Distributor: Acorn

Manufacturer:Acorn

Released:Europe 1980

Units Sold:Not Known

RS: 2/2

Expect to pay: 30 GBP

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General Info

The Acorn Atom was released between 1980 and 1981, then being replaced by the BBC Proton (better known as the BBC Micro). It had no disk drive but had a cassette tape interface.

Best selling game:

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Top 10 Must have games:

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Key Accessories: (Examples taken from N64 - Please follow its format)

Controller Pak: this allowed gamers to save their game progress, Expansion Pak: A memory expansion pak that allows an extra 4MB of RAM. This was needed to complete certain games, Wide-boy 64: Allowed gamers to play Gameboy games on the N64. Very hard to come by, 64DD: A disk drive add on only ever released in Japan, VRU: A voice recognition unit for the N64 to be used with certain games.

Technical Specs:

The watered down version had 2KB of RAM and 8KB of ROM, whilst the full version Atom had 12KB of each. It had a MC6847 VDG video chip. It Used the BASIC language although it was Atom BASIC but Acorn did release an upgrade ROM chip allowing the use of the superior BASIC language which was eventually used in the BBC Micro.

Technical Advice:

Can be connected to a TV or video monitor

The Acorn 8V power supply was only rated to 1.5 amps, which was not enough for an Atom with fully populated RAM sockets. The Atom's two internal LM7805 regulators also got uncomfortably hot. Therefore some Atom enthusiasts removed and by-passed the internal regulators and powered their Atoms from an external 5V regulated power supply. Three amps were typically needed for a fully populated Atom.

There was no de-facto standard for external 5V connection, but using the same 7-pin DIN connectors as the Atari 800XL allowed the Atari power supply to drive low-power (up to 1.5A) Atoms. (Last two parapgraphs taken fromWikipedia)