Tatung Einstein

The Tatung Einstein TC -01 was an 8 -bit home and personal computer, which was developed by the Taiwanese company Tatung in Bradford, but was produced in Telford, England. The computer was essentially designed for use in small businesses. Although the computer was inspired by the hardware equipment close to the MSX standard, the device was not compatible with this.

The Einstein was brought to England in October 1984 on the market, 5,000 specimens were exported later in the year to Taipei. As an accessory, a Tatung Monitor ( Monochrome or Color) and a printer were offered. He was comparatively large and the case provided an opportunity to the device one or two floppy disk drives (size: 3 inches) shall be installed which were manufactured by Hitachi. At the time, one floppy disk drive was unusual, because the data of a home computer were usually stored on a tape drive. The computer had a CP / M compatible operating system ( Xtal ) and came with a BASIC interpreter. In the top of the housing has a recess was admitted, into which a corresponding monitor could be placed so as to ensure optimum screen distance to the user of the computer. The device was sold to the start at a price of 499 pounds.

Because he was more expensive than its competitors and because he used no application niche, the Tatung Einstein was not a success economically. Her follow-up, Tatung Einstein 256 device was not successful.

Technology

• CPU: Zilog Z80A @ 4 MHz
• RAM: 64KB RAM system; 16KB Video RAM
• Video: 16 colors, 32 sprites