> So they are real then? as in they work? I thought they were just a promo > fund rasing stunt. > > best place for it then, in a Sam.
They were real - they are the batch of 40 test pieces from VLSI. If i remember correctly the prices going around was £50,000 for the 40 prototype pieces. Typical proceedure was to pay a very high price initially to pay for all the masks etc required for the manufacture of the silicon and get a few test pieces before commencing with a full batch of chips. They get their 'gold' name for being in ceramic packaging with gold plated contacts and lid, with the mass produced batch in the more normal plastic packaging. I've just uploaded a photo at http://www.quazar.clara.net/goldasic.jpg Colin ===== Quazar : Hardware, Software, Spares and Repairs for the Sam Coupe April 1995-2006 - Celebrating 11 Years of developing for the Sam Coupe Website: http://www.samcoupe.com/
