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XGS Sale at Parallax: $199 (save $80!) — Parallax Forums

XGS Sale at Parallax: $199 (save $80!)

Ken GraceyKen Gracey Posts: 7,401
edited 2005-11-19 18:06 in General Discussion
Dear SXers:

Parallax is having a brief sale on the XGS kits. Normally priced at $279, we've got them at $199 and they include the following:
  • Nurve Networks XGameStation Kit
    • XGS board with NTSC crystal
    • XGS printed user's manual with SX/B support
    • Atari-compatible joystick (not standard in the Nurve version)
    • 110VAC power supply
    • Parallel cable and video cable
  • Programming the SX Microcontroller by Guenther Daubach
  • SX-Key User's Manual
  • SX-Key in-system debugger/emulator tool
  • Serial Cable and CD-ROM

The last four items listed in the kit are an amazing bonus at this price. This sale is temporary and is intended to reduce our inventory a bit, at which time we will return to the normal price of $279.

Details are at http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=45204

Thanks,

Ken Gracey
Parallax, Inc.

Comments

  • robosoccerrobosoccer Posts: 13
    edited 2005-11-18 14:11
    Hi Ken,

    2 questions:

    - In the description, it states: "It could be considered an alternative to our SX Tech Tool Kit for getting started with the SX chip...". As a relative newbie, I am wondering what are the significant differences?

    - Also, what is the likelyhood of this sale lasting a week or more? Need at leat another payday... you guys are rolling out the stuff so quickly [noparse]:)[/noparse] .

    Thanks,
    Bette
  • Ken GraceyKen Gracey Posts: 7,401
    edited 2005-11-18 15:04
    Hey Bette,

    The XGS kit includes a nice tutorial from Andre' LaMothe which has many SX/B examples. Is it a Starter Kit? I'd say so for the experienced programmer. XGS hardware allows video generation, joystick interface and sound, all concurrently. This is a bit much for the new SX programmer, who might benefit more from a breadboard-based system with simple projects to get started. Therefore, for you I'd suggest the SX Tech Tool Kit with the SX Tech Board (maybe get the Professional Development Board alone, later, if you're on a budget). The SX Tech Tool Kit is fairly priced ($129?). If you bought the Professional Development Board later, you'd incur an additional cost of $50 unless you bought it on your first purchase in the Professional SX Tech Tool Kit which includes the Professional Development Board.

    Not sure how long the sale will last. It just depends on our inventory level.

    Ken Gracey
    Parallax, Inc.
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2005-11-18 15:49
    ·Andre' LeMothe has another book that·appears to be quite good and provides a lot of info on video processing with the SX-Ubicom chips. I think it is about 800 pages.

    I was considering buying that separately as a Tutorial, but having nearly everything at this price is quite tempting. The board is good. It all comes together as another approach to learning -- video instead of robots.

    If you are not interested in games creation per se, I personally think that the board can provide good use ·an interactive presentation platform for advertising, demonstration,·and simply attracting customer's in a variety of venues.·

    So if you have a business that need to stop foot-traffic and bring it into your shop, take a look.

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    "When all think alike, no one is thinking very much.' - Walter Lippmann (1889-1974)

    ······································································ Warm regards,····· G. Herzog [noparse][[/noparse]·黃鶴 ]·in Taiwan

    Post Edited (Kramer) : 11/18/2005 4:03:55 PM GMT
  • TD-LinuxTD-Linux Posts: 33
    edited 2005-11-19 18:06
    I own a XGS system. It is very nicely made, and comes with tons of documentation (although a lot is on the CD).
    Writing video-generating code is very hard to do, as you have to time it perfectly, and every clock cycle counts. It does come with a Tile Graphics engine. With it, you get a tile graphics system. You also do not worry about timing issues.

    The 128K of SRAM on it is nice, but is very slow to access. You only get ~15 clocks per pixel on the screen, so you can't have a video buffer. Your game graphics have to be generated on the fly, with the exception of the Tile Graphics Engine, which stores a tile buffer in SRAM.

    It's not as powerful as it sounds, but it's still awesome.

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    SX-Key + SX52 + Proto Board + SX-Key Software + Computer + USB to Serial Adapter + LED = Blinky LED!
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