The EACA EG2000 Colour Genie was a computer produced by Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

-based manufacturer EACA

EACA

The Hong Kong-based EACA group of companies was established in December 1972 by Eric Chung Kwan-yee , a businessman of humble beginnings from mainland China who stealt into the then British colony from Guangzhou as a young man...

 and introduced in Germany in August 1982. It followed their earlier Video Genie

Video Genie

Video Genie was a series of computers produced by Hong Kong-based manufacturer EACA during the early 1980s. They were compatible with the Tandy TRS-80 Model I computers and could be considered a clone, although there were hardware and software differences.The computers making up the series...

 I and II computers and was released around the same time as the business-oriented Video Genie III.

The BASIC was compatible with the Video Genie I and II and the TRS-80, except for graphic and sound commands; some routines for Video Genie I BASIC commands were left over in the Colour Genie's BASIC ROM. Programs were provided to load TRS-80 programs into the Colour Genie. Colour Genie disks could be read in a TRS-80 floppy disk drive but not vice versa.

Unlike the earlier Video Genies, which were compatible with their main competitor (the Model I TRS-80), the Colour Genie was also incompatible with the rival TRS-80 Color Computer

TRS-80 Color Computer

The Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computer was a home computer launched in 1980. It was one of the earliest of the first generation of computers marketed for home use in English-speaking markets...

 -- one fundamental difference being the different CPUs.

Internal hardware

• CPU
  • Zilog Z80
    Zilog Z80
    The Zilog Z80 is an 8-bit microprocessor designed by Zilog and sold from July 1976 onwards. It was widely used both in desktop and embedded computer designs as well as for military purposes...
    
     , 2 MHz

• Video Hardware
  • Motorola 6845
    Motorola 6845
    The Motorola 6845 is a video address generator first introduced by Motorola and used among others in the Videx VideoTerm display cards for the Apple II computers, the MDA and CGA video adapters for the IBM PC, in the Amstrad CPC and the BBC Micro. Its functionality was duplicated and extended by...
    
     CRTC
  • 40×24 text (original ROMs) or 40×25 text (upgraded ROMs), 16 colours, 128 user defined characters
  • 160×96 graphics (original ROMs) or 160×102 graphics (upgraded ROMs), 4 colours

• Sound Hardware
  • General Instruments AY-3-8910
  • 3 sound channels, ADSR  programmable
  • 1 noise channel
  • 2 8-bit wide I/O ports

• RAM:
  • 16 KB RAM, expandable to 32 KB

• ROM:
  • 16 KB containing LEVEL II BASIC

• Keyboard
  • 63-key typewriter style
  • 4 programmable function keys

I/O ports and power supply

• I/O ports:
  • Composite video
    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...
    
     out and audio out (cinch plugs
    RCA connector
    An RCA connector, sometimes called a phono connector or cinch connector, is a type of electrical connector commonly used to carry audio and video signals...
    
    )
  • Integrated RF modulator
    RF modulator
    An RF modulator is a device that takes a baseband input signal and outputs a radio frequency-modulated signal....
    
     antenna output, which also carries sound, to TV
  • Cartridge expansion slot (slot for edge connector
    Edge connector
    An edge connector is the portion of a printed circuit board consisting of traces leading to the edge of the board that are intended to plug into a matching socket. The edge connector is a money-saving device because it only requires a single discrete female connector , and they also tend to be...
    
     with Z80 CPU address/data bus lines and control signals, as well as GND and voltage pins; used for ROM cartridges or the floppy disk controller
  • 1200 baud
    Baud
    In telecommunications and electronics, baud is synonymous to symbols per second or pulses per second. It is the unit of symbol rate, also known as baud rate or modulation rate; the number of distinct symbol changes made to the transmission medium per second in a digitally modulated signal or a...
    
     tape interface (5 pin DIN)
  • RS-232
    RS-232
    In telecommunications, RS-232 is the traditional name for a series of standards for serial binary single-ended data and control signals connecting between a DTE and a DCE . It is commonly used in computer serial ports...
    
     port (5 pin DIN)
  • Lightpen port (5 pin DIN)
  • Parallel port for printer or joystick controller
• Power supply: 5V DC, +12V DC and -12V DC

External hardware options

• Floppy disk controller with floppy disk
  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...
  
  station.
  • Supported up to 4 drives (5.25 inch).
  • Support for 90 KB SS/SD up to 720 KB DS/DD drives.
• Cassette recorder
• EPROM cartridge of 12 KB
• EG2013 Joystick Controller
  • 2 Analogue joysticks with keypads

External links

• www.colourgenie.de.vu Colour Genie Homepage (at this time in German only)
• gansweith.freehostia.com/colourgenie/cgenie_en.html Colour Genie Homepage (English Version)
• http://www.classic-computers.org.nz/system-80/hardware_eaca-colour-genie.htm Colour Genie and information on other EACA machines (English)