February 15, 2026
Eight-Bit and Loving It
LT6502: A 6502-based homebrew laptop
Retro laptop built like 1979: fans swoon, skeptics ask 'what about AI'
TLDR: A maker built a battery-powered retro laptop using a vintage 6502-style chip with BASIC and just 46K memory. Comments exploded into nostalgia, playful “this is madness” cheers, and a debate over whether machines like this show why modern AI needs big hardware—or why fun projects don’t need it at all.
Someone just built a working “homebrew” laptop around a classic 1970s chip—and the comments went full retro meltdown. The LT6502 packs a tiny 46K of memory (yes, K), a built‑in keyboard, and old‑school BASIC so you can type commands like BEEP and draw circles. It’s battery powered, charges over USB‑C, and has storage via Compact Flash, which is basically vintage SD‑card energy. The maker’s status logs read like a DIY saga: power‑up, keyboard integrated, beeper singing, graphics working, case assembled—chef’s kiss.
The crowd split fast. Nostalgia lovers cheered: “It’s Commodore 64‑ish” became the vibe, with fans asking when they can buy one. The chaos crew shouted “Complete madness!”—but in a good way—because who needs Chrome when you’ve got charm? Then came the hot philosophy: one commenter mused that if chip progress had stopped in the ’80s, “LLMs would have been impossible,” sparking an AI vs. retro debate. Another flexed a 16‑core Z80 laptop that can multitask, poking the “cool but… practical?” bear.
Memes flew (“Can it run Doom?”), jokes beeped, and the community turned this tiny titan into a big conversation: modern convenience vs. pure tinkering joy. The verdict? This is beautifully bonkers, and the internet wouldn’t have it any other way
Key Points
- •LT6502 is a 65C02-based homebrew laptop with 46K RAM, BASIC in ROM, CompactFlash storage, integrated keyboard and display, and USB‑C power.
- •Development milestones from late 2025 to early 2026 include successful bring-up of ROM/RAM/console, VIA and ACIA, keyboard integration, CompactFlash and beeper, and case assembly.
- •A 4.3" RA8875 display was integrated successfully; an LT7683 display did not work; a larger RA8889-based display is planned.
- •The memory map defines RAM (0x0000–0xBEAF), peripherals (0xBE00–0xBFFF), and ROM (0xC000–0xFFFF) with EhBASIC, eWozMon, bootstrap, and vectors.
- •EhBASIC was extended with commands such as SAVE, LOAD, DIR and graphics commands (BEEP, CIRCLE, CLS, COLOUR, ELIPSE).