Hi everyone,

Just to let you know that the project I have been working on for the last 7-8 years, the X500 PLUS (the A500 inspired case), has been suspended.

What does it mean?

It means that in the last year alone I have had to go through several major changes for various reasons which I am not going to list but mainly the X500 PLUS, as shown last year, has had a few modifications to cut costs and make it more "affordable".

It would have been prohibitively expensive just to produce, let alone making any profit.

The all aluminium prototype worked but it was way too expensive and it didn't feel right or in line with the rest of my designs.

The keyboard became too expensive too, to keep it within a good price range an order of 1000+ pieces was going to be needed so for now I have replaced it with one which "should" be a good compromise,...well I like it, it works with the rest of the design and it's widely available.

In the last year alone I have made four-five prototypes. This is definitely a labour of love; I will never, ever recoup the money and time spent.

A bit of background history:

It started as a personal replacement case for my super expanded A1200, I felt at the time, that my Power Tower was ok, it offered all I wanted but I was missing the A500 looks and feel or at least that ‘80s feel (call it nostalgia). So I started working on a model just for me.
I thought that the A500, being my first Amiga, was the chosen one and it offered potential so I decided to make it roughly the same size and shape, slimmer, slightly wider but with a modern "standard" keyboard, this is a gripe of mine, I prefer modern keyboards, sorry.

I then left it to concentrate on the Minimig and 1541U cases and went back to it a couple of years later.

I then redesigned it to accept the SAM440, then a year later, another redesign to accommodate the 440 Flex, later again the 460ex, the Natami and finally a x86 mini-itx or x86 flex motherboard (so I could have an 8GB, dual core 2.5GHz Windows machine running inside with a 2GB graphics card and replace my huge Antec 300 case). The X500 PLUS should be able to do all that, together with a 3.5" card reader (FDD for the adventurous) DVD-RW, a couple of 2.5" HDDs or better SSDs and a pico PSU 120W+.

All this, through the years, has come to an enormous cost, time and money wise. Prototypes, parts, keyboards, switches, cables, power supplies, LEDs, picoPSUs, types of screws to use, aluminium, plastic, acrylic, the list never ends, I have got boxes and boxes full of stuff! The rest of the family doesn't like it!

You can't imagine what I have been through and several times I thought of giving up realising that this was far too much work for one person with no proper budget and nobody to back me up financially. It's easy to draw and design a fancy case and then having it injection moulded if you have a bag of cash available but I didn't, I haven't. So through the years I had to do with easy to find materials and decided to go through all I could put my hands on and sell it on ebay to raise the needed money;

six complete C64s, two C128, one C=Vic20, two fully expanded A600s, two fully expanded A1200s, three A500s, one Amiga 4000, all my Commodore Amiga floppies, CDs, magazines, games, peripherals and programs, several Hard Drives, floppy disk drives, laptops, PCs, monitors, accelerator boards, memory, newly built PCs just to make a bit of profit, computer cases, pieces of not needed furniture, bikes, books, all the little profit from the Minimig and C64 Ultimate cases, my fully expanded Minimig boards, I think I sold my broken down car at one point etc...etc...etc...

So this is it. I thought an update was required as I can’t personally email everyone who has contacted me with interest.

To top it all off recently a few things have happened in Amiga land, comments made that have watered my enthusiasm down.

A big thank you to all the people who kept encouraging me, you know who you are and my thanks go to you.

As in my previous thread I am no good with names so for now the X500 PLUS is the X500 PLUS (in memory of my first ever Amiga, the A500 PLUS)...
So when/if I’ll have good news, you’ll be the first to know…

Thanks again.

Last edited by TheDaddy on 17-Apr-2012 at 09:40 PM.

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www.loriano.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

@TheDaddy

Good to know a final name for it... I'm looking to do something similar for the "Big Box" Amiga series.

Possibly even allowing for the monster sized A2000 or A3000 Tower motherboards...

The one gripe I have is USB devices protruding from the case....I just hate it.

so I'll be doing something about that... but I have several other things to do as well...

Definitely having a case concept and design is a good first step...

in my case I actually have the option of printing the parts due to building myself a reprap...

I just need to sort out getting the printing working properly :)

I'm not giving up like you have not given up... and glad to see there is finally light at the end up your tunnel and not an oncoming train ;)

@TheDaddy

Sad news my friend

But you'll be back with your project as soon as you could imagine

@TheDaddy


Shame... you feel that what a bunch of loony tunes on Moo whom haven't yet reached the status of sentient beings yet have dampened your enthusiasm...

Hopefully you'll learn to ignore what the mentally retarded have to say should mean nothing to you and get back to producing cases that people want to buy once again...

Take a break if you feel you need to but just remember the only folks opinions that should matter to you are those whom support you and those who have bought your cases and hopefully you'll get your enthusiasm back once again and enjoy doing what you do best...

The opinions of a few raving nutters and loony tunes should be laughed at and not taken seriously or to heart...

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@TheDaddy

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(Post deleted by moderator AmigaDave for flame baiting the original poster, warning given to digitex.)

This kind of behavior will not be tolerated by any member.

Last edited by amigadave on 18-Apr-2012 at 12:40 AM.
Last edited by amigadave on 18-Apr-2012 at 12:38 AM.

@digitex

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(Deleted by moderator AmgiaDave because this also was flame bait and will not be allowed on the forums. Warning given.)

Please use the report button to have moderators deal with inappropriate behavior on the forums, instead of attacking other members and earning warnings from the moderators.

Last edited by amigadave on 18-Apr-2012 at 01:56 AM.
Last edited by amigadave on 18-Apr-2012 at 01:55 AM.

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@TheDaddy

Loriano your cases are great so don't let the trolls affect your enthusiasm.

Keep doing what you love doing & let others feed the trolls.

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c64-2sids, A1000, A1200T-060@50(finally working!),A4000-CSMKIII
! My Master Miggies- Amiga 1000 & AmigaOne X1000 !
mancave-ramblings
X1000 I BELIEVE

@TheDaddy

I still think the the Minimig case I bought from you is great and I doubt any of my friends realise it was made by a hobbyist on a shoestring budget. Keyboard computers aren't really my thing but I think the X500 PLUS looks pretty decent considering the limitations of the material and tools.

Lack of money and burn out fair enough, but don't let the "few" cretins posting on moo influence you.

Don't worry about it too much...shame I missed Barry's comment, they are always entertaining.

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www.loriano.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

@TheDaddy

Oh no! This is indeed a very bad news, I was thinking of buying one!
Thanks for your effort and passion anyway

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ikir

@TheDaddy

Quote:

In the last year alone I have made four-five prototypes. This is definitely a labour of love; I will never, ever recoup the money and time spent.

Sad you (and we) are stuck with prototype stage.
Could any be demonstrated as video or at some Amiga show?

Based on prototypes how much they could cost in low volumes?
Would pre-ordering help?

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Future Acube and MOS supporter, fi di good, nothing fi di unprofessionals. Learn it harder way!

@TheDaddy

and now I do with the logos you create?
other logo more: AmiSafe

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@vox

Don't worry I'll figure something out...

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www.loriano.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

as posted on amiga.org:

OK...I know I said I was burnt out and it's taken me years and years (7?)...anyway.

After announcing this:

http://amigaworld.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=35607&forum=33

But I have received many emails of support (let me come up with a number wait.....running my random number generating software on my C64....result = 3000...no actually, 3001. )

Yes "3001 people" have asked me to carry on as it seems stupid to have spent and all that money and time on a project so complex and so dear to me (us?).

Anyway, it's nearly complete, it needs a couple of adjustments here and there but it's ready for production (I will assemble them one by one by myself so be patient)

Keep your eyes peeled this week end.

A minimum number of orders will be needed of course. Delivery from the end of May/mid June.

Coming as an A500 shape kind of thing or Sinclair PC-200, or whatever. It's really inspired by the computers of the '80s and '90s but to me it's the A500 (as it was my first machine and it's close to my heart).

Specs:

Allows the use of a mini-itx or flex-atx boards, space for a DVD-RW, space for a 3.5" drive (card reader really although a floppy disk drive fits but compromises space for other stuff) space for 2 to 3 SSDs or 2.5" HDDs.

Sorry more I can't offer!

Tested with:

Gigabyte motherboard with 8 and 16GB DDR3 with USB3 and 2.0, Intel i3 2.5GHz cpu (none of that crappy, slow, AMD and Atom stuff), I have got this feeling an i5/i7 might work too (NOT TESTED though). The board I am using has onboard HD Intel 2000/3000 graphics, HDMI eSATA etc... but me being a pedantic type I have also made space for a low profile graphics card expansion slot.

What does this mean?
Running an ATI Radeon HD 6570 2GB right now. :D
I am testing it win Win7 running from a 120GB SSD and for storage Western Digital 320GB HDD.

It's now on my desk running along my big tower box.
Keyboard is a nice one, a good compromise and generally available, it's not a cherry as I don't like them and those are expensive, so it makes sense to use "cheaper" stuff.

See it as a blank canvas, you get the kit (the case) and you make it what you want.

You can run AROS, you can fit a NATAMI, a FPGAArcade, put funky stickers on etc...etc...it's customising time!

Also tested with a SAM440ep (the mini), SAM440 and 460 (flex) with OS4.

You can even put a cluster of raspberries in there

How does it look? You'll see it this week end.

How big? Slightly thinner than the A500 (57.5mm without rubber feet), same width and slightly shorter.

So a massive thanks to all (you know who you are), see you this week end.

Last edited by TheDaddy on 27-Apr-2012 at 10:09 AM.
Last edited by TheDaddy on 27-Apr-2012 at 10:00 AM.
Last edited by TheDaddy on 27-Apr-2012 at 09:53 AM.

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www.loriano.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

@TheDaddy

WOW!

make that 3002.
im sorry i never sent u a letter telling u how sad i am that u decided to stop production.

because i was sad.

But now!!!!!!

brilliant mate. ur a little ripper! :>

rockin and (back on ) schedule!

_________________
Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes hurtling down the highway.

I serve King Jesus.
What/who do you serve?

@Barana

Hey don't worry...

I am just finishing printing some AROS, NATAMI and Amiga stickers and a boing ball/tick to give people an idea...it will not come with any stickers it's up to you boys/girls. I have spent thousands of £ on this and can't afford a license.

Oh I forgot to say...once they are ready to be ordered and paid for I'll try and donate some money to Amiga causes (websites, project, ports etc...) so the more cases you buy the more money I'll be able to donate. It won't be much (as I am trying to recover the costs of developing this case) but every little helps.

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www.loriano.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

@TheDaddy

Hurrah! That's great news. I'm afraid I can't buy one at the moment, I'm just too skint. But if I can get the cash together somehow....

Biggest problem is lack of PCI so no Catweasel (which is a big loss to me), but you can't have everything!

@Spirantho

There is an expansion slot, although it's a low profile one

You can use it to install a PCI or PCI-EXpress card...

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www.loriano.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

@TheDaddy

Hey, what I have said in this thread?
You've been very fast to came back on your feets, but I'm very happy for you

Now I want to see the final case

I encourage you to continue the project.
I hope this will cause a retro-renaissance.
I have an idea for a game console and hope to build it some day.

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John 3:16