Why not just build a kit w/out the case, or sell the case seperate? I'd gladly
buy a kit like that and install it in a metal file cabinet. That'll cut the
costs, if metalwork is that expensive.
CLASSICCMP_at_trailing-edge.com wrote:
> > I don't know if $500 is the right number either, but I figure that in a
> >"new" IMSAI 8080 kit in low quantities, there'd be at least $75 in boards,
> >$100++ for the case, $50 for the power supply, $25 for a silkscreened front
> >panel and the rest, silicon, passives, switches, and the backplane
> >connectors. And that doesn't iinclude any re-engineering costs to account
> >for parts that have been discontinued or marked as "end-of-life."
>
> You forgot one vital component: the switches. The 7101 and 7103 series
> switches used in the IMSAI front panel are still available new from C&K,
> at $5-$6 each. They start adding up fast! And cost of a full-length (22-
> slot) backplane would come to around $150-$200 these days. (Though you
> could easily argue that now that we have memory boards larger than 4kbytes
> you don't need all those slots, all of my real IMSAI's have 22-slot
> backplanes...!)
>
> A year or so ago I looked at what it would cost to make my "TIMSAI" IMSAI
> clone into a commercial product. Street price, I calculated, would be about
> $2000, and most of that was in the metalworking. There was only about $30
> in semiconductors in the whole unit (and that included 256K SRAM and an
> IDE/floppy controller).
>
> --
> Tim Shoppa Email: shoppa_at_trailing-edge.com
> Trailing Edge Technology WWW: http://www.trailing-edge.com/
> 7328 Bradley Blvd Voice: 301-767-5917
> Bethesda, MD, USA 20817 Fax: 301-767-5927
Received on Wed Mar 24 1999 - 16:52:18 GMT