@recidivist
You make a valid point, though I am certain your point could be equally applied to both the Minimig and C64-DTV as well.
Now while there may seem to be little point in getting a replica when you can buy (or already own) a real one, it should be noted there were some inherent features in the original architecture that I wanted to either update or improve upon in my own design:
1.) Possibility for easy switching between an original 8088 and later 80188/V20 CPU hardware behaviour for enhanced software compatibility i.e. POP CS only exists on the 8086 but not on later CPUs etc. To do this on a real Tandy 1000 you have to physically swap CPUs on the motherboard!
2.) Has a 'Tandy Graphics-to-VGA' video converter built-in!
3.) System RAM is configured as 704K conventional + 128K UMB RAM as standard
4.) BIOS ROM handlers are trapped and processed by the emulator natively, speeding up BIOS routines and potentially freeing up the Upper Memory Block for user RAM.
5.) System BIOS is copied to RAM on bootup and has mouse and HDD support built-in via INT's 13h and 33h respectively.
6.) Current maximum addressable 512MBytes of SD/MMC flash disk (Theoretical 8GB maximum)
7.) Small form factor(90mm x 110mm x 15mm overall) and very low power consumption (<0.5W)
8.) Could see these things easily retail for around USD$25-30 range - including a 512MByte flash disk. I wonder what it would cost to ship a replica (<50grams) instead of a real machine?
The downsides to this implementation (currently)?
1.) Lack of an standards-compliant expansion bus or game ports (only proprietary bus at the moment).
2.) BIOS ROM compatibility still incomplete (MUCH more to this than I first thought!).
3.) Only 32K of video RAM currently, so no multiple video pages in 320x200x16 color mode, though many games seem not to need it.
4.) Noise channel in the 3-voice sound circuit slightly different from original due to different implementation.
5.) Only 8088 CPU behaviour largely complete - currently working on NEC V20 emulation..
Regards,
Valentin
