[Coco] Introducing the next generation of Color Computer, the CoCo-X

[Gary Becker]

To answer a few questions:
 
You probably cannot find this project on KickStarter yet. I am still waiting on their approval. I should get it in a day or two. I will then launch the project and send out an email.
 
The primary goal of the project is to develop a replacement board for the CoCo3. As these systems age, more and more are breaking for a number of reasons. Most people here know the various things that can happen to destroy a CoCo3. Just how many CoCo3s have been put into the landfill because there was no way to get them fixed? So, if you have any in the trash now, get them back out. You might need them in the future.
 
The expansion slot would be in the same position as the one on the CoCo3. I am hoping the Multi-Pak can be plugged right in and everything else will work. Your existing floppy controller, hard disk controller, or whatever should still be usable. As I mentioned, these old peripherals will not run very fast, so the speed might have to be limited to the stock CoCo3 speeds in this configuration. We shall see. The ground lugs on a CoCo Pak pose a problem that I have to overcome. The original connector that Tandy used is no longer available. But I have a few ideas.
 
I might not have made myself clear when I mentioned a PS/2 keyboard and mouse. These are considered to be upgrades. I am hoping to use the original CoCo3 keyboard as the primary input. But since I really like using the same keyboard as I use on my other systems, this is one feature I want to put in early. But it is entirely optional.
 
All these new features that have been mentioned would be really cool. For this first project a basic CoCo3 replacement feature set was chosen. The plan is to implement these features where no modification to the CoCo3 case will be needed. Maybe some the the labels will be wrong. One thing I want to make clear, it would be stupid to spend the money to build a replacement board and not plan for future upgrades. They will not be available from the start. I am trying to keep the cost of the basic board as small as possible. Additional add on hardware is planned to include most of the features discussed, and even more. These upgrades will be plugged into the basic board. Yes, there will be additional costs later for these new features, but hopefully it will be minimal. And of course it will be optional. My CoCo3 has 512K of memory even though there were larger upgrades available. I decided what I wanted and what I did not want. And you can too.
 
 
Gary
 
 
-----Original Message----- 

lciotti1 at gmail.com lciotti1 at gmail.com 
Wed Mar 20 21:49:04 EDT 2013 
 
This happens a lot, even more so in the government contracting world. 

The problem with this project, like any other project that is developed in an open environment is every one has idea of how things "should" be. 

In all reality how much of a lifespan and market is this going to have? Right now we are part of a group that hacks away with a 30 year old computer, is it really going to matter if some thing is developed with technology the is a generation or two behind? 


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-----Original Message----- 
From: Allen Huffman <alsplace at pobox.com> 
Sender: coco-bounces at maltedmedia.com 
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2013 20:43:34 
To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts<coco at maltedmedia.com> 
Reply-To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts <coco at maltedmedia.com> 
Subject: Re: [Coco] Introducing the next generation of Color Computer, 
the CoCo-X 

On Mar 20, 2013, at 8:40 PM, Aaron Wolfe <aawolfe at gmail.com> wrote: 

>You might not find man PS/2 devices in a retail store, but they are 

>still being made for the business and high end markets and easy to 

>acquire. 


I could see this as being true. My work PC at "unnamed large financial institute I no longer work for" still have a floppy drive until the last one they replaced it with...even though in five years, not once did I ever have need for a floppy disk. 

And we all ran Windows XP, a ten year old operating system :) 
- 
Allen Huffman - PO Box 22031 - Clive IA 50325 - 515-999-0227 (vmail/TXT only) 
Sent from my MacBook. 

22nd Annual "Last" Chicago CoCoFEST! April 27-28, 2013. Lombard, IL. http://www.glensideccc.com