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Timex FDD
The Timex FDD 3000 in 1982 was a nearly complete computer by Timex of Portugal. It began its development at Timex Computer Corporation in the U.S., but it was at Timex of Portugal that the work was finished. The Timex FDD 3000 is an upgraded Timex FDD (sometimes known as the FDD3 because it consisted of three separate boxes: the disk drive, the controller and the power supply). The Timex FDD3 was intended as a floppy disk peripheral for the Timex TC2048 or TC2068 microcomputers. It usually had 16K RAM and only one 3″ disk drive, but it could be upgraded to 64K RAM and a second disk drive, making it capable of running CP/M. Since the controller is electrically compatible with today's disk drives, it is possible to connect a 3.5″/5.25″ disk drive to the Timex FDD3 Controller (it's also possible to connect a Hitachi 3″ disk drive to an IBM PC Compatible computer). Later, Timex combined the three boxes of the FDD into one big box called the Timex FDD 3000. Timex also add ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SDI Technologies
SDI Technologies is an American Rahway, New Jersey-based consumer electronics manufacturer whose products are marketed under several national brands, including Timex, eKids, KIDdesigns, and iHome. SDI used to market under Soundesign, a now-defunct brand. SDI Technologies had 110 employees as of 2007, and has a distribution network that covers over 70 countries. Including Asia, SDI employs over 400 people. History SDI Technologies was founded as Realtone Electronics in 1956 by Saul Ashkenazi and Ely Ashkenazi. In that year, the company introduced one of the first pocket cigarette lighters and one of the first transistor radios. Realtone went public in 1961. It introduced the Soundesign brand of high-end audio components in 1963, and the company changed its name to Soundesign in 1968. Soundesign returned to being a privately-held company in 1982. The company was renamed again, this time to its current name, in 1994. Products Soundesign Soundesign, the defunct flagship division of S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IBM PC Compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT, all from computer giant IBM, that are able to use the same software and expansion cards. Such computers were referred to as PC clones, IBM clones or IBM PC clones. The term "IBM PC compatible" is now a historical description only, since IBM no longer sells personal computers after it sold its personal computer division in 2005 to Chinese technology company Lenovo. The designation "PC", as used in much of personal computer history, has not meant "personal computer" generally, but rather an x86 computer capable of running the same software that a contemporary IBM PC could. The term was initially in contrast to the variety of home computer systems available in the early 1980s, such as the Apple II, TRS-80, and Commodore 64. Later, the term was primarily used in contrast to Apple's Macintosh computers. These "clones" duplicated almost all the significant features of the original IBM PC architectures. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
UART
A universal asynchronous receiver-transmitter (UART ) is a computer hardware device for asynchronous serial communication in which the data format and transmission speeds are configurable. It sends data bits one by one, from the least significant to the most significant, framed by start and stop bits so that precise timing is handled by the communication channel. The electric signaling levels are handled by a driver circuit external to the UART. Two common signal levels are RS-232, a 12-volt system, and RS-485, a 5-volt system. Early teletypewriters used current loops. It was one of the earliest computer communication devices, used to attach teletypewriters for an operator console. It was also an early hardware system for the Internet. A UART is usually an individual (or part of an) integrated circuit (IC) used for serial communications over a computer or peripheral device serial port. One or more UART peripherals are commonly integrated in microcontroller chips. Specialised UA ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Floppy-disk Controller
A floppy-disk controller (FDC) has evolved from a discrete set of components on one or more circuit boards to a special-purpose integrated circuit (IC or "chip") or a component thereof. An FDC directs and controls reading from and writing to a computer's floppy disk drive (FDD). The FDC is responsible for reading data presented from the host computer and converting it to the drive's on-disk format using one of a number of encoding schemes, like FM encoding (single density) or MFM encoding (double density), and reading those formats and returning it to its original binary values. Depending on the platform, data transfers between the controller and host computer would be controlled by the computer's own microprocessor, or an inexpensive dedicated microprocessor like the MOS 6507 or Zilog Z80. Early controllers required additional circuitry to perform specific tasks like providing clock signals and setting various options. Later designs included more of this functionality on t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zilog Z80
The Z80 is an 8-bit microprocessor introduced by Zilog as the startup company's first product. The Z80 was conceived by Federico Faggin in late 1974 and developed by him and his 11 employees starting in early 1975. The first working samples were delivered in March 1976, and it was officially introduced on the market in July 1976. With the revenue from the Z80, the company built its own chip factories and grew to over a thousand employees over the following two years. The Zilog Z80 is a software-compatible extension and enhancement of the Intel 8080 and, like it, was mainly aimed at embedded systems. Although used in that role, the Z80 also became one of the most widely used CPUs in desktop computers and home computers from the 1970s to the mid-1980s. It was also common in military applications, musical equipment such as synthesizers (like the Roland Jupiter-8), and coin-operated arcade games of the late 1970s and early 1980s, including '' Pac-Man''. Zilog licensed the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Komputer 2086
The Unipolbrit Komputer 2086 was a Polish version of the home computer Timex Sinclair 2068, produced by a joint venture of the Polish state-owned ''Unimor'' and foreign company ''Polbrit International''. The machine wasn't 100% ZX Spectrum-compatible (like all other Timex Sinclair computers) and a "Spectrum Emulation" cartridge was available (usually bundled). Technical specifications See also * Elwro 800 Junior * Mera-Elzab Meritum * Timex Sinclair 2068 The Timex Sinclair 2068 (T/S 2068), released in November 1983, was Timex Sinclair's third and last home computer for the United States market. It was also marketed in Canada, Argentina, Portugal and Poland, as Timex Computer 2068 (TC 2068). Hi ... Notes External links Komputer 2086aHCM Accessed on April 5, 2008. UK2086 page Computer-related introductions in 1986 ZX Spectrum clones {{comp-hardware-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Composite Monitor
A composite monitor or composite video monitor is any analog video display that receives input in the form of an analog composite video signal to a defined specification. A composite video signal encodes all information on a single conductor; a composite cable has a single live conductor plus earth. Other equipment with display functionality includes monitors with more advanced interfaces and connectors giving a better picture, including analog VGA, and digital DVI, HDMI, and DisplayPort; and television (TV) receivers which are self-contained, receiving and displaying video RF broadcasts received with an internal tuner. Video monitors are used for displaying computer output, closed-circuit television (e.g. security cameras) and other applications requiring a two-dimensional monochrome or colour image. Inputs Composite monitors usually use RCA jacks or BNC connectors for video input. Earlier equipment (1970s) often used UHF connectors. Typically simple composite monitors g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colour'' and ''ZX82'', it was launched as the ''ZX Spectrum'' to highlight the machine's colour display, which differed from the black and white display of its predecessor, the ZX81. The Spectrum was released as six different models, ranging from the entry level with 16 Kilobyte, KB RAM released in 1982 to the ZX Spectrum +3 with 128 KB RAM and built in floppy disk drive in 1987; altogether they sold over 5 million units worldwide (not counting List of ZX Spectrum clones, unofficial clones). The Spectrum was among the first home computers in the United Kingdom aimed at a mainstream audience, and it thus had similar significance to the Commodore 64 in the US and the Thomson MO5 in France. The introduction of the ZX Spect ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CP/M
CP/M, originally standing for Control Program/Monitor and later Control Program for Microcomputers, is a mass-market operating system created in 1974 for Intel 8080/ 85-based microcomputers by Gary Kildall of Digital Research, Inc. Initially confined to single-tasking on 8-bit processors and no more than 64 kilobytes of memory, later versions of CP/M added multi-user variations and were migrated to 16-bit processors. The combination of CP/M and S-100 bus computers became an early standard in the microcomputer industry. This computer platform was widely used in business through the late 1970s and into the mid-1980s. CP/M increased the market size for both hardware and software by greatly reducing the amount of programming required to install an application on a new manufacturer's computer. An important driver of software innovation was the advent of (comparatively) low-cost microcomputers running CP/M, as independent programmers and hackers bought them and shared their crea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Timex Sinclair
Timex Sinclair was a joint venture established in December 1982 between the British company Sinclair Research and Timex Corporation in an effort to gain an entry into the rapidly growing early-1980s home computer market in North America. History The choice of partnership was natural, as Timex was already the main contractor for manufacture of Sinclair's ZX81 and ZX Spectrum computers at its Scottish plant in Dundee. Due to large demand another manufacturer was needed, so Timex Portugal (''TMX Portugal Lda'', a Portuguese Timex subsidiary), with skilled and relatively cheap labor force, took on the production of models to be exported to the U.S. Although both the Scottish Timex branch and Timex Portugal were full subsidiaries of Timex, internal rivalry meant there was little sharing between the two plants. Timex Portugal sold the Timex Sinclair (ex: T/S 2068) models in Portugal and Poland under the ''Timex Computer'' (ex: TC 2068) brand. In order to market Timex Sinclair pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microcomputer
A microcomputer is a small, relatively inexpensive computer having a central processing unit (CPU) made out of a microprocessor. The computer also includes memory and input/output (I/O) circuitry together mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB). Microcomputers became popular in the 1970s and 1980s with the advent of increasingly powerful microprocessors. The predecessors to these computers, mainframes and minicomputers, were comparatively much larger and more expensive (though indeed present-day mainframes such as the IBM System z machines use one or more custom microprocessors as their CPUs). Many microcomputers (when equipped with a keyboard and screen for input and output) are also personal computers (in the generic sense). An early use of the term ''personal computer'' in 1962 predates microprocessor-based designs. ''(See "Personal Computer: Computers at Companies" reference below)''. A ''microcomputer'' used as an embedded control system may have no human-readable input ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
TC2068
The Timex Sinclair 2068 (T/S 2068), released in November 1983, was Timex Sinclair's third and last home computer for the United States market. It was also marketed in Canada, Argentina, Portugal and Poland, as Timex Computer 2068 (TC 2068). History Following Timex's Sinclair ZX81, ZX81-based Timex Sinclair 1000, T/S 1000 and Timex Sinclair 1500, T/S 1500, a new series of ZX Spectrum-based machines was created. Initially named T/S 2000 (as reflected on the user manual), the machine evolved into the T/S 2048 prototype, and was eventually released as T/S 2068, with the name chosen mainly for marketing reasons. Advertisements described the T/S 2068 as offering 72K of memory, color, and sound for a price under $200. Like the T/S 1500 was announced as a 40K memory machine (16K Random-access memory, RAM + 24K Read-only memory, ROM), so the 2068 was announced as a 72K machine (48K RAM + 24K ROM). Although Timex Computer Corporation folded in February 1984, the independent Portuguese ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
