--- title: ACT Apricot F1 categories: - Computers types: - Professional Computer origins: - United Kingdom years: - '1984' cpus: - Intel 8086 params: name: Apricot F1 image: /media/museum/photos/act_apricot-f1_1.jpg company: /companies/act company_name: ACT specs: - label: NAME value: Apricot F1 - label: MANUFACTURER value: ACT - label: TYPE value: Professional Computer - label: ORIGIN value: United Kingdom - label: YEAR value: '1984' - label: END OF PRODUCTION value: '1986' - label: KEYBOARD value: Infrared membrane keyboard, 92 keys, 10 function keys - label: CPU value: Intel 8086 - label: SPEED value: 4,77 Mhz - label: CO-PROCESSOR value: Z80 CTC counter timer, and a Z80 SIO (Serial I/O controller) - label: RAM value: from 256 Kb to 758 Kb - label: ROM value: 32 Kb, - label: TEXT MODES value: 80 x 24 - label: GRAPHIC MODES value: 640 x 200 and 640 x 256 with 4 colors, 320 x 256 with 16 colors - label: COLORS value: '16' - label: SOUND value: Beeper - label: SIZE / WEIGHT value: 42 x 22 x 16 cm / 5,6 kg - label: I/O PORTS value: RGB and Composite video outputs, RS232c, Centronics, Expansion bus, Internal connector for optional RF modulator - label: BUILT IN MEDIA value: |- 3.5'' disk-drive, double sided, 720k\ RAM disk feature through BIOS - label: OS value: MS DOS 2.11 (Concurrent DOS, CP/M 86 in option) - label: POWER SUPPLY value: Internal PSU - label: PERIPHERALS value: 10Mb hard-drive, external disk-drive, infrared trackball, RF modulator for TV output - label: PRICE value: |- F1E : £795 (UK, November 1984)\ F1 : £995 (UK, November 1984) tabs: - photos - adverts - hardware - emulators - links - docs forum_thread: 489 photos: - title: 'MONOCHROME VERSION #1' subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/act_apricot-f1_2.jpg - title: 'MONOCHROME VERSION #2' subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/act_apricotf1_system_1.jpg - title: F1 ACCESSORIES subtitle: '' text: Here is an external disk-drive and the infrared trackball. image: /media/museum/photos/act_apricot-f1_3.jpg - title: MAIN UNIT subtitle: '' text: The shape of the system is quite original, narrow and very deep with a tilted surface at the back. image: /media/museum/photos/act_apricot-f1_uc_1.jpg - title: KEYBOARD CLOSE-UP subtitle: '' text: Like many compatible computer manufacturers of the time, ACT offered an innovative keyboard design quite different from that of IBM. image: /media/museum/photos/act_apricotf1_keyboard_1.jpg - title: 'KEYBOARD #2' subtitle: '' text: |- Four keyboard switches can be used for:\ \- System reset\ \- Repeat rate adjustment\ \- Time setting\ \- Keyboard lock image: /media/museum/photos/act_apricotf1_keyboard_2.jpg - title: BACK subtitle: '' text: |- **(1)** Serial RS-232C DB25 connector\ **(2)** Video RGB output DB9 connector\ **(3)** Composite video output RCA jack\ **(4)** Monitor power supply plug\ **(5)** Parallel printer connector\ **(6)** Mains plug and switch image: /media/museum/photos/act_apricotf1_back_1.jpg - title: INSIDE F1 subtitle: '' text: |- The Apricot F1 is right in the tradition of other ACT models : sober, robust and well-conceived. But as soon as it came out, it was reproached for being a bit slow compared to 6 or 8 Mhz systems. The F1 is however an appealing machine which was of help to many small and medium companies which chose it as their first business computer. Note the case of the infra-red receiver, close to the FDD unit, which receives data from the cordless keyboard and mouse. image: /media/museum/photos/act_apricotf1_uncovered_1.jpg - title: INSIDE RECEIVER MODULE subtitle: '' text: The infra-red receiver uses an optical lens allowing it to receive data from various angles. This module can also recognise one keyboard from many others permitting several F1s to be used in the same room. image: /media/museum/photos/act_apricotf1_lensmodule_1.jpg - title: F1 MOTHERBOARD subtitle: '' text: |- **(1)** Expansion connector. Can receive a memory expansion. Unfortunately, there is only one. Another identical expansion connector faces outward, intended for interface boards dedicated to external peripherals control.\ **(2)** Floppy disc drive connector\ **(3)** FDD power connectors\ **(4)** 256 KB RAM memory area - 32 x Nec 4164 memory chips\ **(5)** Power supply connector\ **(6)** Parallel printer connector\ **(7)** Composite video RCA plug\ **(8)** Colour RGB video out DB9 connector\ **(9)** Serial RS-232C DB25 connector image: /media/museum/photos/act_apricotf1_motherboard_1.jpg - title: PROCESSOR CLOSE-UP subtitle: '' text: |- The 8086 processor here is a (nice) Fujitsu ceramic version. Note also: **(1)** Various motherboard tasks are handled by Zilog chips. Here a Z80 CTC counter timer, and a Z80 SIO (Serial I/O controller)\ **(2)** BIOS and self-diagnostic ROM chips (16 KB x 2)\ **(3)** Western Digital floppy disc controller chip image: /media/museum/photos/act_apricotf1_cpu_1.jpg - title: F1 MANUALS & SOFTWARES subtitle: '' text: |- Alongside these introduction handbooks, much professional software was provided with the Apricot : \- **SuperWriter**, a word processing package less advanced than WordStar, the program it was modelled on.\ \- **SuperPlanner**, an electronic agenda with address book and a light database\ \- **SuperCalc**, the best spreadsheet of the time. image: /media/museum/photos/s_apricotf1_manuals.jpg adverts: - title: U.K. PRICE LIST subtitle: '' text: Dealer price list - August 1986 image: /media/museum/pubs/act_apricotf1_pricelist_1.jpg hardware: - title: SPECIAL F1 subtitle: '' text: |- This special version of the F1 was developed by a french company based in Bordeaux, Cirel Systèmes, a subsidiary of Télésystèmes. It's a basic F1 with an external case placed under the main unit. This box includes a Videotex graphic board, a modem and special software for Minitel emulation, data server and file transfer. The phone is linked to a contact directory which can be dialled automatically. The price of this system was 18500fr (pre-tax) (France, december 1985) image: /media/museum/hardware/act_apricot-f1_4.jpg emulators: - title: 'APE Plus : Apricot Emulator' url: http://www.ansible.demon.co.uk/ai/ape.html platform: MS DOS text: Commercial emulator that emulates PC/Xi/Xen, the \`F' Series, and the Apricot FP Portable - title: QDAE url: http://www.seasip.info/Unix/QDAE/ platform: Multiplatform text: QDAE is a Quick and Dirty Apricot Emulator for Linux, Windows and MacOS X. This version emulates the Apricot F1; it may support other F-series Apricots as well. links: - title: ACT Apricot computers support page url: http://www.actapricot.org/home/ text: Useful infos. Some links might be outdated - title: ACT Apricot Computers Yahoo Group url: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/actapricot/ text: Discussion list for the ACT Apricot computers. docs: - title: APRICOT F1 TECHNICAL REFERENCE MANUAL url: http://www.actapricot.org/support/ cover: /media/museum/docs/couvs/act_apricot-f1_technical-reference-manual.jpg text: |- [**APRICOT F1 TECHNICAL REFERENCE MANUAL**](http://www.actapricot.org/support/)written by ACT  compiled/archived by Jonathan Marsters\  type of document : PDF\  source : [www.actapricot.org](http://www.actapricot.org) - title: USER PROMPT APRICOT GUIDE ISSUE 1 url: http://www.actapricot.org/support/ cover: /media/museum/docs/couvs/act_apricot-user-prompt_1.jpg text: |- [**USER PROMPT APRICOT GUIDE ISSUE 1**](http://www.actapricot.org/support/)written by UserPrompt Guides  compiled/archived by Jonathan Marsters\  type of document : PDF\  source : [www.actapricot.org](http://www.actapricot.org) - title: USER PROMPT APRICOT GUIDE ISSUE 2 url: http://www.actapricot.org/support/ cover: /media/museum/docs/couvs/act_apricot-user-prompt_2.jpg text: |- [**USER PROMPT APRICOT GUIDE ISSUE 2**](http://www.actapricot.org/support/)written by UserPrompt Guides  compiled/archived by Jonathan Marsters\  type of document : PDF\  source : [www.actapricot.org](http://www.actapricot.org) related: - /museum/act-apricot-f2-f10 - /museum/act-apricot-pc - /museum/act-apricot-portable - /museum/act-apricot-xen - /museum/act-apricot-xi oc_id: 495 source: url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230603213917/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=495 date: '2023-06-03' --- After the launch of the Apricot PC, largely inspired by the Victor S1 which sold well in the UK, ACT developed another computer, the Apricot F1. This new system was marketed equally as a business system and as a home-computer (with its TV video output for example). The design of the F1 is quite innovative with its original shape and infrared keyboard. The main unit is much more deep than large, and the straight line of the whole system was quite stylish for the time. There was no lead or cord between the keyboard and the main unit. All the communication was made through infrared signals. This is quite useful if you want to work from your sofa, four meters away from the main unit but you also must be sure that there is no obstacle between the keyboard and the infrared receivers located on the front of the main unit. The Apricot F1 was however originally shipped with a plastic light-pipe that could be connected between the keyboard and CPU so that obstacles would not block the signal. Another drawback was that the keyboard had to be constantly powered with batteries!\ This infrared feature is quite rare and the F1 is one of the only computers to be equiped with it, alongside the [ACT Apricot Portable](/museum/act-apricot-portable/) and [Exelvision EXL-100](/museum/exelvision-exl-100/) and a few others... Just above the quite comprehensive membrane keyboard are four small round buttons used to set the date and time of the internal clock, to change the rate of the keys auto-repeat feature, to lock the keyboard and to reset the computer. Even if the F1 used an 8086 it wasn’t really IBM PC compatible (though minor changes could make it BIOS compatible). The MS-DOS 2.11 used by the system is an Apricot modified version of the "real" MS-DOS. The Apricot F1 was delivered with a nice icon-based graphical interface called "Activity" along with quality bundled sotfware for graphics, communication, wordprocessing and system tools. The same infra-red mouseball pointing device used with the Apricot Portable was available for the F1. As the F1 was not IBM PC compatible and not particularly cheap, it didn't have great success outside its native country (UK). A slightly less expensive version was also released, labelled **F1e**. It was the same machine but the 720 KB floppy drive was replaced by a single sided 320 KB version. This version was about 300 Euros cheaper than the normal version.