2 Nov
2007
2 Nov
'07
1:55 p.m.
David Griffith wrote:
I'm thinking of a device about the size of a
couple CD jewel cases that
has two serial ports, a ps/2 or usb port, VGA port, power jack, and
perhaps a JTAG header concealed within. This device is a regular RS232
serial terminal. Plug in a monitor, keyboard, and something talking rs232
and you're ready to go. Inside there would be a microprocessor, some ram,
some flash, and an FPGA to take care of glue logic and talking to the VGA
port. The FPGA would be loaded with the digital schematics of a
particular terminal and its firmware, for instance, a Wyse 85 or 99GT (my
favorites). That would get you most of the usual emulations.
How hard would it be to create something like this? How much would it
cost?
According to slashdot, Walmart is selling an Ubunto based
Linux PC for around $200, without monitor. This is apparently
a mini-atx board stuffed into a full sized box with a 80 Gb hard
drive, most of the interfaces you wanted, and probably a warranty.
This gives you a price $200 + Display for something that
can run numerous terminal emulators, even allowing ssh
or telnet.
So, $200 is the price to try to beat.
You can probably buy a low end mini-atx based box for a
similar price if size really matters, or design
your own box to stuff it into. This gives you a very flexible
terminal emulator that you can load any number of
emulations into, write your own emulators, and be able to
run local programs (calculator, etc) on.
If you don't like Linux, you can always load FreeDos or
something else onto it.