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System
Information: Acorn Computers Archimedes
Development,
History, Games, Internals, Additional Information, Photos
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| Specifications Table |
| Manufacturer: |
Acorn Computers
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| Year
Released: |
1987
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Year
Discontinued: |
0000 |
| Size
& Weight: |
Unknown at this time
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| Storage: |
SCSI or IDE Hard Disc Drive / 3.5" Floppy Drive / CD-ROM
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| CPU: |
ARM (model Varies)
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Speed: |
Varies with Model
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| Additional
Processors: |
Dedicated chips for Graphics and Sound
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| System
Memory: |
512KB to 16MB
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| Graphics
Modes: |
8 BBC Micro Compatible Modes & 13 Other Modes 640x480 Max
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| Max
Colours: |
4096 Colour Palette
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| Sound: |
8 Voices with adjustable Stereo positions
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| Ports: |
Centronics Printer Port / Acorn Econet Port / Serial
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| Power
Rating: |
Unknown at this time
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| Original
Cost |
Unknown at this time
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9 out of 10
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Retro-Zone.Org
- Retrospective Review:
Much better than the IBM PC's in their time the Archimedes was THE machine to use for multimedia applications. The first time I saved a file to a Hard Disk I was using an Archimedes. The first time I used a CD-ROM it was on an Archimedes. And the first time I made a computer animation it was on an Archemedes. These computers were great in their time and should have been the dominant format over the IBM. What happened? I don't know.
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Do
I have one in my Collection?
NO  I want one... I just don't know which one.
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Additional Links:
downloads.htm
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Development:
_800x600_thumb.jpg) The Acorn Archimedes was developed as a direct successor to the BBC Micro. During development lots of processors were considered for the new range of machines - but none met Acorns requirements. So Acorn decided to design their own chip - The Acorn Reduced Instruction Set Microprocessor (ARM) was designed to be small, cheap and fast. It used RISC architecture to remove the interpretive language layer from the CPU - in effect cutting out the middle man between the software and the processor, allowing for increased speed. Compared to CPU's used in other machines in use at the time (Such as the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST) the ARM processor could handle up to 4 times as many instructions per second - making it one of the most powerful home computers of it's time.
There were a number of models released:
BBC Archimedes 305, BBC Archimedes 310, Acorn Archimedes 410, Acorn Archimedes 440, BBC A3000, 410/1, 420/1, 440/1, Acorn R140, 540/1, Acorn R225, Acorn R260, A5000, Acorn A4, A3010, A3020, A4000.
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History:
The Archimedes was launched as a successor to the BBC Micro range of computers which were widely used in education in the UK. As a result the machine was backwards compatible with BBC Micro software and even included BBC Basic as standard. Throughout it's life the Archimedes architecture appeared as many different models - including laptops.
The Archimedes went on to become the leading computer for use in education. Although it didn't really break into the home computer or small business market.
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Games:
There was not a great deal of games written for the Archimedes. But the machine was capable of some pretty sophisticated 3D graphics - so it was only a matter of time before the BBC Micro game of legend "Elite" was converted to the system - which much improved graphics and sound! The Archimedes was never seen as a gaming computer and did not really enter many homes (although it was in MANY schools!), so games were few and far between.
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Internals:
| At it's heart the Archimedes held the ARM RISC Processor, but it also contained 2 other processors for Graphics and System Functions to take some of the strain from the CPU. All the internal processors were designed by Acorn Computers for the Archimedes. |
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Additional
Information:
The Archimedes could also run MS DOS! Which means it could also run the DOS based Microsoft Windows releases (such as 3.1.) This feature was added in order to tempt businesses into using the machine.
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Photos
| Gallery (click on a thumbnail to
enlarge) |
_800x600.jpg)
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A photo I took at the Retrovision 2010 event in Oxford, UK.
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References:
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