Post by Blaine on Jan 19, 2019 11:50:30 GMT -7
One of the less known home computers from the 80's. This little unit is an interesting side note to the TRS-80 line of computers.
I assume an attempt by Tandy Radio Shack to bump off the Sinclair, much as the Commodore C16 was supposed to do as well.
From Wikipedia -
About the size of a hardcover book, the MC-10 came equipped with four kilobytes (4096 bytes) of RAM, a Motorola MC6803 eight-bit microprocessor, a built-in serial port, and graphics capabilities similar to those of the original Color Computer (provided by the same MC6847 video display generator).
Like most early home computers, the MC-10 included a BASIC interpreter in ROM and used regular audio cassettes for bulk storage. Text and graphics were displayed on a television set via a built-in RF modulator. Less common for machines in its class was the integrated RS-232 serial port, which allowed the MC-10 to use a wide variety of line printers and modems without additional hardware.
Even so, at the time of its release in 1983, the MC-10's specifications were underwhelming. Disk drives, full-travel keyboards, medium-resolution graphics, and complete 64-kilobyte (65,536 bytes) memory banks were becoming popular features for home computers; the MC-10 offered none of these, severely limiting the functions it could perform and the range of users to which it could appeal.
The MC-10 was discontinued in 1984, along with the 16 KB (16,384 bytes) memory upgrade and small amount of cassette-based software that had been released for it. It never achieved a wide following.
The unit I have is in good cosmetic condition and in good working order. As yet I don't have any peripherals to go with it, but with a little hunting, I'm sure some can be found.
This ones a little fuzzy, sorry.
Cheers.
I assume an attempt by Tandy Radio Shack to bump off the Sinclair, much as the Commodore C16 was supposed to do as well.
From Wikipedia -
About the size of a hardcover book, the MC-10 came equipped with four kilobytes (4096 bytes) of RAM, a Motorola MC6803 eight-bit microprocessor, a built-in serial port, and graphics capabilities similar to those of the original Color Computer (provided by the same MC6847 video display generator).
Like most early home computers, the MC-10 included a BASIC interpreter in ROM and used regular audio cassettes for bulk storage. Text and graphics were displayed on a television set via a built-in RF modulator. Less common for machines in its class was the integrated RS-232 serial port, which allowed the MC-10 to use a wide variety of line printers and modems without additional hardware.
Even so, at the time of its release in 1983, the MC-10's specifications were underwhelming. Disk drives, full-travel keyboards, medium-resolution graphics, and complete 64-kilobyte (65,536 bytes) memory banks were becoming popular features for home computers; the MC-10 offered none of these, severely limiting the functions it could perform and the range of users to which it could appeal.
The MC-10 was discontinued in 1984, along with the 16 KB (16,384 bytes) memory upgrade and small amount of cassette-based software that had been released for it. It never achieved a wide following.
The unit I have is in good cosmetic condition and in good working order. As yet I don't have any peripherals to go with it, but with a little hunting, I'm sure some can be found.
This ones a little fuzzy, sorry.
Cheers.
