The MiSTER has filled this gap for me - even if I do need to find a nice keyboard to use with it.
MEGA65 – highly advanced C64 and C65 compatible 8-bit computer
11–20 of 57 posts
Re: MEGA65 – highly advanced C64 and C65 compatible 8-bit computer
#12I pined over a lot of retro hardware over the past year, there are a lot of competing modern C64 and Amiga hardware, at the core of most of them are FPGAs, so if you want to save money and have a large set of options, get yourself a DE-10 Nano / Mister setup. It's kind of the kitchen sink of retro computing at this point and runs What you won't get is an already set-up system, a nice case, or simple to attach peripherals, but I haven't had too much trouble with it, except trying to get a formatted hard disk for an Amiga into an SD card with files on it, but I figured it out :)
Re: MEGA65 – highly advanced C64 and C65 compatible 8-bit computer
#13My issue with this is the price. Not because it’s not worth it, but because it means no one outside of hardcore enthusiasts will buy one, that means very little software will ever be developed for it. Also I find the presence of the floppy drive in 2021 ridiculous. Yes the C65 had one - but that was a prototype machine from 1990 that was never produced. There’s no c65 software available on floppy disk, so no reason t…
>price
I'd consider buying one at 300€. I'm not even contemplating it at the current price.
>floppy ridiculous.
I disagree. Floppies are very adequate to this sort of hardware, and an important component of the classic feel.
I just wish the drive faced the right side (like a keyboard Amiga) instead. It's not like they have any ports in there.
Inserting floppies from the front seems extremely uncomfortable to even think about.
Re: MEGA65 – highly advanced C64 and C65 compatible 8-bit computer
#14My issue with this is the price. Not because it’s not worth it, but because it means no one outside of hardcore enthusiasts will buy one, that means very little software will ever be developed for it. Also I find the presence of the floppy drive in 2021 ridiculous. Yes the C65 had one - but that was a prototype machine from 1990 that was never produced. There’s no c65 software available on floppy disk, so no reason t…
Yeah, 800 euros for something that for me would be to remember my C128 days is too high.
I can get a RPi4 for much less and install an emulator.
I understand that this is (should?) be better, but still, 800 euros!
Re: MEGA65 – highly advanced C64 and C65 compatible 8-bit computer
#15My issue with this is the price. Not because it’s not worth it, but because it means no one outside of hardcore enthusiasts will buy one, that means very little software will ever be developed for it. Also I find the presence of the floppy drive in 2021 ridiculous. Yes the C65 had one - but that was a prototype machine from 1990 that was never produced. There’s no c65 software available on floppy disk, so no reason t…
>price I'd consider buying one at 300€. I'm not even contemplating it at the current price. >floppy ridiculous. I disagree. Floppies are very adequate to this sort of hardware, and an important component of the classic feel. I just wish the drive faced the right side (like a keyboard Amiga) instead. It's not like they have any ports in there. Inserting floppies from the front seems extremely uncomfortable to even thi…
Tape drive would have been more appropriate, and more fun though :)
Re: MEGA65 – highly advanced C64 and C65 compatible 8-bit computer
#16The MiSTER has filled this gap for me - even if I do need to find a nice keyboard to use with it.
For those who don't know the project :
Re: MEGA65 – highly advanced C64 and C65 compatible 8-bit computer
#17I pined over a lot of retro hardware over the past year, there are a lot of competing modern C64 and Amiga hardware, at the core of most of them are FPGAs, so if you want to save money and have a large set of options, get yourself a DE-10 Nano / Mister setup. It's kind of the kitchen sink of retro computing at this point and runs What you won't get is an already set-up system, a nice case, or simple to attach periphe…
I absolutely agree about MiSTer.
If you're into this, that's the hardware to get. A massive ecosystem of cores with good software to choose, configure and keep them all up to date.
I just wish the target devboard was among those supported by the open synth/place/route stack. Maybe in the future, somebody will make an OSHW custom board for the purpose, using a well-supported FPGA that could also hopefully be fatter than the one the DE-10 Nano has.
But, right now, MiSTer is the way to go.
Re: MEGA65 – highly advanced C64 and C65 compatible 8-bit computer
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
>price I'd consider buying one at 300€. I'm not even contemplating it at the current price. >floppy ridiculous. I disagree. Floppies are very adequate to this sort of hardware, and an important component of the classic feel. I just wish the drive faced the right side (like a keyboard Amiga) instead. It's not like they have any ports in there. Inserting floppies from the front seems extremely uncomfortable to even thi…
Tape drive would have been more appropriate, and more fun though :)
I suffered enough of that back in my C64 days.
Anybody who could afford it did get a floppy drive. I got an Amiga 500 at some point, instead.
I still have the hardware and the tapes, so I intend to get everything operational again at some point. It's just in the back of the queue, as I am busy dealing with a lot of "retro" platforms already.
Re: MEGA65 – highly advanced C64 and C65 compatible 8-bit computer
#19I'm buying one because I have problems but I sincerely think there should be a cut down version. Especially one without a floppy drive (What if you don't actually have any old floppies and just want a cool embedded games platform?)
I mean, I'm not seriously expecting this to be the next big computing platform but I do think that a lower barrier to entry would help adoption.
Re: MEGA65 – highly advanced C64 and C65 compatible 8-bit computer
#20Love the idea but the cost is just too prohibitive.