In Issue One of this esteemed organ, I was able to list a number of old computers that might crop up from time to time at boot sales and the like. Well I am now in a position to add to the list although they are more than a little obscure and probably won't crop up at all but for the sake of completeness I list them here for posterity. It would be a shame if they were forgotten completely.
This little known machine looks a little like a Commodore 64 with a full travel keyboard and a Z80 processor. Memory as standard was 48but could be expanded to 192k presumably accessed by bank switching. This was an advanced design for it's time and offered all the ports one would expect of a newer machine including a parallel port used for printers and disk drives. The language supplied was BASIC and sound was via an internal loudspeaker. Sold originally for 225 pounds but never really took off.
Designed by former Sinclair employees and it shows. A white case and keyboard similar to the early Spectrum running a Z80A it's most striking feature is the inclusion of FORTH as it's language instead of BASIC. Sold with 3k of memory expandable to 50k with an 8k ROM. Can use ZX81 RAM packs with a suitable adaptor. Sold originally for 90 pounds including VAT, it just could not break into the main stream of home computer sales. Software is virtually non existent.
Forerunner of the MSX although this machine does not adhere to the standard. Has a Z80A running at 3.58Mhz and various TI custom chips to drive the display and sound. BASIC is supplied on cartridge which has to be plugged in to the nachine in order to use the machine. With this facility, the meagre 20k of RAM is not such a problem. Graphics resolution is good with up to 16 colours and 32 hardware sprites similar to the Commodore 64. As with all Japenese machines it is well designed (although it has a rubber key keyboard) and sold for around 150 pounds. The later MSX machines may possibly had led to it's demise.
This machine had a cult following although it is difficult to see why. Sold by Tandy in the UK it was a tad expensive at 299 pounds with 32k of RAM and bore some resemblance to the Dragon sporting the same central processor a 6809E which is an underpowered version (1 Mhz) of the 6809. Fitted with an 8k ROM containing TANDY BASIC and a cartridge slot for software but limited to an RS232 socket only for Serial Printers, Modems and Disk Drives. Enjoyed some success but could never rival the Spectrum.
Notable only for the fact that it was produced by the toy manufacturer Mattel although it is quite a serious machine. Software was on ROM packs with a built in BASIC by Microsoft. Driven by a Z80A it was sold with only 4k of RAM expandable to 64k. The printer interface was peculiar to Mattel to drive a Mattel only printer not unlike a ZX printer. There was also a bolt on hardware pack adding extra sound, memory and joystick pads. Sold originally for 60 pounds in its most basic form its easy to see why it failed.
Sold a variety of machines with the MZ-711 being quite interesting as it had a built in cassette deck and 40 column printer although these were sold as optional extras. BASIC was supplied on tape with a small ROM acting as a monitor and loader. Software was limited but included other languages and the manual held quite a lot of technical information. It was a costly machine new at around 250 pounds (with 64k of memory) with the cassette deck at a further 40 pounds. It had a following but was always a strictly niche product.
The MTX 512 should have been a successful machine but it wasn't. Built prior to the MSX standard but has much in common with it. Z80 processor, custom graphics chip, sound chip and BASIC sold with 64k of RAM expandable to 512k and a 24k ROM. It also featured a built-in assembler and had 127 User definable characters which could be displayed in 16 colours. The keyboard was full travel and the manuals were very good. Again the lack of software and lack of MSX compatibility probably killed it off. Sold originally for around 300 pounds.
Now I would love to buy one of these at a car boot for a few quid. Designed to be portable but it really is too heavy for that. It has 5.25 inch disk drives, a built-in TV screen and runs CP/M which means it is compatible with a wealth of almost free (PD) and famous name software. It came bundled with a Spreadsheet (Supercalc), Word Processor (Wordstar), CBASIC, MBASIC and a Mail Merge facility. The manuals were of a very high quality although there is no index. The keyboard is PC quality and has a standard parallel printer port along with an RS232 Serial port. It had a Z80A processor with 64k of RAM and a 4k ROM with CP/M loading from disk. The only snag is the tiny TV screen which acted as a window displaying 24 lines of 52 characters out of an actual 128 columns and 32 lines although there is an external monitor port. Very expensive to buy new at around 1,100 pounds although it was aimed at the business market. Nice buy if you can find it.
The Personal Electronic Transactor was the company's first real computer and was moderately successful although a little expensive at 775 pounds. Early versions had a built-in tape deck that was slow and unreliable and a strange keyboard layout. Later models consisted of a full travel keyboard and processor unit moulded into one unit and a mono monitor on top. Came with ROM BASIC driven by a 6502 processor (as found in the BBC) with a few custom chips to handle the peripherals. It had only a Parallel port for printers and disk drives and two tape deck ports. At the time there was great deal of software written for it but next to impossible to find these days.
The RM 380Z was probably the nearest a Z80 computer ever came to becoming like the present day PC. Came with a seperate and quite large system unit with seperate keyboard and monitor. Supplied with either 5 inch or 8 inch (yes, 8 inch) floppy drives and 64k of RAM with tape, RS232 and parallel ports. Extra resolution could be added to the display by adding boards internally (much like a PC) and there was an internal power supply. Came with its own BASIC and CP/M added much needed software support. How much did this all cost brand new? Wait for it. 2000 pounds for the 5 inch floppy version and 3400 pounds for the 8 inch version. Phew. All that for a machine with only 64k of memory. Mock not. The early PC's were similarly configured and sold for the same sort of money. It is easy to see now why the ZX81 sold so well.
With all of these machines, it is important to realise that software is very thin on the ground. If you do buy any of these from a boot sale please ensure that there is quite a bit of software with it. Any disk drive machines MUST have a boot disk containing CP/M or a similar operating system otherwise it will be useless. Check that the machine is in good condition and don't spend anymore that a few pounds on any of them. If it doesn't work or goes wrong then you haven't lost much. Getting them repaired will be out of the question. Ensure that there is a manual and all the connecting leads and a power supply which is invariably external. It may also not work when you get it home so beware. Happy hunting!