Noelio

Well these are the thoughts I want! The commodore community is pretty strong, yep. I think the only other brands that come close to the Atari cult status is Apple / Commodore. If you combine the 3 in the one system, look out! Another idea, much like the thumb drive that was mentioned would be a retro i/o box that includes hook ups for Atari / Apple / Commodre / NES computers and consoles etc. Maybe that would be the way to go. I would just love to put a 1 x 1 FUJI on a case, hit the power and hear that one-hour-after-sunday-dinner sound. As for the 1200xl pc... Its not started yet, in terms of the case mod, but I do have everything torn apart. Some people might get a little mad, but the keyboard had to go (was broken anyway) to accommodate a very small pc keyboard. That will be mounted up on the 1200 keyboard base. I'll certainly post pics once I really get into the guts of it. What I would like to do is have it use the original atari 1200 / 800 / 400 power supply. Can be done, but the itx power supply hasnt been decided on yet.

While this is my first post, I've been lurking around for years. Imagine our lives without Atari. I can't. I'm not an engineer, but I am a super techie and a sufferer of the world's most complex mental disorder that no psychologist in history could begin to crack. I have "Atariism", the worst kind. Lately I've been topping up my 8-bit collection to try and double or triple each model + broken systems for mod projects etc. My current project includes a mini itx pc into a 1200xl shell. What I've stumbled upon is my own need / want, and therefore perhaps some of us in the Atari community, as well as many 8-bit communities might be interested in contributing / incorporating and, eventually, selling a system that is now a figment of my imagination called "The Octopus"...: Once I know exactly what I need to accomplish the mainboard described below, I'm sending the design in for a quote to the major manufacturers. If the price is right, I'm going to fund a limited manufacture of said boards. Basically I can only describe it this way... A 6502 multiplatform, hardware emulator with real platform i/o modules. 6502 compatible core, possible just a custom chip that works with the bios and loads a java based virtual machine allowing standard pcs to dual boot, hardware level to another flatform?. -Flashable interpreter to change I/O modes between defined platform hardware handlers and add new ones as project continues. -User selectable default platform on powerup I believe, with the respective communities involved, we could design an ATX board that uses standard keyboard / mouse / controller / usb but with hardware 6502 / platform i/o / rom along with Atari (full line)/ Apple(IIx) / Commodore(Vic / 64) / NES. Perhaps a separate module (5 1/4 bay) with platform specific i/o? Or a series of USB modules or an all out USB breakout box. I know there are many good emulators out there, but I think a hardware level - plug and go system that you can plug in your chosen platform's devices would be of interest to the gadgetry, retro markets. God knows most consumers out there now know how to build a standard ATX form factor computer. Maybe the emulators out there contain usable interpreter code that could be employed in the flashable ROM interpreter. My desk is FULL of sketches already. Depending on costs etc, I could probably handle the funding myself. However, I would like to see something that takes on a life of its own with feedback from the communities etc. The main thing is a ATX form factor, chosen platform right from bios beep, standard USB keyboard/mouse/joystick,memory(stick/flash),ide/sata protocols. When you hit power, system select menu - default user definable, then rom selection and bammo! I should shut up now but I feel compelled to define further the platform selection... you know when you power up a standard PC, the option to go into bios is there. When you hit delete (on most) you are sent to the bios to define defaults. Maybe a custom BIOS chip would be all that is required really, then the 6502 could be emulated from boot. This is only an idea right now, but if someone comes along that can see how the project could succeed right to market, I would love to hear from them. THOUGHTS??? There is much to discuss indeed. I can see already that this project could become a universal hardware java platform. The possibilities are endless really. Let's get some threads going! Noel in Newfoundland