessible to a lot of people. On the other hand there is something great about a machine with lots of slots and every chip socketed.
IMO I see this as an enthusiast system for people that want a modern build of a retro machine. I don't think the fact you get less performance and pay way more really matters (I could be wrong)-...
IMO I see this as an enthusiast system for people that want a modern build of a retro machine. I don't think the fact you get less performance and pay way more really matters (I could be wrong)- at least I can't understand people buying this needing it to perform any better than the systems it is trying to mirror. I also think a lot of enthusiasts appreciate the quality and functionality of having the slots and sockets.
I agree but it competes with many alternatives like the RISC-V dev board I bought or getting a Hololens 1 to get a jump on Apple Vision or getting a light field camera to make stereograms, point...
I agree but it competes with many alternatives like the RISC-V dev board I bought or getting a Hololens 1 to get a jump on Apple Vision or getting a light field camera to make stereograms, point clouds and such…. I certainly would like a CX16 but there are so many other demands on my hacking time.
It sucks that David has been getting hatemail over this.
People don’t get what a big accomplishment this is and how so many other “kickstarter” type devices wind up being a disappointment also. It’s completely unfair that people complain about the price, particularly when he was really clear about how expensive a DIP-based device w/ a lot of slots would be and given inflation and supply chain problems we have today.
Anyone complaining that their toy is going to cost more than they thought should just buy a different toy. If there are any people actually sending hate mail - absolutely fuck those people. It’s clear David is a genuine person. He’s not trying to fool anyone.
I love David and his channel, been watching him for years; whenever/ifever the Cx16 gets a wider release I'm considering buying it and supporting him. As someone who was born past this era of computing and grew up with WinXP and the Gamecube, I've never experienced these classic 8 bit computers and have over the years been super facinated by them. Classic computers are dope and the hardware powering them is even cooler. Hopefully the Cx16 scratches this bit of an itch. Sucks he's getting hatemail from fans who don't know how to read properly, that kind of sucks.
I’m fascinated with the Cx16 for many reasons. The toughest problem they faced was building the video subsystem: all the original 8-bit computers used ASIC video controllers because a video controller built out with 54xx low-integration parts is huge, I remember seeing an ad for such a video controller in Byte magazine from around 1978 or 1979 or so that was about the size of a large expansion board for an IBM PC that was completely packed with chips on both sides.
The FPGA-based VERA is not a cheap solution but it’s a good one. It’s solidly better than the video systems from real 8-bitters (layers!) and it has a brilliant answer for getting data from the CPU to video RAM where you don’t have the video system leeching performance from the main memory by stealing cycles but you can do bulk transfers at the same rate as writing to ordinary RAM.
This article goes into a lot of depth about how they are manufacturing it which points out another challenge they have which is cost. Really the x16 is manufactured a lot like 8-bitters were manufactured back in the day so, inflation adjusted, it costs about the same. The next run of machines will cost $350 for not a lot of computer. Of course it can get the hyper-large scale integration treatment of the Raspberry Pi and wind up costing as much as a R-Pi but as cool as it is it is much less computer…. But it might be accessible to a lot of people. On the other hand there is something great about a machine with lots of slots and every chip socketed.
IMO I see this as an enthusiast system for people that want a modern build of a retro machine. I don't think the fact you get less performance and pay way more really matters (I could be wrong)- at least I can't understand people buying this needing it to perform any better than the systems it is trying to mirror. I also think a lot of enthusiasts appreciate the quality and functionality of having the slots and sockets.
I agree but it competes with many alternatives like the RISC-V dev board I bought or getting a Hololens 1 to get a jump on Apple Vision or getting a light field camera to make stereograms, point clouds and such…. I certainly would like a CX16 but there are so many other demands on my hacking time.