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Post by mika73 on Jan 23, 2009 12:13:40 GMT -5
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Post by thurstan on Jan 23, 2009 12:22:09 GMT -5
never ever seen anything like that before!
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Post by retrobits on Jan 23, 2009 14:10:03 GMT -5
It's basically a clone of the Tandy MC-10 micro color computer. If you can find software for the MC-10, it should work on the Alice.
I've got some MC-10 cassettes. I can let you know what software I have...
The computer is cute! I like it!
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Post by mika73 on Jan 23, 2009 14:29:58 GMT -5
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Post by mika73 on Jan 23, 2009 15:19:37 GMT -5
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Post by David Murray on Jan 23, 2009 16:49:17 GMT -5
Wow! I'm amazed I've never heard of this one or the MC-10. I had to look them up to see what they were. I can't believe I wasn't at least aware of the MC-10.
Anyway, it appears to be possibly less powerful than the VIC-20, which is hard to believe.
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Post by retrobits on Jan 23, 2009 23:52:52 GMT -5
The MC-10 is difficult to compare to the VIC-20, as the computers are kind of in a different class (the MC-10 is tiny and uses a chiclet keyboard). It did come with only 4K of RAM, and like the VIC and other systems, there were RAM upgrade cartridges available. Like many Tandy systems, the BASIC language was pretty good, with statements for graphics and sound. Unlike the VIC, it never had a disk drive. It only lasted about a year (see the Wikipedia page), even though the entry price of $120 US was pretty good by comparison.
Mine was essentially new in box when a friend gave it to me. It's claim to fame in my house is that my son was fascinated by it, and for the first time, fiddled around with BASIC programming. Without statements for graphics and sound, the VIC or C64 never interested him very much.
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Post by David Murray on Jan 24, 2009 11:22:45 GMT -5
The first computer I ever had that had graphics commands for BASIC was my Plus/4 that I got for free when my parents went and looked at some land. It was a door prize. Anyway, I have to admit, being about 10 or 11 years old at the time I loved programming in BASIC on the Plus/4 much more than I did on the VIC-20 or C64 that I been using before. Suddenly I could create all kinds of neat stuff without using 1,000,000 POKE statements that I really didn't fully understand.
However, I must admit that when I started to learn how to program in a machine language monitor (on the Plus/4 none the less, since it had one built in) suddenly all of those POKE statements made sense.
It baffles me to this day why the C64 didn't have graphics command. I mean, I sort of understand why the VIC-20 didn't have it since it didn't have an official graphics mode. But the C64 should have had them!
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Post by lorddoomicus on Jan 24, 2009 13:20:33 GMT -5
It baffles me to this day why the C64 didn't have graphics command. I mean, I sort of understand why the VIC-20 didn't have it since it didn't have an official graphics mode. But the C64 should have had them! From what I've been reading in "On the Edge", they decided to use BASIC 2.0 in the 64 so they could save money on ROM space. Also, the 64 went from approval to go ahead to final production in just 9 months with only 6 engineers working on it. They make a lot of mistakes, that they tried to correct with the TED platform ( Plus/4, C16, C116 ). A lot of the stuff makes sense if you know the history. I'd highly recommend any Commodore enthusiast read "On the Edge" It really gives a lot of background into the way things are the way they are on Commodore Computers. - Derrik
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Post by Jim Brain on Jan 24, 2009 21:23:34 GMT -5
A lot of the stuff makes sense if you know the history. I'd highly recommend any Commodore enthusiast read "On the Edge" It really gives a lot of background into the way things are the way they are on Commodore Computers. - Derrik Since the C64 was originally the VIC-40, I think using the same BASIC made perfect sense. And, they used BASIC2 on the VIC because it was the smallest and there did not seem to be much need to add all the DISK commands of BASIC4. Jim
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Post by mika73 on Feb 23, 2009 11:28:32 GMT -5
Got 15 TRS-80 cartridges from US.. Noticed that they dont fit to Alice..
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Post by chewieshmoo on Feb 23, 2009 13:52:31 GMT -5
Got 15 TRS-80 cartridges from US.. Noticed that they dont fit to Alice.. Hmmm. Is it the cartridge casing that does not fit? Maybe if you remove the circuit board form one you can see if that works. IF SO then maybe just a slight modification to the slot?
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Post by mika73 on Feb 23, 2009 13:55:13 GMT -5
Got 15 TRS-80 cartridges from US.. Noticed that they dont fit to Alice.. Hmmm. Is it the cartridge casing that does not fit? Maybe if you remove the circuit board form one you can see if that works. IF SO then maybe just a slight modification to the slot? That covered port behind Alice maybe wasnt cartridge port.. Or if it is.. Then cartridges and port are both male.. My Alice is full of surprises.. ;D
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Post by kaos116 on Mar 2, 2009 1:22:07 GMT -5
The port on the back is for a 16k memory upgrade.
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Post by mika73 on Mar 7, 2009 13:30:34 GMT -5
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