--- title: Pravetz 8C categories: - Computers types: - Home Computer origins: - Bulgaria years: - '1990' cpus: - CM630 params: name: 8C image: /media/museum/photos/pravetz_8c_system_s1.jpg company: /companies/pravetz company_name: Pravetz specs: - label: NAME value: 8C - label: MANUFACTURER value: Pravetz - label: TYPE value: Home Computer - label: ORIGIN value: Bulgaria - label: YEAR value: '1990' - label: END OF PRODUCTION value: 1994-95 - label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE value: AppleSoft BASIC - label: KEYBOARD value: Full-stroke 63 key - Latin and cyrillic characters - label: CPU value: CM630 (Bulgarian 6502 clone) - label: SPEED value: 1 MHz - label: RAM value: 128 KB - label: ROM value: 16 KB - label: TEXT MODES value: 40 or 80 characters x 24 lines - label: GRAPHIC MODES value: 40 x 48 (16 col) / 80 x 48 (16 col) / 280 x 160, 280 x 192, 560 x 192 (8 colours) - label: COLORS value: Max 16 - label: SOUND value: Built-in speaker - label: SIZE / WEIGHT value: 40.7 (W) x 47 (D) x 8.8 (H) cm - label: I/O PORTS value: 34 exp. slots, external FDD, Parallel printer, RGB, RS232, Joystick - label: BUILT IN MEDIA value: None - label: OS value: DOS 3.1, DOS 3.2, DOS 3.3, ProDOS - label: POWER SUPPLY value: Built-in switching power supply unit - label: PERIPHERALS value: All Apple and compatible cards - label: PRICE value: $1160 (1450 levs) tabs: - photos - software - links photos: - title: LARGE VIEW subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/pravetz_8c_system_s2.jpg - title: TOP VIEW subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/pravetz_8c_topview.jpg - title: FRONT VIEW subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/pravetz_8c_frontview_s1.jpg - title: SIDE VIEW subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/pravetz_8c_sideview_s1.jpg - title: REAR PANEL subtitle: '' text: Only one Composite video connector was available in this version. Provision was made for a RGB and two joystick connectors. image: /media/museum/photos/pravetz_8c_rearside_s1.jpg - title: KEYBOARD CLOSE-UP subtitle: '' text: The keyboard allowed to type either latin or cyrillic characters. image: /media/museum/photos/pravetz_8c_keyboard_s1.jpg - title: PRAVETZ LOGO subtitle: '' text: Pravetz logo engraved on the plastic case. image: /media/museum/photos/pravetz_8c_label_s2.jpg - title: BOTTOM LABEL subtitle: '' text: In '90-'95 there was a crisis in Bulgaria and the Pravetz factory was on the edge of bankrupcy. To save costs, their last computers were thus build in same boxes as previous models - here a Pravetz 8M - with modified labels. image: /media/museum/photos/pravetz_8c_label_s1.jpg - title: OPENED subtitle: '' text: Same internal design as the original Apple II. image: /media/museum/photos/pravetz_8c_opened_s1.jpg - title: BULGARIAN PSU AND SPEAKER subtitle: '' text: |- The PSU label mentions "Prof. Kr. Dobrev Factory - Harmanly - PSU Block". Harmanly is a Bulgarian city.\ Notice that one of the screws was topped by a small container holding wax. When the wax was removed, warranty was void -( image: /media/museum/photos/pravetz_8c_psu_s1.jpg - title: MAINBOARD subtitle: '' text: |- Major part of the ICs was made in Bulgaria (CM series). Some standard logic and RAM ICs came from Japan.\ **(1)** Apple II compatible expansion slots\ **(2)** Parallel printer connector\ **(3)** External floppy-disk drive connectors\ **(4)** Some parts of this board version have no ICs soldered, here the RGB interface\ **(5)** Empty joystick interface\ **(6)** Empty Serial RS232 interface\ **(7)** CM630 CPU - 6502 clone\ **(8)** AppleSoft BASIC ROMs\ **(9)** Cyrillic and Latin character generator ROMs\ **(10)** 80-column and I/O chips\ **(11)** Modified system clock\ **(12)** 128 KB RAM composed of mixed Bulgarian and Japanese 4164 RAM chips\ **(13)** Audio amplifier and loudspeaker connector. image: /media/museum/photos/pravetz_8c_mainboard_s1.jpg screenshots: - title: BOX subtitle: '' text: Thanks to Milen Krastev for this picture image: /media/museum/software/pravetz_8c_soft_pojarut_box.jpg - title: BOX subtitle: '' text: Thanks to Milen Krastev for this picture image: /media/museum/software/pravetz_8c_soft_shtastlivetza_box.jpg links: - title: Bulgarian Computers Information File url: http://www.geocities.com/todprog/spis/bulgarian_computers_v102_11102003.txt text: Detailed information and timeline of Bulgarian computers - title: Chip Identificator (.ZIP file) url: http://www.old-computers.com/binaries/chipid.zip text: Useful program to find similar references between East European and Western ICs comments: - author: Dark Avenger (Austria) date: Wednesday 19th March 2014 text: |- Hi folks, Dark Avenger has nothing to do with Pravetz 8C. The viruses he wrote were for IMB PC compatible Pravetz 16 and specially designed for completely unprotected and unsecure versions of MSDOS/PCDOS. Cheers! - author: TiMeWaRp (Bulgaria) date: Sunday 5th November 2006 text: No cybernmd, Pravetz PC were made in Bulgaria i town called Pravetz nothing common with Tashkent, Uzbekistan - author: cybernmd (USA) date: Thursday 27th April 2006 text: Yeah, but it already featured some primitive LAN technology. As a middle school student, I had a lot of fun with those machines. Pravetz LAN had functionality of p2p messaging, exchange of files, and even grabbing the screen content from any computer on the LAN ;->. - author: cybernmd (USA) date: Saturday 15th October 2005 text: Pravetz 8C were made in Tashkent, Uzbekistan - former USSR republic. Just a slight spelling error. - author: bhtooefr (USA) date: Friday 5th November 2004 text: This machine does NOT have the same capabilities as the Apple IIc. The IIc came with 128KB RAM stock. The processor in this box might not be a 65C02 compatible, only a 6502 compatible (some apps needed the additional instructions). Also, the IIc didn't have any expansion capability (except in later models, and then the only supported expansions were RAM). oc_id: 1057 source: url: https://web.archive.org/web/20221208015627/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=1057 date: '2022-12-08' --- The 8C was the last and most improved Apple II clone version produced by the Bulgarian Pravetz Co. The 8C was actually designed in Bulgaria but most of them were manufactured in Tasjkent, former USSR. The 8C had had same capabilities as the [Apple IIc](/museum/apple-iic/). Its main board offered 64 KB of RAM expandable to 128 KB, only 3 expansion slots but had built-in 80-column card, floppy drives controller, parallel printer port and, depending on mainboard versions, RGB, RS232, Joystick interfaces and real time clock as well. This computer was widely used by Bulgarian schools but also by numerous teenagers who wrote and sent to Western countries one of the first and famous Apple II virus called Dark Avenger.