Dragon MSX
Encyclopedia
Mattel Aquarius
Aquarius is a home computer designed by Radofin and released by Mattel in 1983. It features a Zilog Z80 microprocessor, a rubber chiclet keyboard, 4K of RAM, and a subset of Microsoft BASIC in ROM. It connects to a television set and uses a cassette tape recorder for secondary data storage...
) for Dragon Data
Dragon Data
Dragon Data was a Welsh producer of home computers during the early 1980s. These computers, the Dragon 32 and Dragon 64, strongly resembled the Tandy TRS-80 Color Computer —both followed a standard Motorola datasheet configuration for the three key components...
, which were well known for their Dragon 64 home computer, a clone of the 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...
.
It is very rare, as only a few prototypes were ever built.
Tech information
- MicroprocessorMicroprocessorA microprocessor incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit on a single integrated circuit, or at most a few integrated circuits. It is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and...
: Zilog Z80Zilog Z80The 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...
A running at 3.58 MHz - ROMRead-only memoryRead-only memory is a class of storage medium used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be modified, or can be modified only slowly or with difficulty, so it is mainly used to distribute firmware .In its strictest sense, ROM refers only...
: 32 KB- BIOSBIOSIn IBM PC compatible computers, the basic input/output system , also known as the System BIOS or ROM BIOS , is a de facto standard defining a firmware interface....
(16 KB) - MSX BASICMSX BASICMSX BASIC is a dialect of the BASIC programming language. It is an extended version of Microsoft Standard BASIC Version 4.5, and includes support for graphic, music, and various peripherals attached to MSX Personal Computers. Generally, MSX-BASIC is designed to follow GW-BASIC, which is one of the...
V1.0 (16 KB)
- BIOS
- RAM: 64 KB
- Video Display ProcessorVideo Display ControllerA Video Display Controller or VDC is an integrated circuit which is the main component in a video signal generator, a device responsible for the production of a TV video signal in a computing or game system...
: Texas Instruments TMS9918Texas Instruments TMS9918thumb|VDP TMS9918Athumb|VDP TMS9918Athumb|VDP TMS9928AThe TMS9918 is a Video Display Controller manufactured by Texas Instruments.-General information:...
with a Video RAM of 16 KB and this BASIC modes :- SCREEN 0 : text 40 × 24 characters, 2 colors
- SCREEN 1 : text 32 × 24 characters, 16 colors
- SCREEN 2 : graphics 256 × 192, 16 colors
- SCREEN 3 : graphics 64 × 48, 16 colors
- Sprites: 32, 1 colour, max 4 per horizontal line
- Sound chip: General Instrument AY-3-8910General Instrument AY-3-8910The AY-3-8910 is a 3-voice Programmable Sound Generator designed by General Instrument, initially for use with their 16-bit CP1610 or one of the PIC1650 series of 8-bit microcomputers...
(PSG)
External links
- El Museo de los 8 Bits
- Tromax happy proprietary of the prototype #37
- Dragon Data Archive