Amstrad Mega PC
Encyclopedia
The Mega PC was manufactured and released by Amstrad
in 1993 under licence from Sega
. It was similar, but unrelated to the Sega TeraDrive
. Essentially just a standard Amstrad PC with Sega Mega Drive
hardware bundled inside, the system was wired to share the dual-sync monitor and speakers, with the Mega Drive on a separate circuit board.
Initially released in PAL areas such as Europe
and Australia
in 1993, its success was very short-lived due to its very high retail price of £999.99 (later reduced to £599), with the CPU also being outdated by the time of the system's release. It is slightly easier and cheaper to acquire an Amstrad Mega PC in Europe due to more units being manufactured, than it is to acquire a Sega TeraDrive elsewhere. In recent years, both systems have increasingly become relatively difficult to come by, as they are owned and often purchased by many as collector's items.
In general, the Mega PC was seen as a nicer build than that of Sega's TeraDrive, as the unit itself was more robust and managed air circulation more efficiently than the TeraDrive.
The machine shipped with 1MB of RAM
, provided by 4× 256KB 30-pin SIMM
sticks. This was expandable to 16MB by using 4× 4MB memory modules.
Although it boasted a higher specification than the Sega TeraDrive (having more RAM and a faster processor), the specification of the CPU, similarly to Sega's TeraDrive, was a generation behind its time, with the newer Intel 80486
on the market and the first Pentium processors being released the same year as the Mega PC was. The system was unable to act as a Software Development Kit
due to the inability to simultaneously use the PC and the Mega Drive hardware. A cover on the front of the unit prevented the insertion of a Mega Drive game cartridge while using with the PC hardware.
The machine's rear housed several I/O ports. These included two COM
ports, a 25-pin LPT
port, a VGA port with combined signals for a standard VGA monitor and sound (Amstrad monitor only), a speaker/headphone jack, and a 15 pin game port
for a joystick .
The motherboard included a 16 bit ISA slot with a riser card connected to it, providing a total of two 16 bit ISA slots. One of these was populated with an ISA card which provided connections for sound at the rear of the machine, and a connection for the Mega Drive cartridge at the front. The other slot was left free for expansion (such as a modem or Network Interface Card).
Whereas the Sega TeraDrive included stereo RCA jacks and composite
NTSC
video output for connection to a TV, the Mega PC lacked this feature, and thus lacked the ability to connect to a television set. This is more than likely because the Mega PC was designed to only allow 1 section of the unit to be used at any given time, so to provide the ability for a 2nd video output wouldn't have been worthwhile. Therefore, outputs from both the PC and Mega Drive units was available only through the SVGA connector to the supplied dual-sync (15 kHz/31 kHz) monitor.
running at 33 MHz, along with a RAM upgrade of 4× 1MB SIMM sticks to 4MB.
Amstrad
Amstrad is a British electronics company, now wholly owned by BSkyB. As of 2006, Amstrad's main business is manufacturing Sky Digital interactive boxes....
in 1993 under licence from Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
. It was similar, but unrelated to the Sega TeraDrive
Sega TeraDrive
The TeraDrive was a 16-bit PC with an integrated Mega Drive, manufactured by IBM for Sega. The system was only released in Japan, as Sega was hopeful that by integrating its then popular Mega Drive console into an IBM PC would be an attraction for potential customers wishing to purchase a PC. The...
. Essentially just a standard Amstrad PC with Sega Mega Drive
Sega Mega Drive
The Sega Genesis is a fourth-generation video game console developed and produced by Sega. It was originally released in Japan in 1988 as , then in North America in 1989 as Sega Genesis, and in Europe, Australia and other PAL regions in 1990 as Mega Drive. The reason for the two names is that...
hardware bundled inside, the system was wired to share the dual-sync monitor and speakers, with the Mega Drive on a separate circuit board.
Initially released in PAL areas such as Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in 1993, its success was very short-lived due to its very high retail price of £999.99 (later reduced to £599), with the CPU also being outdated by the time of the system's release. It is slightly easier and cheaper to acquire an Amstrad Mega PC in Europe due to more units being manufactured, than it is to acquire a Sega TeraDrive elsewhere. In recent years, both systems have increasingly become relatively difficult to come by, as they are owned and often purchased by many as collector's items.
Technical specifications
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Processor | Intel 80386 Intel 80386 The Intel 80386, also known as the i386, or just 386, was a 32-bit microprocessor introduced by Intel in 1985. The first versions had 275,000 transistors and were used as the central processing unit of many workstations and high-end personal computers of the time... @ 25 MHz Motorola 68000 Motorola 68000 The Motorola 68000 is a 16/32-bit CISC microprocessor core designed and marketed by Freescale Semiconductor... @ 7.14 MHz |
| Memory | 1MB SIMM SIMM A SIMM, or single in-line memory module, is a type of memory module containing random access memory used in computers from the early 1980s to the late 1990s. It differs from a dual in-line memory module , the most predominant form of memory module today, in that the contacts on a SIMM are redundant... RAM Ram -Animals:*Ram, an uncastrated male sheep*Ram cichlid, a species of freshwater fish endemic to Colombia and Venezuela-Military:*Battering ram*Ramming, a military tactic in which one vehicle runs into another... (expandable to 16MB) |
| Storage | 3.5" FDD Floppy disk A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles... , 40MB HDD |
| Video | SVGA Graphics with 256KB RAM |
| Operating System Operating system An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system... |
MS DOS 5.0 with Amstrad Desktop |
| Dimensions | 325 mm(w) x 78 mm(h) x 292 mm(d) |
| Power Usage | ~50W |
In general, the Mega PC was seen as a nicer build than that of Sega's TeraDrive, as the unit itself was more robust and managed air circulation more efficiently than the TeraDrive.
Ram
-Animals:*Ram, an uncastrated male sheep*Ram cichlid, a species of freshwater fish endemic to Colombia and Venezuela-Military:*Battering ram*Ramming, a military tactic in which one vehicle runs into another...
, provided by 4× 256KB 30-pin SIMM
SIMM
A SIMM, or single in-line memory module, is a type of memory module containing random access memory used in computers from the early 1980s to the late 1990s. It differs from a dual in-line memory module , the most predominant form of memory module today, in that the contacts on a SIMM are redundant...
sticks. This was expandable to 16MB by using 4× 4MB memory modules.
Intel 80486
The Intel 80486 microprocessor was a higher performance follow up on the Intel 80386. Introduced in 1989, it was the first tightly pipelined x86 design as well as the first x86 chip to use more than a million transistors, due to a large on-chip cache and an integrated floating point unit...
on the market and the first Pentium processors being released the same year as the Mega PC was. The system was unable to act as a Software Development Kit
Software development kit
A software development kit is typically a set of software development tools that allows for the creation of applications for a certain software package, software framework, hardware platform, computer system, video game console, operating system, or similar platform.It may be something as simple...
due to the inability to simultaneously use the PC and the Mega Drive hardware. A cover on the front of the unit prevented the insertion of a Mega Drive game cartridge while using with the PC hardware.
Input/Output
Serial port
In computing, a serial port is a serial communication physical interface through which information transfers in or out one bit at a time...
ports, a 25-pin LPT
LPT
LPT is the original, and still common, name of the parallel port interface on IBM PC-compatible computers. It was designed to operate a text printer that used IBM's 8-bit extended ASCII character set. The name derives from the fact that "line printer" was a common generic term at the time for any...
port, a VGA port with combined signals for a standard VGA monitor and sound (Amstrad monitor only), a speaker/headphone jack, and a 15 pin game port
Game port
The game port is a device port found on IBM PC compatible systems throughout the 1980s and 1990s. It was the traditional connector for joystick input devices until superseded by USB in the 21st century....
for a joystick .
Whereas the Sega TeraDrive included stereo RCA jacks and composite
Composite video
Composite video is the format of an analog television signal before it is combined with a sound signal and modulated onto an RF carrier. In contrast to component video it contains all required video information, including colors in a single line-level signal...
NTSC
NTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
video output for connection to a TV, the Mega PC lacked this feature, and thus lacked the ability to connect to a television set. This is more than likely because the Mega PC was designed to only allow 1 section of the unit to be used at any given time, so to provide the ability for a 2nd video output wouldn't have been worthwhile. Therefore, outputs from both the PC and Mega Drive units was available only through the SVGA connector to the supplied dual-sync (15 kHz/31 kHz) monitor.
Compatibility
Although shipping with an Amstrad branded controller, the wiring was identical to that of Sega's controllers, thus could be used on either system.Peripherals
Amstrad bundled several peripherals with its Mega PC; these included:- Dual sync 15 kHz/31 kHz Amstrad branded 14" white monitor with internal speakers
- Standard Mega Drive white control pad with Amstrad branding
- Amstrad white joystick
- Standard Amstrad keyboard and mouse using PS/2 interface
Mega Plus
Amstrad later released a second system as the successor to the Mega PC, by the name of the Amstrad Mega Plus. This boasted a slightly higher specification with an upgraded processor to an Intel 80486Intel 80486
The Intel 80486 microprocessor was a higher performance follow up on the Intel 80386. Introduced in 1989, it was the first tightly pipelined x86 design as well as the first x86 chip to use more than a million transistors, due to a large on-chip cache and an integrated floating point unit...
running at 33 MHz, along with a RAM upgrade of 4× 1MB SIMM sticks to 4MB.
External links
- http://www.uk.playright.dk/raretitel.php?id=13883
- Amstrad Mega PC article at Assembler (via Archive.org)