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Electron

8-BIT

32Kb RAM / 32Kb ROM

80's Home Computer SYSTEM

VERY RARE

Includes boxed software and manuals

(Release date: 1983)

(P&P £11)

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This is a very rare 80's classic home computer, the ACORN ELECTRON was brought out in 1983 as a home-users equivalent to the ACORN produced BBC MICRO (the official schools computer of the 80's) and originally retailed at £199.

It never acheived the popularity of it's main rivals, the Sinclair ZX Spectrum or the Commodore 64 (Check my other listings or contact me if you want one of these machines) it was nevertheless very popular with, and fondly remembered by, those that used it.

With 32Kb Ram and very decent (for the time!) graphics capabilities, this was a wonderful little machine with some of the best games titles of the era available for it, and a very user friendly BASIC meant it was simple and fun to programme yourself.

From my own point of view, I think it was a great wee machine, very under-rated and under-supported by its makers at the time. Really does deserve a good and loving home!

This lovely condition Acorn Electron package comes complete with -

 -  ACORN ELECTRON

 -  Power Supply

  - RF Cable

  - User Guide

  - Book - 'Start Programming With The Electron'

  - Introductory Cassette (boxed - untested)

This is a wonderful opportunity to get one of these rare machines.

(POSTAGE IS 11 POUNDS - VERY HEAVY AND BULKY ITEM! - add the £11 to the P&P section when you go to make payment or request an invoice - if postage isnt paid, item wont be posted and your order will be cancelled - sorry it's complicated, blame eBay!)

The computer has been tested and powers up and runs no problem - bit of a hiss on the telly but that might be the tv I used. Tried a couple of short BASIC programmes on it and they worked a treat.

Cosmetically, the computer is in good, clean condition.

SORRY - UK BUYERS ONLY. NO REFUNDS OR RETURNS - SOLD AS SEEN.

Some more blurb and pics (not mine!) from Wikipedia and old-computers.com

Snapper - Acornsoft (Included in this sale)

Starship Command - Acornsoft (Included in this sale)

The original press advertisment for the Acorn Electron

The Acorn Electron is basically a cut-down version of the Acorn BBC-B with which it is partly compatible. After the success of the BBC, Acorn and founder Chris Cury wanted a product to compete with "under £200" computers and especially with the Sinclair Spectrum, its main threat. But sadly, Acorn failed to meet the demand for the new system, mainly because of production problems related to the large custom ULA at the heart of the Electron.

The next year (1984), Acorn decided to anticipate all these problems and focused on producing the Electron in vast numbers. But unfortunately, public demand and enthusiasm were on the wane, and despite an extensive £4-million advertising campaign, a third of the Electrons that were built never made it to the shelves, leaving behind large stockpiles of components that had been paid for but were never used.

The built-in Acorn Electron BASIC, largely derived from the famous BBC BASIC, was impressive with innovative features such as the ability to define real procedures with DEF PROC and ENDPROC, or the handling of error events (in 1983 !). There was even an OLD statement which would recover a program erased by NEW. A complete assembler language was also stored in the 32K ROM.

The graphics capabilities were also quite impressive for a computer of this category. Text mode of up to 80 columns and a high resolution of up to 640 x 256 pixels with 2 colors. The custom ULA developed especially for the Electron handled the video display, sound and I/O communications! This was the real heart of the Electron.

The mechanical keyboard was very good. BASIC statements were printed on most of the keys, allowing users to type them in one go. A small amber LED placed on the left part of the keyboard indicated if you were in lowercase or uppercase mode.

Despite being more powerful than the ZX Spectrum, the Electron didn't sell well and suffered from a lack of certain software.

NAME   Electron MANUFACTURER   Acorn Computer TYPE   Home Computer ORIGIN   United Kingdom YEAR   July 1983 BUILT IN LANGUAGE   Acorn Electron Basic + 6502 assembler KEYBOARD   QWERTY full-stroke keyboard, 56 keys, basic statements accessible through keys, 10 function keys (0...9 keys + FUNC) ESCAPE, CAPS LK/FUNC, CTRL,BREAK,COPY,RETURN,DELETE,SHIFT (x2) CPU   MOS 6502A SPEED   1 MHz CO-PROCESSOR   custom ULA RAM   32 kb ROM   32 kb TEXT MODES   20 x 32, 40 x 25, 40 x 32, 80 x 25, 80 x 32 GRAPHIC MODES   160 x 256 (4 or 16 colors), 320 x 256 (2 or 4 colors), 640 x 256 (2 colors) COLORS   8 colors + 8 flashing versions of the same colors SOUND   1 channel of sound + 1 channel of white sound, 7 octaves. In fact 3 virtual sound channels mapped to the single available physical channel. Built-in speaker SIZE / WEIGHT   16 x 34 x 6.5 cm I/O PORTS   Expansion port, Tape-recorder connector (1200 baud), aerial TV connector (RF modulator), RGB video output POWER SUPPLY   External PSU, 18v PRICE   £199 (UK, august 83) 2950 fr (France, february 84)

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