Intended to compete with the Atari ST and Amiga, the "CoCo" 3 just
didn't quite have the power. It included 128 KB of RAM (expandable
to 512 KB), the CoCo 3 was mostly backwards compatible with
software and peripherals from the CoCo2 and the original CoCo.
There were enhanced graphics in this model, allowing 640x225
with 4 colors or 320x225 with 16 colors. There were only 64 colors
available, paltry compared to the Amiga's 4096 palette. The
machine did have a number of interesting things going for it,
however, such as the ability to run OS/9. The CoCo series differed
from the earlier TRS-80 models by running a
Motorola 6809e processor and had a cartridge
slot, which a lot of software was delivered on.
This computer is currently interactive in the Museum.
Tandy Multi-Pak
Release Date:
1/1/1983
The multi-pak allows you to connect up to 4 cartridges into the CoCo line of computers. Each cartridge of course would be exclusive of another -- you couldn't for example have the disk interface connected and a game cartridge as well, but otherwise it works very well.
User Comments
Lod on Thursday, February 11, 2010 Internet on a CoCo 3: (h t t p : / / ) sites.google.com/site/drivewire4/
Michael Evans on Thursday, April 24, 2008 I couldn't even imagine this as a competitor to the Amiga. It could barely compete against the Atari 800 made 7 years earlier. Still, I bought one in 1986 because it was on massive sale, would run all my CoCo2 software and had some nice new features. The extra text modes were completely useless on a TV (too blurry to read text), but the palette system was nice. I liked the new keyboard and the extra RAM. I just wish they fixed all the things I hated about the CoCo2 - still no sprites, playing a sound stops everything, no up/down cursor movement. Competitor to Amiga? I think not. (I'm using an Amiga 500 to post this. I couldn't imagine internet on a CoCo3!)
 "TRS-80 Color Computer 3")
 "Tandy Multi-Pak")