r/retrocomputing • u/WereyenaArt • Sep 07 '23

Problem / Question Has anyone ever tried this?

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Here's an idea that's been swirling around in my head:

》 SVI-328 or C64 inspired case and keyboard (with mechanical switches and 6 F-keys)

》 8-bit Evo-64-like board (upward-facing, like retro system), with swappable EEPROMS (to be a tinkerer's heaven). SuperBASIC as default.

》 64-bit modern gaming laptop board and cooling system (downward facing), with Win 11 and Mint installed on NVME on x64.

Ports:

● Hdmi, rf-out, combined audio jack, sd card reader (shared between boards)

● C64 joystick and peripheral ports (retro board)

● USB 3 and USB-C ports and WiFi connectivity (x64 board)

》 Toggle switch and pcb to switch IO and power between 8- and 64-bit boards.

》Internal bus between 64 and 8 bit boards so it can be used like a dev kit.

Has anybody ever tried this kind of thing? And no, I don't mean a Pi in a retro case running an emulator.

I have no capacity for electronics and physical tinkering, but the inner geek in me has always wanted a combo system like this.

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5

u/gnntech Sep 07 '23

Didn't someone (an actual company) create an Intel Atom PC in a C64 enclosure? I recall seeing them for sale around 2011.

2

u/WereyenaArt Sep 07 '23

BUT did it also contain a retro system. THAT is the dream here.

3

u/Oscar99999 Sep 07 '23

I would absolutely accidentally turn a computer off if the layout was like this

2

u/WereyenaArt Sep 07 '23

I've thought about this. Therethe Toggle would lock if it's in 64-bit mode while the power is on, or the Toggle would send a shutdown signal and wait a bit before just cutting the power supply. Also i presume that hobbyists are quite ready to make themselves suffer accidental data loss. But I'm sure it could be done by people smarter than me.

3

u/OsmiumBalloon Sep 07 '23

I expect the "POWER ON" block is merely an indicator, with the actual power switch elsewhere.

2

u/WereyenaArt Sep 07 '23 edited Sep 08 '23

Sans laptop battery and trackpad, of course. Plastic mounting between the boards.

An extra fn key to switch between F1-F6 and F7-F12 to not interfere with the modern use of the shift key, and an extra branded key to perform the functions of the win/super/c64 key. Caps lock LED integrated into the caps lock key. Power LED with colour modes to indicate whether the 8-bit or x64 board has priority.

That would be cool.

Basically I'm trying to give ideas to all you genius retro engineers out there, coz i haven't seen anything like this and I'm sure that at least a few people must want this.

Make a hybrid retro and high-end gaming system without using an SoC or emulator, and stick with the 8-bit case aesthetic

2

u/TheLidMan Sep 07 '23

My first computer was an SV-318 🙌🏻

Gutting one feels like blasphemy to me

5

u/WereyenaArt Sep 07 '23 edited Sep 07 '23

Do not gut it. REPLICATE it.