For amusement or bemusement, I'm comparing 8 Bit Guy's article (http://www.the8bitguy.com/2576/what-is-my-dream-computer/) with the Commander X16. I expect this to of course be an almost perfect match. Let's double check!
I'll rate each requirement on a "ten-points" scale.
9/10: OFF THE SHELF COMPONENTS
Quote
[...] I prefer to avoid any FPGA or microcontrollers if possible, but that’s not a deal-breaker.
-1 for the FPGA. (To be fair, though, I suspect this is unavoidable.)
10/10: CPU
The 65C02 at 8mhz ticks all the boxes.
10/10: MEMORY
Quote
I would want 128K or 256 of static RAM, with possibly the ability to upgrade it. If using 6502 then there will need to be some sort of banking [...]
...exactly what the X16 does.
10/10: VIDEO
Quote
...I’d definitely want the computer to be able to output Composite or VGA... ...I’d want it to be similar to 8-bit machines of the era, possibly with different modes. 640×480 would be fine for a maximum resolution.... I could see this chip being an FPGA or microcontroller if need be.
Again, VERA ticks the boxes.
10/10: SOUND
VERA has the PSG (and PCM) so we're done. Adding the YM chip is nice for synthesizer fans like 8BG, but frankly that's not the deal-breaker.
10/10: STORAGE
He wants an SD card; if necessary, the Commodore IEC serial connection would let him use SD2IEC. So we get both. Win-win.
10/10: OPERATING SYSTEM
He wants a Commodore "successor" machine, with the Commodore fullscreen editor, that uses PETSCII.
Quote
...Hopefully somebody would even write emulator support for it so that we could code and test on a PC.
...and he got that, too.
OVERALL PHILOSOPHY
Quote
I want the machine to have some of the conveniences of the modern world, such as SD storage and modern keyboard and video standards. But, at the same time.. I don’t want it to be “too powerful” because then you begin to lose the magic of an 8-bit system.
Yup.
In short, the X16 is not missing any of the "requirements" of the "dream computer".
Call it 69 out of 70 points.
