New products for C64 and Amiga from Individual Computers

[Schoenfeld]

Originally Posted by Hewitson

Why couldn't you connect them in parallel and turn one of them off?

VIC chips can't be "turned off" - you'd have to remove the chip completely from the bus, but if you just cut power, it'll block the bus, so the C64 won't work at all.

Originally Posted by klx300r

extra chip ram for the A1000 is amazing any chance of this board also having a built in RTC ?

I am not designing-in RTC chips any more, but I add ports for the RTC module. This way, every customer can make a decision on his own if he/she wants to pay for an RTC or not. Some just want to play games, so an RTC isn't worth it. Others who always want to have the file creation date(s) on their harddrive to be in line with reality will happily pay 19,90 EUR for an RTC module.

Originally Posted by ptyerman

15 euro's? I'm looking at the page now and it's reading 30.50 euro's plus p+p. Still worth it though.

The 14,90EUR figure is an old one from the last production run. This time, Speedlink has heavily increased the price _and_ the minimum order quantity. If these sell as fast as the last ones, I may reach a break-even sometime in 2016.

The 30,50 EUR figure includes PayPal fees. If you enter the coupon code "NoPayPal", you'll get to the "real" price of 29,90 EUR.

I have corrected the price list and put some additional info on the product pages. That website is about to be replaced, so I hardly maintain it. I'm *so* much looking forward to the new website and shop system (WIP)!

Jens

[ptyerman]

I'll be having another one. Shame Zipsticks can't be made again too, used to love my Zipstick

[Snyfls]

I will make a pre-order for one or two units this month. €30 is a fair price imo.
One question. Do these new Competition Pro Joysticks work with Sega Mega Drive, does anyone know?

[ptyerman]

I should imagine they do, they are just the old Kempston interface. If the Sega uses that same as most old computers, they should be OK.

[BarryB]

As long as the Mega Drive uses standard 9 pin joystick ports it'll work! Unlike the Sinclair scam of altering the pinouts on the +2/+3 and forcing you to buy 'special' Sinclair Joysticks FFS!!

I might actually pony up and buy one of them Comp Pros having considered that most on ebay are 2nd hand! Wonder if Amigakit will stock them?

[dirkies]

The originals were Suzo sticks & dipswitches, explains why they were unbreakable. These remakes for pc were cheap clones, the interior being completely different and inferior, explaining why so many break after a while. The Suzo ones feel also heavier and use leaf contacts for the buttons, remakes use clicky cheap dipswitches.
Are these ones again solid Suzo models or just the same plasticky clones with a db9 connector?

[Schoenfeld]

Originally Posted by BarryB

I might actually pony up and buy one of them Comp Pros having considered that most on ebay are 2nd hand! Wonder if Amigakit will stock them?

Not before Xmas. AmigaKit - along with all other resellers - promised to help out with financing this huge project, but didn't come up with more than these promises. I therefore decided that these joysticks won't be sold through resellers before 2015. Any reseller who is taking orders right now should also inform you of a delivery date "not this year".

Originally Posted by dirkies

The originals were Suzo sticks & dipswitches, explains why they were unbreakable. These remakes for pc were cheap clones, the interior being completely different and inferior, explaining why so many break after a while. The Suzo ones feel also heavier and use leaf contacts for the buttons, remakes use clicky cheap dipswitches.
Are these ones again solid Suzo models or just the same plasticky clones with a db9 connector?

I don't know where you got your information from - a "dip switch" is something that is mounted on a circuit board for option selection, something that you don't want to switch more than once a week because you need a small tool or good fingernails for that.

These joysticks use industrial micro switches, and yes, they click very loud. It's an iconic noise for their high quality. These industrial microswitches have a guaranteed MTBF of 10 million actuations, which can safely be translated into "well over 10 million under these conditions". This is assuming that the switching current is under 1 amp. Well, in a joystick, it's a few milliamps, so the electrical limit will likely never be exceeded.

The first two production runs of 2005 and 2008 were pretty much the same as these new joysticks. From production run #1 to #2, the snap ring that holds the metal stick was improved, as there was a whopping 0.04% returns with broken snap rings.

Out of the second production run, a total of two units were returned. One of them had the cable ripped out, and the other had a loose wire internally. With so few returns, there was no need for a change for the third production run. All we changed is the print on the box.

Jens

[Lord Aga]

That's cool. I will definitely be getting me one of those The price is ok for such a lasting piece of hardware.

Thanks Jens !

[Snyfls]

Originally Posted by ptyerman

I should imagine they do, they are just the old Kempston interface. If the Sega uses that same as most old computers, they should be OK.

Originally Posted by BarryB

As long as the Mega Drive uses standard 9 pin joystick ports it'll work! Unlike the Sinclair scam of altering the pinouts on the +2/+3 and forcing you to buy 'special' Sinclair Joysticks FFS!!

I might actually pony up and buy one of them Comp Pros having considered that most on ebay are 2nd hand! Wonder if Amigakit will stock them?

Thank you.
I suppose the fire button act like A button.

Originally Posted by dirkies

The originals were Suzo sticks & dipswitches, explains why they were unbreakable. These remakes for pc were cheap clones, the interior being completely different and inferior, explaining why so many break after a while. The Suzo ones feel also heavier and use leaf contacts for the buttons, remakes use clicky cheap dipswitches.
Are these ones again solid Suzo models or just the same plasticky clones with a db9 connector?

I got two PC remakes and they are great. Good quality, no lag. I can't say this about the ones from limited editions-transparent, blue. They tend to break quite easily. The plastic parts in the limited edition are probably different to the plastic parts used in the regular black and red edition.

[Hewitson]

The fire button on an MD controller is actually the B button. The C button is the second fire button for games which support it.

[dJOS]

The Red and Black "4 button" Comp Pro's are damn near indestructible and brilliant to use - personally I never had such good joysticks back in the day so I'm glad I've got some now.

[Schoenfeld]

Originally Posted by Hewitson

The fire button on an MD controller is actually the B button. The C button is the second fire button for games which support it.

These new Competition PRO Retro joysticks are modding-friendly, because they have the three unused wires of the connector inside the stick available.

That means: If you know the wiring required for your favourite console, you can do it if you have some soldering skills. You'll lose warranty, though, as you need to beak the seal to get to one of the four screws that hold the bottom of the joystick.

This cable specification was already used on the second production run. If anyone of you guys has one of those joysticks, you can already do the mod for giving the different buttons really different meanings for the Sega console.

Jens

[BarryB]

Originally Posted by Schoenfeld

Not before Xmas. AmigaKit - along with all other resellers - promised to help out with financing this huge project, but didn't come up with more than these promises. I therefore decided that these joysticks won't be sold through resellers before 2015. Any reseller who is taking orders right now should also inform you of a delivery date "not this year".

Amigakit have the Prisma Megamix in development, could be a reason for no financial commitment?

[Schoenfeld]

Originally Posted by BarryB

Amigakit have the Prisma Megamix in development, could be a reason for no financial commitment?

Maybe - I don't know details of the contract with Michael (E3B), I only know that he's doing it. In any case, both AmigaKit and Michael deserve all the success with that project, and if that's the reason, some honesty might be a good idea. Just promising help, but not actually coming up with the funds is about the worst thing that can happen, and if I hadn't put more private money into this project, it would have failed before anyone here knew about it.

Jens

[voyager]

Any maybe this is something you should discuss in private with amikit and other partners and not on a public forum.

Originally Posted by Schoenfeld

Maybe - I don't know details of the contract with Michael (E3B), I only know that he's doing it. In any case, both AmigaKit and Michael deserve all the success with that project, and if that's the reason, some honesty might be a good idea. Just promising help, but not actually coming up with the funds is about the worst thing that can happen, and if I hadn't put more private money into this project, it would have failed before anyone here knew about it.

Jens

[Retrofan]

That's your opinion. His is to publish it. I respect whatever respectable opinion the same way that I respect AmigaKit and Individual Computers.

[Akiko]

I hope Jens and Matthew can sort things out and restore a good working relationship.

We all remember the outcome when Chris Hodges fell out with Elbox and E3B in a similar public manner.

[Schoenfeld]

Originally Posted by Akiko

I hope Jens and Matthew can sort things out and restore a good working relationship.

You misunderstood me here: There's nothing to "sort out" - it's just that this one project didn't work out like I planned. Matthew still sells my other products, and I'm happy that Matthew and Chris are taking some workload off me with their service. I'm happy to give margin for that, and I appreciate the high level of service that AmigaKit supplies. It's just this one thing "no funds at the required time" that kicked all resellers (not just AmigaKit) out of the equation for the joystick project only.

There's no dirty laundry to wash, and no bad feelings, at least not on my side. I have spreadsheets that give me numbers, and I am making decisions based on these numbers - no strings attached.

Jens

[fitzsteve]

@Jens,

Any ETA on the USB module for X-Surf 100?

Are you planning to make it (or another) compatible with ACA500 or other Clockport equipped Amiga's also?

Cheers!

[Schoenfeld]

Originally Posted by fitzsteve

@Jens,

Any ETA on the USB module for X-Surf 100?

Are you planning to make it (or another) compatible with ACA500 or other Clockport equipped Amiga's also?

The Clockport mode is exactly what's currently holding the product back. Function on X-Surf-100 is great, extremely good performance and been tested on all CPU types except for 68020 (which has not been used in the bigbox amigas).

It's just the clockport mode of that same module that is giving me headaches. I've been working on it all week last week, and I'm contemplating if I should make a version for X-Surf-100 only, just to cover the development cost especially for the driver and USB stack.

Jens