[Coco] What would a CoCo successor have to have as a minimum?

[Wayne Campbell]

I've been reading this thread with much enthusiasm. I would like to see a 
CoCo4 come about. The issue of compatability, as well as functionality, has 
been a hot topic. In it all, the recurring idea is that the resulting 
hardware and software must as closely approximate the CoCo experience as 
possible.

I don't know anything about hardware design, so my comments there are 
minimal. If it is possible, I think a combination of hardware and software 
is the way to go. Again, I don't know anything, but this is my thought. Make 
the hardware CoCo3/4, and emulate the CoCo1/2 with software. This way all 
the odd graphics modes could be emulated, even the obscure one. Again, I 
don't know what is possible, other than what I've seen in the way of 
computer evolution. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that CGA/EGA 
graphics are emulatable on a PC, even if those modes are no longer built-in 
to the hardware. If that is true, then the CoCo1/2 graphics modes should be 
emulatable on a CoCo3/4 (perhaps more on a 4 than a 3?).

If most of the software being run on a CoCo1/2 is in ROM packs, then perhaps 
a dedicated slot for those could be included. As much as I loved my old CoCo 
(the 2 and the 3 that I had), I do not miss the MPI having to be screwed to 
the computer case to prevent it moving. Nor do I miss having to plug and 
unplug ROM packs. For some of us, that alone is the defining element of the 
CoCo experience... "It wouldn't be the same if I didn't have to swap game 
packs." For me, it would be the same, so long as the programs run the same 
way they did on the original CoCos, and use the original CoCo's peripherals 
(joysticks, mouse, etc.) (I play some old NES games online, since I no 
longer have my old NES game system. Although I'm playing them on my XP 
notebook, the look and feel of the games is the same as on the NES, with the 
exception that I am not using an original NES controller. The only part I 
miss is being able to move the joystick faster than I can manipulate the 
keys on my keyboard.)

As for the monitors, I agree a modern flatscreen is the way to go. I don't 
see the CM-8 being useful, since CRT technology is almost gone now, and 
being able to refurbish (or even build new) CM-8 monitors is becoming too 
costly.

My uneducated 2 cents.

Wayne