Excellent Bill thanks for the info. Yes I am not interested in IBM compatibles but definitely would want the "TANDY" experience. Which of the models would you advise? What features might I look for?
Oldschool games, some people just don't "get it"...
Tough question. The easiest and cheapest of the full sized systems to collect for is the Color Computer series, followed by the Tandy 1000 series, followed by the TRS-80 Model I/III/4 series. Since the Tandy 1000 really is just a fancy PCjr/PC clone with some of its own standards, I'd probably recommend checking out the Color Computer series. The best Color Computer to get is the Color Computer 3, since that runs nearly all of the CoCo 1/2 software and also its own, very powerful software, and can be expanded to 512K and beyond. In fact, of the 8-bit computers ever released, outside of sound, it was probably the most powerful. There are also many ways to upgrade it and there are flash card solutions readily available, etc. One of the nice things about the CoCo line is that a lot of software is available on cartridge. The only thing you have to keep in mind though is that outside of CoCo 3 specific games, however, the graphics you'll experience are subpar at best. Here's a good site to check out some of the sights of the CoCo series computers:
This is my personal collection, not counting all of the software and multitude of accessories:
Radio Shack Color Computer CoCo 1 (TRS-80)
Radio Shack Color Computer 2 CoCo 2 (TRS-80)
Radio Shack Color Computer 3 CoCo 3 (TRS-80)
Radio Shack Color Computer 3 CoCo 3 (TRS-80) with 1MB Upgrade
Radio Shack Color Computer 3 CoCo 3 (TRS-80) with 512K Upgrade
I also have quite a few Tano Dragon computers, including a heavily modified unit. I bring this up because they were basically the same computer, though not directly compatible. The modified unit came with a modified multi-pak interface (useful for hooking into disk drives, among other things) that also works with the Color Computer 3.
Excellent Bill thanks for the info. Yes I am not interested in IBM compatibles but definitely would want the "TANDY" experience. Which of the models would you advise? What features might I look for?
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Oldschool games, some people just don't "get it"...
Tough question. The easiest and cheapest of the full sized systems to collect for is the Color Computer series, followed by the Tandy 1000 series, followed by the TRS-80 Model I/III/4 series. Since the Tandy 1000 really is just a fancy PCjr/PC clone with some of its own standards, I'd probably recommend checking out the Color Computer series. The best Color Computer to get is the Color Computer 3, since that runs nearly all of the CoCo 1/2 software and also its own, very powerful software, and can be expanded to 512K and beyond. In fact, of the 8-bit computers ever released, outside of sound, it was probably the most powerful. There are also many ways to upgrade it and there are flash card solutions readily available, etc. One of the nice things about the CoCo line is that a lot of software is available on cartridge. The only thing you have to keep in mind though is that outside of CoCo 3 specific games, however, the graphics you'll experience are subpar at best. Here's a good site to check out some of the sights of the CoCo series computers:
http://www.lcurtisboyle.com/nitros9/coco_game_list.html
This is my personal collection, not counting all of the software and multitude of accessories:
Radio Shack Color Computer CoCo 1 (TRS-80)
Radio Shack Color Computer 2 CoCo 2 (TRS-80)
Radio Shack Color Computer 3 CoCo 3 (TRS-80)
Radio Shack Color Computer 3 CoCo 3 (TRS-80) with 1MB Upgrade
Radio Shack Color Computer 3 CoCo 3 (TRS-80) with 512K Upgrade
I also have quite a few Tano Dragon computers, including a heavily modified unit. I bring this up because they were basically the same computer, though not directly compatible. The modified unit came with a modified multi-pak interface (useful for hooking into disk drives, among other things) that also works with the Color Computer 3.
Books!
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.
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Bill Loguidice, Managing Director
Armchair Arcade, Inc.