NIAD

That was a "DROP THE MIC" response! :thumbsup: Seems like there are people posting on here that just want this CollectorVision Phoenix Kickstarter to fail just as so many wanted the ADAM Computer to fail once it was unveiled at the Summer '83 CES. Who you may ask, well.... Atari and IBM.

WTF... am I missing something here with all this 720p bull crap! I didn't hear any kid complain back in the early 80s about the video quality thru RF output and having to deal with crappy TVs and overscan, snow, ghosting, crackiling audio, screen rolling, fighting your siblings for the TV, father coming home from work early and feeling how hot the TV was to see if you were playing games or doing your homework, etc., etc. Want, want, want, want, want! How about strap on a set and deal with it or take your ball and go home alreaady.

Another great video, TPR. Maybe for your next video, you can play a game that takes advantage of the added graphics abilities of the F18a and also works without the F18. Some of Opcodes' and Digress' games are programmed this way.

That is the Expansion Port and can be used for numerous hardware add-ons. Trying not to speculate, but if they release an ADAM core for the system, they could develop an ADAMnet Expansion Module which would allow the user to connect an ADAM Keyboard, Disk Drive, etc. to the Phoenix.

Modded PC Keyboards for use on the ADAM were done by Gary Bowser (Oasive Pensive Abducutors... remember the Adam Image Maker of which only 1 exists and Dale Wick owns) and a few others back in the 90s. No real advantage as the ADAM Keyboard is a well designed piece of hardware that has stood up well to the tests of time.

It does exist but it's one way.... hook up an Adam Keyboard to a PC. Or you could hook it up to the CollectorVision Phoenix using a USB to PS/2 cable.

Think he means the CV PCB and the RF PCB.

The cart on the left looks like a production run cart pcb with rom chips soldered directly to the PCB. The cart on the right is a little more tricky seeing as it uses Eprom Chips on a PCB with sockets. These type of Coleco Cart PCBs were used in very small quantities for commercial releases sold in stores. They also were used In-House by Coleco employees as an easy way to make copies of ganes that were in development and or finished. I've acquired numerous such Cart PCBs over the years from former employees with, of course, no label on the cart shell... virgin if you may. There are numerous other possibilites, but not worth going into detail just yet. Seeing as the window on the chips has been exposed to light, the data contained on it could already have been erased. Only thing to do know is to test on a ColecoVision and compare to the released version. One could also dump these and compare CRCs.. Value is miniscule until tested although the Socketed Cart PCB is worth a little more. Test and compare or get them into the hands of someone that can.

Still weighing options as well, but will probably be doing 2 systems and maybe the Early Bird to insure that I get system no matter what.

No extras available but either MilliV or Adamcon should be able to help you with all those items.

One should also remember that the Phoenix is open source, there are plans to add other game system and computer cores in place such as the 2600 and MSX and the expansion port should prove interesting.

What about the 20+ or so people who signed up for the $300 early bird special thru your website, wouldn't it be wise to switch them to the Kickstarter. It would be sad to see this fund raiser come up a couple thousand dollars short when in all actuality, you could have had it funded. Just wondering.

I recall. What interests me is we should be able to connect the adapter to the CollectorVision Phoenix using a USB-PS2 adapter

Tell him i'm in this time!!!!

The tracking would suggest that the package was mailed/dropped off at "La Poste" and delayed for a number of days. I have experienced numerous instances of packages "going dark" using the USPS and then being delivered out of the blue. Hope it all works out.

Is the Adamnet-to-USB Keyboard Adapter still available? I thought the guy (was it IntyDave?) made one small run and that was it.

Any issues continued... Well, they do tend to discolor/yellow like the rest of the system if not protected from sunlight.

All ADAM keyboards are identical no matter where they were sold. The keyboard is outstanding... one of the best of it's time and still receives rave reviews from those new to the Adam. The hand controller attachment was a brilliant idea by someone at Coleco and the hand controller can be used as a numeric keypad and cursor control in programs such as SmartWriter. The feel is very sturdy and I still like it better than modern keyboards. No common issues. They are built to last.

This Kickstarter info needs to be cross posted to numerous other subforums on here as well, such as the MarketPlace, Classic Gaming and others were future expansion modules would support said systems.

It's going to be rough especially when one considers that $230,000 equates to 1,150 systems at the $200 backing level. Let's hope for the best as well as spread the word, especially that this system has nothing to do with Coleco Holdings, LLC and their past failures. You get a lot of bang for the buck what with SGM and F18A support built-in as well as an SD Card Drive. Buy an original ColecoVision, SGM, AtariMax Ultimate SD Cart, have it refurbished and modded with an F18A and see how much all that runs you.... roughly $425!!!

Mr. ME... Two of the three internal expansion slots indeed dedicated/limited: - Slot #1 was for Serial or IDE expansion - Slot #3 was for Memory Expansion However: - Slot #2 could handle numerous expansion options: Serial, Parallel, expansion memory addressing above 64K, RLL/MFM HD, boot prom options. The Micro Innovations MIB 2 and 3 interface cards come to mind here. The external Expansion Interface has data and address lines to handle everything listed above and much more and was used wisely by Eve Electronics fir their 80 column expansion unit/breakout box that also powered the system and included an additional 4 or 5 expansion slots. You have mentioned pirating of software/cartridges a couple of times and that is not a right of the computer owner, but I understand it could be a reason why someone might decide to purchase a system... there friend(s) have same system and can supply copies for free. Heck, that's why I eventually decided to buy a C=64. Anyway, Coleco obviously decided to not release such copy utility programs even though they had developed them for In-House useage and it took until 1985 for such programs to become available to end users.

CBS Electronics handled distribution of the ADAM in England and the rest of Europe. In England, the system did find a following and most have had decent sales figures seeing as there was a large User's Group called the U.K.A.S. (United Kingdom ADAM Subscribers) and run by Keith Marner for roughly 10 years. I can't really say about France or Germany, but there must have been enough interest in these countries to warrant Coleco making a Language Card that installed in Slot #2 with French and German language version of SmartWriter and some professional quality software was developed in France, MacADAM and daVinci.

If you eventually decide to scatch that itch, send MilliV a PM. He usually has a couple systems on hand for sale that have been completely refurbished, tested and sold at a very fair price. eBay is an option as well and i've seen a lot more listed in the past couple months, but as i'm sure you know, buyer beware. I had a C=64 setup right next to my Adam back in the 80s and couldn't believe how slow the 1541 drive was compared to the Adam's FDD. Heck, the Adam's Data Drive sometimes seemed just as fast at least until the FastRun carts became available for the C=64.

Thanks for your clarification of your use of the phrase "open architecture". So, indeed, Coleco was slow to release the "ADAM Technical Manual" to 3rd Parties, but all things considering with what we now know, this was no surprise and I don't see it as a major factor in the ADAM's eventual failure. Where Coleco failed was in slow walking the EOS Programmers Manual which hamstrung potential 3rd Party software development... so much so that it gave these companies additional time to decide whether or not to commit to supporting the system. With all the delays and other issues we've discussed as well as bad press the ADAM was receiving, it became a very easy decision for these companies not to support the ADAM or withdraw their announced support. Without software, even the most technically advanced computer or videogame system will fail and thru their actions or lack thereof, Coleco was left to fend for themselves.

Mr-Me... If by open architecture you mean just supplying a bare bones CPU and Keyboard and then a Video Card, Sound Card, Game Card, etc. has to be purchased then you are correct. Otherwise, the ADAM was probably the most open comouter system and easily expanded of it's time. As Pixelboy mentioned, there are 3 internal expansion slots that Coleco put to use via a Modem, Language Card and Memory Expander. External options included the Expansion Interface which was used by the Autodialer and Atari Adapter as well as two Adamnet ports which are similar to the modern era USB ports with it's daisy channing of hardware devices ability. This is only a small sampling of hardware expansion options because once 3rd Party homebrew companies starting developing and releasing hardware items, everything imaginable was developed from Serial and Parallel Cards, memory expanders up to 2Mb, RLL and MFM Hard Drives, Speech Synthesizers, Clock Cards, Sound Digiters, MIDI Interfaces, 80 columns units, larger size disk drives, IDE interfaces, etc., etc. The form factor which mimmicked a PC was also very important here with it's separate CPU and Keyboard unlike what Apple, Commodore, TI, Tandy, Atari and others had released before and even after the Adam.