Jump to content
IGNORED

VBXE


lotharek

Recommended Posts

use search.. vbxe have maybe 50 threads

 

not much on content though....

 

Im looking for anything that would impress if showing off the product - any demos or enhanced games that stick out in particular.

 

ive trawled a bit and cant see much which take advantage so far. i would love to see the potential given the descriptions so far.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

not much on content though....

 

Im looking for anything that would impress if showing off the product - any demos or enhanced games that stick out in particular.

 

ive trawled a bit and cant see much which take advantage so far. i would love to see the potential given the descriptions so far.

 

Well,

 

I do not own a VBXE, but I guess you can get some software to test it here:

http://madteam.atari8.info/index.php?prod=vbxe

just click on the pics to get a download in 7-Zip format (*.7z). You can test the software in the emulator Altirra or directly on the A8 with VBXE...

 

-Andreas Koch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks good, kinda takes the A8 up to 16 bit benchmark with screenshots.(and perhaps arguably losing some identity as a result) I'd be interested to know what the main interest is of usage of this.

 

As its a bit of a departure from stretching the GTIA, and more PC like - its interesting to see how far the A8 is generally evolving into.

 

(not knocking it - back in the late eighties, i would have forfeited 10 Christmases to have something like this, but the tug of war with nostalgia vs progression is a tough one in this day and age foir the A8!)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rgb video output mainly. I wish there were a cheaper cut down version that just gave Rgb output

 

Same to me. I mostly enjoy the crystal clear RGB output. I replaced all my old CRTs and now I'm using nice looking HD Flat TVs (Samsung) with my old Atari hardware :)

The VBXE software I use is mostly SDX tooling (Last Word, Sparta Commander, FDISK, etc..)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been flirting with wanting to get a VBXE for a couple years. I think it's a cool idea. I too would primarily be interested in RGB/VGA output.

 

I do think it's a bit overkill and makes it a little less of an A8 but it's still cool and I want one. I ended up settling for a couple of the low_budget S-Video boards which have done me well so far and increased video output quality considerably over S-Video.

 

The fun for me is stretching the limits and hacking the original hardware. If I wanted more capable graphics I'd buy a Falcon or TT.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

This really does look nice! I am in the middle of convincing myself to unearth the old 800xl. Video-out is my main issue as to be practical I want to connect it with my desktop monitor. I simply do not have the space for both a PC and a separate atari setup, in fact it was the space issue which killed my interest in getting one of my old ARM A5000's running last year. Previously I have been looking at the various mods to get S-video or better yet DVI output, but Installing a VBXE might be exactly the answer!

 

Going from Lotharek's site I am not quite sure if these come as a bare circuit board which you then populate yourself via maplins, or if you can buy the board and components in one go or even just pay extra for a ready-assembled item? I am not worried if soldering is required and the board itself looks to be VERY crisply laid out indeed. I am guessing the current '1 euro' is just a place holder!!! Any ideas what the final prices might be?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I see that there is space for both a PAL and NTSC crystal. Does that mean you found a source of PAL crystals? In the old version you had to get the right PAL crystal from a certain revision of the XE motherboard because the proper crystal for PAL was very hard to find in the electronic shops.

 

Robert

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...

Howdy-

 

I'm getting ready to take the plunge on the VBXE for my 800 & my 130XE, but there are a couple of hurdles for me so far. Any information on these topics is greatly appreciated!

 

1 - In e-mail from Lotharek & a post above from Mimo, it's stated that the VBXE can be installed on an 800. Has anybody done this? Does Lotharek's documentation on all the other A8 models contain enough info to interpolate for the 800?

 

2 - Is anybody offering VBXE-to-Euro SCART cables? Lotharek isn't offering them--I would pay for a couple of these. :]

 

Thanks!

-Jason

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This really does look nice! I am in the middle of convincing myself to unearth the old 800xl. Video-out is my main issue as to be practical I want to connect it with my desktop monitor. I simply do not have the space for both a PC and a separate atari setup, in fact it was the space issue which killed my interest in getting one of my old ARM A5000's running last year. Previously I have been looking at the various mods to get S-video or better yet DVI output, but Installing a VBXE might be exactly the answer!

 

Going from Lotharek's site I am not quite sure if these come as a bare circuit board which you then populate yourself via maplins, or if you can buy the board and components in one go or even just pay extra for a ready-assembled item? I am not worried if soldering is required and the board itself looks to be VERY crisply laid out indeed. I am guessing the current '1 euro' is just a place holder!!! Any ideas what the final prices might be?

I have also got your same constraints. However, the Raspberry Pi can run Risc OS - and is vastly more powerful than the A5000 - though 26 bit emulation is a bit of a problem for games at the moment. Whatever ones thoughts, VBXE is amazing!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For some reason I REALLY like the old ARM machines. In its day RISCOS was so much faster that Windows, even in to the Windows 95 era. I have used both RedSquirrel and VirtualRISCPC in software. Then I heard you could use a Raspbery PI to emulate in hardware and even had my name down on a preorder at Maplins for one. However when they became available I had no money! Nevermind. One day!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...