The Matra & Hachette Ordinateur Alice is a
home computer
Home computers were a class of microcomputers that entered the market in 1977 and became common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a s ...
sold in
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
beginning in 1983.
It was a clone of the
TRS-80 MC-10, produced through a collaboration between
Matra
Matra (an acronym for Mécanique Aviation Traction) was a major French industrial Conglomerate (company), conglomerate. Its business activities covered a wide range of industries, notably aerospace manufacturer, aerospace, defence industry, def ...
and
Hachette in France and
Tandy Corporation
Tandy Corporation was an American family-owned Retail, retailer based in Fort Worth, Texas that made leather goods, operated the RadioShack chain, and later built personal computers.
Tandy Leather was founded in 1919 as a leather supply store ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
.
The Alice is distinguished by its bright red casing. Functionally, it is equivalent to the MC-10, with a
Péritel
SCART (also known as or , especially in France, 21-pin EuroSCART in marketing by Sharp Corporation, Sharp in Asia, Euroconector in Spain, EuroAV or EXT, or EIA Multiport in the United States, as an EIA interface) is a French-originated standard ...
(
SCART
SCART (also known as or , especially in France, 21-pin EuroSCART in marketing by Sharp Corporation, Sharp in Asia, Euroconector in Spain, EuroAV or EXT, or EIA Multiport in the United States, as an EIA interface) is a French-originated standard ...
) connector replacing the
RF modulator
An RF modulator (radio frequency modulator) is an electronic device used to convert signals from devices such as media players, VCRs and game consoles to a format that can be handled by a device designed to receive a modulated RF input, such ...
for video output.
The Alice never became a popular computer in its home country. It tried to invade schools by being part of the country's ''
Plan Informatique pour Tous'' ("Information technology for everyone") programme, but
Thomson Thomson may refer to:
Names
* Thomson (surname), a list of people with this name and a description of its origin
* Thomson baronets, four baronetcies created for persons with the surname Thomson
Businesses and organizations
* SGS-Thomson M ...
won the whole deal.
Fewer than 50 games were released for the system.
The original model had 4 KB of RAM and used a
Motorola 6847
The MC6847 is a Video Display Generator (VDG) first introduced by Motorola in 1978 and used in the TRS-80 Color Computer, Dragon 32/64, Laser 200, TRS-80 MC-10/ Matra Alice, NEC PC-6000 series, Acorn Atom, Gakken Compact Vision TV Boy an ...
video display generator chip, as used in the
Dragon 32 and
Acorn Atom
The Acorn Atom is a home computer made by Acorn Computers Ltd from 1980 to 1982, when it was replaced by the BBC Micro. The BBC Micro began life as an upgrade to the Atom, originally known as the Proton.
The Atom was a progression of the MOS T ...
among others.
At least three emulators for the system exist.
Specifications
The machine is similar to the TRS-80 MC-10, with the following specifications:
* CPU:
Motorola 6803 at 0.89 MHz
* RAM: 4
KiB on-board, expandable to 20 KiB with a plug-in memory module
* ROM: 8 KiB (
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
BASIC
Basic or BASIC may refer to:
Science and technology
* BASIC, a computer programming language
* Basic (chemistry), having the properties of a base
* Basic access authentication, in HTTP
Entertainment
* Basic (film), ''Basic'' (film), a 2003 film
...
)
* I/O Ports:
**
RS-232
In telecommunications, RS-232 or Recommended Standard 232 is a standard introduced in 1960 for serial communication transmission of data. It formally defines signals connecting between a ''DTE'' (''data terminal equipment'') such as a compu ...
C serial interface
** Cassette interface
**
Péritel
SCART (also known as or , especially in France, 21-pin EuroSCART in marketing by Sharp Corporation, Sharp in Asia, Euroconector in Spain, EuroAV or EXT, or EIA Multiport in the United States, as an EIA interface) is a French-originated standard ...
video output
** Expansion interface
*
AZERTY
AZERTY ( ) is a specific layout for the characters of the Latin alphabet on typewriter keys and computer keyboards. The layout takes its name from the first six letters to appear on the first row of alphabetical keys; that is, ( ). Like oth ...
keyboard layout
* Display:
Motorola 6847
The MC6847 is a Video Display Generator (VDG) first introduced by Motorola in 1978 and used in the TRS-80 Color Computer, Dragon 32/64, Laser 200, TRS-80 MC-10/ Matra Alice, NEC PC-6000 series, Acorn Atom, Gakken Compact Vision TV Boy an ...
, 32 × 16 or 64 × 32 with 8 colors, 160 × 125 with 4 colors (with expanded RAM)
* Sound: 1 channel, 5 octaves
Successor Models

Matra later released two successor models:
* The Matra Alice 32 released in 1983 shared the case style of the original, but was a different computer inside, due to using the
EF9345 video chip.
The Alice 32 had 8
kilobyte
The kilobyte is a multiple of the unit byte for Computer data storage, digital information.
The International System of Units (SI) defines the prefix ''kilo-, kilo'' as a multiplication factor of 1000 (103); therefore, one kilobyte is 1000&nbs ...
s of main
RAM
Ram, ram, or RAM most commonly refers to:
* A male sheep
* Random-access memory, computer memory
* Ram Trucks, US, since 2009
** List of vehicles named Dodge Ram, trucks and vans
** Ram Pickup, produced by Ram Trucks
Ram, ram, or RAM may also ref ...
, 8 kilobytes of dedicated video
RAM
Ram, ram, or RAM most commonly refers to:
* A male sheep
* Random-access memory, computer memory
* Ram Trucks, US, since 2009
** List of vehicles named Dodge Ram, trucks and vans
** Ram Pickup, produced by Ram Trucks
Ram, ram, or RAM may also ref ...
, and 16 kilobytes
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
* ...
(the ROM incorporated an
assembler). The CPU was clocked at 1 MHz. Higher resolution graphic modes included 320 × 192 with 16 colors from a 256 color palette.
* The Matra Alice 90 released in late 1984 was an upgrade to the Alice 32, which featured 32 kilobytes of RAM and a full-size case and keyboard.
Its video cable included video-in, so EF9345 graphics could be overlaid onto the input video.
* The Matra Alice 8000 released in 1985
was a more powerful machine with two CPUs, a 6803 at 4,9152MHz and a
Intel 8088
The Intel 8088 ("''eighty-eighty-eight''", also called iAPX 88) microprocessor is a variant of the Intel 8086. Introduced on June 1, 1979, the 8088 has an eight-bit external data bus instead of the 16-bit bus of the 8086. The 16-bit registers ...
. It had 64 × of RAM.
The
Thomson EF9345 video chip in the Matra Alice 32/90 was capable of displaying 8 colors, 128 alphanumeric characters, and 128 semi-graphic characters with a
semigraphic mode and 40- and 80-column text modes. It could address up to 16 KiB of dedicated VRAM although the Alice 32 and 90 only included 8 KiB. The 32x16 semigraphic mode of the original Alice was simulated in software by the Alice 32/90 system ROM.
References
External links
Le wiki d'Alice– Everything about Alice
Matra Alice— information from ''The Machine Room''
Matra Alice32— Alice 32 information complete
DCAlice— Alice 32 emulator and information site
My First Alice32— Alice 32 emulator
FAQ on Alice32— comprehensive FAQ regarding Alice
{{Authority control
Home computers
Computers designed in France
Computer-related introductions in 1983