Welcome back to part 6 of my SepTandy Spectacular 3. In the last post I took a look at the Laser 100 series. In this post were going to take a look at the miscellaneous Color Computer clones sold throughout the world.
The many miscellaneous Color Computer clones
Unlike the TRS-80, there aren't many clones of the CoCo, but there are still a few and much like the TRS-80 and other clone computers all come in all sorts of case designs. one might be an original design or have a resemble another computer, or even use PC style cases. These cases come in a variety of shapes and sizes to fit in to whatever market there destined to be in. Once again, I won't go too much over specs, because all of them will use CoCo components, I'll also wouldn't be emulating these machines because most of them aren't emulated. So without further ado, lets get into it!
The first clone takes us to Brazil once again with the CP 400, released in 1984 by Prologica Ind. e Com. de Microcomputadores Ltda, the same company that created the CP 500 TRS-80 clone we've seen previously.
The Prologica Ind. e Com. de Microcomputadores Ltda CP 400 (1984)
It looks a little bit like the Timex Sinclair 2068, only it uses a CoCo like chiclet keyboard, It uses a Motorola 6809E CPU running at 0.895 MHz, with 16K or 64K of RAM and 16K or 64K of ROM. This machine was followed by the CP 400 COLOR II in 1985 which had an external power supply,a better keyboard (with four extra keys: CTRL, PA1, PA2 and PA3) and 64KB of RAM.
The Prologica Ind. e Com. de Microcomputadores Ltda CP 400 COLOR II (1985)
The next clone is the Varixx VC50, It was released in 1983 by Varix / Engetécnica also in Brazil.
The Varixx VC50 (1983)
Its an all in one machine, and interestingly, It's got a tiny built in screen. It kinda reminds me of the IBM 5100, only instead of using a giant cassette drive, it uses dual single sided 5.25 inch floppy drives, also coming out several years later,looking different and using different architecture. This machine was designed for both home use and industrial applications like agricultural companies, sugar mills, and distilleries, hence the floppy drives and numeric keypad.
Next is the LZ Color 64, by Novo Tempo / LZ Equipamentos and released in 1983.
The Novo Tempo / LZ Equipamentos LZ Color 64( 1983)
The case looks exactly like the CoCo 1, only it's colored dark gray has a full travel keyboard. However, Instead of full sized keyboard, it was the second Brazilian TRS-80 Color Computer clone, and the production line was installed in the old premises of Cervejaria Skol in Rio de Janeiro. It was also sold mainly in Rio de Janeiro, due to limited marketing.
Next is the Dynacom MX1600, by Dynacom and released in 1985.
The Dynacom Dynacom MX1600 (1985)
It look a little bit like an MSX, and fittingly MSXs were quite popular in Brazil, so maybe that was done intentionally. Dynacom was a video game console manufacturer formed in 1981, manufacturing famiclones and other console clones. They intended to produce a CoCo clone to compete with 8-bit microcomputers such as the Apple II, taking advantage of the success of TRS-80 Color Computer compatibles in the market, based on the excellent sales results of the CP 400 COLOR.
To differentiate itself from competitors, the MX-1600 was sold with 2 cassette tapes containing more than one hundred games, applications and utilities, while the CP 400 COLOR, came with a single cassette tape containing only eight programs.
However, sales were lower than expected and production was shut down a year later in 1986. Although Dynacom had plans to launch a MSX standard computer, they decided to focus on developing IBM PC compatible machines, and contued to produce computers and consoles untill they shut down in 2011.
Next is the Codimex CD-6809, by Coldimex and released in 1983.
The Codimex Codimex CD-6809 (1983)
It also looks like the CoCo 1, only it has a black white and gray color scheme and a full travel keyboard. It was the first Brazilian TRS-80 Color Computer clone, and was marketed as a computer for small business, entertainment and self employed professionals. Only around 380 units were produced at the Porto Alegre plant, before being discontinued in 1986.
Next up is the TKS800 by Microdigital and announced in 1984.
The Microdigital TKS800 (1984)
This computer was only a prototype and never released officially, solon becoming a famous case of vaporware in the Brazilian computer industry. it uses an Atari 1200 case and used standard CoCo components
Next is the Micro-SEP by CINVESTAV and released in Mexico in 1988.
It identical to the CoCo 3, and is compatible with the exact same specs. It uses a Motorola 6809E CPU running at 0.895/1.79 MHz, with 128K of RAM and 32K of ROM, 32x16, 40x25, 80x25 text modes, and 320x200 graphics mode with 16 colors. This computer was mostly used in Mexican schools and some North American schools near the border, they sold very fews units and are rare to find today.
Next up, we have another officially licensed clone The Tandy Data Products TDP-100, released in 1982.
The Tandy Data Products TDP-100 was produced by Tandy for RCA and distributed outside Radio Shack stores at RCA distributors. These also fews units and are rare to find today.
And finally, we have the Sampo Color Computer, It was released in 1983 by Sampo and sold in Tawain.
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Very little is known about this computer other than it was produced by Sampo A taiwanese electronics company, and was available in available in Taiwan, Korea, and possibly other Asian countries. However, Tandy may have blocked sales in the United States due to copyright infringement concerns over the ROM code.
There are many more Coco clones that I haven't mentioned but I didn't include them once again due to scarce information. I might look deeper into them for more details for a post in the future.
So how do I rate these machines on compatibility? I rank as Fully Compatible, all the ones I can find use the same hardware and despite scarce information it can be assumed that the lesser known ones use the same components as well, allowing for 90% or more of available software will run on these machines.
This concludes Part 6 of my third Septandy Spectacular, join me next time as we move from Coco clones to pocket computer clones by taking a little trip to Hungary.
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