The Albert is an

Apple II clone The Apple II home computer series was frequently cloned, both in the United States and abroad, in a similar way to the IBM PC. According to some sources (see below), more than 190 different models of Apple II clones were manufactured. Most could ...

, released by Albert Computers, Inc., in 1983. Comparable to the Apple IIe, six models were ultimately produced.

Description

Albert Computers, Inc. offered a "complete system" for approximately the price of a basic Apple IIe. This included 64k of RAM (192k max), upper and lower case, 256 colors (as opposed to the Apple IIe’s 16 colors), enhanced graphics, Analog RGB support, serial and parallel ports, a graphics digitizer tablet, voice recognition, a software package (including word processor, spreadsheet, data manager, mailing list, word speller), 110/220v AC/DC power, and even an integrated battery backup (option). The Albert had an unusual "two-piece design" which the company termed "stereo" styling.

History

Albert Computers, Inc. was based in Thousand Oaks,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, and modeled its line of Apple clones on the Apple IIe, aiming at home and business consumers. The company, which insisted that the Albert was not an Apple clone but rather an improvement, saying, "It’s a next-generation computer with more than a dozen advanced hardware features and software capabilities." The base model of the Albert was $1,595 while the Apple IIe base price was $1,395 and over $3,000 with the options that came standard with the Albert. The Albert had marketing which featured an image of

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

and copy which read: "When you're ready to buy a personal computer, it's easy to see why Albert is smarter than Apple." However, Albert Computers, Inc. quickly ran afoul of

Apple Computer, Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company b ...

, which sued for copyright infringement.

Models

Specifications

Video display

; Display modes * 40-column text, 5x7

dot matrix A dot matrix is a 2-dimensional patterned array, used to represent characters, symbols and images. Most types of modern technology use dot matrices for display of information, including mobile phones, televisions, and printers. The system is al ...

* 80-column text, 5x7 dot matrix, monitor (optional with 128 KB RAM expansion) * Low-resolution color graphics * High-resolution color graphics * RGB and

composite Composite or compositing may refer to: Materials * Composite material, a material that is made from several different substances ** Metal matrix composite, composed of metal and other parts ** Cermet, a composite of ceramic and metallic materials ...

monitor outputs ; Text capacity * 24 lines by 40 columns * 24 lines by 80 columns (optional with 128 KB RAM expansion) ; Character set * 96 printable

ASCII ASCII ( ), abbreviated from American Standard Code for Information Interchange, is a character encoding standard for electronic communication. ASCII codes represent text in computers, telecommunications equipment, and other devices. Because of ...

characters, upper- and lowercase ; Character formatting * Normal * Inverse * Flashing ; Low-resolution graphics * 6 on-screen colors (from 256 selectable colors) * 48 H × 48 V resolution * 48 H × 40 V with 4 lines of text ; High-resolution graphics * 6 on-screen colors (from 256 selectable colors) * Color-selectable text and background * 280 × 192 px resolution (6 colors) * 140 × 192 px resolution (16 colors)

Processing

; CPU * 1 MHz 6502A 8-bit microprocessor with 16-bit address bus ; Registers * Accumulator (A) * Index registers (X, Y) * Stack pointers (P) ; Register size * 8-bits ; Data bus * 8-bits ; Address bus * 16-bits ; Address range * 65,536 (64K)

Memory

; Standard memory: * 64 KB of dynamic RAM * Expandable on motherboard to 192 KB ; Programmable storage * 64 KB RAM ; Read-only memory * 2 on-board

ROM Rom, or ROM may refer to: Biomechanics and medicine * Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient * Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac * R ...

sockets

I/O

* Detached typewriter-style keyboard * Microphone input * 8-ohm speaker * Output speaker jack * Amplifier with volume control * Video display output (composite color or programmable RGB) *

RS-232 In telecommunications, RS-232 or Recommended Standard 232 is a standard originally introduced in 1960 for serial communication transmission of data. It formally defines signals connecting between a ''DTE'' (''data terminal equipment'') such a ...

serial port * Parallel printer port * Serial printer port * RS-432/422 (links to

Ethernet Ethernet () is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 198 ...

via

network gateway A gateway is a piece of networking hardware or software used in telecommunications networks that allows data to flow from one discrete network to another. Gateways are distinct from router (computing), routers or network switch, switches in that ...

connector) * 5 expansion slots (fully buffered with interrupt and

DMA DMA may refer to: Arts * ''DMA'' (magazine), a defunct dance music magazine * Dallas Museum of Art, an art museum in Texas, US * Danish Music Awards, an award show held in Denmark * BT Digital Music Awards, an annual event in the UK * Doctor of M ...

priority structure) ; Hand control (gaming) I/O signals (16-pin DIP) * Annunciator outputs: 4 * Strobe: 1 * Switch inputs: 3 * Analog inputs: 4 * Ground and +5 V * Soft-switched ; A/D converter inputs: * Analog inputs: 6 (8) * Annunciator outputs: 4 * Switch inputs: 3 * Ground and +5 V * Soft-switched ; D/A converter outputs: * 8-bit digital/analog converter * Real-time clock: month, day, hour, minutes, second

Power requirements

; Line * 110 to 220 VAC {{polarity, ac, or 8 to 32 VDC ; Battery * 12 VDC * 1.2 ampere-hours (All specifications standard except as indicated.)

References

External links

Albert Apple II Clone
(Time Tech Traveller

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel, June 11, 2022)
Photo Gallery
(VintageComputer.ca)
Apple2Clones.com
Apple II clones Computer-related introductions in 1983 Companies based in Thousand Oaks, California