RapidO Ti to be launched at the Southwest Show (updated)

The first full computer to be based around the Titanium motherboard from Elesar Ltd will be launched at the Southwest Show on Saturday.

The computer is to be called the RapidO Ti, as already revealed, and comes from the little shop with a lot of stock, CJE Micro’s – and Chris Evans says they’ll have some on the day that customers will be able to take away with them.

Although the specifications of the motherboard itself are known, the specifications of the computer are yet to be decided – that may actually be down to what potential customers want most. Chris says they’d like to hear from anyone in the market for a Titanium-based system – so if you send an email to sales@cjemicros.co.uk, you’ll receive more information in reply, along with a short questionnaire.

Since the final specification is undecided, and that specification will affect the price, it’s clear that the price is also unknown. I did send an email to Chris asking if a baseline price had been decided on but, as yet, I’ve seen no reply – if and when I do receive one, I’ll add a !ReadMe panel with that information below.

Similarly, I also asked if the computer would be a CJE Micro’s or a 4D product, since CJE Micro’s is VAT registered and 4D isn’t. While this won’t affect the price for members of the public, it will affect the price for VAT registered businesses since they will be able to reclaim the VAT if the computer is a CJE Micro’s product and the purchase is a business one. Again, if and when I hear back, I’ll include that information in a !ReadMe panel below – but since RapidO Ig is a 4D product, it’s likely RapidO Ti will be as well.

!Readme

Not half an hour after I hit publish, I received a reply from Chris!

The basic specification (some of which is based on the motherboard itself) is:

  • ARM Cortex-A15 1500MHz
  • 2GB RAM
  • 2 x Ethernet ports (with no RISC OS support as yet for the second port)
  • Two DVI-D monitor outputs (with only limited ‘alpha’ support in RISC OS for the second port)
  • 8 USB ports
  • A small tower/desktop case
  • 240GB SSD
  • DVDRW slimline tray drive
  • 2 x 3.5″/2.5″ spare drive bays

The price for that basic specification will come in on the right side of £1000, including VAT – so my guess above was wrong; this will be a CJE Micro’s product.

Chris also included a list of differentiating features, showing the pros and cons of this machine against their own Eastwood Rapido Ig, and R-Comp’s ARMSX ARMX6. I won’t delve into that here, but you can probably expect to see something on paper at the show on Saturday.

The questions you can expect to see as regards determining the ideal specification are along the lines of “Would you like…” followed by:

  • a DVDRW drive?
  • built-in dedicated SD, microSD card reader slots, which would use up two of the rear USB ports?
  • more than 240GB SSD storage?
  • a parallel port?
  • a technical reference manual?

These will, unsurprisingly, affect the final cost – for example, dedicated card readers would add about £30 to the price, and the TRM would add £49.

Other questions Chris is asking are whether or not you are considering buying one at the show, and (otherwise) your likely timescale to buy a new RISC OS computer.

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