28 Nov
2007
28 Nov
'07
1:43 p.m.
Mark Meiss wrote:
On Nov 28, 2007 3:13 PM, Sean Conner <spc at
conman.org> wrote:
Hmm, interesting. Is that the one that was the same as the Dragon 32 in the UK
(i.e. built from the 6809 app note)?
If so, I'll be bringing a Dragon 64 over at some point ( > 6 months), and I
have the disk controller cartridge for it, along with the disk unit itself and
quite a stack of software...
So yes, maybe I'm best off looking for a Coco (I assume 'Coco' == 'Color
Computer') right now, and then one day (assuming the lad's still keen)
'upgrading' him to a BBC micro, C64 etc...
cheers
Jules
A Color Computer or Color Computer 2 seems to
fit the bill. The CPU is
the nicest of the 8bits (IMHO) and the video screen is more logical than
anything you'll find on the C64, Atari or Apple.
You can even do multichannel sound, but that tends to suck up the CPU 8-)
I'd tend to agree. The 6809 is a lovely processor, and there aren't any of
the "black box" chips that others have mentioned. The video is generated by
a Motorola 6547 -- simple bitmap (except for the "semigraphics" modes) and
no sprites. No specialized I/O hardware to decipher; the serial port is
bitbanged directly by the CPU.
Besides which, they're still abundant and cheap. It can be difficult to
find a disk controller cartridge nowadays, but the cassette port is fast
enough (1500 baud) so that it's really not that terrible for short
programs. Plus, there's the Rainbow IDE for development...