2 Nov
2011
2 Nov
'11
11:02 a.m.
Pete Turnbull wrote:
Adrian Graham wrote:
I had a couple - one went when I moved, the other's still in storage. I
think it was a 1MB one that I kept, and sold the 4MB, but I do have a stray
4MB board that I could always put in it (I've seen maybe ten or so ACWs
over the years, and every single one has been different in some way; they
barely ever made it out of the prototype phase, after all)
I've still got a couple of 1MB 32016 add-on coprocessors for the BBC micro,
too.
On 31/10/2011 21:51, "Tony Duell"
<ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> I have (and use) an Acorn Cambridge Workstation.
One of these, in fact, currently a resident of my
spare bedroom!
http://www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk/Museum/Acorn/acw/index.php
I wish I still had either of mine. Both were loaned or donated to
dealers in the later stages of that product's life :-( There were more than 4 models in the ABC range,
though, Witchy. I had a
Z80 one briefly (ABC100, the one with twin floppies and CP/M), and there
were two models of 32016-based ones (ABC200 with floppies and ABC210
with a hard drive), both of which I've seen. I don't remember ever
seeing an ABC Personal Assistant (6502 copro) or an ABC Terminal in the
flesh, though.
I've never seen a PA or Terminal, either - they possibly only ever existed
on paper.
I do have an 80286 coprocessor from an ABC 3xx machine, however - it's
complete, but came with Master 512 ROMs fitted (and didn't work, although
the previous owner says he did see it cough out a startup message once
before going silent) rather than anything specific to that board. I'm not
sure if it was like that at Acorn, or if that was perhaps someone's later
attempt to make it "do something".
I still have the product range brochure, a few other
bits and pieces,
and the software catalogue for the ABC100 and ABC110 range.
Yes, I think I have a few odds and sods like that. I seem to remember
magazines of the time panning the business computer range; the BBC (or B+)
was getting rather long in the tooth by then, and the case looks like some
'70s throwback - the fact that they're uncommon and quirky appeals to me,
but I can see how they proved very unpopular at the time.
cheers
Jules