partial P112 kits

[Tony Duell]

> 
> 
> On Jun 21, 2010, at 12:16 PM, Tony Duell wrote:
> 
> > I am very unliklely to buy one, but in any case I wouldn't consider a =
> kit=20
> > unless it came totally unsoldered. That is no pre-mounted SMD parts...
> 
> Why would you want to go through the pain of stuffing your own SMD =
> parts?

Because there's no pain, it's actually fun. And if I do it myself, I can 
use the lead/tin solder which I still believe is more reliable.

> 
> Note that it wouldn't necessarily make the kit any cheaper.  The cost of =

What has that got to do with it?

> stuffing the SMD parts was negligible compared to the total cost of the =
> kit.
> 
> It is also my understanding that the CPU and FDC are both completely =
> unavailable in anything but PLCC packages.=
> 

Actually, through-hole PLCC sockets exist (I built a number of transputer 
boards using them and a roadrunner tool...). And there are SMD PLCC 
sockets that take the same footprint as the IC. I would want to socket 
all ICs unless there were technical reasons (heat disipation or stray 
capacitance, for example) not to do so -- my experience is that good 
quality sockets do not cause significant unreliability (and for something 
like that that's nor eally an issue) but do make debugging and repair a 
lot easier.

-tony