geekhack
geekhack Community => Other Geeky Stuff => Topic started by: itlnstln on Mon, 06 April 2009, 09:08:47
-
http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/06/ben-hecks-commodore-64-laptop-mod-like-1982-without-the-feathe/
Win. Pure win.
-
IMG. That is very very cool.
I miss my C64+ he was like a son to me.
-
omg that really is sick. Make me wonder what other 1984 pc's can be presented as laptops. The atari ST? TRS-80?
Not that i'd use it much. Maybe as an alphasmart-style word processor. OMG, there's an idea. WHy not make a line of 'retro' text processors based on the look and feel of early 80's pc's stuffed into a laptop? ka-ching. $$$.
Why cant consumer companies get creative like that? They're so retarded.
-
Because young people buy computers too.
-
Because young people buy computers too.
Strong.
-
Because young people buy computers too.
Very strong.
-
I really like these retro projects, but, to me, that's exactly what they should be; projects. I think if they were mass-marketed, it would diminish the significance of the idea. Just the Atari games that come in the shape of the original joystick. They were pretty cool at first, but the market was flooded with them, and even the retro-coolness was lost. They just ended up being a cheap toy. That is no way for something as cool as this to end up.
-
sure but young people like retro crap too. How many ibm M buyers here are young people who never grew up with them but discovered them? Retro is cool, can be marketed as cool even for young folks.
-
True, but I don't they are going after Unicomps the same way. They seem to be going for original Ms. Such as the case with this. It's cool when someone takes an original piece of hardware and creates something like this, but if you were to create something brand new that mimics the original, it loses its luster.
-
Ah, I have these Atari joysticks too. Back in the day you bought these because the Commodore joysticks were ugly.
Nice mod. Anybody recognize the case?
I also like the mod where someone put a mini atx board into a C64 Portable, then ran a C64 emulator on that.
-
Ah, I have these Atari joysticks too. Back in the day you bought these because the Commodore joysticks were ugly.
Nice mod. Anybody recognize the case?
I also like the mod where someone put a mini atx board into a C64 Portable, then ran a C64 emulator on that.
Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I remember using the Atari joysticks on the Commodore. I didn't have a whole ton of games for th C64, though.
Is it just me, or does it look like the "laptop" wouldn't be able to close due to the thick-a*s keyboard?
-
lowpoly: He probably made the case himself. He has access to equipment to do this sort of thing. :)
-
lowpoly: He probably made the case himself. He has access to equipment to do this sort of thing. :)
Ben Heck is a genius. Everything that guy builds is money.
-
Myself, I like his IIGS laptop mod. :) But that might be because I like the IIGS or something. :) (And, this C64 mod definitely looks higher quality...)
Wonder what he could do with an Acorn A7000+ Odyssey motherboard... pretty sure it's smaller than the IIGS motherboard, then he'd just have to integrate a laptop-style scissor switch PS/2 keyboard into the thing.
-
I'll always love his portable Dreamcast. I know he isn't the only one to build one, but I know I can't, so I think it's cool.
And Stallion, you made a good point when you said youngens who find Model Ms don't bum rush Unicomp because they want the real deal. Totally agree.
-
Myself, I'm a young'in who owns three of the "real deal" and a Unicomp, and like them equally for different reasons.
(Of course, I don't use any of them all that much, because I prefer these blue Cherries. :))
-
(Of course, I don't use any of them all that much, because I prefer these blue Cherries. :))
A burden our kind must bear.
-
Myself, I'm a young'in who owns three of the "real deal" and a Unicomp, and like them equally for different reasons.
(Of course, I don't use any of them all that much, because I prefer these blue Cherries. :))
I think a lot of people go for the Unicomp after they get their first original M.
-
So do I, I mean, how else would they know what Unicomp is until they did some hardcore research?
-
True, but I don't they are going after Unicomps the same way. They seem to be going for original Ms. Such as the case with this. It's cool when someone takes an original piece of hardware and creates something like this, but if you were to create something brand new that mimics the original, it loses its luster.
Real M at secondhand shop: USD 5.
Unicomp Customizer: USD 70.
Nuff Said.
One of the big things lost in the "retro-like consoles" (the Atari in a joystick sort of thing) is the accessibility.
I got a Commodore VIC-20 outfit in *1996* or so, and what amazed me was the complete accessibility. I had been programming in good-old interpreted BASIC on DOS PCs for a few years, but the older "home computers" were in another world. The programmer's reference explained, basically byte for byte, the firmware, the registers of onboard circuits, everything. Admittedly, much of it was for want of high-level abstractions to do the cool stuff, but it would probably be easier to build many sorts of custom interfaced gear to talk to said VIC-20 than to a brand-new legacy-free Phenom.
I will admit I own a FC Twin (knock-off NES/SNES console) to play my old cartridges.
What I'd love would be a solder-it-yourself hobby kit to assemble something in the range bounded on the low-end with a Sinclair ZX81 and on the high-end with an IBM AT.
-
Well, in the case of the Atari Flashback 2, it was designed to be opened up and a cartridge port soldered on.
But, you want real accessibility out of a joystick game?
Try the C64 DTV. You can get it to go into BASIC unmodified, and hack away at it quite easily. Or open it up and solder on a keyboard connector and a connector for a 1541. :)
Also, there is a solder-it-yourself hobby kit based around the Parallax Propellor, IIRC, but it's a bit more power than you're looking for.
-
It just appeared on the front page of one of Germany's most popular online news magazines:
http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/spielzeug/0,1518,618372,00.html (site in german)
-
It just appeared on the front page of one of Germany's most popular online news magazines:
http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/spielzeug/0,1518,618372,00.html (site in german)
I would buy that.