Pre-Sale: Help Make the VT100

Pre-sale is closed but regular sales will open soon.

If you'd like to be notified when the 1:3 scale VT100 with working keyboard goes on sale then please subscribe for shop updates from the form at the top of the main store page: https://store.transmutable.com/

The original DEC VT100 arrived on the scene in the Summer of 1978 and quickly became an iconic design. When I think of terminals, I think of the VT100.

Late last year I started working on miniature working keyboards in a way that is pleasing to the hand and ear and that can work as a normal USB-C input device. This is the most complex retrocomputing device I've produced; more than the TRS-80 Model III, more than the Cray 1, and even more than the Connection Machine.

Custom circuit board and key development is expensive and time intensive so let's try something new: a pre-sale to fund production.

Here's how it works. If you purchase during this pre-sale then to thank you for your support and for your patience while I polish off development and spin up production you'll quickly receive a bonus VT100 mini made only for this sale. The mini won't be electronic but it will be as cute as pie.

When production starts you will receive your signed and numbered 1:3 scale VT100 terminal and keyboard from the first batch.

This is not a Kickstarter where I can take your money and not deliver. This is a pre-sale.

What will be in the box:

• A 1:3 scale VT100 terminal case sized to accept your RPi 5 shaped SBC (not included)
• A TFT display with HDMI input (already installed)
• A working 1:3 scale VT100 keyboard
• A short coiled USB-C cable to run from the keyboard to the terminal
• A short HDMI cable to run inside the case from the display to your SBC

While I can't provide a specific delivery date, I do have a history of working in public on Mastodon at @trevorflowers@machines.social. I post photos and updates almost daily and sometimes several times each day so you will be able to check in to see exactly where I am in the process and to chat about the project.

(image credit for the thumbnail: By Jason Scott - Flickr: IMG_9976, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29457452)