[Coco] Re: [Color Computer] Is this a discussion about a new Coco?

[John R. Hogerhuis]

On Mon, 2005-04-18 at 17:04 -0400, Roger Merchberger wrote:
> Rumor has it that Mark Marlette may have mentioned these words:
> 
> [snippage]
> 
> >I'll take as many of the SuperBoard's that you can make for under $100, 
> >that includes all of the options, including the Ethernet. The Ethernet 
> >chip alone costs well over $65...
> 
> [snippety-doo-dah]
> 
> There are a lot of Ethernet chips that are way under the $10/chip range 
> (like the RealTek 8139) - they'd have to be to offer a $9.99 PCI Ethernet 
> card. So some people may wonder why the Superboard can't be based on one of 
> these chips...

My initial reaction, I'll grant. I knew *why* but still...

> 
> ... The reason: These chips would be more accurately called "WinEthernet" 
> chips, along the same lines of "WinModem" chips - the host processor does 
> *all* of the work; the chip is just a basic "bridge" to the interface. The 
> 6809/6309 could never keep up if it had to do all the work; especially at 
> Ethernet speeds - so the design would have to be centered around a chip 
> that does all the work itself - these chips are much more expensive.

Comment from the peanut gallery: Wouldn't it make more sense to just
build the SuperBoard around an I/O coprocessor? Rather than pay for $56
Ethernet chip, pay for the $5 Ethernet chip and add design the whole
board around a $25 microcontroller or embedded CPU. That's $30 you still
have some money left over for the PCB, PHY, and whatever else is on the
SB, plus you get a nice coprocessor that could be used for other stuff
if you're feeling particularly sacreligious that day...

-- John.