[Coco] FPGA the future of coco?

[Nick Marentes]

What do you need the cartridge port for? I think most of the needed 
hardware addons can be programmed in and almost all software is 
available as a dsk image.

There may be other FPGA boards out there that will provide extra 
expansion to implement a cartridge port but then you'll find the price 
jack up which will lead to a lower uptake.

Sometimes, we have to sacrifice some of our wants in order to actually 
see a product at the end.

Nick


On 14/09/2014 6:44 AM, Al Hartman wrote:
> MiST doesn't have a Coco Cartridge port, so it wouldn't work for me.
>
> Vince Briel sells the Replica 1 pretty cheaply. I don't see why a 
> cloned Coco 3 wouldn't come in at a similar price point.
>
> -[ Al ]-
>
> -----Original Message----- From: Nick Marentes
> Sent: Saturday, September 13, 2014 4:29 PM
> To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts
> Subject: Re: [Coco] FPGA the future of coco?
>
> That's what the FPGA CoCo3 has. It just needs to someone to pick up the
> project where it's stalled.
>
> I keep saying this but... the most cost effective way to create a
> "CoCo4" or at least a "CoCo3+" is to tap in to an existing FPGA design
> so as to eliminate the need to design/build a new board.
>
> The MIST board is a good option and has a wide market potential since it
> taps into various other markets to achieve a wider cost distribution
> than a design which relies on the weight of the small CoCo market alone.
>
> Nick
>
>
> On 14/09/2014 4:25 AM, Al Hartman wrote:
>> I would just like to see a Coco 3 version of a Replica I. A 
>> reproduction of the Coco 3 that has VGA output, uses PS/2 or USB 
>> keyboards, 512k on board minimum, real RS-232 (Deluxe RS-232 Pack 
>> compatible), all the other ports, and has a cartridge port for 
>> backward compatibility with Coco Hardware.
>>
>> Possible enhancements could be an ethernet port, stereo sound (Speech 
>> and Sound Pak compatible), hi-res joystick interface (CocoMax), 
>> SD-Card port, parallel port, 80-column Wordpak compatibility, and 
>> anything else appropriate for an old 8-bit computer.
>>
>> We need something that will run existing software, not a new 
>> incompatible platform that few will code for.
>>
>> -[ Al ]-
>>
>
>