Specs:
CPU: Motorola MC68B09E running at a brisk 1.78MHz
RAM: 128K currently, will be 512K when I fix my
RAM card!
OS: RS-DOS, OS-9 Level II
Storage: Two 5-1/4" floppy drives (coming soon),
Cassette recorder.
Expansion: Multi-Pak interface, currently housing
an FD-500 Floppy controller, and a Deluxe RS232 pak, for speeds of up to
19,200!
Display: Commodore 1084 w/ Cloud
9 Modular video cable!
The first computer I owned was a TRS-80 Colour Computer 2 w/ 64K RAM and a CCR-81 cassette recorder. My parents bought it for my younger brother and I in 1984, although I'm the one who used it most often. I wrote my own BASIC programs, typed in scores more from Rainbow Magazine and various Coco books, and bought numerous upgrades such as a DMP-106 printer, FD-502 floppy drive, and a 300 baud modem. I used this setup for over six years... in 1990, I bought a used Coco 3 and entered the "modern" Coco world ;)
The Coco 3 was soon upgraded to 512K RAM, and I added a second floppy drive, RAM disk, DMP-130 printer, and 2400 baud modem. I wrote many more of my own programs (including a few games using Sprite Basic, complete with audio samples recorded with the Maxsound audio digitizer from Gimmesoft!), and even wrote my final paper for my high school "English 300-Transactional" course using the Max-10 word processor and ribbon-chewing NLQ fonts...
Unfortunately, when I went to college I was forced to sell my Coco stuff so I could buy an MSDOS system, in order to have some degree of compatibility with the college systems. I've long felt that I never truly explored what my Coco 3 could do, and had been meaning to pick one up so I could continue on the path... so in 2005, I bought a cheap Coco 3 on eBay, and a few upgrades (floppy controller, drive, Multi-pak, Deluxe RS-232 pak, etc), and I've ALMOST recreated my old setup. Just gotta get that 512K RAM card working, pick up a SCSI controller with real-time clock, and a hard drive.
My plan is to use Mira for pissing around, and to set her up as my "show piece". My plan is to repair or replace my broken 512K upgrade card, pick up a SCSI controller and RTC, as well as a hard drive and CDROM. When that's said and done, I'll install the latest NitrOS-9 operating system, Multivue (GUI environment), and multitask like an 8-bit motherf*cker!
As for specifics, well, that would be telling. As
the (arguably) most powerful system of the Trinity, the possibilities are
endless. In addition to the hardware challenge listed above, I also
want to make sure I can be productive, so I can use Mira in my professional
life. Also, as the only machine in the Trinity with decent graphics
capabilities, I hope to produce something creative (other than my writing)
as well.