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$69 in 2026 Gets You a Tool to Rejuvenate Old Computers (itsfoss.com)

submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by cm0002@digipres.cafe to c/retrocomputing

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If you have been warming up to the idea of owning physical media or preserving your existing collection before it fades away, then PicoIDE should interest you.

The work of Polpotronics, this is an open source IDE/ATAPI emulator meant to replace aging tech like CD-ROM drives and hard disks. If you don't know what those are, you probably weren't around back then. ☠️

The job of the PicoIDE is quite simple; it can take in disk images (e.g., ISO, .bin/.cue, .vhd) from microSD cards and present them to your vintage computer as real IDE hard drives or ATAPI CD-ROM drives.

https://picoide.com/

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[–] atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I wish it took up a 5in slot if it’s meant to replace optical drives.

[–] cm0002@digipres.cafe 4 points 3 days ago

Edited with the link to their website, according to the FAQ

Will there be a 5.25" or 2.5" version?

PicoIDE will launch with a 3.5" enclosure only, but depending how things go, other form factors may be made available.

So it sounds like it could be coming, plus it's open source so you or someone else could modify the enclosure print to be bigger