THE 64 - Computer and Handheld Console

[darkborn]

Hopefully the £70 is RRP and it will be discounted.

Without the working keyboard it's just a toy, and an expensive one at that.

Without trolling, forum would be boring?
https://thec64.com/

• 2 USB ports: plug in a USB keyboard and use as a fully functional home computer with C64 BASIC, or add a second joystick for 2-player games

 

[levi]

The C64 is a significant departure from the ISO or ANSI standard keyboards we use these days though. We're missing restore keys, run/stop keys, and the C64 has no Escape key or Tab key or a few others. Exactly how this maps unused USB keys onto missing C64 keys could be critical.

 

[Eight Bit]

I can just.... Sigh....

 

[Klumpen]

The dummy keyboard is still the worst decision ever since it destroys a compact form factor (rPI) without giving something useful (keyboard with genuine C64 layout).
How anyone can still be interested in this is a mystery to me.

 

[levi]

Nintendo's mini reproductions that can't even take an old-school cart show there's a market for this. Perhaps the intersection of that market and people here isn't that big though - I've not heard much discussion of those Nintendo units here compared to elsewhere.

 

[rygD]

I believe you can plug in a USB keyboard.

Why the fuck should you need to plug a keyboard into a C64? It has a keyboard built in.
[doublepost=1518924263,1518924168][/doublepost]

Nintendo's mini reproductions that can't even take an old-school cart show there's a market for this. Perhaps the intersection of that market and people here isn't that big though - I've not heard much discussion of those Nintendo units here compared to elsewhere.

I have actual Nintendo consoles, so...

 

[levi]

Why the fuck should you need to plug a keyboard into a C64? It has a keyboard built in.

It has a rigid plastic mockup of a keyboard built in - they keys don't move so it can't be considered any kind of input device. This is still a TheC64Mini they're launching here, not what we would consider to be the real deal they initially promised.

 

[rygD]

Exactly, and my point remains.
[doublepost=1518937247,1518937062][/doublepost]I was never a C64 user (A2 in my schools), and even I feel the mini makes a joke of the lineage of these products. It would be like a handheld with no screen. Or battery, or something.

 

[ClockworkCoder]

Why the fuck should you need to plug a keyboard into a C64? It has a keyboard built in.

Potty mouth.

I do hope they keep to their word and actually release the keyboard version, although I'm looking more towards other C64 projects now. Keen to have a play around with some assembler.

I have serious doubts about the handheld version, and am not confident in them even releasing the full keyboard version. They've not been the most communicative (on Kickstarter at least) which has irked me, but at least they have delivered something so far.

 

[Eight Bit]

Coming tuesday the ultimate64 boards will be populated. Hopefully I will receive one before the end of the month. In my humble opinion that's a way more exciting project.

 

[pmprog]

Coming tuesday the ultimate64 boards will be populated. Hopefully I will receive one before the end of the month. In my humble opinion that's a way more exciting project.

You'll have to let us know what they're like when you get it. In the mean time, I've been super excited about the progress on the MEGA65

 

[darkborn]

The C64 is a significant departure from the ISO or ANSI standard keyboards we use these days though. We're missing restore keys, run/stop keys, and the C64 has no Escape key or Tab key or a few others. Exactly how this maps unused USB keys onto missing C64 keys could be critical.

More FUD but less knowledge? Wtf ISO, ANSI you're talking about?
All Commodore 8-bit machines are using same PETSCII (or CBM ASCII), as expanded version of original ASCII standard since 1963. (7-bit, only capital letters iirc).
Mind you, Commodore Business Machines's been selling (standard!) typewriters before computers.

By ANSI you probably meant "Windows ANSI code pages", that are not ANSI standard.
Luckily, you did not mention "Windows/Menu" keys instead "CBM" key as "critical".
ISO 8859 is 8-bit extension to ASCII 7-bit encoding technique standard.
All those is mostly sorted now through Unicode, anyway.

Vice (and Frodo and so on) does not have major problems with "keys (that) could be critical" for years.
Actually, I'm writing this now on standard USB keyboard (ASCII, ISO...), which is also my main C64 PETSCII keyboard for Vice64, so check caps for yourself:

 

[Ian J]

plug in a USB keyboard and use as a fully functional home computer with C64 BASIC, or add a second joystick for 2-player games

I do this already with a Raspberry Pi but I'd still rather have a keyboard with an accurate layout.

 

[levi]

More FUD but less knowledge? Wtf ISO, ANSI you're talking about?
All Commodore 8-bit machines are using same PETSCII (or CBM ASCII), as expanded version of original ASCII standard since 1963. (7-bit, only capital letters iirc).
Mind you, Commodore Business Machines's been selling (standard!) typewriters before computers.

By ANSI you probably meant "Windows ANSI code pages", that are not ANSI standard.
Luckily, you did not mention "Windows/Menu" keys instead "CBM" key as "critical".
ISO 8859 is 8-bit extension to ASCII 7-bit encoding technique standard.

Wikipedia says:
Today, most keyboards use one of three different mechanical layouts, usually referred to as simply ISO (ISO/IEC 9995-2), ANSI (ANSI-INCITS 154-1988), and JIS (JIS X 6002-1980), referring roughly to the organizations issuing the relevant worldwide, United States, and Japanese standards, respectively.

It's good to hear that these issues are largely insignificant for users of modern keyboards. I note on yours you've ended up putting stickers on most of the keys to make it clearer which c64 key those modern keys relate to, and to add the block graphics; would you suggest we all do that?

 

[Ian J]

 

[matzesu]

One Question: why isnt there Great Giana Sisters on the List of Installed Games ?? License Issues ??

 

[pmprog]

Well, one thing that video has just shown me - if you watch the balloon when he starts playing Creatures (about 6:20) - this machine isn't blending the screen. So on the original CRTs, the creature in the balloon doesn't "flicker" between colours like it does in this video (and some emulators).

 

[Ian J]

Well, one thing that video has just shown me - if you watch the balloon when he starts playing Creatures (about 6:20) - this machine isn't blending the screen. So on the original CRTs, the creature in the balloon doesn't "flicker" between colours like it does in this video (and some emulators).

Could that be a youtube video issue? It's not up at 60fps.

 

[pmprog]

Could that be a youtube video issue? It's not up at 60fps.

Possible; but if they had an option to actually blend frames (The TurboChameleon allows a blended triple buffer), you'd get the same effect even if you recorded at 20fps

 

[Ian J]

At the end of the day it is only emulation, something they've put out to hopefully fund the "full" size & hand-held 64 they crowdfunded.

Not that I expect those will be any better as it's still emulation.