"Is a CAT box really worth over a grand?!?!"
I don't think so.
It can be used as a signature analyzer. Used HP5004's are easy to find
for under $100 (even on eBay)
It can also do limited RAM/ROM testing and peeking/poking at memory
(I assume the Z80 pod lets you to Z80 I/O ops too)
You can do this with a Fluke 9010, or an in-circuit emulator. If the
'arcade ice' guy in England ever finishes his design, you'd be able
to do similar things with that.
I'm a test equipment junkie (actually, some of my test equipment IS
junk :-) What I use the most is a DVM and scope. Second tier is a
Microtek Z80 and 6502 in-circuit emulator. Third is a Fluke 9010 for
things like Space Invaders boards that have 8080's on them. The logic
analyzer is a last resort, just because it takes so long to set up to
make a measurement.
Seems like I spend most of my time cobbling together the setup for
testing all the game inputs, and the board pinout
