Tim Rowledge wrote:
> So the Itsy hardware plans/partlist/monitor are now freely available.

"Freely" is a relative term. I have downloaded the design but the license says
it is strictly for internal, non-commercial use. For software that isn't a
problem, but I can't afford to build 50 of these and given them away to the
people on this list, unfortunately.

> How many
> people are interested in the possibility of having some built as a co-operative?
> For example, say it would cost
> $1000 per unit?
> Or $700
> Or $500
> I can't easily imagine it costing less than that, but if any of you out there
> know a board maker/stuffer that would be generous to us...

It would be best to clear this with Compaq first. Note that the LCD/touch
screen they used isn't available commercially, though it should be easy to
adapt another since I didn't see anything special about it.

> I know it runs Squeak nicely since I did the initial port; it manages something
> like 8m bytecodes/sec IIRC.

Really? That is nearly what my Ultra 5 does! Hmmm... it is probably more than a
200 MHz Pentium can get (I am thinking of the National Geode GXLV - ex Cyrix
Media GX). I would have guessed the Itsy would only be half as fast.

> Alternatively of course, there is the Samsung PDA at http://www.sem.samsung.co.kr/eng/product/digital/pda/index.htm   but I can't for the life of me find any
> way to get much more useful info. Maybe somebody that speaks korean can call
> them? It would be nice to at least know ram/cpu speed/price etc. before
> deciding to build something.

You are right - it is very pretty but vague. They don't even list the LCD
resolution, which I would guess would be in the pocket TV range (320x200 tops).
If that is the case, there is no way you could see the screenshots they show on
the device itself.

> The samsung seems to have _lot_ of nice features
> like USB, compactFlash slot, colour screen, backlight, radio rx, and support
> accessories. All these would need work to add to Itsy. Fun work to be sure, but
> still work.

You would have to change the LCD anyway, so you might as well make it color.
Some of the stuff is easily added with the SA1111 companion chip, though
waiting for it was a disaster for the Pleb project
(http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~pleb/).

-- Jecel