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- Date: Sun, 6 Dec 1992 12:33:22 +1300
- From: banksie <banksie@nz.gen.welly.khantazi>
- Subject: MachineLst (part 1)
-
-
- The Full Acorn Machine List - Last updated 27/11/1992.
- ======================================================
-
- This list represents some several days of work in researching and
- obtaining all the data contained within. No guarantess are made to it's
- accuracy but all efforts have been made to be as factual as possible. Many
- thanks go to all the people who have contributed towards this list, without
- their help this list would substantially shorter. Finally this list is
- copyright 1992 to Philip R. Banks but may be freely copied and distributed
- as long as it is distributed without modification or change. It may be used
- in other publications/documents as long as credit is given in the article to
- Philip R. Banks for the use of the list.
-
- ------------------------------List begins-----------------------------------
- There is a diverse range of Acorn machines basically classifiable into two
- ranges. Older 8 bit machines and the newer 32 bit machines. Each entry in
- the list is organised, after the textual blurb, in terms of :-
-
- Default memory.
- Default filing system(s).
- Default processor.
- Default RAM speed.
- Size of OS when first released.
- Approxiamate performance in MIPS.
-
- For a series of models all models are listed in succession after the textual
- blurb with the first line indicating the model number. Please note all MIPS
- speeds are estimates, are in terms of the processor's speeds and are *not*
- converted to Vax MIPS. The list is:-
-
- Acorn System 1 - the earliest of the Acorn machines. Powered by a 6502 CPU
- it had a staggering 1k of memory and a 512 byte monitor program.
- Described as a `pig to use` it marked the begining of Acorns long
- association with the 6502 chip. Released in 1979.
- 1k Memory
- Cassette interface.
- 6502 processor
- 1 MHz RAM (I think).
- 512 bytes Monitor in ROM.
- ~0.09 MIPS (at a guess....)
-
- Acorn System 2,3,4,5 - A eurocard rack system with a combination of cards
- including 6502 cpu, 6809 cpu, 32k ram, 32k battery backed cmos ram, disc
- interface, versitile interface adaptor, lab interface, econt, analogue
- interface, VDU interface and a 6502 ICE (In Circuit Emulation I am told).
- 32k Memory.
- Disc interface.
- Variable Processor.
- 1 MHz RAM (I think)
- Unknown ~0.09 MIPS (at a guess....)
-
- Acorn Atom - this was powered by a 6502 chip and had 4k of memory. A bit of
- a rarity these days to see a working model it had an integer only BASIC
- supplied in ROM as well as the OS. Via an extension ROM floating point
- operations could be added to the BASIC. Released early 1980 (I think).
- 4k Memory. (Expandable to 12k)
- Unknown. I believe it was tape.
- 6502 processor.
- 1 MHz RAM (I think).
- 8k OS in ROM (I think).
- ~0.09 MIPS
-
- Acorn Proton - early version of the BBC Model A. Capabilities presumably
- very similar to the Model A. Apparently never commercially released.
- 16k Memory
- Tape filing system by default.
- 6502 processor.
- 2 MHz RAM.
- 16k of OS in ROM.
- ~0.17 MIPS
-
- BBC Model A - cut down version of the very popular BBC Model B. Powered by a
- 6502 chip it featured 16k of memory. Released November 1981.
- 16k Memory
- Tape filing system by default.
- 6502 processor.
- 2 MHz RAM.
- 16k of OS in ROM.
- ~0.17 MIPS
-
-
- BBC Model B - the `full` version of the Model A this machine became one of
- the most popular eight bit machines in Britain. It also ran on a 6502
- chip and had 32k of memory along with a facility to easily include
- anywhere from 4-16 `sideways` ROM expansions. By default the machine was
- only capable of taking 4 ROMs with two slots taken by BBC BASIC ( either
- versions I or II) and the other usually taken up by a Disc Filing System.
- (The machine was released without the DFS to begin with.) Released
- November 1981 - early 1982. It appears that there was also released an
- American/Canadian version of the Model B that had several differences -
- namely that econet and speech systems were built in and that the machine
- was set up for American monitors by default requiring a *UK to enable it
- to run most software.
- 32k Memory
- Tape filing system by default.
- 6502 processor.
- 2 MHz RAM.
- 16k of OS in ROM.
- ~0.17 MIPS
-
- BBC Model B+ - this machine was the predeccesor to the BBC Master range of
- machines and came in two models. The default model was equiped with 64k
- of memory and a D.F.S. by default. It was the first of the Acorn machines
- to come with a double density disc system as default. It had alot of the
- annoying `glitches` of the model B cured and was also powered by a 6502
- chip. Released early 1984 it was quickly superceded by the Master range
- of machines and Acorn drew loud criticisim for releasing the machines so
- close together.
- 64k Memory
- Double Density Filing system by default. (included tape as well)
- 6502 processor.
- 2 MHz RAM.
- 16k of OS in ROM.
- ~0.17 MIPS
-
-
- Reuters board - Effectivley a BBC Model B+ on a big eurocard for rack
- mounting.
- 64k Memory
- Unknown
- 6502 processor.
- 2 MHz RAM.
- 16k of OS in ROM.
- ~0.17 MIPS
-
- Acorn Business Computer- Acorns first attempt at entering the business
- market and it was not a great success. It consisted of a BBC Model B+
- with a variety of second processors all packaged in a new case with an
- integral monitor and seperate keyboard. Second processors included a
- 32016 running Panos, 80186 running DOS & a Z80 running CPM. These
- machines were and are very rare, indeed I have yet to hear from someone
- who has actually used one of these machines. They consisted of eight
- models and were released late 1984.
-
- Acorn Business Computer Model PA (Personal Assistant)
- 64k Memory
- Disc Filing System by default.
- 6502 processor.
- 2 MHz RAM.
- 32k of OS in ROM with ViewSheet.
- ~0.17 MIPS
-
- Acorn Business Computer Model Terminal.
- 64k Memory
- No filing system by default.
- 6502 processor.
- 2 MHz RAM.
- 32k of OS in ROM with a VT100 emulator in ROM.
- ~0.17 MIPS
-
- Acorn Business Computer Model 100.
- 64k Memory
- Disc Filing system by default.
- Z80 processor. (6502 processor acting as host for parasite Z80)
- Unknown
- 32k of OS in ROM. Largely unused being replaced with CP\M.
- ~0.17 MIPS
-
- Acorn Business Computer Model 110.
- 64k Memory
- Disc Filing system by default. (10 Megabyte hard drive)
- Z80 processor. (6502 processor acting as host for parasite Z80)
- Unknown
- 32k of OS in ROM. Largely unused being replaced with CP\M.
- ~0.17 MIPS
-
- Acorn Business Computer Model 200.
- 512k Memory (Unknown exactly)
- Disc Filing system by default.
- 32016 processor. (6502 processor acting as host for parasite 32016)
- Unknown
- 32k of OS in ROM. Largely unused being replaced with Xenix.
- ~0.17 MIPS
-
- Acorn Business Computer Model 210. (Later known as the Cambridge
- Workstation)
- 512k Memory (Unknown exactly)
- Disc Filing system by default. (10 Megabyte Hard Drive)
- 32016 processor. (6502 processor acting as host for parasite 32016)
- Unknown.
- 32k of OS in ROM (PANOS). Largely unused being replaced with Xenix.
- ~0.17 MIPS
-
- Acorn Business Computer Model 300.
- 1024k Memory
- Disc Filing system by default.
- 80286 processor. (6502 processor acting as host for parasite 80286)
- Unknown.
- 32k of OS in ROM. Largely unused being replaced with CP/M,MS-DOS or
- PC-DOS.
- ~0.17 MIPS
-
- Acorn Business Computer Model 310.
- 1024k Memory
- Disc Filing system by default. (10 Megabyte Hard Drive)
- 80286 processor. (6502 processor acting as host for parasite 80286)
- Unknown.
- 32k of OS in ROM. Largely unused being replaced with CP/M,MS-DOS or PC-DOS.
- ~0.17 MIPS
-
- Acorn Electron - this was Acorns `cut down` BBC Model B machine. Designed to
- be a cheap alternative to the model B it had alot of design trade offs in
- order to keep it cheap. A feature of it was its series of expansion options
- that offered people the ability to upgrade it to almost the same specs as
- a Model B. It was slower than the Model B even though it was clocked at
- the same speed due to the fact that its screen refresh demands were not
- done asycronously to the CPU resulting in cycle stealing from the CPU
- especially in the higher resolution screen modes.
- 32k Memory
- Tape filing system by default.
- 6502 processor.
- 2 MHz RAM.
- 16k of OS in ROM.
- ~0.25 MIPS
-
- British Telecom M2105 - An Electron with an expansion box containg a speech
- synthesier and modem. Designed as a `smart` comms terminal.
- 32k Memory
- Tape filing system by default.
- 6502 processor.
- 2 MHz RAM.
- 16k of OS in ROM.
- ~0.14 MIPS
-
- Communicator - A comms machine based on a 65816 processor with an on board
- modem, comms software and featured 32k of CMOS RAM.
- 512k (32k battery backed CMOS ram extra) Memory. (Expandable to 1024k)
- CMOS RAM and NET filing systems by default.
- 65816 processor.
- 2 MHz RAM.
- 256k of OS and bundled software in ROM.
- Unknown.
-
- Briefcase Communicator - Basically the same hardware as the communicator
- repackaged in a breifcase with an added ramcard interface.
- See Acorn Communicator - hardware functionally identical.
-
- BBC Master range - this was the successor to the Model B range and came out
- as three close but different machines. Powered by a 65C02 chip it was
- slightly faster and had alot of software improvements as well as hardware
- improvements that made it a large step foward. It came by default with
- a new and greatly improved Disc Filing System called ADFS (Advanced Disc
- Filing System) as well as 128k of memory as standard. Released late 1984-
- 1985.
- 128k Memory
- ADFS filing system by default. (Also came with DFS and tape)
- 65C02 processor.
- 2 MHz RAM.
- 16k of OS in ROM. (bundled with 48k more other ROM material)
- ~0.18-0.19 MIPS
-
- Acorn M19 - Re-badged Olivetti M19 PC-clone. Based on an 8088 processor it
- also came with it's own monitor. (Indeed that's what powered it...)
- 256k Memory.
- DOS filing system.
- 8088 processor.
- Unknown.
- Unknown.
- Unknown.
-
- A500 - never sold commercially this machine will be a little hard to find.
- It was the development machine for the A300/A400 series of machines. One
- of its major `idiosyncracies` is that it uses the older VIDC1 chip which
- used different logic for sound output than all commercialy released Arcs
- and thus most sound modules sound very odd on it...
- 4096k Memory.
- Advanced Disc Filing System by default.
- ARM 2 processor.
- 8 MHz RAM. (Ocassional unit with 12MHz RAM.)
- 512k OS in ROM.
- ~4 MIPS
-
- A3xx - the first of the Archimedes range of computers it was powered by a
- custom designed chip set based around the ARM a 32 bit RISC chip. The
- range started with half a Meg of memory up ran up to 1 Meg of memory.
- They came out with the Arthur Operating system that while it was more
- advanced than the 8 bit machines OS' it was not an OS doing justice to
- the hardware it was running on. Released around late 1987 they heralded
- the start of new shift in Acorn machines away from their previous 6502
- only base.
-
- A305
- 512k Memory.
- Advanced Disc Filing System by default.
- ARM 2 processor.
- 8 MHz RAM.
- 512k OS in ROM.
- ~4 MIPS
-
- A310
- 1024k Memory
- Advanced Disc Filing System by default.
- ARM 2 processor.
- 8 MHz RAM.
- 512k OS in ROM.
- ~4 MIPS
-
- A4xx - released at the same time as the 300 series of machines the 400
- series features an in built st506 hard drive controller and some models
- came equiped with hard drives built in as standard and the series also,
- by default, was capable of handling 4 expansion cards including a
- co-processor card unlike the 300 series.
-
- A410
- 1024k Memory
- Advanced Disc Filing System by default.
- St506 Hard Drive interface by default.
- ARM 2 processor.
- 8 MHz RAM.
- 512k OS in ROM.
- ~4 MIPS
-
- A420
- 2048k Memory
- Advanced Disc Filing System by default.
- St506 Hard Drive interface by default.
- ARM 2 processor.
- 8 MHz RAM.
- 512k OS in ROM.
- ~4 MIPS
-
- A440
- 4096k Memory
- Advanced Disc Filing System by default.
- St506 Hard Drive interface by default with Hard Drive. (43 Meg)
- ARM 2 processor.
- 8 MHz RAM.
- 512k OS in ROM.
- ~4 MIPS
-
- A680 - development machine for RISCiX. This is another development machine
- and again was never sold commercialy, thus it is somewhat rare. It was
- different from most Arcs in the respect that it does not have RiscOS in
- ROM at all and can only use a high resolution monochrome monitor for
- display. It came with a 67 Meg SCSI drive by default.
- 8192k Memory.
- SCSI by default. (67 Meg drive)
- ARM 2 processor.
- 8 MHz RAM.
- Unknown. (Runs RISCiX...)
- ~4 MIPS
-
- R140 - Acorn's entry machine into the Unix market, it suffered problems due
- to the Archimedes chip set not being optimal for running Unix on.
- Functionally identical to an A440 machine it had 4 Meg of memory and was
- provided with an 52 Meg st506 drive with RISCiX (Acorns brand of Unix) on
- it. Due to memory contraints and a large page size it did not fair terribly
- well as a Unix workstation.
- 4096k Memory
- Advanced Disc Filing System by default.
- St506 Hard Drive interface by default with Hard Drive. (53 Meg)
- ARM 2 processor.
- 8 MHz RAM.
- 512k OS in ROM. RISCiX OS supplied on Hard Drive.
- ~4 MIPS
-
- A3000 - this is the low end Arc. It was the first machine to be released
- with the newer and faster MEMC1a built in as standard as well as the
- newer Risc OS by default. Designed to be a cost effective cheap Arc it
- features only one full expansion port with a single internal `mini`
- expansion card slot limiting expansion somewhat. It also came by default
- without a serial port. This machine has proved very popular with schools
- as a cheap entry into the new Archimedes machines.
- 1024k Memory
- Advanced Disc Filing System by default.
- ARM 2 processor.
- 8 MHz RAM.
- 512k OS in ROM.
- ~4.7 MIPS
-
- A4xx/I - this series was functionally identical to the 400 series but
- featured a newer memory controller the MEMC1a that gave it a slightly
- faster speed. It also came with a 53 Megabyte hard drive in the higher
- end models that came with HD's rather than the 400 series's 20 Meg one.
-
- A420/I
- 2048k Memory
- Advanced Disc Filing System by default.
- St506 Hard Drive interface by default.
- ARM 2 processor.
- 8 MHz RAM.
- 512k OS in ROM.
- ~4.7 MIPS
-
- A440/I
- 4096k Memory
- Advanced Disc Filing System by default.
- St506 Hard Drive interface by default with Hard Drive. (53 Meg)
- ARM 2 processor.
- 8 MHz RAM.
- 512k OS in ROM.
- ~4.7 MIPS
-
- A540 - the current high end Archimedes machine this machine comes with 4 Meg
- of memory by default and an ARM 3 processor running at 26 MHz. It comes
- with a 100 Meg SCSI drive by default and a slightly newer version of
- Risc OS updated to cope with up to 16 Meg of memory and features for
- handling the ARM 3 processor.
- 4096k Memory
- Advanced Disc Filing System by default.
- SCSI Hard Drive interface by default with Hard Drive. (100 Meg)
- ARM 3 processor.
- 12 MHz RAM.
- 512k OS in ROM.
- ~13.5 MIPS (I am guessing here...)
-
- R260 - functionally identical to the A540 the R260 comes with Unix (well
- RISCiX ) by default and due to the increased power of the hardware runs
- it much better.
- 8192k Memory
- Advanced Disc Filing System by default.
- SCSI Hard Drive interface by default with Hard Drive. (100 Meg)
- ARM 3 processor.
- 12 MHz RAM.
- 512k OS in ROM. RISCiX OS supplied on Hard Drive.
- ~13.5 MIPS
-
- R225 - A diskless version of the R260 it was designed to be a cheap
- networked Unix station. Released at the same time as the R260.
- 4096k Memory
- Advanced Disc Filing System by default.
- ARM 3 processor.
- 12 MHz RAM.
- 512k OS in ROM. RISCiX OS booted off from Network connections.
- ~13.5 MIPS
-
- A5000 - the A5000 is the first machine to feature high density (quad - 1.6 Meg
- formated) drives by default as well as the latest (at the time) version of
- Risc OS - version 3. It also features an inbuilt IDE hard drive (40 Meg) on
- it's higher end model. With the re-release of the series the basic hard
- drive size has been upgraded to 80 Meg.
- Released late 1991.
- 1024k Memory
- Advanced Disc Filing System by default with High Density drives.
- IDE interface by default.
- ARM 3 processor
- 12 MHz RAM.
- 2048k OS in ROM.
- ~13.5 MIPS.
-
- A4 - Acorns first portable machine. The A4 is functionally an A5000 in portable
- form. Featuring power save modes, an LCD screen and software configuration
- of the power saving features it was released July 1992. It is called the A4
- because it's footprint on a desk is apparently that of an A4 piece of paper.
- It is interesting to note that the A4 is *not* an A5000 squeezed into
- portable form but rather the A5000 is the A4 in desktop form, whereby the
- A5000 design was largely a spin off from the design of the A4.
- 2048k Memory
- Advanced Disc Filing System by default with High Density drives.
- ARM 3 processor (6 MHz in power save mode.)
- 12 MHz RAM. (3 MHz in power save mode.)
- 2048k OS in ROM.
- ~12.81 MIPS.
-
- A30x0 - Two models of this machine exist the A3010 and the A3020. Both are
- designed as low end 'family solution' machines. They are also among the first
- machines to feature the ARM250 processor offering improved performance over
- an ARM2 (but less than an ARM3) and are designed to supplement the A3000
- machine as a low cost entry machine into the Acorn world. Its other main
- claim to fame is it is the first Archimedes series machine that features
- joystick ports. Launched August 27th 1992.
- 1024k Memory
- Advanced Disc Filing System by default with High Density drives.
- IDE 60 Mb Hard Drive (only in A3020).
- ARM 250 processor
- 12 MHz RAM.
- 2048k OS in ROM.
- ~7.2 MIPS
-
- A4000 - This is a higher end more expandable version of the A30x0 series
- machines and is in a three box format similar to the A5000. It also is
- driven by an ARM 250 processor however it features over the A30x0 machines
- optional Ethernet & Econet ports, a high density floppy drive and an 80Mb
- IDE drive by default. The aim of this machine is strongly towards the home
- office and more 'serious' applications than the A300x0 series. Launched
- August 27th 1992.
- 2048k Memory
- Advanced Disc Filing System by default with High Density drives.
- IDE 80 Mb Hard Drive by default.
- ARM 250 processor
- 12 MHz RAM.
- 2048k OS in ROM.
- ~7.2 MIPS
-
-
-