4 ms·

A Unique, High-Tech (Family) Computer

65 points by zdw 1y ago

OhMeadhbh 1y ago
I bought one of these a couple decades ago. The story I got was they were mass produced in Shenzhen and sold (cheaply) to poorer sections of China, India and SouthEast Asia. As for the "educational" aspect... The one I got did come with an English vocabulary program, and a few other games in what looked like simplified Chinese (couldn't tell for sure, I don't read or speak any of the Chinese dialects.) But it looked very similar... I'm guessing some of the old fab equipment was completely depreciated and picked up for a song and stuffed in the corner of someone's warehouse and was cranking out 6502 clones by the thousand. I remember some of the limitations: zero networking (not even RS232), no mass storage (not even a cassette port), 8-bit sound (no voice samples for language lessons) and something like a 252x240 screen resolution. I've often wondered how (in)expensive you could make something with a better built-in screen, the ability to play VP9/AV1 video and opus samples and Bluetooth to connect to mouse / keyboard and PC as a net and storage device.
- tylerflick 1y ago
  > I've often wondered how (in)expensive you could make something with a better built-in screen, the ability to play VP9/AV1 video and opus samples and Bluetooth to connect to mouse / keyboard and PC as a net and storage device. I’ve been doing this, and the answer if you have a 3d printer is $10 US(pi zero 2 w) + the cost of whatever display you want to use. This won’t do AV1 but it’s good enough for my use cases. I’m slightly cheating on the cost as I have plethora of LiPo batteries in reserve.
  - fiddlerwoaroof 1y ago
    I’ve been wanting to do something like this to make a modern iPod / audiobook reader.
    - tylerflick 1y ago
      For an iPod style device you could even go lower down the line and use Pico W along with the addition of some i2s/amp combo.
- zokier 1y ago
  > I've often wondered how (in)expensive you could make something with a better built-in screen, the ability to play VP9/AV1 video and opus samples and Bluetooth to connect to mouse / keyboard and PC as a net and storage device. Hardware wise that sounds a lot like basic tablet, which sell around $100 price point. On the other hand, Raspberry Pi 400 costs $80.
  - OhMeadhbh 1y ago
    Right. The Raspberry Pi 400 (or 500) is in line with what I was thinking about. The only caveat I can think of is I am very much not a fan of the keyboard that comes with the 400. And you have to add your own monitor, but you can get a cheap 720p HDMI monitor from Amazon for less than $100, probably cheaper from Ali Express (assuming we can still import things from China by the time you read this.) I didn't mention anything about software... Raspbian is a passable spin of Leenucks, but not really what I was thinking about for an "educational" or "casual" computer. But that's a completely different day-dream.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
bitwize 1y ago
I remember some sort of OLPC/Raspberry Pi-like initiative in India to build a "teach the kids how to program" type computer based on a Famiclone. The idea was that "famicoms on a chip" were readily available in a way that would make it cheap enough even for the dirt-poorest of Indian families to afford, and the software could theoretically be ported to the more bootleggy famiclones already out there on the market.
- rickcarlino 1y ago
  I think that was “PlayPower” http://playpower.pbworks.com/w/page/17230477/About%20the%20$10%20Computer%20and%20Playpower http://playpower.pbworks.com/w/page/17230477/About%20the%20$...
OCTAGRAM 1y ago
In Russia we had Subor, LIKO and Magistr. Magistr also did 16-bit SEGA with keyboard, and this is unique. SEGA had no 16-bit original hardware with keyboards. SEGA only had 8-bit keyboard and then 32-bit Dreamcast.

65 points by zdw 1y ago

I bought one of these a couple decades ago. The story I got was they were mass produced in Shenzhen and sold (cheaply) to poorer sections of China, India and SouthEast Asia. As for the "educational" aspect... The one I got did come with an English vocabulary program, and a few other games in what looked like simplified Chinese (couldn't tell for sure, I don't read or speak any of the Chinese dialects.) But it looked very similar... I'm guessing some of the old fab equipment was completely depreciated and picked up for a song and stuffed in the corner of someone's warehouse and was cranking out 6502 clones by the thousand. I remember some of the limitations: zero networking (not even RS232), no mass storage (not even a cassette port), 8-bit sound (no voice samples for language lessons) and something like a 252x240 screen resolution. I've often wondered how (in)expensive you could make something with a better built-in screen, the ability to play VP9/AV1 video and opus samples and Bluetooth to connect to mouse / keyboard and PC as a net and storage device.

tylerflick 1y ago
> I've often wondered how (in)expensive you could make something with a better built-in screen, the ability to play VP9/AV1 video and opus samples and Bluetooth to connect to mouse / keyboard and PC as a net and storage device. I’ve been doing this, and the answer if you have a 3d printer is $10 US(pi zero 2 w) + the cost of whatever display you want to use. This won’t do AV1 but it’s good enough for my use cases. I’m slightly cheating on the cost as I have plethora of LiPo batteries in reserve.
- fiddlerwoaroof 1y ago
  I’ve been wanting to do something like this to make a modern iPod / audiobook reader.
  - tylerflick 1y ago
    For an iPod style device you could even go lower down the line and use Pico W along with the addition of some i2s/amp combo.
zokier 1y ago
> I've often wondered how (in)expensive you could make something with a better built-in screen, the ability to play VP9/AV1 video and opus samples and Bluetooth to connect to mouse / keyboard and PC as a net and storage device. Hardware wise that sounds a lot like basic tablet, which sell around $100 price point. On the other hand, Raspberry Pi 400 costs $80.
- OhMeadhbh 1y ago
  Right. The Raspberry Pi 400 (or 500) is in line with what I was thinking about. The only caveat I can think of is I am very much not a fan of the keyboard that comes with the 400. And you have to add your own monitor, but you can get a cheap 720p HDMI monitor from Amazon for less than $100, probably cheaper from Ali Express (assuming we can still import things from China by the time you read this.) I didn't mention anything about software... Raspbian is a passable spin of Leenucks, but not really what I was thinking about for an "educational" or "casual" computer. But that's a completely different day-dream.

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

bitwize 1y ago

I remember some sort of OLPC/Raspberry Pi-like initiative in India to build a "teach the kids how to program" type computer based on a Famiclone. The idea was that "famicoms on a chip" were readily available in a way that would make it cheap enough even for the dirt-poorest of Indian families to afford, and the software could theoretically be ported to the more bootleggy famiclones already out there on the market.

rickcarlino 1y ago
I think that was “PlayPower” http://playpower.pbworks.com/w/page/17230477/About%20the%20$10%20Computer%20and%20Playpower http://playpower.pbworks.com/w/page/17230477/About%20the%20$...

OCTAGRAM 1y ago

In Russia we had Subor, LIKO and Magistr. Magistr also did 16-bit SEGA with keyboard, and this is unique. SEGA had no 16-bit original hardware with keyboards. SEGA only had 8-bit keyboard and then 32-bit Dreamcast.