Engineering:List of home computers

From HandWiki
Short description: none
A computer cassette
The cassette tape was a common low-cost and low-performance mass storage device for a generation of home computers.

Home computers were a class of microcomputer that existed from 1977 to about 1995. During this time it made economic sense for manufacturers to make microcomputers aimed at the home user. By simplifying the machines, and making use of household items such as television sets and cassette recorders instead of dedicated computer peripherals, the home computer allowed the consumer to own a computer at a fraction of the price of computers oriented to small business. Today, the price of microcomputers has dropped to the point where there's no advantage to building a separate, incompatible series just for home users.

While many office-type personal computers were used in homes, in this list a "home computer" is a factory-assembled mass-marketed consumer product, usually at significantly lower cost than contemporary business computers. It would have an alphabetic keyboard and a multi-line alphanumeric display, the ability to run both games software as well as commercial and user-written application software, and some removable mass storage device (such as cassette tape or floppy disk).

This list excludes smartphones, personal digital assistants, pocket computers, laptop computers, programmable calculators and pure video game consoles. Single-board development or evaluation boards, intended to demonstrate a microprocessor, are excluded since these were not marketed to general consumers.

Pioneering kit and assembled hobby microcomputers which generally required electronics skills to build or operate are listed separately, as are computers intended primarily for use in schools. A hobby-type computer often would have required significant expansion of memory and peripherals to make it useful for the usual role of a factory-made home computer. School computers usually had facilities to share expensive peripherals such as disk drives and printers, and often had provision for central administration.

Attributes

Attributes are as typically advertised by the original manufacturer. Popular machines inspired third-party sources for adapters, add-on processors, mass storage, and other peripherals.

"Processor" indicates the microprocessor chip that ran the system. A few home computers had multiple processors, generally used for input/output devices. Processor speeds were not a competitive point among home computer manufacturers, and typically the processor ran either at its maximum rated speed ( between 1 and 4 MHz for most processor types here), or at some fraction of the television color subcarrier signal, for economy of design. Since a crystal oscillator was necessary for stable color, it was often also used as the microprocessor clock source. Many processors were second-sourced, with different manufacturers making the same device under different part numbers. Variations of a basic part number might have been used to indicate minor variations in speed or transistor type, or might indicate fairly significant alterations to the prototype's capabilities. In the Eastern Bloc countries, manufacturers made functional duplicates of Western microprocessors under different part number series.

TV indicates the factory configuration produces composite video compatible with a home TV receiver. Some computers came with a built-in RF modulator to allow connection to the TV receiver antenna terminals; others output composite video for use with a free-standing monitor or external RF modulator. Still others had built-in or proprietary monitors. Often a composite video monitor (monochrome or color) would be substituted for the family TV. Some standard types of video controller ICs were popular, but see the very detailed List of home computers by video hardware for a discussion of video capabilities of different models. Memory and TV bandwidth restrictions meant that typical home computers had only a few color choices and perhaps 20 lines of 40 characters of text as an upper limit to their video capabilities. Where the same model was sold in countries using PAL or NTSC television standards, sometimes there would be minor variations in the speed of the processor, because NTSC and PAL use different frequencies for the color information and the crystal for the video system was often also used for the processor clock.

Base mass storage was whatever came in the basic configuration. Some machines had built-in cassette drives or optional external drives, others relied on the consumer to provide a cassette recorder. Cassette recorders had the primary virtue of being widely available as a consumer product at the time. Typically a home computer would generate audio tones to encode data, that could be stored on audio tape through a direct connection to the recorder. Re-loading the data required re-winding the tape. The home computer would contain some circuit such as a phase-locked loop to convert audio tones back into digital data. Since consumer cassette recorders were not made for remote control, the user would have to manually operate the recorder in response to prompts from the computer. Random access to data on a cassette was impossible, since the entire tape would have to be searched to retrieve any particular item. A few manufacturers integrated a cassette tape drive or cassette-like tape mechanism into the console, but these variants were made obsolete by the reduction in cost of floppy diskette drives.

Floppy disk drives were initially very costly compared to the system purchase price. Plug-in ROM cartridges containing game or application software were popular in earlier home computers since they were easier to use, faster, and more reliable than cassette tapes. Once diskette drives became available at low cost, cartridges declined in popularity since they were more expensive to manufacture than reproducing a diskette, and had comparatively small capacity compared to diskettes. A few cartridges contained battery-backed memory that allowed users to save data (for example, game high scores) between uses of the cartridge.

Typically there were several models or variants within a product line, especially to account for different international video standards and power supplies; see the linked articles for variants and consequences of variations. "Compatibility" indicates some measure of compatibility with a parent type, however, sometimes incompatibility existed even within a product family. A "clone" system has identical hardware and is functionally interchangeable with its prototype; a few clone systems relied on illicit copies of system ROMs to make them functional.

Manufacturers and models

Home computer models and manufacturers
Origin Manufacturer Model Processor Year Video type Mass storage Video chip
(see list) 		Compatibility Remarks Ref
UK Acorn Computers Atom 6502 1980 TV Cassette 6847 [1]
UK
UK
UK
UK
UK
UK
UK
UK
UK
China Tsinghua University and other department CEC-I Zhonghua teaching machine 6502 1986 TV cassette, 5.25-inch floppy Apple 64 KB RAM, 32 KB ROM (BASIC, LOGO)
USA
USA
USA Apple Computer Apple IIe 6502 1983 Monitor, TV Cassette, optional floppy Apple [2]
USA Apple Computer Apple IIc 65C02 1984 Monitor, TV floppy disk drive Apple Portable, but not integrated like a modern laptop [2]
USA
USA
USA
USA Apple Computer Macintosh 68000 1984 Monitor diskette, optional CD ROM
UK Apricot Computers/Applied Computer Technology Apricot F1 8088 1984 Monitor floppy disk MS-DOS Ran MS-DOS but not IBM compatible; several descendant models [2]
Netherlands
USA Atari, Inc. Atari 8-bit computers 6502B, -- late 400/800s and XL/XEs use a Custom 6502 variant called "Sally" 1979–1987 TV Cassette, optional floppy disk, cartridge ANTIC+CTIA/GTIA custom LSI Also used as cartridge video game consoles [2]
USA Atari Corporation Atari ST 68000 1985 Monitor, TV Floppy disk, optional hard disk Custom LSI Several related models [3]
USA Atari Corporation Atari TT 68030 1990 Monitor Floppy disk, hard disk Custom LSI Atari ST Several related models
USA Atari Corporation Falcon 68030 + 56001 1992 Monitor, TV Floppy disk, hard disk Custom LSI Atari ST Compatibility modes Some models has been modified and sold under license with C-Lab brand
USA Bally Consumer Products Bally Brain video game/home computer Z80 1979 TV Cassette, cartridge A video game console with programmability [4]
USA
Romania Brasov Computer CoBra Z80 1986 Monitor Cassette, diskette ZX Spectrum CP/M [5]
UK Camputers
Various
USA Coleco Adam Z80 1983 Monitor, TV Cassette (custom built-in), optional floppies TMS9928A Colecovision console, Applesoft BASIC, Optional CP/M [2]
USA
USA Commodore VIC-20 6502 1980 TV Optional cassette, optional floppy, cartridge VIC custom LSI PET-style BASIC, extended [1]
USA Commodore Commodore 64 6510 1982 TV Optional cassette, optional floppy, cartridge VIC II custom LSI Optional dual processor in cartridge could run CP/M plus version 3.0 [2]
USA Commodore Commodore SX-64 6510 1982 Built-in color monitor Built-in floppy, optional cassette, cartridge VIC II custom LSI Commodore 64 Portable with keyboard that attached to cover monitor and disk drive [2]
USA
USA Commodore Commodore 16 and 116 8501 (6502) 1984 TV Optional cassette, optional floppy, cartridge TED custom LSI [2]
USA Commodore Plus/4 8501 (6502) 1984 TV Optional cassette, optional floppy, cartridge TED custom LSI Commodore 16 [2]
USA
USA Commodore Amiga 68000 1985 Monitor, composite video Diskette, optional hard drive Custom LSI Several models with 680X0 family processors [6]
Hong Kong
Belgium
Hong Kong Vtech VTech Laser 200
Hong Kong EACA Video Genie family
Hong Kong EACA Colour Genie
Hong Kong Rabbit Rabbit RX83 Z80 1983 TV Cassette 6847 GEM 1000 Rebadged and sold by others, see article
Czechoslovakia Didaktik Alpha, Beta
Czechoslovakia Didaktik
UK Dragon Data
USSR Dubna Dubna 48K
USSR Elektronika BK-0010
USSR AGAT AGAT-9 Native/Apple II compatible 1984 TV/Monitor Floppy disk Custom LSI Agat computer Agat computer [7]
Serbia Elektronska Industrija Niš Pecom 32, Pecom 64
France Exelvision EXL 100
USA Exidy Exidy Sorcerer
UK Locurnals/Intelligent Software Enterprise 64 and 128
Hong Kong Lambda Electronics Lambda 8300
USA Various manufacturers Apple II clones
USA Franklin Computer Corporation Franklin ACE series
Japan Fujitsu FM Towns series
Japan Fujitsu FM-7 series
Belgium GEM (Groupement européen d'études) GEM 1000 also known as GEM 1000 Junior Computer, and the French Charlemagne 999 Z80 1985 TV, monitor Cassette, cartridge 6847 French BASIC for the Charlemagne, but uses QWERTY [8][9][10]
UK Grundy Business Systems Grundy NewBrain
Brazil Gradiente Gradiente Expert
USA Honeywell Honeywell 316 DDP 16 Minicomputer 1969 Binary lights None offered (contemporary systems would have used paper tape) No video Honorary home computer, marketed but never sold. [11]
USA IBM IBM PC 8088 1981 Monitor Cassette, floppy diskette, Optional CD Rom CGA, EGA, VGA
USA IBM PCjr 8088 1984 Monitor, composite video Cassette, floppy diskette, cartridge VGA IBM PC [2]
USA IBM IBM PS/1
USA Interact Interact Home Computer
USA Intelligent Systems Corporation Compucolor II
USSR Intercompex Hobbit
USSR Iskra Iskra-1030 8086 compatible 1989 floppy drive [12]
Croatia Ivasim Ivel Ultra 6502 compatible 1984 floppy drive Apple II [13]
Croatia Ivasim Ivel Z3
UK Jupiter Cantab Ace
Sweden Luxor ABC 80
USA Mattel Aquarius
France Matra Matra Alice
UK Memotech Memotech MTX500, MTX512, RS128 Z80 1983 TV, monitor Cassette, diskette, hard drive, cartridge [2]
Australia Microbee Systems MicroBee series
Brazil Comércio de Componentes Eletrônicos CCE MC-1000
Brazil Microdigital Eletronica TK82C series
France Micronique Hector 1 8080 1979 TV Cassette Interact Home Computer
UK Miles Gordon Technology SAM Coupé
Taiwan Multitech Microprofessor III
USA Mindset Corporation Mindset 80186 1984 Monitor Floppy diskette IBM PC semi-compatible
USA Montgomery Ward CyberVision 2001 RCA 1802 1978 Monitor Cassette
Japan NEC NEC PC-100
Japan NEC Home Electronics PC-6000 series Z80 1981 TV, Monitor Cassette, cartridge Several models [14]
Japan NEC PC-8000 series Z80 1979 RGB Monitor Cassette, later models with floppy diskettes,
Japan NEC PC-8800 series
Japan NEC PC-9800 series 8086 1982 RGB Monitor floppy diskettes, diskettes, CD ROM optional Several models, also called PC-98
USA Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computer CoCo, Coco 2, Coco 3 6809 1980 Monitor Cassette, floppy diskette, cartridge Several models [2]
USA Radio Shack TRS-80 Model I
USA Radio Shack TRS-80 MC-10
USA Radio Shack Tandy 1000 series
USA RCA COSMAC VIP RCA 1802 1977 Monitor Cassette
Germany Schneider Computer Division Euro PC 8088 1988 Monitor Floppy diskette Hercules, CGA IBM PC XT Several descendant models including 80286 and 80386SX processor and EGA, VGA adapters [15]
UK Oric Int'l/Tangerine Oric-1 6502 1983 TV, Monitor Cassette, optional floppy drive semi-custom ASIC (ULA) [16]
UK Oric Int'l/Tangerine Oric Atmos 6502 1984 TV, Monitor Cassette, optional floppy drive semi-custom ASIC (ULA) Oric-1 [16]
UK Oric Int'l/Tangerine Oric Telestrat 6502 1986 TV, Monitor Cassette, optional floppy drive, ROM based Cartridge semi-custom ASIC (ULA) Oric-1 [16]
Croatia PEL Varaždin Galeb
Croatia PEL Varaždin Orao
Netherlands Philips P2000
Netherlands Philips G7480 Z80 1983 TV Cassette, cartridge Magnavox Odyssey 2 Home computer expansion module for G7400 game console
Netherlands Philips VG5000 Z80 1986 TV, Monitor Cassette
Netherlands Philips Engineering:Philips :YES
Bulgaria Pravetz Pravetz series 8, including -83, -83, -84, -8M/E/A/S. CM630 (6502 clone) 1985 TV, Monitor Cassette, floppy diskette Apple II Several models, company later made IBM PC compatibles. [17]
Bulgaria Pravetz Pravetz 8D 6502 1982 TV, Monitor Cassette, floppy diskette Oric-1/Atmos [18]
Bulgaria Pravetz IMKO-1 6502 1980 TV, Monitor Cassette, floppy diskette Apple II High cost compared to later Western home computers [17]
New Zealand Progeni Systems / Polycorp Poly-1 6809 1981 Built-in colour monitor Floppy diskette SAA5050 Teletext [19][20][21]
Brazil Prológica Prológica CP-400
East Germany VEB Robotron KC 85
East Germany VEB Robotron KC 87
East Germany VEB Robotron Z1013
South Korea Samsung SPC-1000 Z80 1983 dedicated mono or RGB monitor cassette
South Korea Samsung SPC-1500 Z80 1987 dedicated mono or RGB monitor cassette Sharp X1 [22]
Japan Sega SC-3000
Japan Sega AI Computer NEC V20 1986 TV cartridge
Japan Sharp MZ series
Japan Sharp Sharp X1
Japan Sharp X68000
UK Sinclair Research ZX80
UK Sinclair Research ZX81 Z80 1981 TV Cassette Custom ASIC ZX80 See also List of ZX80/81 clones and Timex Sinclair [1]
UK Sinclair Research ZX Spectrum
UK Sinclair Research Sinclair QL 68008 1984 TV, monitor "Microdrive" tape ZX8301 Custom ASIC Spin-off to several related products, see List of Sinclair QL clones [2]
Japan Sord Computer Corporation Sord M200 Smart Home Computer Z80 1977 TV Floppy disk [23]
Japan
USA Spectravideo SV-318 Z80 1983 TV Cassette, floppy disk Custom ASIC
Taiwan Tatung Tatung Einstein Z80 1984 dedicated monitor floppy disk
New Zealand Technosys Aamber Pegasus
USA Texas Instruments TI-99/4, TI-99/4A
Czechoslovakia Tesla PMD 85
Czechoslovakia Štátny majetok Závadka š.p., Závadka nad Hronom MAŤO 8080 1989 TV, monitor Cassette PMD 85 Also made as a kit [24]
France Thomson TO7
France Thomson MO5 aka Olivetti Prodest PC128
USA/
UK/
Portugal 		Timex Sinclair Timex Sinclair 1000 and 1500 Z80 1982 TV, monitor Cassette, optional cartridge ZX80, ZX81 [2]
USA/
UK/
Portugal 		Timex Sinclair Timex Sinclair 2048
Portugal Timex Sinclair Timex Computer 2048
USA/
UK/
Portugal 		Timex Sinclair Timex Computer 2068
Portugal/
Poland 		Timex Sinclair Komputer 2086
Japan Tomy Tomy Tutor (US) /Grandstand Tutor (UK)
USSR Vector Vector-06C
USA Videobrain VideoBrain Family Computer
Hungary Videoton TVC Z80 1986 TV Cassette, floppy diskette [25]
Hungary Microkey Primo Z80 (compatible) 1984 TV Cassette [26]
Norway West Computer AS West PC-800 6502, Z80 1984 TV, monitor Cassette, floppy diskette Apple II, CP/M [27]
Origin Manufacturer Model Processor Year Video Type Mass storage Video Chip
(see list) 		Compatibility Remarks Ref

List of hobby, kit, or trainer computers

See also: Engineering:List of early microcomputers

This type of microcomputer required significant electronics skills to assemble or operate. They were sometimes sold in kit form that required the user to insert and solder components in a printed circuit board. They may have had just blinking lights and toggle switches, or a hexadecimal display and a numeric keypad. While some units were possibly expandable to the "checkbook balancing/homework typing" stage, most were intended more for education on the use and application of microprocessors. See also Microprocessor development board, Single-board computer.

School computers

These were aimed at the class room, not the living room. Some types were popular in the centrally planned economies of eastern Europe where Western computers were scarce, or in the early days of computer education in Western schools. Popular home computers of the period[clarification needed] were fitted with various types of network interfaces[clarification needed] to allow sharing of files, large disk drives, and printers, and often allowed a teacher to interact with a student, supervise the system usage, and carry out administrative tasks from a host computer.

Cardboard and demonstrator "computers"

Logic demonstrators illustrated some of the logical principles of computer circuits, but were incapable of automatic operation or non-trivial calculations. Some were literally cardboard, others used combinations of switches and lamps to show how logical operations worked. Some products demonstrated logical operations purely mechanically.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Survey of 150 computers, Computing Now, September 1984 pp. 8-31
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 Survey of 200 computers, Computing Now ISSN 0823-6437, April 1985 pp. 14-44,
  3. ↑ Eric Jensen The Atari 520ST, BYTE Vol.11 No. 6 ISSN 0360-5280 pg. 233-238
  4. ↑ What's New, BYTE Magazine July 1979 pg. 240
  5. ↑ Walgenbach, Kerstin & Stefan. "HCM: East-European Home-Computer ...". http://www.homecomputer.de/pages/easteurope_ro.html. 
  6. ↑ Bill Markwick, The Amiga 500, Electronics and Technology Today February 1988 pp. 18-20
  7. ↑ Rezun, Miron (1996). Science, technology, and ecopolitics in the USSR. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 71–72. ISBN 0-275-95383-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=rrULmz5IVZQC&q=agat+computer&pg=PA71. 
  8. ↑ "Silicium : Avis de recherche 1". https://silicium.org/oldskool/wanted.htm. 
  9. ↑ "Charlemagne". Vidéo7. August 1983. https://oldskool.silicium.org/images/wanted/charlemagnepub.jpg. 
  10. ↑ "GEM 1000 Junior Computer / Charlemagne 999". Old computers. http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=420. Retrieved 2013-12-27. 
  11. ↑ Atkinson, P. (2010). "The Curious Case of the Kitchen Computer: Products and Non-Products in Design History". Journal of Design History 23 (2): 163–179. doi:10.1093/jdh/epq010. 
  12. ↑ "Iskra 1030 retrieved 2012 Dec 4". http://rk86.com/frolov/iskra-1030m.htm. 
  13. ↑ "OLD-COMPUTERS.COM : The Museum". https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=1220&st=1. 
  14. ↑ "ASCII EXPRESS : PC-8800・PC-6000 NECのニューマシン、遂にデビュー" (in ja). ASCII 5 (11). 1981. 
  15. ↑ "Schneider EuroPC II - MCbx". https://oldcomputer.info/pc/euroPC2/index.htm. 
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 "OLD-COMPUTERS.COM : The Museum". https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=79&st=1. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "OLD-COMPUTERS.COM : The Museum". https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=956&st=1. 
  18. ↑ "OLD-COMPUTERS.COM : The Museum". https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=988&st=1. 
  19. ↑ The Poly Preservation Project
  20. ↑ "Kiwi Nuggets Forum: Poly 1 Educational Computer". https://www.creationz.co.nz/kiwinuggets/2007/03/poly-1-educational-computer_07.html. 
  21. ↑ ""Preserving our Heritage NZ-made Computers", Bob Doran, CS Dept. University of Auckland & Andrew Trotman, CS Dept. University of Otago". https://www.cs.otago.ac.nz/homepages/andrew/papers/2010-5.pdf. 
  22. ↑ "History of Korean Gaming - Hardcore Gaming 101 (Samsung section)". http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/korea/part1/company-samsung.htm. 
  23. ↑ Japan, Information Processing Society of. "M200 Smart Home Computer Series-Computer Museum". https://museum.ipsj.or.jp/en/computer/personal/0087.html. 
  24. ↑ "OLD-COMPUTERS.COM : The Museum". https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=943. 
  25. ↑ "Videoton TV Computer". https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=39. 
  26. ↑ Képes, Gábor. "Computing is for everyone - computers for everyone!". https://www.inventingeurope.eu/story/computing-is-for-everyone-computers-for-everyone. 
  27. ↑ Gulbrandsen, Eirik (April–May 1985). "West PC-800 en talentfull maskin" (in no). Mikrodata (Computerworld Norge) 3 (3): 8–12. ISSN 0800-269X. https://www.stone-oakvalley-studios.com/uploads/0144cd41/mikrodata_03-1985.pdf. 



Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Engineering:List_of_home_computers&oldid=4341363"