ZBasic Forum

Effective today, we are making several changes in the ZX product roster.

• The mega32-based devices (ZX-24, ZX-40, ZX-44) are being discontinued. If you have special circumstances that require one of these, they may still be available on a special-order basis. The devices will continue to be supported by the compiler and the VM will be maintained but no new features will be added.
• The mega644-based devices (ZX-24a, ZX-40a ZX-44a) are being reduced in price, assuming the price points of their respective mega32-based bretheren.
• A new series of ZX devices is being introduced that are based on the ATmega644P. These devices, the ZX-24p, ZX-40p, and ZX-44p, assume the former price points of their respective mega644-based counterparts. The "p" devices all have a grey paint dot to distinguish them.

The primary difference between the "a" suffix and "p" suffix devices is that the latter have a second hardware serial port, accessible in ZBasic as Com2. The RxD and TxD lines for Com2 are on I/O lines D.2 and D.3 respectively. On the ZX-24p, these lines are connected to pins 6 and 11 respectively. Note that on the ZX-24p, pin 11 is also used for the SDA line for I2C communications. Pins D.2 and D.3 are also the inputs for INT0 and INT1 so those functions are mutually exclusive with the use of Com2.

One other change is that we are using a new board (revision 7) for the 24-pin devices. We still have some stock of the revision 6 board so production will be mixed for a period of time. The primary difference is that the bi-color LED has been replaced by separate red and green LEDs. The new board is also slightly larger - about 0.050" in each direction.

From a Oak Micros point of view, we are doing something similar:

1. Effective today the ZX-24e mega32-based 40-pin device is being discontinued. These devices will continue to be supported by the compiler and the VM will be maintained but no new features will be added. Our small amount of remaining stock is being heavily discounted to $34.95 on the Oak Micros website.

2. Also effective today the ZX-24ae mega644-based 40 pin device is being discontinued. These devices will continue to be supported by the compiler and the VM will be maintained. Our small amount of remaining stock is being heavily discounted to $44.95 on the Oak Micros website.

3. The ZX-24ae mega644-based device is being replaced with a ZX-24pe that uses a mega644p. These new devices are pin to pin compatible with the ZX-24ae and have an additional hardware serial port (Com2). On a ZX24pe the Com2 TxD and RxD lines are connected to pins 17 and 18 respectively. Com1 is available on pins 19 and 20 as before. Unlike their ZX-24p sister, there is no need to share the SDA line for I2C communications which is separately available on pin 11. The ZX-24pe has a white dot to distinguish it and will be available on 21st April at the previous price point of the ZX-24ae ($59.95).

Nice changeup! Looks like a good move