Phill's Acorn Page

Machine Name    : Acorn Atom.
Processor       : Rockwell 6502 at 1MHz	
Memory          : 2K expandable to 40K
Backing Store   : Cassette 1200 baud.
                  Floppy Disk, 2x100K.
                  Hard disk, No.
Firmware        : Acorn Integer Basic.
Screen          : Text 32x16x8.
                  Graphics 128x192x4, 255x192x2.
Other I/O       : 1200 baud Cassette.
                  Expansion connector.
                  TV Modulator.
    

The Atom was Acorn's entry into the personal computer market, released in 1979 the machine was the forerunner of the hugely successfull (in the UK at least) BBC micro. The machine came equipped with an 8K rom containing Acorn's own integer basic, which could be expanded to a 16K floating point rom. Ram could be expanded internally to 16K and beyond that to 40K.

Machine Name    : BBC Microcomputer (Acorn Proton).
Processor       : Rockwell 6502 at 2MHz	
Memory          : 16K (Model A), 32K (Model B).
Backing Store   : Cassette 1200 baud.
                  Floppy Disk, 2x400K.
                  Hard disk, No.
Firmware        : BBC Basic.
Screen          : Text up to 80x25x2.
                  Graphics Up to 640x256x2.
Other I/O       : 1200 baud Cassette.
                  Floppy disk interface (Optional).
                  Expansion connector.
                  RS432 (serial) interface.
                  Optional Econet network.
                  TV Modulator.
                  TTL RGB monitor.
    

The BBC Microcomputer (deveolped as the Acorn Proton, but licenced by the BBC), was Acorn's most successfull machine to date, with some of these machines till in service today some 15 years after the machine's introduction. The machine was hailed in it's time as being one of the best home machines around, due largely to it's masive expansion capabilities. Many people also praised it's structured basic, which was unique for it's time (though I personally prefer QL SuperBasic, but that's another story !). The Model A differed from the Model B in that it only had 16K of memory and didn't have all the built in interfaces that the model B had.

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