Our Alpha testers have all built their systems and are working out any issues with loads etc. They've really been testing the nucore compatibility application right now since it's never been tested. I changed some things around in the test app and we have one small issue left that should be fixed today. Everyone's systems are working properly. Everyone passed the test. They will probably get nucore alpha code in the next week or so. Don and I are putting the finishing touches on it right now. Once our checklist is complete (a couple of days probably) we'll test it for a week or so and hand it off.
The Alpha testers are under a NDA so they won't be able to discuss what's going on but I will keep you up to date.
One of the things we are testing is the average person's ability to setup a linux box. I know some people wanted to buy the core package from us and use their own components. A custom case is in the works and necessary unless you want to mod your pb2k head. Good quality components are going to matter. A pinball machine is a slightly more hostile environment than your standard desktop. When I bought my components I bought inexpensive items from good manufacturers, gigabyte mb, corsair memory, etc. You definitely don't want to try and save 10 bucks buying no-name components vs quality brands.
I had a friend who went cheap when he bought two eMachines PCs for his office. They never worked right and he asked me to see about fixing them.
I couldn't believe how cheap the power supplies were - with the cover off, and with a grounding strap on, whenever I touched the power supply case the machines rebooted. I spent $80 for some good PC Power and Cooling supplies and most of the problems went away. Well, it's a little hard to fix bus connectors that are only good for one insertion because they were so generous with the 1-micron layer of gold
