[Coco] Cloud-9 Product Comments Wanted

[alsplace at pobox.com]

>From: Mark Marlette <mark at cloud9tech.com>

>I see your point but limiting the IDE to just CFs is not a true 
implementation of the IDE spec.

Well, I'd think the main reason for IDE would be so we could find 
storage that was still made, not to have IDE stuff (how many CoCo 
owners ever used a SCSI device other than a hard drive device, and SCSI 
interfaces were available back in the CoCo's heyday?).

>You would loose backup devices, LS-120 drive which would be a nice 
floppy

Do they even make LS-120s any more?  (I have never actually seen one.)  
If I could walk into CompUSA or Best Buy and buy one and use it on my 
CoCo, then that makes the IDE itnerface more worthwhile.  But, right 
now all I know I can walk in and buy is a hard drive a billion times 
larger than anything I could ever need on a CoCo.

>If the board was made smaller you would loose the Super Expansion bus.

Is that on the SuperIDE? I guess I just think a plug in pak with CF 
hard drive slots (2, for backups), and maybe an RTC option and an RS232 
port would hit 90% of what any of us do with our machines (RS232 not 
even much these days, but nice to have fast serial for xfers).

I'm glad I have a SuperIDE, mind you, but it didn't solve my problem of 
having a huge 20 year old case and power supply sitting next to my CoCo 
just to do a backup.  I always through the ZIP and EZ drives were sweet 
and slick but they have both gone the way of the dinosaur in computing 
so they are now "slick" obsolete items.  Still, the packaging -- I'd 
much rather have an old ZIP (as long as I could still get media) hooked 
to my CoCo than the abomination I have used for ages -- 3.5" floppy not 
in a case sitting on its side next to my Tandy case, with a power Y 
running out the back of the drive case to power the 3.5" (which is what 
I use for the CF adapter).  I got lucky that I already had that extra 
power Y to use.

Why does the CF slot on the SuperIDE not need power, but the one to the 
IDE interface via adapter does?

>So expansion boards for the SB would not have the ability to be in the 
Super product line.

Which is good if anything ever comes out to use it.  I had a Disto 
Super Controller 2 for awhile, too (no halt) and some Disto things 
supported a Super Expansion Bus but even in the heyday, not much ever 
came out for it (? serial port ?).  Expansion is a good thing, but I 
think many would be quite happy just with a tiny solid state hard drive 
(CF) and never need CD support, etc.

>go to multi-layer design. The SB will be multi-layer, no doubt.

Yowza.  Well, the CoCO 3 started out as 4 layers in proto form, so I 
guess we should be stunned anything modernly complex would be anywhere 
less ;-)

Barring setup costs, what do you think a simple pack would cost 
(retail)?

     -- Allen