The Tatung Einstein, a computer produced by the Taiwanese Tatung yet designed and assembled in the UK, was an interesting and bulky 8-bit micro, that never really managed to sell very well. Still, it was a proper and quite powerful 8-bit computer that was compatible with CP/M and seemed to prefer disk drives over tape recorders. You can find out more about the Einstein here and here, and you can emulate it with the help of MESS.
To physically own one of those bulky machines, you could have a look at this Tatung Einstein auction. The micro is fully working and comes complete with its original box and polys, manuals, required cables and 2 discs. Seller ships only within the UK.
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Just when you think you've seen everything, Gnome comes out with a fundamental piece of history that most seem to forget.
ReplyDeleteAwesome, my friend!
Why, thank you very much my friend!
ReplyDeleteWhen I worked at Ocean this is what the Spectrum games were written on
ReplyDeleteOh my, you are indeed the Mark Jones. How particularly exciting! Thanks for the info and would you care to be interviewed for Gnome's Lair (www.gnomeslair.com)?
ReplyDeleteI always found this machine rather fascinating, somehow. I've never used one or even been in the presence of one. But it seems an interesting mix, not least of all because of it's use of the Compact Floppy disk.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/blakespot/2397742573/in/set-72157604338323127
Here's the only video of the thing I could find on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YyYyE8qBVw
And Flickr has some nice photos:
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=tatung%20einstein
Never owned one myself either dear Blake, but am always on the look-out for 8-bit micros. I really love both them and their games. Especially if they come on 3" disks.
ReplyDeleteOh, and thanks a ton for the links. Impressive and enlightening as always. It's a lovely machine this Einstein...
I owned one of these in the late 80's early 90's - Dixons as they were then were selling them off as end of line models for £99 each. I bought one and wrote a full word processing suite for it in basic - which I used to write all my uni work. Great machine - sorry I let it go.
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