Computer Shopper - UK (2020-01)

111111113333

RETRO

IISSSUUEE 338833 |COMPUTER SHOPPER|JJANNUUARRYY 2002200

‘megaspectrum’inaFebruary 1989 preview.
However,labelling would soon prove to be
the least of the company’s worries.

BEAUTYLIESWITHIN

It was clear early on that the SAM Coupé was
developing intosomething special.
“It used the Z80 CPU at its core,but the
SAM was clocked faster at 6MHz,”Piggot
explains of the use of the Z80B processor as
opposed to the Speccy’s Z80A.
“The SAM also sported up to 512K of
internal memory,had disk drives forstorage,
four graphics modes and 128 colours in true
bitmap displays without attributeclash.
The specifications were nearing that of the
mainstream 16-bit micros.”
At the time,the computer wasbeing
positioned in the home and educational
markets as one that could take on the
Commodore Amiga and the Atari ST,but at a
lower price.The machine boasted RS232
capabilities, aSCARTsocket, ports fora
lightpen, mouse and Atari-compatible joystick,
and –justaswiththe Atari ST –aMIDI
interface,which was great formusicians.
It also used the Philips SAA1099P six-channel,
eight-octave sound chip so it could output in
fully independent stereo.
Most of the functions were incorporated
intoa10,000-gate custom chip,the
Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC),
which was tasked with memory paging and
colour-paletteallocation. It processed the
output of the Motorola MC1377P video chip
allowing forthat Speccy-mimicking Mode 1.

There was also Mode 2with32x192 screen

cells; Mode 3with 80-column text display,

512x192 pixels and four coloursfrom 128; and

Mode 4, which allowed 16 colours from a

paletteof128 with a256x192-pixel resolution.

Users could take advantage of these,not

least in unleashing their artistic flair via a

bundled art package called Flash, developed

by Swedish programmer Bo Jangeborg, whose

work had already lit up the Spectrum scene

with games such as the 3D adventures

Fairlight and Fairlight II.

Jangeborg had also written agraphic tool

called The Artist forthe Speccy,but mouse-

controllable Flash put the application in a

similar sphere to those on the Atari ST and

helped to showcase the great graphics the

SAM Coupé was capable of.

Even so,the computer wasanodd-looking

beast. Foranyone wishing to type (and the

computer came with SAM Basic written by Dr

Andrew Wright, who had previously developed

an improved version of Spectrum Basic called

BetaBasic), there was afull-travel 72-key

keyboard, which used inexpensive membrane

keyswitches (nevertheless ideal fortyping the

61,439 permitted lines of code anddeveloping

programs of up to 217K in size). It was set back

and raised with the front portion acting as a

rest forthe wrists. It also had little plastic legs

either side of the whitecasing.

Not that the unconventional appearance

seemed to be terribly off-putting to buyers.

Piggot says, “From all the SAM users

I’ve met over the years, it’s not something

that has even cropped up in conversation

as abad point of the computer –itjust

adds to the SAM’s quirkyuniqueness.

If you use the keyboard foralong time,

it’s not tiring or uncomfortable.”

NOTSOCOMPATIBLE

What did put people off was an initial lack of

availability.There had been asmall story at the

topofpage three of the 23 September 1989

issue of the long-defunctNew Computer

Express,which said MGT had finallylaunched

the computer at acost of £150. It felt like a

bargain, but was more than the £100 originally

envisioned. It was also three years since

development had begun, andYour Sinclair

magazine said it had been a“gestation period

longer than that of an Africanelephant”.

In truth, potential users would have to wait

even longer,since sales of the machine were

further delayed. The problem was originally

DESPITETHEFARSUPERIOR

SPECIFICATIONS,MAGAZINESAND

THEPRESSFOCUSEDONBACKWARDS

COMPATIBILITYWITHTHEZXSPECTRUM

o t e c in lt Z

pcrm m s t 4 ,ues

ato use an ap in combination

ih p c – it e te

rii al o a l nd esin