Inside the metal box we find the PC board, the driver board, the amplifier board and a power supply.
The motherboard used here is a passively-cooled Intel mini-ITX one, with an Atom D2700 CPU. Because the game runs on Linux, it is not tied to this particular type or brand of motherboard or CPU, making it much more future-proof than Pinball 2000 was.
The motherboard connects to a solid-state drive which contains the operating system, the game code and all the assets.
There is some confusion here - the first line says "PC Board" - this measn "Printed Circuit Board" and that is fine. Further on it says "Motherboard" - this means "PC Motherboard" and that translates to "Personal Computer Motherboard" and I don't care what they say about the machine "Not being tied to a motherboard or CPU (Central Procesing Unit) like Pin2000 was" - this is the disaster part for any and every owner and that is pure SPIN!
DUMB DUMB DUMB and DUMBER!!!
Ajlaird has nailed it in one - PCs (Personal Computer Motherboards) go out of fashion several times a year and they only last a few years at best. The Motherboards in any machine using them will need replacing BUT, and here is the problem, in a few years there WILL NOT be a drop in replacement. the RAM will be different, the power supply will be diifferent, the processor will be different.
Stern is sticking with an embedded system (so far anyway) where an industry standard embedded controller chip runs a dedicated program (upgradeable yes, but dedicated never the less) and this has proved, in the pinball industry alone over 30 years, to be VERY reliable.
A close firend of mine in Brisbane operates digital jukeboxes in pubs and has done for many years. He is at his wits end with them (a run of about 40 machines). They are forever 'blue screen of deathing' - have dying motherboards etc etc - all the problems you get with an old PC. They have cost him money for years now and he is on the edge of pulling them all off site and throwing them away.
I repeat - if JJP is using a Personal Computer Motherboard the buyers will be VERY cheesed off in a few years time....this is NOT a suitable electronics system to run an item that has a lifespan of 20 years or more (IMO).
