User avatar
intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Fri Dec 21, 2018 9:46 am

I pinged Jens at Individual Computers last night to inquire about the status of the upcoming Turbo Chameleon. He's been saying for about 3 years that it was under production, and earlier this year changed the page to say he was aiming at this Christmas.

I'd been in a daily morning habit when getting to work of the following:
-) Open Browser
-) Go to Turbo Chameleon page (via Bookmark)
-) Look at "Out of Stock" message, then getting on with work.

Well, I didn't hear back from Jens this morning, but when I went though my routine, the page had suddenly changed!
Screen Shot 2018-12-21 at 8.45.00 AM.png
So, yeah. This is a great day. The Turbo Chameleon is finally available for orders. Christmas came a little early this year. :)

For those that don't know, the Turbo has 2 key uses.

1) It can be used as a stand alone FPGA with a C64 core, Amiga, and others.
2) The Turbo Chameleon serves as a C64 accelerator, faster than the SuperCPU. "Especially applications like Geos or Pagefox gain a lot of usability due to the higher processor performance."

There are many more uses than just those two, but those are the two most powerful features IMO.

Totally geeky, but it even has support for the CDTV's infrared receiver for CDTV remote control!
turbo_chameleon1-8c50fbad.jpg
Photo (c) Individual Computers. Pictures of V1 Chameleon. Updated photos for V2 will be forthcoming.

turbo_chameleon2-81e2c0aa.jpg
Photo (c) Individual Computers

There is also an optional yet nifty docking station for the cart when in stand-alone mode.

It provides:
  • four joystick ports
  • a connector for C64 or VC-20 keyboards
  • a connection for an Amiga 500 keyboard
  • a connection for the minimig cable
dockingstation-c938e227.jpg
dockingstation-c938e227.jpg
chameleon_on_dock-02dad508.jpg
Pretty danged cool stuff. The software has been in beta for a very long time, and it appears that status has not changed. So it should be noted that there are known bugs and buyers should keep that in mind when taking the plunge. Also, "operation on a C128 or C128D is not possible."

User avatar
intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Fri Dec 21, 2018 12:34 pm

Note:
Pictures still show the old version. Updated photos will be forthcoming.

User avatar
rpiguy9907

Posted Fri Feb 15, 2019 7:16 pm

My Chameleon is only an hour away in Newark, NJ but because of the postal holiday on Monday I doubt I will get it until Tuesday!

I've grown very impatient waiting for orders to open up the last couple of years. I can't wait!





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