The best 8 bit home computer?

[retro space]

I just ran into another new favourite: the Olivetti M10. That computer is really amazing.

• Great BASIC version
• Remarkable case
• Great keyboard, better than anything else 8-bit
• Pretty awesome and good readable LCD screen, amazing to see how well it holds after 40 years, nice tilt option.
• Non volatile memory: you don't need a tape drive or such, it just works as long as you stay within RAM. You can even keep multiple BASIC programs in RAM!
• Mobile use up to 8 hours on 4AA batteries
• Built in text editor, calendar and contacts application
• Slot for adding ROM applications.

[XeNoMoRPH]

https://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/general-discussion/if-you-had-to-choose-1-8-bit-micro-as-the-best-all-around/

[abalore]

A CPC running at 6 MHz is much more balanced than the stock machine. Just replacing the GA clock by 12 MHz and feeding the CPU with /2 instead of /4. Using a Z80B instead of Z80A. With a screen width of 48 chars instead of 64, with 32 visible for 256x256 mode 1 pixels of 1.5:1 aspect.

[Prodatron]

I just ran into another new favourite: the Olivetti M10. That computer is really amazing.

Indeed, this is an amazing machine for 1983! It was released about 10 years before the Amstrad NC100/NC200 but looks very similiar.

[Optimus]

The Sam Coupe

[dodogildo]

The Sam Coupe

Oh c'mon. Released in Dec 1989. Doesn't qualify 

[andycadley]

The Sam Coupe

Oh c'mon. Released in Dec 1989. Doesn't qualify 

Nah, it counts. It's lovely, in it's own way. But it sucks compared to a 6128+. 

[Optimus]

Sam Coupe:

- Great Form
- 3.5" drive
- Screen modes with mode 1 style pixels but 16 colors from 128 colors palette.

- Linear videomode, not jumping every 8 lines like CPC or Speccy.
- The 6mhz and 256/512k of ram
- Very simple to program, few 8bit ports to OUT
- Speccy compatibility
- Even sound chip sounds interesting and good.
- Nice small community
- Suitable for my liking of focusing on pushing the Z80 for software rendering. You could also still write byte if you are lazy to connect left/right pixel to get 2 pixels or mode 0 wide pixel for chunky effects and will still look ok. 128 bytes width, INC L and also INC H if you do half scanlines. 6mhz might be less because of memory contention you lose cycle, but I think the cycles are like Speccy not rounded like CPC. In my recent plasma, I made a test on CPC and Sam, and I would still get roughly close to 50% more speed on Sam. This is my dream machine for my own preference for software rendering on Z80.
- Memory is weird for some, swapping the 32ks, but I find it still ok and relatively easy to manage.
- 16 videorams for tricks, but you can't change vram line, just buffer. 24k for full scrolling is a problem, most games are static, but those normal pixel with beautiful colors look amazing for 8bit. Main trick is using line interrupts to stop at vram you want and change either the palette or which of the 16 videorams (in 512k) to display. But you display 100th line of vrams, you can't display previous line. So some hw raster tricks are not doable but others can be, you have to think around that.
- Despite the 24k, a lot of demo with obvious soft rendering of sprites, scrolling text, 2d stars and other, they are so smooth and fine pixel.

I love my Sam Coupe! Fitted a new clicky keyboard, fixed an issue with bleeding colors, might get more peripherals or something.

[norecess464]

Sam Coupe:

It looks like an amazing computer (I already heard about it in the past).

Just for fun, I quickly searched for one on eBay and I failed.

But I found EMPTY boxes of Sam Coupe for ~200 Euros, which gives me a hint about the actual price/rarity of the machine

ps. @Optimus: before you die one day, please put my name on your testament

[abalore]

Sam Coupe:

It looks like an amazing computer (I already heard about it in the past).

Just for fun, I quickly searched for one on eBay and I failed.

But I found EMPTY boxes of Sam Coupe for ~200 Euros, which gives me a hint about the actual price/rarity of the machine

ps. @Optimus: before you die one day, please put my name on your testament

Currently there is a disk drive for SAM Coupe at eBay for more than 500 euro, so you can start building it by parts 


By the way

https://www.amibay.com/threads/mgt-sam-coupe.2443950/

with this and the original drive, you have a full original machine

[Prodatron]

- Memory is weird for some, swapping the 32ks, but I find it still ok and relatively easy to manage.

Would be one of my favourite 8bit Z80 machines, but this stupid limited banking for an 1989 machine (we had a similair one from Vortex for the CPC in 1984 (?) as well... quite shit).
When all other Z80 machines of this time already had a 4x16K mapping since the mid-80ies (e.g. MSX in 1984, PCW in 1985, later the NCxxx etc), it was a very bad decission to have this 32K banking. TBH even the banking of the 1984er CPC is more useful.

[GUNHED]

CPC464 and CPC664 just had no banking. The first CPC with banking was the 1985 CPC6128.

Third party expansions are a different story anyway.

[Optimus]

I used to buy my own at 250 british pounds several years ago when I thought that was expensive. Now if one appears it's like 700+
All the retro have inflated. I can't get an old Archimedes with less than 400. I still bought the A7000+ later model with 400.

[HAL6128]

CPC464 and CPC664 just had no banking. The first CPC with banking was the 1985 CPC6128.

Third party expansions are a different story anyway.

I thought the 464/664 also use some kind of memory banking, don't they? They have 64kB of RAM + 16kB Basic ROM and 16kB AMSDOS ROM (664) which were somehow "mapped" or "banked" in for reading its content (lower/upper), or do I misunderstand the wording "banking" which is only valid for RAM (I'm sure I do... )?

[Prodatron]

I thought the 464/664 also use some kind of memory banking, don't they? They have 64kB of RAM + 16kB Basic ROM and 16kB AMSDOS ROM (664) which were somehow "mapped" or "banked" in for reading its content (lower/upper)

Yes, of course, that is called banking as well. The way how Amstrad already handled the ROM banking was excellent as well and more clever compared to many of its competitors.

[GUNHED]

CPC464 and CPC664 just had no banking. The first CPC with banking was the 1985 CPC6128.

Third party expansions are a different story anyway.

I thought the 464/664 also use some kind of memory banking, don't they? They have 64kB of RAM + 16kB Basic ROM and 16kB AMSDOS ROM (664) which were somehow "mapped" or "banked" in for reading its content (lower/upper), or do I misunderstand the wording "banking" which is only valid for RAM (I'm sure I do... )?

We talked about RAM-Banking

[Optimus]

Sam videoram is 24kbs, it doesn't even fit evenly on one bank. Maybe they thought let's flip the whole thing, why waste extra bits for more configurations?
It seems not a pain to me, not for the things I am doing, where I can handle it relatively ok. But maybe for other software or uses it's not ideal?