Greg Laden's Blog

Cool. :) Almost all parts are obsolete though so I don't know where you'd get it.

However, if you want a suped-up Apple2e, check out the "MCB08" from MicroSys; it uses the Freescale (previously Motorola) HCS08 chip which is a 40MHz version of the Apple2e's 2MHz 6502. The HCS08 also has a lot of goodies which the 6502 didn't have: two serial communications modules, a Serial Peripheral Interface module, IIC module, and two Pulse Width Modulation modules one with 3 channels and the other with 5 channels. Oh, and it has its own keyboard decoding circuitry (with debouncing etc) and up to 8 channels of 10-bit Analog-Digital conversion at 200Hz. So it's a super-duper 6502 and it runs on all of about 60mW power as compared to maybe ~35W power for an old Apple2e. Assuming I got the Apple2e power supply rating correct, this little beastie runs as fast as 40 Apple2e machines but with only 1/583rd the power consumption.

And for the really nostalgic die-hard DEC fans, you can get a PDP-11 implemented on FPGA - it sure leaves the original PDP-11 for dead and it runs so much faster. Just remember the PDP-11 went into a few supercomputers of its era (and the thing won't die - there is still a lot of hardware out there that uses it).

Posted by: MadScientist | August 18, 2009 12:09 AM

I'd totally buy that if it included the old wooden case and clunky keyboard. I'm far more interested in the aesthetics of a 33-year-old computer than its circuitry, which -- let's face it -- are completely useless now anyway.

Posted by: John F | August 18, 2009 12:33 AM

Apple computers were cool. Even today, I'd probably buy an Apple ][ computer that I could plug into my TV and type some old code.

Yes, I know I could use an emulator, but I'd love to see something small. I wonder how small you could get an Apple ][ reproduction, today?

You know those joysticks that have 4 classic arcade games in them, that you plug into your TV? Think along those lines, a small box that contains a modern remake of an Apple ][. I imagine it's possibly (probably easy) to create a USB keyboard translator unit, so you can use a regular USB keyboard through the translator, and the Apple ][ only sees Apple ][ keyboard events.

Ideally with 5MB of on-board storage that emulates an Apple hard drive, so I don't have to use floppies. At the very least, give me two 360kB of emulated floppies, as though one were loaded in each drive.

Posted by: James | August 18, 2009 11:14 AM

@Spiv - have fun! The Freescale Assembler is now free and unrestricted; the C compiler costs a fortune though. I just finished 3000 lines of assembly for a control application; the timing was too critical to take chances with a C compiler. In another month I'll have one of those beasts flying on model airplanes and logging position and other sensor data in flight.

@James: That MCB08 can be built into a full computer which fits in your pocket. If you want a display you'll need some extra circuitry though. If you have the Monitor listing for the Apple2 you will only need slight changes to get it working perfecty with the MCB08. The same is not true for software which uses the serial port though since all software direcly controlled the UART back then; an Apple's UART isn't quite set up and accessed like the HC08 CPU's serial port modules. If you want a lot of storage space you can program the device to access an SDHC card. Alternatively you can use the SPI or IIC ports to access large serial Flash RAMs. If you're really keen you can slap on an ethernet port too.

Posted by: MadScientist | August 18, 2009 5:49 PM