CoCo 3 - Good intro to CoCo?

Grimakis · February 26, 2017

Hi,

I have a chance to pick up a CoCo 3 w/ 128k of RAM. I already have a C64 and an Apple IIe Platinum.

What makes the CoCo worth getting? Is the CoCo 3 a good model to get? What can I do with it? Is there a good Terminal Emulator and RS-232 interface? BBS is a main criteria for me, when getting a vintage computer.

BassGuitari · February 26, 2017

Hi,

I have a chance to pick up a CoCo 3 w/ 128k of RAM. I already have a C64 and an Apple IIe Platinum.

What makes the CoCo worth getting? Is the CoCo 3 a good model to get? What can I do with it? Is there a good Terminal Emulator and RS-232 interface? BBS is a main criteria for me, when getting a vintage computer.

The CoCo 3 is a good one. Most would say the best one, and they're not necessarily wrong (I'm partial to the original CoCo 1 myself, despite its limitations)--it runs the overwhelming majority of CoCo 1/2 software (except the occasional program that uses a semi-graphics mode) plus the CoCo 3 library with graphics roughly analogous to EGA quality. It also has standard composite out and supports RGB while the CoCo 1/2 are RF only.

"What makes it worth getting?" is a question you could ask yourself of any retro computer. For me, it's the games. They're typically clones of popular arcade games and computer titles from other platforms, and they're often kind of quirky. It's not as good a games machine overall as the C64--games running in hi-res graphics modes tend to run slower, have far fewer colors (only 4 or 5 per palette), and sometimes have bizarre controls, especially CoCo 1/2 titles--but there's still a lot of fun to be had. Cart games are fun to collect, although they're getting expensive.

As far as what can you do with it, I guess that depends on you. I'd hazard a guess that just about anything you can do with a Commodore or Apple you could also do with a Color Computer.

ColorComputerStore · March 4, 2017

The CoCo BASIC was rather nice and the 6809 cpu was a great microprocessor for learning assembly language. Older CoCo 1 and 2 games are plentiful though used 4 colors so not as eye pleasing as C64 and Atari games. Sound was also not as good. But in general, the arcade conversions were nice. There are many active users still. What I like is how they release schematics etc for free where other platforms everyone wants $$$ for their work. Had CoCo 3 been released sooner, who knows. Nice machine. Get SD card interface, Atari joystick interface and join Facebook group.

Carlos

Nebulon · March 24, 2017

The 6809 is a comparatively powerful CPU. Great for programming.

The CoCo puts a lot of emphasis on coding, hardware hacks, and BBS's.

As mentioned, the Color Computer 1 and 2 are not going to wow you with graphics and sound for games. However, the games on those machines are really fun. More proof that a game doesn't have to be pretty to be a total riot.

On the other hand, the Color Computer 3 has recently proven that it can do some sophisticated and amazing things in the games department (check out the homebrews of Donkey Kong and Pac-Man).

Similar to BassGuitari, I'm also partial to the earlier CoCos. In particular, I really dig the 64K Color Computer 2. Perhaps it's nostalgia.

Check out the recent CoCoSDC thread for Color Computer 2 game recommendations.

And if you can find a DIN to 9-pin adapter joystick, you can use Atari-style controllers on it.

Note: Even though it doesn't appear on the surface like the Color Computer 1 and 2 can do lowercase text, it actually can. Check out the app called VIP Desktop (you'll also find terminal programs below):

http://www.colorcomputerarchive.com/coco/Disks/Applications/