for 800 it would have to include a spiral bound user manual.
Like this one? https://shop.trenz-electronic.de/media/image/98/f1/dd/MEGA65...
perfect. I was looking at the pdf version on the actual mega65 site but did not see this. ty.
MEGA65 – highly advanced C64 and C65 compatible 8-bit computer
41–50 of 57 posts
Re: MEGA65 – highly advanced C64 and C65 compatible 8-bit computer
#42I 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…
These guys just announced a version of the mister hardware trying to make it more accessible to use for end users https://rmcretro.store/mister-multisystem/
Wow this looks great. Now I almost regret having the janky DE-10 Nano and SDRAM hanging off a power cable next to my TV.
I love the form factor and the cases! Thanks for sharing this.
Re: MEGA65 – highly advanced C64 and C65 compatible 8-bit computer
#43The retrocomputing sweet spot for me would be reproduction keyboards with nice mechanical switches and DB9 joystick ports. For both the Atari 800 (4-joystick) and the Commodore 64/VIC-20, please. Something I could use with an emulator or eventually something like the MiSTer.
Re: MEGA65 – highly advanced C64 and C65 compatible 8-bit computer
#44My 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…
Is the floppy drive fast? That would be cool.
Re: MEGA65 – highly advanced C64 and C65 compatible 8-bit computer
#45Earlier 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 :)
Since it is trying to replicate the C65 which came with a floppy, a tape drive wouldn't be more appropriate. Even for the C64 which is more era appropriate depends on where you lived. In the US the vast majority of C64s were used with a floppy drive. Software on tape was difficult to even find at your local computer store.
Re: MEGA65 – highly advanced C64 and C65 compatible 8-bit computer
#46My 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…
Why buy a Mega65 when you can emulate it? https://github.com/lgblgblgb/xemu/projects/2
The emulator has been used to develop software for it and most stuff is open source or free.
Plus C64 software runs on it like the 128 does in a C64 mode.
Re: MEGA65 – highly advanced C64 and C65 compatible 8-bit computer
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, where do you draw the line? Eventually you arrive at just running an emulator without bothering with hardware at all.
I would draw the line at €200. A lot of people can justify €200 for nostalgia. If you can run the old software and the hardware has the right look and feel, people won't mind the details too much. Far fewer people can justify nearly €800.
And there are lots of options that already fall into that bucket. If you want a beautifully designed, professional product with a mechanical keyboard, then nope. The case moulds alone cost a fortune (and years) to produce. This project has been going on for at least 6 years, and it's only a couple of months away from putting these computers in (some) people's homes.
But don't worry. The C65 core is already being ported to MiSTer from what I've heard. So a small metal box with a USB keyboard experience isn't far away for many others to enjoy.
Re: MEGA65 – highly advanced C64 and C65 compatible 8-bit computer
#48I'm happy enough with my C64 remake, the full sized TheC64 by RetroGames. It has an ARM running VICE inside, but it looks real enough with a functioning keyboard with PETSCII graphics, a requirement for programming and doing PETSCII art.
This C65 remake... way too expensive, plus I didn't own one back when I was a kid (and I guess nobody really did, since it never got past the prototype stage), so it has no nostalgic appeal. If I wanted a powerful computer that I didn't own as a child, I'd stick to my laptop.
Re: MEGA65 – highly advanced C64 and C65 compatible 8-bit computer
#49My 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…
> because it means no one outside of hardcore enthusiasts will buy one I can imagine a version based on an emulation using a small ARM with the same physical keyboard and box, minus (or maybe not) floppy. The board is costly, and they expect to sell a finite number of units, so they need to recover the cost of the plastic injection tooling within that batch. Having future versions based on emulated hardware would ope…
> I can imagine a version based on an emulation using a small ARM with the same physical keyboard and box, minus (or maybe not) floppy.
For the C64 at least what you describe exists: TheC64 remake by RetroGames. It's exactly that, an ARM chip running VICE inside a case that looks and acts like a C64, complete with working keyboard. I own one and it's pretty cool.
Why not a real C64 I hear you ask? Well, real C64 are brittle, require swapping components, and outputting to modern TVs and pen drives requires expensive specialized hardware gadgets and addons anyway. Some hardcore fans do it, but it's not for me -- I just wanted it to work out of the box.
Re: MEGA65 – highly advanced C64 and C65 compatible 8-bit computer
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
> because it means no one outside of hardcore enthusiasts will buy one I can imagine a version based on an emulation using a small ARM with the same physical keyboard and box, minus (or maybe not) floppy. The board is costly, and they expect to sell a finite number of units, so they need to recover the cost of the plastic injection tooling within that batch. Having future versions based on emulated hardware would ope…
> I can imagine a version based on an emulation using a small ARM with the same physical keyboard and box, minus (or maybe not) floppy. For the C64 at least what you describe exists: TheC64 remake by RetroGames. It's exactly that, an ARM chip running VICE inside a case that looks and acts like a C64, complete with working keyboard. I own one and it's pretty cool. Why not a real C64 I hear you ask? Well, real C64 are…
I am the happy owner of a Maxi. This is what made me realize that so much of the experience was the physical artifact. While an FPGA-based board may be more accurate, the experience is incomplete without the accurate replication of the human interface.