[Coco] 8-Bit Microcomputers

[arikboke at yahoo.com]

--- Brad Grier <bradgrier at cox.net> wrote:
> Were there any other home computers based on the 6809 besides the CoCo? 
> I know there were quite a few arcade games. Perhaps some failed platform 
> or something used outside of the United States?


There were Coco clones such as the TDP (Tandy OEM of its own product), and
Dragon 32/64 (somewhat compatible in BASIC, but incompatible using machine
code).  Fujitsu created the FM-7 series that started out with TWO 6809
processors and was compatible using OS9.  These would have been killer machines
but, for some reason, were not available here in the US.


> I've never used an Atari 400/800 or Commodore 64 in my life. How do 
> these machines compare to the Coco? Specifically, I'm interested in the 
> graphics capabilites and the processors. Which had the better games?


For just gaming, Atari 800XL/130XE were probably the best overall machines
availale in the US.  Besides having an ok 6502 processor, these creatures
included 3 more propietary chips geared towards sound and video on TVs, one of
which (ANTIC) was a processor in itself.

In other parts of the world, notable Japan, Korea, Brazil, Netherlands, France,
Russia, etc., MSX machines were BIG.  But again, these were not available in
the US :(  The MSX2+ standard was an 8-bit computer using a Z80 processor but
with advanced sound and thousands of colors (they had dedicated VRAM and SRAM).
 This was probably the best game machine among 8-bit computers in the world,
with awesome titles being produced by Konami, etc.

Of course the Coco had great games too :)  It wasn't on par with the MSXs or
the Ataris or even the Commodores, but the 6809 processor seems to have lent
itself to real work (I'm just now refamiliarizing myself with the Coco).  The
one thing I remember liking about Cocos vs the other home 8-bitters available
in the US was that it had REAL DISK DRIVES, not those pathetic serially chained
monsters that crawled at cassette speeds (the Atari SSSD drive stored 90K, and
made pinging sounds on the TV as it, very slowly, read data - ugh).

-- David