New products for C64 and Amiga from Individual Computers

[TjLaZer]

I really do hope that the new ACA 500 has more than 2 MB on it. It would be an extreme shame if it doesn't.

[dJOS]

Originally Posted by TjLaZer

I really do hope that the new ACA 500 has more than 2 MB on it. It would be an extreme shame if it doesn't.

Plus 1 for me too, it's a great design being let down by 1 single specification.

Tbh if Jens made the aca500 check to see if there is any other fast ram installed and then map ram in unused space i would be happy with that.

I know it's not going to be 100% compatible with everything out there but for simple expansions there would be a high probability of compatibility imo.

At least then i could use it with kipper's $35 4mb ram board as I can't afford another aca12xxx board. I could barely afford the aca1220 i have.

[Zippy Zapp]

I have an ICD adram540 in one of my 500s that is maxed with, I think 4MB RAM but I don't think all of it is visible as I don't have the gary socket add on. This is a trap door RAM, will it work with this type?

Is there an ETA on the new ACA500? What about the New ACA12xx that is coming out, is this close too? Ive got some unexpanded Amiga's that are crying for some juice!

Thanks!

[Schoenfeld]

I am currently working on the new ACA500, which has the internal name "ACA500plus". It's a complete re-design, as one fundamental requirement of the old design has changed: While the old card was attempting to keep as much as possible in the 5V domain, the new card is working with "almost only" 3.3V components. Practically nothing of the old design is remaining the same, except for mechanical data, which is almost identical. It's a new design from scratch.

I'm working from bottom to top, with currently only the 68EC000 CPU running at 7MHz in syncronous mode, memory barely tested, but the good news is that both Rev.3 and NTSC-Rev.5 board play nice up to this point.

ACA1221 is in production. I'm waiting for shipment of the empty PCBs, which was delayed due to Chinese New Year holidays. The supplier keeps apologizing for the delay, but doesn't give any hard facts about a shipping date. They did ship the C64 Reloaded boards recently, so they are not out of the world. No promises about a release date from my side unless all components are really here and have passed incoming material inspection.

Zippy Zapp: That memory expansion is a bit larger than the popular 1.8M expansions were. The new design will support using up to 1.5M of such a 1.8M expansion. Those larger ones weren't popular at all (at least in Europe), so I would not regard them as standard. Besides, if you don't have the Gary socket installed, you just have 512k of the expansion available. The good part of that config is that you can use the ChipMap feature of the ACA500, which has already been verified positive on the ACA500plus (which may actually be called ACA500n when it's finished...).

Jens

Just got my miggy 500 out after 12 years damp storage. After a week of maintenance she's back to her old self and sits proudly in my office. I've missed so much from the scene especially the release of the aca500 so looking forward to the revised edition to get old of.

[dJOS]

So Jens, if you are moving entirely into the 3.3v realm, why on earth don't you just drop one of these on the aca500 plus giving it 8mb ram in the space of a single chip?

[Schoenfeld]

Please leave design decisions up to me. You can complain when the final specs are made public.

Jens

[Mr B]

But you didn't do XYZ, and now i'm angry, and want to rant!

And also, you did BCD, that i suggested, and then you didn't credit me!
I demand something. Not yet sure what! Just something. Not that, it's to cheap.

Jens, you can not be like that. Your taking all the fun out of this, you know? It's unfair. What is life if not an excuse to rant and rave on and on?
Yes, yes, i know i keep complaining about the Indivision development, and how you should let the enthusiasts in on the code, so that we (might) get more joy from it, but the fact remains... Without your efforts, my A1200 would still be in a box out in the storage. Thank you.

[Zippy Zapp]

@Jens. Thanks for the update, sounds great! As for the Adram540, I had never seen one until I inherited this one, so it is fine. I'm good with that.

Do you announce here or somewhere when these expansions are available to purchase? I don't want to miss it like I usually do... :-)

You mentioned the 64 Reloaded. I guess I have been in the basement too long, never heard about until now and that looks great too. Please keep us informed on availability as I don't want to miss it!

[dJOS]

Originally Posted by Schoenfeld

Please leave design decisions up to me. You can complain when the final specs are made public.

Jens

Ah yes, the tried and true tactic of ignoring your customers because surely you know what they want better than they do.

*golf clap*

[tin]

Originally Posted by dJOS

Ah yes, the tried and true tactic of ignoring your customers because surely you know what they want better than they do.

*golf clap*

Ah but Jens *DOES* know better than us. And he knows that he knows better than us, that's the main reason some people have a problem, but that's also why he keeps getting products out of the door.

[dJOS]

Originally Posted by tin

Ah but Jens *DOES* know better than us.

Jens makes some awesome products and so he has form, this is true. However I've lost count of the number of people who have posted on the net and said to me in person, "aca500, great product but needs more ram to be standard"'.

I'm an active member of one of the last Amiga user groups in Australia, so it isn't like I'm isolated from the community or anything.

Btw, Iirc the current aca500 is a 2 chip ram solution, my suggestion is a single 8mb ram chip which in theory lowers costs and reduces the pcb size.

[Leffmann]

Originally Posted by TjLaZer

I really do hope that the new ACA 500 has more than 2 MB on it. It would be an extreme shame if it doesn't.

Originally Posted by dJOS

So Jens, if you are moving entirely into the 3.3v realm, why on earth don't you just drop one of these on the aca500 plus giving it 8mb ram in the space of a single chip?

Originally Posted by dJOS

Ah yes, the tried and true tactic of ignoring your customers because surely you know what they want better than they do.

It's all about making as much money as possible, never about meeting customer demand.

By putting an insufficient amount of RAM on the main board, you can then put the adequate amount of RAM on a tiny board, and call it an "expansion" and effectively force the majority of customers to pay an extra €30 for €5 worth of components. The same idea applies to the real-time clock that you have to buy as an extra for many of the Individual Computer boards.

With the ACA1220 it's the same but different, where the market demand was for an 8M RAM expansion for A1200, but were instead offered a board with a 16 MHz CPU and a whopping 128M RAM, of which 120M will never be utilized by most users. Individual Computers know that people will pay up in the end, because there are really no alternatives on the market.

[DonAmiga]

Hi Jens

Is the new ACA500plus going to be "internal" or am I just miss reading your above post!

Cheers

[Mohican]

NMI and Action Replay III feature on ACA500Plus would be great for real retro feeling

[hese]

Originally Posted by tin

Ah but Jens *DOES* know better than us.

Is he the Steve Jobs of Amiga?

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by DonAmiga

Is the new ACA500plus going to be "internal" or am I just miss reading your above post!

As i read this:

Originally Posted by Schoenfeld

I am currently working on the new ACA500, which has the internal name "ACA500plus". It's a complete re-design, as one fundamental requirement of the old design has changed: While the old card was attempting to keep as much as possible in the 5V domain, the new card is working with "almost only" 3.3V components. Practically nothing of the old design is remaining the same, except for mechanical data, which is almost identical. It's a new design from scratch.

It's going to be a external design, fitting in to the same box / boxes that people developed for the old ACA500.

[fitzsteve]

If you just want 8mb ram/ide you can buy kippers board much cheaper.

[dJOS]

Originally Posted by fitzsteve

If you just want 8mb ram/ide you can buy kippers board much cheaper.

One nice thing about the aca500 is the external design (which admittedly i was critical of initially), it allows very easy access to the c.f. Slots, very easy install process and means you can share it between multiple a500's.

Kipper's products require a level of expertise some folks don't have. You also need a ks 2.05 or 3.1 Rom etc.

I have one and it's great, but would like an aca500 to share between my other 2 a500's.

[MagerValp]

Originally Posted by Schoenfeld

They did ship the C64 Reloaded boards recently

Ooh, getting closer then, exciting!