[Coco] COCO Video

[Lothan]

From: billg999 at cs.uofs.edu
Sent: Monday, June 24, 2013 10:56 AM
To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts
Subject: Re: [Coco] COCO Video

> Got a part number?  I have had dozens of catalogs including
> Computer only and European and I never saw that or remember
> seeing it advertised in any of the rags that talked about
> the COCO.  Are you sure it wasn't a non-Tandy product being
> sold by a computer enthusiast who happened to work at Radio
> Shack?
>
> Time to try some web searching.......
>
> bill

Catalog number 26-3145 Hard Disk Interface $129.95. See page 163 of the 1988 
Radio Shack catalog (http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/catalogs/1988/) for a 
picture and more details. I can't imagine it cost Radio Shack more than 
about $5 or $10 to produce given that it's basically just an address decoder 
with a bit of TTL logic.

The 15-megabyte hard disk drive is on page 174 of the 1985 Radio Shack 
catalog (http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/catalogs/1985/) for a measly 
$2,495 without the interface card. The interface board for the II/12/16 sold 
for $495. The controller (inside the hard disk case) is your basic old SASI 
to MFM controller using something like the Western Digital WD1002 hard drive 
controller.

Compare this to the 20-megabyte hard drive system I bought from Bruce Isted 
(that used much the same parts as the Radio Shack unit) set me back about 
$1200. Later on Disto and Burke & Burke brought out even cheaper systems.