Newbie Question

[bugman]

I am quite interested in this project after stumbling upon it recently. I have a couple of questions for you all. Bascially, I enjoy retro computing. My collection primarily contains Apple ii stuff. But I was hoping to take my hobby to the next level. This seems like the ticket. What I want to ask is how realistic you think my goals are. I have a decent amount of computer/programming experience with older computers. I also have built several electronic kits and circuits. I wouldn't say that I am an electronic expert; however, because I dont own an oscilloscope and don't get into that much detail (I'm a microbiologist afterall, I only play an electrical engineer on TV). I'm hoping to gain some of that experience.

My main goal would be to build a functioning computer, that could run basic and be displayed on some kind of monitor/CRT (dont care about those details, just some display). I would also want to be able to save/load the basic programs. Don't mind (maybe even prefer) an audio interface for this rather than disk.

How realistic is this goal? I'm not so much questioning my soldering abilities, but rather the availabilty of information that would tell me how to get to that end.

Lastly, do you have a recommendation of the 680 vs. 8800. I am not tied nostalgically to either. But the price and usuability of the 680 seem to be winning.

Thanks for any advice!!

B.Ties