[Coco] Re Introducing the next generation of Color Computer, the CoCo-X

[Glen VanDenBiggelaar]

Fantastic news, but might I sugest the 2 things that are missing:
1) a floppy controller right on the motherboard. In this day and age, the CoCo floppy controllers are getting more and more scarce, Yes, some will argue that USB will facilitate this need, but I can't recall ever seeing a 5 1/4 USB floppy drive.
2) a 44pin IDE header. This will give us an internal "laptop" harddrive or (with a 99cent board) a compact flash drive,- Yes, some will argue that SATA is the way to go, but right now SATA is expensive compared to used IDE laptop drives.
I don't see any "next gen" boards without these 2 components- the "need" to upgrade from original hardware doesn't seem feasible without them.-but that just my "2 cents"-Good luck-G-------------->Message: 10
>Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2013 12:11:22 -0700 (PDT)
>From: Gary Becker <Gary_L_Becker at yahoo.com>
>Subject: [Coco] Introducing the next generation of Color Computer, the
>CoCo-X
>To: "coco at maltedmedia.com" <coco at maltedmedia.com>
>Message-ID:
><1363806682.23553.YahooMailNeo at web184301.mail.ne1.yahoo.com>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8

>?
>I just finished entering a project into KickStarter.com. This project is to develop the next generation Color >Computer, the CoCo-X. This project develop a replacement main board for an existing Color Computer 3 case. The >main board would include an FPGA to implement the Color Computer circuitry. As with the CoCo3FPGA, the max speed >would depend on the chosen FPGA, the goal would be to run at least 20 MHz. The main board would also include an >optional socket that would fit a 6x09E processor for users that needed cycle accurate computing. The speed would >be reduced to match the processor in the socket. The main board would also include most of the original Color >Computer 3?s original IO ports. The expansion slot would be implemented, but speed would be limited while >accessing the slot. This first generation of main board will implement the Color Computer 3 basics. In the future, >upgrades to the FPGA code to implement?an extended feature set will be
>available.
>?
>Here is a list of planned IO ports:
>?
>CoCo3 Keyboard
>Bit Banger / RS232 port
>PS/2 Keyboard / Mouse port
>Expansion slot
>CoCo3 RGB and/or VGA
>Joystick ports
>Stereo Sound
>?
>If this project is to get started, your support will be needed. For the 30 days after KickStarter approves the >project, the site will allow people to pledge money to fund the project. No money will be charged until the >minimum funding limit is reached. There are two levels of funding. For a $25 pledge, you will receive a "Powered >By CoCo-X" sticker. For a pledge of $250, you will receive one of the first replacement main boards to install >into you own Color Computer 3 case.