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This is the only flight sim I've flown...the ASCII blizzard on crashing was terrifying :D
(Sinclair ZX81)

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That's the one with the every-key-has-five-functions keyboard, right? :)

Did somebody mention the Sinclair ZX81? :D

Here's mine:

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I bought it during the summer for £15 GBP from the local classifieds. The seller pitched it as "sold as seen" but "probably working" and it indeed it was. :) I've since added the ZXpand+ interface whose features include a whopping 32K of RAM, a reset button, a Yamaha YM2149F soundchip, the ability to load files from an SD card and a joystick port - which makes gaming (with new titles!) so much more enjoyable than using the "damp keyboard." :D

At the moment I'm confined to using it with an older (but flat screen) TV which is able to lock onto the analogue RF signal, so I'll have to take the plunge at some point and carry out the modification which allows it to output a PAL composite video signal and I can then use it with my preferred TV.
 
Wow! That add-on packs in a lot for the money....

Absolutely! When I was notified that they were back in stock, I immediately made a purchase. It's a must-have if you own or want to use a ZX81 imho. :)

...and no more holding your breath loading programs from cassette tape ;)

That was a major appeal of the interface - previously I'd loaded in programs using an Android phone with a very good audio gain and revisiting the nostalgia of the 80s and 90s where I had no choice but to wait for stuff to load in from tape made me despair at what I'd had to suffice with back then. 😂
 
If only they didn't move to a really popular architecture in between PowerPC and Apple Silicon. Then it wouldn't feel like there was anything being sacrificed.
 
That was a major appeal of the interface - previously I'd loaded in programs using an Android phone with a very good audio gain and revisiting the nostalgia of the 80s and 90s where I had no choice but to wait for stuff to load in from tape made me despair at what I'd had to suffice with back then. 😂
Still better than from vinyl I guess...

 
Right now is not the greatest time. Lol. GeForce RTX 3000 series recently just launched and so did the Radeon 6000 series. Lower end cards like the GeForce 1660, 2060 aren't too hard to find right now but 3070s and up are trickier. Not as bad as peak cryptomining though.
"Launched" as in all 100 units worldwide were snapped up by scalpers. I remember reading a rumor that said that NVidia's 30x0 series most expensive part was the reference cooler, and that to recoup expenses but hype up the launch was to make as few FE cards as possible, eat the loss on the MSRP of the stock cards, then force the board partners to sell cards with cheaper coolers for $100 above the founders edition cards.

I'm guessing AMD had the same strategy.
 
For what its worth a $700 budget on a PC can still knock the Mac Mini out with regards to graphics. The M1 GPU is a lot better than the Intel crap in the 2018 Mini but its still behind most dedicated GPUs. Of course if you spend more it'll perform better and on the upside upgrades are easy and doable saving money down the road.

I recently switched from a 2018 Mini to a custom built PC. Both were about $1200 CAD. PC knocks it out of the park in everything but number of USB C ports. And in the future I can add more RAM, a better GPU, etc.

Hi!

Thanks for the info however I totally know that a custom built PC will beat the Mac mini, the point I was trying to make is I don't want a Windows or Linux PC in the house, too much of a pain in the ass for me to deal with, I'm already keeping 5 Macintosh systems running as it is and I don't need to waste time figuring out a whole different operating system. It's great that I now have a reasonably priced Mac option with "good enough" performance for what I need. Trust me, I'm currently running Xplane 11 on my Mid 2012 13" MacBook Pro with Intel 4000 integrated graphics with a flight yoke, rudder controls and throttle and it runs good enough for my Son to practice with. Honestly, after running on THAT system the new M1 MacMini will seem like we've gone from a bicycle to a race car.

It's all about tempering your expectations and being happy with what you have!

:)
 
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