The final 'product'

[g-man]

Very interesting project this.

Several years ago, I did quite a bit of work on making a prism type system on a usb drive to dispense with the prism but never finished it off. Learned a lot in the process though.

I'm curious as to what the final output of all this work will be though. Is it something you're looking to 'sell' or will it be some data that people can download to some kind of drive and replace with a more modern mainboard or...... ?

Whilst it's only right you get compensated for all the work you've put into it, I'm not sure I see how that will work at this time.

Nice work though.

[Chuck]

Whilst it's only right you get compensated for all the work you've put into it, I'm not sure I see how that will work at this time.

Prism cards are very hard to find and if you do they run 1k+. ROMs will most likely never be run again. Motherboards and processors are obsolete. So why wouldn't we be able to sell a product that solved all of these issues? Please explain.

[g-man]

Whilst it's only right you get compensated for all the work you've put into it, I'm not sure I see how that will work at this time.

Prism cards are very hard to find and if you do they run 1k+. ROMs will most likely never be run again. Motherboards and processors are obsolete. So why wouldn't we be able to sell a product that solved all of these issues? Please explain.

Don't take offence, my question was serious.

I was merely asking what the final 'output' was likely to be. Is it going to be a plug-in card, a hard drive 'image' or something else?

Like I said, there's no reason why you shouldn't be compensated for your work, I just don't know what the end 'product' will be.

Please explain.

[Chuck]

Like I said, there's no reason why you shouldn't be compensated for your work, I just don't know what the end 'product' will be.

Please explain.

No offense taken I think I just misunderstood your statement.

The final product will be a kit (build yourself) or a complete turnkey replacement for everything contained in the computer portion (metal cage in the head) of a pin2k machine. None of the old parts will be required or even useable.

Is that what you were looking for?

[g-man]

Like I said, there's no reason why you shouldn't be compensated for your work, I just don't know what the end 'product' will be.

Please explain.

No offense taken I think I just misunderstood your statement.

The final product will be a kit (build yourself) or a complete turnkey replacement for everything contained in the computer portion (metal cage in the head) of a pin2k machine. None of the old parts will be required or even useable.

Is that what you were looking for?

Exactly. Thanks for the clarification.

I bought an RFM a few years ago but without the computer, it took me a year, but I managed to find all the parts and even a very cheap prism on ebay (about 200$) 12 months ago (goodness only knows why I got it that cheap!) but I always feel a sense of forboding each time I have to turn the machine on.

To know there is a solution on its way which will solve these problems is very comforting. Keep up the great work and I look forward to buying one of the kits when they become available.

G-man

[Chuck]

I can't tell you how many people have said they are nervous turning on their pin because of no replacement parts. I guy from Sweden sent me an email because he has a machie and no roms. Very soon these won't be issues anymore.

Thanks for the kind words

[tanthony]

I'm not real clear on what the final product is that you'll be able to sell to folks. Your solution sounds like it includes off-the-shelf hardware and custom emulation software. Perhaps a different way of asking the question, and please excuse me if I missed a post, is which original RFM parts would I no longer need once your solution is available:

PRISM CARD? Not needed?
ROMS? Not needed?
MOTHERBOARD? Replaced?
Anything else?

As another question, what keeps your off-the-shelf hardware from becoming hard to replace as well.

Will it be an option to setup so any personal PC (using LINUX? Windows?) with certain connectors (what types?) would be able to be swapped in. Would this ever get to the point of BYOC (Bring Your Own Computer) and all that's needed is the software solution and appropriate cabling/hookups/interface? I replace my home computer every 3 or 4 years... why not take my "old" one and use it in my RFM?

[Chuck]

That's a lot of questions

Things you will not need

prism card
original motherboard
original cpu
original ram/ps/etc

roms -our stance is that you need to own the original roms. We cannot and will not supply roms with this solution. We have built a ROM reader that will allow nucore users the ability to backup their ROMS.

Good question also about our hardware becoming obsolete.

The main difference is that we will not have a super complex add-in board like the prism card. That is really what stands in the way right now. Our add-in board will be very simple by comparison and if all goes well end-users will be able to repair the board themsleves (if you can't solder you could always send it to clive who does board repair.) Prism boards contain custom components that are no longer available. Ours will contain very common components. Details of the board are not finalized but this is our intention.

We haven't released the minimum pc requirements yet. I will tell you that a dual-core processor is required. The rest of the specs were catered towards the cheapest hardware you can buy today. I spent $375 at circuit city for my test machine and it includes a bunch of things that our solution won't require (dvd drive, card readers, speakers, way more memory than is required, a hard drive)

I hope this helps.

[tanthony]

Yep, that helped a lot actually. Sorry about the long list of questions, we new forum members are so full of them

Really though, I just couldn't seem to piece it together from the other posts.

I'm getting my RFM in about 3 weeks. Hope to get a SWE1 kit --- kicking myself I didn't end up with your extra SWE1.

I like the idea of what you're creating... question is whether to buy it as insurance against future failure or buy it, install it, and sell the original parts (or put them in storage). You seems to have improved the image performance. For what other reasons would I buy it --- seems like swapping out RFM and SWE1 would be easier and less risky, right? (once I would have one). Space is an issue for me, so I'm not likely to own a full size machine of both.

[sellenoff]

Yep, that helped a lot actually. Sorry about the long list of questions, we new forum members are so full of them

Really though, I just couldn't seem to piece it together from the other posts.

I'm getting my RFM in about 3 weeks. Hope to get a SWE1 kit --- kicking myself I didn't end up with your extra SWE1.

I like the idea of what you're creating... question is whether to buy it as insurance against future failure or buy it, install it, and sell the original parts (or put them in storage). You seems to have improved the image performance. For what other reasons would I buy it --- seems like swapping out RFM and SWE1 would be easier and less risky, right? (once I would have one). Space is an issue for me, so I'm not likely to own a full size machine of both.

There's a bunch of great reasons to replace the original parts with our solution. I can't go into too many details yet, but there's a lot of cool stuff planned that will make our product much cooler than the original.

Once you've got the product you can then decide if you want to keep your original parts or replace them; I wouldn't suggest doing anything else before you've tried it out for yourself.

[tanthony]

What do you think your updated timing is for having something available to sell to others?

Outside of your own "team" working on the project, do you desire any novice Beta users to provide feedback and user testing on a final or near final product?

Do you have a price range in mind yet? Appears that a significant portion of the cost will be the dual core dedicated PC that would have to be dropped into it. I assume you'll leave it to the individual to acquire the PC but provide the system requirements.

Then, since monitors are so darn cheap to buy with a computer as a package deal that I would want instructions on which hp LCD monitors could be installed to replace the CRT and how to do it.

[sellenoff]

What do you think your updated timing is for having something available to sell to others?

Outside of your own "team" working on the project, do you desire any novice Beta users to provide feedback and user testing on a final or near final product?

Do you have a price range in mind yet? Appears that a significant portion of the cost will be the dual core dedicated PC that would have to be dropped into it. I assume you'll leave it to the individual to acquire the PC but provide the system requirements.

Then, since monitors are so darn cheap to buy with a computer as a package deal that I would want instructions on which hp LCD monitors could be installed to replace the CRT and how to do it.

I think most of these have been answered elsewhere.. Chuck, perhaps it's time for a sticky FAQ?

[Chuck]

I think most of these have been answered elsewhere.. Chuck, perhaps it's time for a sticky FAQ?

Good Idea. I'll try to put something together later today.