Whoops, I did it again! VIC-20 on the way...

[JezC]

Wow! Cassette loading? What will they think of next. Hehe.

I know right, it's amazing!!

Maybe we need someone to create a paper tape reader (or even a punched card reader) for our retro machines!

[rubber_jonnie]

I know right, it's amazing!!

Maybe we need someone to create a paper tape reader (or even a punched card reader) for our retro machines!

I look forward to seeing the results of the project you just assigned yourself!

[JezC]

I look forward to seeing the results of the project you just assigned yourself!

D'Oh!

Mind you, there is probably something on Hackaday that would be a good starting point... :lol:

[rubber_jonnie]

I look forward to seeing the results of the project you just assigned yourself!

D'Oh!

Mind you, there is probably something on Hackaday that would be a good starting point... :lol:

I wouldn't be surprised at all!

[BennehBoy]

I can see a disk drive addiction in your future :lol: :lol:

I've now got:

3x1541
1xMaster-41 (1541 clone)
1x1571
1x1541 Ultimate II+ (amazing bit of kit)

Various other SD card based loaders.

If you do get a 1541 I can certainly advise on any fixes it might need - and have a lot of spares lol.

[rubber_jonnie]

I already have a 1541 thanks 😁 but honestly it doesn't see much use as I have an SD2IEC. I also have a pair of Atari 1050s, an Apple floppy, and a Seltron (also for Apple ][).

I do have some original software on FDD so having the drives available is handy, but I don't want to go down the collection route. Hmmm, or do I. DAMN!

[BennehBoy]

They were such a 'luxury' item when I was a kid that I lusted after one for years, maybe I'm just filling that hole now. Anyway, there's something quite nice about loading in from a real drive every now and then. I can even burn the D64's I've got directly out to floppy, which is also kind of fun.

But nothing beats being able to browse 1000's of choices at the push of a button with the U1541II+, the only downside of that thing is that it's so cycle accurate that you also get the inherent slowness of the original drive, unless you use a speeder ROM like JiffyDOS (which I have). Unfortunately there's no provision for parallel speeders which dramatically increase speed over Jiffy. It does load .PRG's directly into RAM via the user port though, so those are blinding fast compared to anything going over the serial port.

[rubber_jonnie]

They were such a 'luxury' item when I was a kid that I lusted after one for years, maybe I'm just filling that hole now. Anyway, there's something quite nice about loading in from a real drive every now and then. I can even burn the D64's I've got directly out to floppy, which is also kind of fun.

But nothing beats being able to browse 1000's of choices at the push of a button with the U1541II+, the only downside of that thing is that it's so cycle accurate that you also get the inherent slowness of the original drive, unless you use a speeder ROM like JiffyDOS (which I have). Unfortunately there's no provision for parallel speeders which dramatically increase speed over Jiffy. It does load .PRG's directly into RAM via the user port though, so those are blinding fast compared to anything going over the serial port.

It's so amazing what's available now, I have a SIDE3 for my A8s and it does floppy emulation, cart emulation, HDD emulation, it is so amazing, and then you have so many items that do the same for so many other computers, it's an awesome time to live :)

What I am most interested in are computers that had some sort of connection with my youth, either ones that I owned, ones that friends owned and I played with, ones that were in the education system (Apple ][ and BBC B for me) and last but by no means least, those that I desired, but our family couldn't afford. Again the Apple and BBC show up here, but also the QL and MSX.

As for the FDDs, I was able to get a 1050 when I started work, and it was magic!! I'd go down to Tottenham Court Road on a Saturday and spend the whole day browsing, especially the Silica Shop :)

It was nice that later the STs etc all had the built in FDD.

[derkom]

But nothing beats being able to browse 1000's of choices at the push of a button

I don't disagree, but there is still something magic about flipping through a big clunky plastic box full of floppies, especially if they're 5.25", which have a unique smell not found anywhere else.

[rubber_jonnie]

But nothing beats being able to browse 1000's of choices at the push of a button

I don't disagree, but there is still something magic about flipping through a big clunky plastic box full of floppies, especially if they're 5.25", which have a unique smell not found anywhere else.

And having a big mess o' wires and PSUs cluttering up your desk, and that noise that only 5 1/4" drives make :)