[Coco] [CoCo] Atari and Amiga comparison

[Joel Ewy]

Dan Olson wrote:
> I'm sure this subject could be debated forever, but here's my 2 cents
> worth.  I have a coco1 and coco2, no coco3.  Our first computer was an
> Atari 1040ST, and I was never overly impressed.  I'm more of a
> hardware guy, so that's where I'm coming from.  I was never impressed
> with the console and Atari's weird DIN connectors, compaired to the
> PCs we were using at school.  Now I've taken an interest in
> "retro-computing" and have computers that I never had access to when
> they were new.  I think the 8 bit Ataris are much more impressive than
> the ST series, even though older, they're much more easily expanded,
> and are very impressive when you consider the design is older than the
> coco1!  The Amiga impresses me because is has good graphics, gets 880k
> on an off-the-shelf 3.5" floppy, and can do quite a bit without many
> CPU cycles.  Also, re the 6809 vs 68000, as a hardware guy I'd say
> that the extra address and data lines, not to mention registers, makes
> the 68k flat out and away the best processor.
>
>     Dan
>
Dan, what you need is an MM/1 -- but you can't have mine!  :)
I've got an Amiga 1000 and a couple 500s, and I've had quite a bit of
fun with them.  I do like the HAM mode, but I'll have to say that with a
24-bit palette behind its 8-bit CLUT, the MM/1's graphics are really
pretty good.  I've never been able to get my hands on an AGA Amiga, but
JPEGs definitely look better on the MM/1 than on OCS/ECS Amiga.  Plus
the MM/1's 680(7)0 is running at 16MHz as opposed to the Amiga or
Atari's 8.  I used to use the A1000 (with 2M RAM, but floppy only) on
Delphi, and I could transfer files to and from the CoCo either via lz/rz
/ nullmodem or on 720K DOS floppies.  At that time, the A1000 had easily
the best graphics of anything I owned.  (I didn't get my MM/1 till a bit
later.)

Still, I've always wanted to have an ST(whatever) to play with.  It
actually shares a bit of hardware with the MM/1, including the 68901 MFP.

JCE
>
> On Wed, 14 Mar 2007 RJRTTY at aol.com wrote:
>
>> People
>>
>> In the course of adapting my  converter to these machines I have
>> had to acquire them for testing  purposes.    Because of this I have
>> been
>> able to compare them  personally with the coco3.  I have always wanted
>> one of these machines  because of all the "hoopla" in the press about
>> them when they came  out.   A number of things discouraged me from
>> owning one at the  time.   Price, the fact that I already had the
>> coco3 and
>> a limited  amount of time available to become familiar with another
>> machine.   Little things like that and the biggy "I just never got
>> around
>> to  it".
>>
>> Well I have them now and I have to tell you I am  not all that
>> impressed.
>> Don't get me wrong.   The 68000 was a great  processor in its day and
>> these machines were great advancements to personal  computing but
>> I think the coco3 compares favorably with them.    They didn't display
>> more simultaneous colors than the coco tho they had  bigger palettes.
>> The Amiga had the "HAM" mode but it was convoluted and  inconvenient
>> to use.  Sock's enhanced display modes for the coco3 are as  useful
>> and show more colors.   Great for still images like the  Amiga HAM 
>> mode.
>>
>> I guess they just don't live up to the  mystique that surrounded them
>> for
>> me at the time.   In my opinion,  the 6809 ( and 6309 now) was still
>> a viable
>> alternative during the 68000's  prime.  The only thing missing in the
>> coco3
>> was 8 bit task registers  that could allow it to access 2 meg ram
>> natively and
>> 8 bit palette registers  for a 256 color palette.   But even without
>> these the
>> coco3 held it  own with these machines and seemed more appropriate for
>> the experimenters  among us to use for special purposes.
>>
>> The one thing I  like the most about the Amiga is the internal disk
>> drive and
>> the external  power supply.    I think my next personal project will
>> be to
>> put  a
>> 1.44 M drive into a coco3 enclosure and modify it for use with an 
>> external
>> 12V "brick" type power supply.   The same thing Bob did on  his website.
>>
>> What I am saying is I don't think I  missed much.  Looking back on it
>> now
>> I am glad I was a coco  person.  No regrets.  See you all at the fest.
>>
>> Roy
>>
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