[Coco] TRS-80 Color Computer: Wikipedia Article

[Andrew]

Hello everyone.

First off I apologize if, with this email, I inadvertently open some 
kind of "old wounds" or "animosity"; I also apologize if this question 
has been asked before, but I honestly haven't had much luck finding an 
answer.

The question concerns this section of the Wikipedia article on our 
(hopefully) favorite computer:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80_Color_Computer#Competition

I don't necessarily doubt its accuracy, but it does seem to be made up 
of whole cloth, and has no provenance other than the author's (whomever 
he may be); this doesn't necessarily mean it is false, so as I read the 
article today and reached this part, I was asking myself "what was the 
cost difference at the time, per 1000, for an OEM to purchase each 
processor?"...

I simply would like to know the answer to this. I find it likely that 
the 6809 cost more (per thousand) than the 6502; what I wonder about is 
the actual difference: Are we talking about something whereby the 6809 
cost $5.00 each per 1000, and the 6502 cost only $1.00 each per 1000? 
Less? More? Googling "6809 vs 6502 cost per thousand" doesn't bring back 
anything useful (though I did discover the Micro magazine archive, so 
there's that).

I was only a kid when I used my Color Computers their heaviest, and had 
little-to-no clue on these issues. However, I did always wonder why the 
Color Computer got ripped off in the sound (and to some extent, video) 
departments. The Wikipedia article's stance seems the most probable and 
true answer, but citations for this information would have been appreciated.

It would also be interesting to know what possible alternatives there 
were to the custom GIME chip when the Color Computer 3 came out; was the 
GIME more cost effective than other solutions of the era?

Can anyone here shed more light on this subject? Thank you in advance...

Andrew L. Ayers
Glendale, Arizona