One Chip MSX available for pre-order

by snout on 02-11-2006, 23:19
Topic: MSX Revival
Languages:

Bazix have just started taking pre-orders on the RoHS and CE compliant version of the One Chip MSX, making it the first MSX computer produced for the Western market in more than 20 years. By default, the FPGA based computer will be configured as an MSX2 computer, with the following specifications:

  • 1MB RAM and 128kB VRAM
  • Kanji ROM
  • MSX-DOS2 support
  • PS/2 connector
  • 2 MSX joystick ports
  • 2 MSX cartridge slots (with the 12V pins connected properly)
  • MegaSCSI implemented to addres the SD/MMC card slot
  • Hot-swappable SD/MMC flashcard slot with native FAT16 support in MSX-DOS2
  • MSX-MUSIC
  • SCC+
  • Composite and SVHS TV output
  • VGA monitor output (which can be used as an RGB-SCART compatible output as well)
  • 2 cinch audio outputs
  • FPGA I/O pin (40 pins and 10 pins)
  • 2 USB ports
  • 32MB SDRAM
www.msx.org/images/onechipmsx2.gif

The following software and documentation will be delivered with the One Chip MSX:

  • English instruction manual, including a short introduction to VHDL
  • Full VHDL code used to achieve MSX2 compatibility (default configuration)
  • A CD-ROM with VHDL code examples and the following software:

    - Altera Quantum2 Web Edition - VHDL development environment
    - PLDLOAD and PLDSAVE - Softare to read and program the FPGA chip
    - EP, FDLOAD and FDSAVE - Software to create, load and play disk images

  • 220V adapter or 110V converter plug
  • Schematics to the One Chip MSX PCB
  • Blueprint of the One Chip MSX casing

On the updated One Chip MSX FAQ it is furthermore announced that the VHDL code to achieve MSX2 compatibility and alterations based on it can be redistributed freely for non-commercial use, giving the MSX community a headstart in upgrading the MSX2 standard. Bazix are also offering a free One Chip MSX restore service to their customers for a full year after purchase. This means that if something goes wrong with updating the FPGA chip and you don't have a Byte Blaster cable, you can send the One Chip MSX to Bazix to get it restored for you.

The One Chip MSX can now be pre-ordered, until November 21st, for € 192,44 ex VAT. On the One Chip MSX website at Bazix you can find out more about the specifications of the One Chip MSX, its design and the pre-ordering procedure.

Relevant link: One Chip MSX website at Bazix

Comments (90)

By sirpaul484

Rookie (23)

sirpaul484's picture

02-11-2006, 23:32

almost 300 dollars?? but.. I only... I only have $200 saved up for it... Crying

By rolins

Champion (418)

rolins's picture

02-11-2006, 23:42

Christ, that is expensive. I don't think I have that much to spare. I was expecting a price tag of under $200.

By ARTRAG

Enlighted (6935)

ARTRAG's picture

02-11-2006, 23:47

In Italy it cames 244€ included vat & shipping.
US is far...

By capj

Supporter (7)

capj's picture

02-11-2006, 23:52

very disappointing price Crying specially when compared to its price in japan... This doesnt even include shipping!!

By Ivan

Ascended (9358)

Ivan's picture

03-11-2006, 00:01

A bit expensive... but I have already placed a pre-order.

By wolf_

Ambassador_ (10109)

wolf_'s picture

03-11-2006, 00:02

the 100$ computer? I'd say we pay $100 and send the rest of the bill to Nishi Tongue

By Samor

Prophet (2174)

Samor's picture

03-11-2006, 00:07

is the video output 60hz, or can it do 50hz as well?

By wolf_

Ambassador_ (10109)

wolf_'s picture

03-11-2006, 01:07

We shallt test the cart.ports in Nijmegen on Snout's prototype! If it's a real MSX, it should survive plugging in an SCC cart. while the system is turned on! My '45 always survived ^_^

By spl

Paragon (1470)

spl's picture

03-11-2006, 02:08

I have done the pre-order. HOPE I will have my ONE CHIP MSX.

By Vampier

Prophet (2413)

Vampier's picture

03-11-2006, 06:15

Can someone give me a quote to ship to the US? I might order 2 to come down on shipping costs.

Also in the US we do not pay VAT if it's sold over the internet and outside the state of California, does BAZIX honor this? I'm not planning to pay any Dutch tax since I do not support the Dutch government.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VAT#Value_Added_Tax_in_the_United_States

By rolins

Champion (418)

rolins's picture

03-11-2006, 07:30

@Vampier

192.44 Euros = 245 US dollars

By cesco

Champion (454)

cesco's picture

03-11-2006, 07:59

Quite expensive

By Hydlide

Master (171)

Hydlide's picture

03-11-2006, 08:00

pre-ordered. although I originally set my limit to €200, I think this opportunity cannot be missed. €239,90 including shipping (within NL) I believe. Expensive, yes. Cool? Very much so.

ETA: spring 2007, so y'all have more time to save money for it guys Smile

By Samor

Prophet (2174)

Samor's picture

03-11-2006, 08:06

_wolf, my 8250 also can survive the SCC plugging... my vg8235 though, oh man.. then again, it died recently anyways. Tongue

By Latok

msx guru (3938)

Latok's picture

03-11-2006, 09:20

Awesome!! And indeed, it's only a couple of tenners more than expected. Less Turkey, less fireworks and here you go......Smile

By AuroraMSX

Paragon (1902)

AuroraMSX's picture

03-11-2006, 09:26

Hm, pre-ordering now, delivery in 2007. That raises an interesting question: I'm in Germany and currently the VAT is at 16%. At January 1, 2007, though, the VAT will be raised to 19%. If I pre-order now, do I pay 16% or 19% VAT?

[edit]
Ow, the pre-order form fills in 19% automatically and adds another €13 (ex VAT) fro shipping&handling -- nice, that makes a total of €244. Quite a lot more than the anticipated €189 Sad Anyway, pre-order placed Tongue

(Now, I just need to renegotiate my yearly salary increase Wink)

By snout

Ascended (15187)

snout's picture

03-11-2006, 09:30

Aurora - You will be paying 19% VAT anyway, as you are buying something FROM the Netherlands. For delivery to countries in the EU, Bazix has to charge 19% VAT, for countries outside the EU, VAT is 0%. For a quote inc shipping, just take a step or two in the pre-order process, you can easily select your country and the amount of OCMs you'd like to have to see what you will eventually be paying.

By AuroraMSX

Paragon (1902)

AuroraMSX's picture

03-11-2006, 09:49

Aurora - You will be paying 19% VAT anyway, as you are buying something FROM the Netherlands.Ok. Thanx for the info

By Huey

Prophet (2694)

Huey's picture

03-11-2006, 10:05

hesitating....hesitating.....hesitating........

By AuroraMSX

Paragon (1902)

AuroraMSX's picture

03-11-2006, 10:18

Altera Quantum2 Web Edition - VHDL development environment
Eh, why can't I find anything on this Quantum2 dev kit on Altera's site, or on the net?

a Byte Blaster cableDid anyone notice that this ByteBlaster cable costs about $300? oO

By ARTRAG

Enlighted (6935)

ARTRAG's picture

03-11-2006, 10:33

quite expensive...
I am sure i did a silly thing, but I placed the order at the end...

By jltursan

Prophet (2619)

jltursan's picture

03-11-2006, 10:35

The development software is "Quartus II", not "Quantum II"....just to avoid confussion Tongue

By AuroraMSX

Paragon (1902)

AuroraMSX's picture

03-11-2006, 10:37

The development software is "Quartus II", not "Quantum II"Ah, that's why Tongue

By capj

Supporter (7)

capj's picture

03-11-2006, 10:39

for those asking about the VAT -- I'm not in europe, and when pre-ordering they just added shipping cost with no VAT Smile

By ivke2006

Expert (88)

ivke2006's picture

03-11-2006, 11:04

Hmm, maybe a little expensive but if I look at the comments I find them to negative.
Please keep in mind It's a NEW MSX compatible computer!
So please give them at least some credit.

I placed my preorder 1 minute agoSmile pfff...I can't wait to get that thing in my hands

I hope that in the future, it will be possible to order software from Woomb and play it on the 1CMSX (and old msx comp)

By Tanni

Hero (556)

Tanni's picture

03-11-2006, 11:31

I've just completed my preorder of the OCM!

By wolf_

Ambassador_ (10109)

wolf_'s picture

03-11-2006, 11:36

When ppl are negative, it could be because they'll be comparing with a 'real' MSX and the features it has with all the extentions connected. The DIY aspect of the OCM is interesting, but perhaps not for everyone. If you aren't going to VHDL yourself (or run new VHDL code), I could imagine the OCM looks a tad overpriced.

By Tanni

Hero (556)

Tanni's picture

03-11-2006, 11:45

The price will surely also depend on the amount of possible purchasers. If a company can expect lots of them, the price will be low, if not, it must be somewhat higher.

By the way: Snout, wouldn't it be possible to add the possibility to also preorder the ''reset cable'' to the preorder form?

By ditman

Resident (35)

ditman's picture

03-11-2006, 11:50

OMFG! Smile

I declare to have filled out the pre-order form correctly and truthfully, and agree to buying the One Chip MSX for a price that does not exceed € 244.47 including VAT and shipping costs...

OMFG! Crying

By DarQ

Paragon (1038)

DarQ's picture

03-11-2006, 14:09

there is a big change that i will order this thing.. although it lacks quite some features which i'd LOVE to have around (as you all know, the TurboR, gfx9000 and opl4)... anyway... let see

btw: how can some stupid cable cost 300E ?!??

By wolf_

Ambassador_ (10109)

wolf_'s picture

03-11-2006, 14:23

The machine is already stuffed with msx2'ish things and minor expansions, and tho they're not optimized yet, I wouldn't put my hopes on OPL4, G9k en tR together in one OCM.

There is a far better chance that ppl design new gfx and audio VHDL, which won't have to include code to compensate for all the unique quirks of the common MSX stuff. On the bazix page it's mentioned that currently the SCC+ takes 6.5% and the MSX-Music 28.1% (all unoptimized). Perhaps you'd like to ditch the MSX-Music in favour for a 20-channel SCC+ instead? Also, since the SCC is simply a waveplayer, I could imagine, with some tweaking, it could play bigger waves, and tadaa.. we're -minus the FM- in OPL4 territory.

GFX-wise:

I can imagine that different palette colors for something sc5'ish is no issue in VHDL, that's one step towards the G9k already. Next, sc5 uses 4 bits per pixel. Perhaps it's even faster to just use 8 bits per pixel and make sure we have direct access to the videomem, without all kinda slow'ish hogs the 9938 has. So, it's all small steps that could be improved or changed. I'm sure a lot of resources are now 'wasted' on the OCM behaving exactly like an MSX2, ditch it and you'll have new realms to discover.

By DarQ

Paragon (1038)

DarQ's picture

03-11-2006, 14:42

yeah, but i doubt 1MB RAM will serve for a proper OPL4 sram Wink

By wolf_

Ambassador_ (10109)

wolf_'s picture

03-11-2006, 14:42

Imagine that the 9938 (now 22.3%, that's less than the MSX-MUSIC!) would drop to 18% orso.. what about having two 9938's! We already have the transparent color 0, I figure this next 9938 could provide an extra layer. As long as we dare to change the whole shebang of the OCM there are enough options for OPL4'ish and G9k'ish things.

By wolf_

Ambassador_ (10109)

wolf_'s picture

03-11-2006, 14:44

yeah, but i doubt 1MB RAM will serve for a proper OPL4 sram

The machine has 32MB, 1MB is just 'a' default config.

By AuroraMSX

Paragon (1902)

AuroraMSX's picture

03-11-2006, 14:48

When ppl are negative, it could be because they'll be comparing with a 'real' MSXMore like comparing €240 to the expected €190

btw: how can some stupid cable cost 300E ?!??I have no idea. I did some more research and if you just follow the link that google offers to "USB JTAG", you get cables/converters in aprice range from €10 upto the aforementioned €300...

Perhaps you'd like to ditch the MSX-Music in favour for a 20-channel SCC+ instead? Also, since the SCC is simply a waveplayer, I could imagine, with some tweaking, it could play bigger waves, and tadaa.. we're -minus the FM- in OPL4 territory.Ehm, plus you'll need more than 32 bytes per channel for wave memory, you'll need to add ADSR envelopes, LFO, and all that other stuff you don't want to handle through Z80 software. And I can imagine that that takes up more FPGA space than the MSX-Music now covers.

I can imagine that different palette colors for something sc5'ish is no issue in VHDL, that's one step towards the G9k already. Next, sc5 uses 4 bits per pixel. Perhaps it's even faster to just use 8 bits per pixel and make sure we have direct access to the videomem, without all kinda slow'ish hogs the 9938 has.Ah, ditch screens 5~8, include a full color screen 4 with full color sprites and you're 3/4 way to Gfx9000 P1 mode Smile

By DarQ

Paragon (1038)

DarQ's picture

03-11-2006, 14:50

anyway, i just placed a preorder as well... im very eager to receive a nice package next year Smile
im less eager to buy that cable whilst i'd really like to have that as well

By ARTRAG

Enlighted (6935)

ARTRAG's picture

03-11-2006, 15:13

JTAG cables are professional tools, so their prices are very high even if they are stupid dummy cables...
The point is that each development system has its own cable (to avoid you could save money reusing the same twice Smile )

BTW the use of the transparent and of two VDP is intriguing.
And the development should be easy and direct (you duplicate an existing module)

I can imagine great parallactic scrollings ... moreover one could halve the levels of all the colors of the VDP in background , in order to have up to 32 colors in a scr5-scr5 configuration and a background with suited colors

Also a scr5 on scr8 configuration is interestiing...

By wolf_

Ambassador_ (10109)

wolf_'s picture

03-11-2006, 15:50

I actually think I'd keep one config safe for MBWave/FM and use another config to try all these low-level gfx/audio things myself.. I just hope all this programming is not too tricky Eek!

By robertwilting

Champion (467)

robertwilting's picture

03-11-2006, 16:12

Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Did anyone notice that this ByteBlaster cable costs about $300?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No because a quick search gave me prices between $15.00 -$150.00

Then you still need to solve shipping. But that's no real problem. So it should be possible to get this cabble for less then 50 euro's including shipping.

If that's to expensive then you could also build it yourself since the schematics are out on the net.

By Ivan

Ascended (9358)

Ivan's picture

03-11-2006, 17:21

Yesterday I read that I would receive an email to confirm the preorder. Haven't received anything so far. Have you experienced the same?

By AuroraMSX

Paragon (1902)

AuroraMSX's picture

03-11-2006, 17:25

JTAG cables are professional tools, so their prices are very high even if they are stupid dummy cables...
The point is that each development system has its own cable (to avoid you could save money reusing the same twice )
Ehm, I thought that the idea of JTAG was to finally have one standard solution. And I would still be very interested in knowing the differnce between an €300 JTAG cable and a €10 one...

By Niles

Hero (545)

Niles's picture

03-11-2006, 17:41

Agree with all of you: quite expensive... (some guys at Bazix will change their cars soon :evilSmile pre-order for me anyway Big smile

I'm feeling like in 1985... Wink

By Tanni

Hero (556)

Tanni's picture

03-11-2006, 18:10

Ivan: ''Yesterday I read that I would receive an email to confirm the preorder. Haven't received anything so far. Have you experienced the same?''

You'll get an e-mail right after preordering for finalizing the preorder, and after that, one saying One Chip MSX preorder completed. So it seems that something went wrong with your preorder. Maybe you should contact BAZIX to ask what's happened.

By dumfrog

Resident (45)

dumfrog's picture

03-11-2006, 18:16

>If you aren't going to VHDL yourself (or run new VHDL code),
>I could imagine the OCM looks a tad overpriced.
Well, I don't plan to code VHDL but at that price, a brand new MSX with SCC/FM PAC/VGA & audio outputs/1Mb RAM/SD-CARD/built in MSXDOS 2 instead of my old HB700 and its blurry TV isn't that expensive Tongue

By wolf_

Ambassador_ (10109)

wolf_'s picture

03-11-2006, 18:44

naturally Tongue

It was aimed towards those with a 1337-MSX .. those ppz with a tR, g9k, all soundchips etc.

By Prodatron

Paragon (1843)

Prodatron's picture

03-11-2006, 18:52

I was also surprised by the high price, but as far as I understand, that would be only the worst case. I already ordered two of them Smile

By snout

Ascended (15187)

snout's picture

03-11-2006, 18:57

Dumfrog: don't forget about the MegaSCSI/FAT16 thing! Smile

Ivan (and others who did not receive order confirmation) - at first a confirmation mail in HTML is sent. This one might get stuck in spamfilters/junkfolders etc. -- unconfirmed orders will in time automatically receive a reminder in plaintext. If you're uncertain about it, please contact Bazix directly by e-mail.

By Patsie

Master (254)

Patsie's picture

03-11-2006, 19:29

what is the minimum pre-order amount before it will go into production?

By wolf_

Ambassador_ (10109)

wolf_'s picture

03-11-2006, 19:38

unless my RAM fails me, it *will* be produced in any case.

By Patsie

Master (254)

Patsie's picture

03-11-2006, 20:39

@wolf_:
a quote from the pre-order website of bazix: (see point 4)
If the One Chip MSX computer will not go into production, for whatever reason (such as a lack of sufficient pre-orders), your pre-order will be cancelled automatically.
and point 5:
You will receive an e-mail when a decision has been made whether or not to produce the One Chip MSX computer commercially.
So according to bazix, there should be enough preorders, or the whole deal will still blow off.

By djh1697

Paragon (1702)

djh1697's picture

03-11-2006, 20:47

"Bazix are also offering a free One Chip MSX restore service to their customers for a full year after purchase. This means that if something goes wrong with updating the FPGA chip and you don't have a Byte Blaster cable, you can send the One Chip MSX to Bazix to get it restored for you."

what will be the charge after one year? all interesting stuff! I have not made my mind up if i should pre order one though ?

By Bart

Paragon (1422)

Bart's picture

03-11-2006, 20:50

By djh1697

Paragon (1702)

djh1697's picture

03-11-2006, 20:55

Thanks Bart - a reasonable e euro - i must admit that I am tempted - just wondering if it be able to be used with MegaROM images, since carring all my MegaROM's is a lot of trouble Sad

Maybe my MegaRAM will work with out any problems, along with my Sunrise CF-IDE. A lovely combination Smile

I wonder what reading you will get if you type ?peek(&hd), for the MSX version number?

By snout

Ascended (15187)

snout's picture

03-11-2006, 21:38

Djh - In fact, there already is a VHDL extension that allows you to config the OCM as an MSX2 with an ESE-FlashROM in slot 2. I haven't tested MegaRAM, but the CF interface is no prob and I expect no problems with MegaRAM either. (MegaFlashROM works...)

By SaebaMSX

Hero (533)

SaebaMSX's picture

03-11-2006, 22:15

Hey, great new, I will try to get 2 of em. Smile

I don't know about the image quality of the video ports... but which one do you recommend if a LCD TV has "only" HDMI, SCART (RGB), components and RCA and S-Video? Is it that complicated to build the VGA->SCART cable?

By Ivan

Ascended (9358)

Ivan's picture

03-11-2006, 22:24

I also don't discard a second unit.

By wolf_

Ambassador_ (10109)

wolf_'s picture

03-11-2006, 23:25

Patsie: my 'will be produced' remark was based on this newspost..

By DamageX

Master (217)

DamageX's picture

04-11-2006, 02:37

$274 CryingCryingCryingCrying I preordered one. I'll have to sell some other retro computer stuff to raise funds.

By Patsie

Master (254)

Patsie's picture

04-11-2006, 08:29

@wolf_:
Okay, you're right. Perhaps I should rephrase my question better: How many preorders are neccesary before the european OCM will be produced? Smile

By TheIncantation

Supporter (14)

TheIncantation's picture

04-11-2006, 08:43

I have waited fourteen years for a new MSX to shine at the horizon; now it does! Spreading it over fourteen years (that is 1.46 Euro a month) the total amount of 244.47 Euro seems fair... I know: lousy, diabolical argumentation, but it does not matter! That is what my wife heard from me when I pre-ordered the 1chipMSX.

By Ivan

Ascended (9358)

Ivan's picture

04-11-2006, 08:58

How many preorders are neccesary before the european OCM will be produced?

1,000,000 Tongue

By spl

Paragon (1470)

spl's picture

04-11-2006, 10:13

SAEBA: As far as I know, OCM has Composite and SVHS TV output.

By ARTRAG

Enlighted (6935)

ARTRAG's picture

04-11-2006, 10:24

I have filled the preorder form for the ONECHIP MSX. I will buy the product in any case, but I have some questions about its compatibility with the msx standard.

Does it exist some indicators of the level of compatibility of the Onechip with the real exiting MSX2 computers?
Does anyone have any info about the compatibility with the existing MSX1&2 software and games?
Does anyone have some benchmark to show the accuracy of the project, with respect to timings, VDP functions, z80 memory cycles etc?

I think that the availability of this kind of info would greatly improve the trust of the customers in this product.

By Grauw

Ascended (10772)

Grauw's picture

04-11-2006, 14:31

Great news for everybody not in Japan!

(and props to Bazix for arranging it so quickly!)

By Bastiaan

Champion (333)

Bastiaan's picture

04-11-2006, 14:41

So Cool!

but why all these complaints about the price? More (and cheaper) games available than for new console computers and
anyways: 245 Euro is a lot less than a brand new msx2 back in the 80's !

4 little questions:
-are both catridge slots usable for a slotexpander? (or what slots are used for audio/scc/scsi)
- how much of the 32 MB SD-ram is used in this default config?
-does the scc+ has it's own memory/RAM? like an expanded (SD)snatcher cart?
-are there any live demos planned before the closing of the preorder time?

By Grauw

Ascended (10772)

Grauw's picture

04-11-2006, 14:50

Wolf: but all these modifications that you mention, although cool, makes software not work on original MSX-es anymore… So I’m not really thrilled by the idea, and think emulating existing devices like the OPL4 and v9990 would be better (by the way, emulating only the WAVE part of the OPL4 would at least be more compact than the full OPL4, and in 99% of the cases FM is (unfortunately) not used). Maybe adding support for that direct-vram-access mod is also a nice idea.

What does appeal to me mostly though, is to super-charge the CPU and add small-but-very-useful modifications like hardware support for breakpoints, exposing the read-only v9938/58 registers for debugging purposes, or maybe even output to a debug console through an I/O port (like in openMSX!). It will make a good developing environment Smile.

~Grauw

By wolf_

Ambassador_ (10109)

wolf_'s picture

04-11-2006, 16:17

Grauw, that's like saying "nice this tR, but when making something for R800, it won't work on MSX1,2,2+, so let's rather not."

MSX has always been upwards compatible.

By wolf_

Ambassador_ (10109)

wolf_'s picture

04-11-2006, 16:20

Bastiaan: 19 november! It's close to the deadline tho. And it *might* not be close to you. :P

By Bastiaan

Champion (333)

Bastiaan's picture

04-11-2006, 16:56

@ wolf_ groningen is indeed not very close to where I live Big smile

By wolf_

Ambassador_ (10109)

wolf_'s picture

04-11-2006, 17:07

Prodatron will also show up there to demo symbos, perhaps this event together with the OCM, might be a reason for a day out.. Tongue

By Vampier

Prophet (2413)

Vampier's picture

05-11-2006, 04:07

It seems that Bazix is really dedicated to the 'scene' and to their customers. I wrote a few e-mails to snout and they were answered very quickly, friendly and very courtesy. in the past I went on raves and rants about Bazix but they are serious about bringing the scene back to live (a bit) the development of the OCM can mean a very cool breaktrough.... and hopefully in the future it will have turbo-r support and v9900 etc etc.

I'll probably do a duo order with dvik Smile

By spl

Paragon (1470)

spl's picture

05-11-2006, 12:27

Thanks to OCM, I think there will be more MSX on parties Smile

By Patsie

Master (254)

Patsie's picture

05-11-2006, 15:24

unfortunately I still haven't got a (serious) reply to my question Sad
so, bazix, again I ask: how many pre-orders do you need before the (european) OCM will be produced?

By Ivan

Ascended (9358)

Ivan's picture

05-11-2006, 17:11

Patsie: if Bazix answers your question, which question would be the next one? How many preorders they have got? How much money are they earning? Bazix is a company, they are not forced to answer such questions.

By Patsie

Master (254)

Patsie's picture

05-11-2006, 21:39

@ivan:
Do I ask an unreasonable question? You assumptions on 'what I will ask next' are pretty ridiculous. Do not assume on what you think I am going to ask next, of even if I'm going to ask anything else.
And you are right that they do not need to answer my question. The least they can do is tell that they do not want to reply with any numbers (if that is so)

By snout

Ascended (15187)

snout's picture

07-11-2006, 01:30

Patsie - you did not ask a question to Bazix, you posted a comment to a newspost assuming someone from Bazix would read it and reply to it. Sending mails to the mail-adress found on the Bazix website is a lot more effective. That said, Bazix does not disclose the amount of pre-orders needed to make production possible, yet will announce it as soon as the 'production bar' has been met.

By Ada

Resident (49)

Ada's picture

07-11-2006, 16:09

Hi!

Just pre-ordered one unit! Smile I have two questions, I couldn't find an answer to them:
- which is the resolution of the image displayed via VGA connector? The typical 1280x1024 used by TFT monitors?
- I thought the signal used in VGA connections is a progressive one. If it's correct, could it be possible to make an adapter and connect the OCM to a progressive TV by using the components' input?
Thanks! Big smile

By djh1697

Paragon (1702)

djh1697's picture

08-11-2006, 18:28

I have just ordered one unit as well! I would order two, but cash is tight at the moment.

Looking forward to the first (?) OCM in the UK. Perhaps when pre-order is complete we should do a survey as to which country people are fom and how many they ordered ?

By Patsie

Master (254)

Patsie's picture

08-11-2006, 18:53

snout: I could/should have been more clear who I addressed the question to. Thanks for the (semi)answer.

By djh1697

Paragon (1702)

djh1697's picture

08-11-2006, 22:15

Good to have a brief chat earlier this evening Snout. I look forward to getting my OCM!

By ARTRAG

Enlighted (6935)

ARTRAG's picture

09-11-2006, 20:41

About the level of accuracy of OCM....
Does Bazix plan to release updates of the firmware in case we find some issue?

The point is that there is no info at all about OCM's features, or about its compatibility with existing SW, or about benchmacks...
Some hints on the website (gradius running) let us hope that OCM will be accurate, but no statement is done about this matter.
This sounds like "this is an FPGA, look, the msx can be done, do it yourself"

I orderd the OCM, but what i'll get exactly ?
I hope that bugs will be corercted later... - or not ?
Question

By snout

Ascended (15187)

snout's picture

09-11-2006, 21:57

Artrag - Of course Bazix will offer updates in the OCM 'firmware' on the website, either improving accuracy or features. I'm really short on time these days, but with a bit of luck I might be able to do an 'Emulator Comparison test' for the OCM.

By papa_november

Rookie (32)

papa_november's picture

11-11-2006, 04:44

THREE HUNDRED AMERICAN DOLLARS
THREE HUNDRED AMERICAN DOLLARS
THREE HUNDRED AMERICAN DOLLARS

I wonder if they realise that at this point their market consists of the five people who paid $180 on eBay for SD Snatcher and already have a closet filled with Turbo-Rs.

By ARTRAG

Enlighted (6935)

ARTRAG's picture

11-11-2006, 15:28

you can have a ps3 for less money Smile

By wolf_

Ambassador_ (10109)

wolf_'s picture

11-11-2006, 16:03

While it doesn't make a diff to the consumer, you can't ofcourse compare mass-production with limited production. One chip costs a $million, a million chips cost $one each.

By wolf_

Ambassador_ (10109)

wolf_'s picture

12-11-2006, 00:14

There used to be 6 > symbols at the Bazix OCM page @ 100% stock. Now they mention over 50% was ordered, and 4 > symbols remain. That's .. interesting, from a mathematical pov! ^_^ So, just for the risk of that slider NOT being linear, I pre-oredered an OCM.

By xantia

Supporter (2)

xantia's picture

12-11-2006, 16:08

Hello msx friends,

This is my first post on MRC and what a better way to start than with the announcement that i pre-ordered a OCM.
And now the long waiting starts Smile

By cronos

Rookie (23)

cronos's picture

12-11-2006, 16:49

EXPENSIVE. but I put pre-order and waiting crossing my fingers......

By Durany

Rookie (29)

Durany's picture

13-11-2006, 18:17

Huy! I Pre-ordered one myself! Just wanted to say that LOL!

By Algorythms

Champion (288)

Algorythms's picture

14-11-2006, 11:42

Xantia: Hi, welcome and congrats! Smile And I preordered too.