[net.micro.6809] Upgrade a Coco or replace it?

mckay@pur-ee.UUCP (McKay) (01/14/85)

<* bug busters *>

Here's a new topic worthy of a little debate:

The setting:

I've got a Coco with two floppies and have been running OS-9 for a few
months now.  I like OS-9 a lot.  It's intelligently designed (for the
most part) and gives me a low cost UNIX-like environment to do some
home-hacking in. But...

The problem:

I'm finding I'd like a bit more in the mass storage area and a real
serial port for my terminal (sitting next to the Coco).  A little more
CPU speed wouldn't hurt either.

The question:

Should I upgrade the Coco or start over (somewhat) with another machine?

A few constraints on this:  First, this must be a fairly low cost
operation, but I am ready to spend about the cost of a harddisk for the
coco and few other pieces of hardware; say $2000 tops.  Second, I'd like
to hang on to as much of my current hardware as I can.  That means the
printer (a serial printer nothing special), a terminal (IBM 3101, a
semi-smart terminal) and the floppies (if possible, they're 35track RS
look-a-likes).

So far, I'm convinced upgrading is the answer, but maybe you can
convince me otherwise.  Is there a new (or unknown to me) machine that's
cheap and runs OS-9 better (define it as you will) than the Coco?
-- 
   Dwight Douglas McKay, ECN Software Support                          _\/
   USENET: {decvax|harpo|ihnp4|inuxc|seismo|ucbvax}!pur-ee!mckay       \ \
   MCI Mail: paintedpony                                               /  \
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emjej@uokvax.UUCP (01/17/85)

/***** uokvax:net.micro.6809 / uok!mpackard /  6:08 pm  Jan 16, 1985 */
This may be of interest, Hazelwood Computer Systems 314-281-1055
has a 68008 OS9/68000 machine which comes with basic and a spread-
sheet.  Rumors are (I would call them for verification):
4-Serial, 2-Parallel, 1-SASI, 1-FDC, 128k (upgradable to 512) RAM
this all fits on a single board which mounts to a drive for 995.
/* ---------- */

Rumor is supported by Hazelwood's ad in the latest Frank Hogg Labs
flyer, save for the question of whether it comes with BASIC09--it
doesn't look like it, judging by the ad. Still merits verification.

					James Jones

emjej@uokvax.UUCP (01/24/85)

While I'm dreaming... the Uniquad boards would make pretty neat nodes for
a network. (Look at the descriptions of device descriptors in the OS-9/68000
manuals; you'll see a variant tag named NET!) Hard disks are cheaper than
I thought (a recent ad in *Byte* shows Shugart 604s (I am Schulz-like with
respect to these disks and their quality or speed, and you may insert your
favorite disclaimer here, too) for $160), so, *if* they will talk SASI to
the controller on the Uniquad board, you could have a pretty respectable
box on its own for $2K, much less as a net node.

						James Jones