Less common vintage 8 and 16 bit computers

[philfrommancs]

Re: Less common vintage 8 and 16 bit computers

They were. In fact about a third of the games written for it would work on the dragon. Didn't save it unfortunately.

[Arran]

Re: Less common vintage 8 and 16 bit computers

Tatung Einstein. It was originally intended as a business computer but ended up being more popular with programmers. They were manufactured in Bridgnorth in Shropshire. It was a rare example of a computer that used the 3 inch disk like that on the Amstrad CPC 6128.

Sord M5. A very simple Japanese home computer that sold in very low numbers. I think that Sord also sold some business computers.

[Richard1978]

Re: Less common vintage 8 and 16 bit computers

The Sinclair QL was another potentially great computer aimed at the semi-pro market, but problems with the Microdrives & a few other supposedly "penny pinching" short cuts to keep the price down didn't help things.

[Arran]

Re: Less common vintage 8 and 16 bit computers

I once knew an electronic engineer who owned a Commodore PET in the 1980s because it had a GPIB (IEE-488) port that could interface with many pieces of electronic test equipment.

The Memotech MTX 500 / 512, and its successor the RS 128, were rare British 8 bits that were quite advanced for the time. Memotech tried to sell their product to the USSR but their business venture failed and the company went bust. This had the result that the British government ended funding to computer companies.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/06/28/30_years_on_the_story_of_the_memotech_mtx/

Was the Coleco Adam ever sold in Britain? It seems to be a very American computer judging from enthusiast circles today.

Has anybody every encountered a Sega SC 3000? It was the one and only computer from Sega and it was sold in parts of Europe but I'm not sure if it was sold in Britain.

[fynger]

Re: Less common vintage 8 and 16 bit computers

sheesh.....when I was at school ..."if" there was such a thing as a computer book it would have been written by Charles Babbage.....lol

[Arran]

Re: Less common vintage 8 and 16 bit computers

I can't recall any books at school for computers other than the PC, Archimedes, and BBC. There were a few 'generic' computer books from the 1980s but they didn't have any program listings in them. There weren't even any BBC computers at primary school. Just Archimedes and PCs. There was an odd few in the science labs at secondary school for connecting up to laboratory equipment and data loggers.

[Richard1978]

Re: Less common vintage 8 and 16 bit computers

My school library had some books in the computing section for lesser known computers.

I remember advanced user guides for the Oric 1 & Lynx, not to be mistaken for the Atari handheld.

There was a website profiling lesser known computers, including the Lynx, which it mentioned was hard to program for graphics but could store & play back very low level sound samples.

I might still have this write-up on a disc as a text file.

Here's the Wikipedia profile of the Lynx: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camputers_Lynx

[Richard1978]

Re: Less common vintage 8 and 16 bit computers

Many of the Usborne books used to have a program listing at the back with adaptions for different computers, often obscure ones.

[Arran]

Re: Less common vintage 8 and 16 bit computers

Always wanted a Dragon 32......but there wasn't much software available....nice looking machine tho.

Dragon Data was the largest Welsh company for a couple of years in the 1980s! Were Dragon 32 / 64 computers more popular in Wales than in other parts of the UK?

I remember one of my Brother's friends had an Apple II when they were quite rare. Never saw it being used though.

Some schools over here bought them because they had been popular in American schools & had lots of educational software written for them.

The Apple II was a computer that everybody in Britain in the 1980s had heard of but very few people had actually used one or even seen one in real life.

Martell Aquarius with its Spectrum like blue keys but a measly 4k memory.

The Mattel Aquarius was very rare - only about 20,000 were manufactured. It was a commercial failure and from a technical perspective one of the worst 8 bit home computers. I have wondered who bought them and why.

Has anybody encountered the Tomy / Grandstand Tutor?

[Richard1978]

Re: Less common vintage 8 and 16 bit computers

I didn't realise the VIC20 was that low of memory!

I had thought a lot of the accessories were also used on the CBM64 & even the older PET.

[Gothic]

Re: Less common vintage 8 and 16 bit computers

My 1st computer was a Commodore VIC20, with its massive 3.5K memory. I added a 16K RAM pack to take it up to a massive 19.5K!! Most games were on plug-in ROM cartridges or if you could afford it, you could buy the tape player which would only work with the VIC20.

[Richard1978]

Re: Less common vintage 8 and 16 bit computers

I remember one of my Brother's friends had an Apple II when they were quite rare. Never saw it being used though.

Some schools over here bought them because they had been popular in American schools & had lots of educational software written for them.

I had an Acorn Electron, basically a simplified BBC Micro. I've still not forgiven my parents for getting rid of it without warning! At least with my Aunt's CBM 128 they talked me into selling that on eBay.

[fynger]

Re: Less common vintage 8 and 16 bit computers

Always wanted a Dragon 32......but there wasn't much software available....nice looking machine tho.

[Richard1978]

Re: Less common vintage 8 and 16 bit computers

I think an Enterprise was a top prize on a BBC childrens show, or at least a computer with a keyboard & joystick built in.

The quiz was to solve a mystery from various clues, with characters with puns in their names, like the local MP being called Polly Ticion.

Does that ring a bell with anyone?

[Arran]

Re: Less common vintage 8 and 16 bit computers

Maybe nobody has the courage to admit that they owned a Commodore 16 or an Oric Atmos! I was expecting a few owners of Dragon and MSX computers to come forwards. They were far less common than the leading 'quartet' in the 8 bit sector but they were around. Does anybody remember the Enterprise 64 / 128 with its inbuilt joystick and custom graphics and sound chips called Nick and Dave? That was a very classy 8 bit but sadly failed commercially.