As mentioned in this newspost, MSX Association will make a limited-edition PC in a MSX-style case (desktop with integrated keyboard) with the new MSX PLAYer that emulates MSX turboR.

Is it cool? Is it lame?

Do you want one?

I for one think it's exciting! A very cool way to focus more attention on MSX, and in a few years, a nice collectors' item too

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Is it cool? Is it lame?

For me the coolest thing (and probably the only one) is the integrated cartridge slot.
If it wasn't for that it only would be a normal PC (well, in a small case).

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Do you want one?

Yes, depending on its price and if it will be quite easy to get.
I would also like to see some MSX logo/references on its case, manuals and box

It would be cool if they canl deliver the MSXPC with an card that has OPL4 support in hardware. That would make it a bit more of a MSX PC for me.

Because plain cards with an OPL4 chipset can not be ordered anymore
(Like the Sound Man Wave from Logitech, TBS 2000 from Turtle Beach or the Yamaha Sound Edge SW20) we need an alternative.

The ALS-4000 Chipset from Advance Logic has hardware support for OPL3 and OPL4.

Here are the technical specifications of that chipset:

Avance Logic ALS-4000 Integrated PCI Audio Accelerator Chip
(single chip solution)

ALS-4000: Full-duplex Sound Chip
ALS-4000 takes the following function into a single ASIC:

High Performance PCI Subsystem control logic
AC-Link Interface
Built-in ALSFM synthesizer
PPMI Power Management
Enhanced normal & digital game port
3D Effect Sound


ALS-4000 : Technical Specifications

Control logic is built into the ALS4000 to support the following functions:

Audio Input
CD-ROM audio
Line In
Microphone
PC Speaker In
Audio Output
Stereo Line-out

Game/MIDI POrt
External MIDI input and output
Joystick input and MIDI connector

Hardware /Software Features

High performance VLSI sound ASIC
Compatible with DirectSoundTM , DirectSound3DTM, BlasterTM, Sound Blaster ProTM, and Sound Blaster 16 Emulation.
PC98 Specifications Compliant
Avance ALSFM Synthesizer
PCI Bus Master for PCI Audio/PCI 2.1/2.2 Compliant PCI Interface
Support DDMA, Avance Legacy Support for legacy DMAC Emulation
64-Voice Wavetable Synthesis w/DLS-1 Support
Support Sound Blaster ADPCM decompression
3D Effect Sound
Enhanced normal & digital game port support
16-bit full-duplex for concurrent recording and playback
Single Crystal Operation(14.318Mhz)
5.0V digital/analog mode
Software Support

Compatibility:

Adlib
All Sound Blaster Pro applications
All Sound Blaster 16 applications
Yamaha OPL3 FM Synthesizer
Yamaha OPL4 Wavetable Synthesizer
MPU-401 UART MIDI

Applications:
16-bit stereo sound cards
PC motherboard based sound systems
MIDI controller
Enhanced Game port support

Emulation:
Sound Blaster ProTM
Sound Blaster 16TM
Sound Blaster ADPCM
MPU-401 UART MIDI interface

You can order such a card here (I wonder if that PC has a free PCI slot):

Surf Computing

"
Hi-Live ALS 4000 Sound Card ($10.95)

Need an inexpensive, but decent sound card? Try out this ALS 4000. The price is right and it sounds great!

Specifications & Features:

High performance ALS-4000 Audio Chipset
32 Bit PCI Specification 2.1
Plug and Play
Wavetable synthesis - compliant w/ downloadable sound system
Extraordinary 3D position audio effect
Accelerated DirectSound 3D in Windows
Power management support
Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP
Drivers and application software on bundled CD
Easy Installation

Requirements:
Windows® 95/98/98SE/2000/NT/ME/XP
"

The MSXPC has nothing to do with an MSX in my opinion. It`s a pity that if they first "make" hardware they make such bullshit hardware. It`s just a PC, nothing more.
And it seems strange to me to make a USB cart reader which can only use ONE cart. It`d cost them just a $ extra to have another slot.. I wonder if the USB cart reader could use a Sunrise ATA-IDE

It's not the first "hardware" they make. Please read our earlier posts.

BTW: how about the black case with the yellow keyboard from the yellow version? That would look neat!

I already liked the Zero Footprint PC. Giving it an MSX touch sounds very interesting, and an OPL4-based PC/MSX soundcard would be interesting (but would it be Moonsound Compatible???).