Acorn 3k series

Ran one of the more interesting OSs in ROM http://www.houseofmabel.com/puters/RISCOS3/

oerk wrote:

From scratch! It's either going to be wood (think Atari 2600) or clear acrylic glass, painted white. Still not sure what I'm going for.

Modern mainboard is not retro enough. I have a µATX Slot 1 board here with integrated Rage Pro graphics and Yamaha sound, that should be compatible enough with DOS and able to run early Windows (maybe even 3D) games. Still need to test the board out, and if it works for this purpose, hunt for the rest of the parts. Smaller ATX power supply, for example. Also, budget is next to nothing 🤣

Goal is to build something that could've existed in the 90s, the spiritual successor to Atari ST and Amiga.

Seems like there is a contemporary keyboard computer out there - http://www.cybernetman.com/en/all-in-one-pc/keyboard-pc/ - not sure if this is vaporware?

Also, I remember there being an all-in-one keyboard PC compatible computer in the 90s, can't recall the name of it for the life of me though ...

There was a new PC in a C64 case a few years ago.

I think it runs windows (or Linux?) and an C64 Emulator.

Google for C64x Extreme

JidaiGeki wrote:

oerk wrote:

From scratch! It's either going to be wood (think Atari 2600) or clear acrylic glass, painted white. Still not sure what I'm going for.

Modern mainboard is not retro enough. I have a µATX Slot 1 board here with integrated Rage Pro graphics and Yamaha sound, that should be compatible enough with DOS and able to run early Windows (maybe even 3D) games. Still need to test the board out, and if it works for this purpose, hunt for the rest of the parts. Smaller ATX power supply, for example. Also, budget is next to nothing 🤣

Goal is to build something that could've existed in the 90s, the spiritual successor to Atari ST and Amiga.

Seems like there is a contemporary keyboard computer out there - http://www.cybernetman.com/en/all-in-one-pc/keyboard-pc/ - not sure if this is vaporware?

Also, I remember there being an all-in-one keyboard PC compatible computer in the 90s, can't recall the name of it for the life of me though ...

Nope that actually exists, I just ordered an older version of that with a Core 2 Duo off of ebay. 🤣

Personally I would love to get my hands on the even older Pentium 4 / Pentium 3 model since it's much better looking. It would make a great XP computer or Windows 98SE machine!

Sammy wrote:

There was a new PC in a C64 case a few years ago.

I think it runs windows (or Linux?) and an C64 Emulator.

Google for C64x Extreme

Yeah that is now completely dead, it shipped with Ubuntu at first and then later Commodore OS Vision (which was a derivative of Linux Mint). It was way too expensive (300$ for just the empty case).

Tandy 1000 HX/EX

For some designers the eighties never really went away. 2004 Sony.

bjt wrote:

Tandy 1000 HX/EX

Oh yeah The HX or EX are quite cool too, I completely forgot to say that before.

Here's a pic for all the people who don't know what they look like that might stumble onto this thread!

This one is the HX, Note the space for a 3.5" HDD next to the newer 3.5" diskette. This machine has no 5.25" drive or bays.

Just found out this is exists: Olivetti PC 1. Apparently it was a competitor to the Amstrad computers of the time and marketed at home users so it could be plugged into a tv. It does not contain expansion slots with out the external expansion box.

More info:
http://www.seasip.info/VintagePC/prodestpc1.html

Apparently it's DOS / PC compatible.

My currently restoring 486 computer ^^

I always liked the look / form factor of these. About halfway between a laptop & a luggable. It's a shame they never made a 386/486 version:


(Amstrad PPC640)

The Tiki-100.

xjas wrote:

I always liked the look / form factor of these. About halfway between a laptop & a luggable. It's a shame they never made a 386/ […]
Show full quote

I always liked the look / form factor of these. About halfway between a laptop & a luggable. It's a shame they never made a 386/486 version:


(Amstrad PPC640)

Lol I actually own one of these in it's carry bag with the manuals and everything!

Jonas-fr wrote:

My currently restoring 486 computer ^^ […]
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My currently restoring 486 computer ^^

Oh you lucky duck! I've been wanting one of those for a while!!! That's so cool. 😁

Almost all 8 bit "home" computers had those shape, and some branded 16 bit computer also had it. I suppose that type of design "died" with 80286 (there were rarer). Schneider Euro PC, Amstrad PC20/Sinclair PC200 and Olivetti PC1 comes to mind.

The Olivetti PC1 had an ancestor (Olivetti PC128) with similar design but based on 6809. The Euro PC claimed to use up to 768 Kb of RAM (RAM drive? conventional memory?) a rare configuration for that time.

Asus also launched one of those computer, the Asus EEE Keyboard, but it was hardly expandable (and that SSD soldered means that it will have a limited lifespan).

Zup wrote:

The Euro PC claimed to use up to 768 Kb of RAM (RAM drive? conventional memory?) a rare configuration for that time.

To be precise, the EuroPC only had 512KB (not expandable). The EuroPCII and the EuroXT though could go up to 768KB.
The possible configurations through the BIOS in that case were 512KB conventional + 256KB EMS or 640KB conventional + 128KB EMS.

Dragon 32/64

You can't fit expansion cards into this form factor. The Sinclair machine at top had ISA expansion slots but any cards you plugged in projected out of the top of the machine, which was dangerous as well as ugly.

xjas wrote:

I always liked the look / form factor of these. About halfway between a laptop & a luggable. It's a shame they never made a 386/ […]
Show full quote

I always liked the look / form factor of these. About halfway between a laptop & a luggable. It's a shame they never made a 386/486 version:

It looks kinda like a bulky IBM Transnote (my favorite Thinkpad)

- Epson PC-Club (Intel 286 NEC PC-98-compatible)
- various Japanese all-in-one "office assistants" (wedge shaped DOS-compatibles with integrated monitor and matrix printer)