--- title: MGT (Miles Gordon Technology) Sam Coupé categories: - Computers types: - Home Computer origins: - United Kingdom years: - '1989' cpus: - Zilog Z80B params: name: Sam Coupé image: /media/museum/photos/mgt_samcoupe_1.jpg logo: /media/museum/logos/samcoupe_logo.gif company: /companies/mgt-miles-gordon-technology company_name: MGT (Miles Gordon Technology) specs: - label: NAME value: Sam Coupé - label: MANUFACTURER value: MGT (Miles Gordon Technology) - label: TYPE value: Home Computer - label: ORIGIN value: United Kingdom - label: YEAR value: December 1989 - label: END OF PRODUCTION value: '1992' - label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE value: SamBasic - label: KEYBOARD value: Full-stroke keyboard, 72 keys, Reset button - label: CPU value: Zilog Z80B (fully compatible with i8080 and Z80) - label: SPEED value: |- 6MHz with screen off, 4.5 MHz with screen on\ can be slowed down to emulate ZX Spectrum - label: CO-PROCESSOR value: Motorola MC 1377P Video Chip, Philips SAA1099 soundchip, ASIC handling graphics - label: RAM value: 256 kb or 512 kb onboard (depending models), and up to 4Mb with external addons (4.5 Mb total) - label: ROM value: 32 kb (BASIC, BIOS & disk bootstrap) - label: TEXT MODES value: 32 x 24, 85 x 24 - label: GRAPHIC MODES value: 256 x 192, 512 x 192 - label: COLORS value: 128 colors - label: SOUND value: Philips SAA1099 soundchip, 6 channels stereo FM synthesis, 8 octaves, 2 noise generators, 2 envelope generators, DAC digital output , sample rate 15.6 kHz. Built-in MIDI interface (in, out, through) - label: SIZE / WEIGHT value: 2.26 Kg - label: I/O PORTS value: RF video output (UHF, channel 36), RGB scart video output, serial / network socket, joystick connector (Atari standard), parallel interface, audio input, audio output - label: BUILT IN MEDIA value: |- one or two 3.5'' ultraslim Citizen Double Density Drives (800 kb)\ First models had no disk-drives - label: OS value: SamDOS, CP/M available - label: POWER SUPPLY value: External PSU (5v) tabs: - photos - hardware - software - emulators - links forum_thread: 539 photos: - title: SAM COUPÉ ENHANCED USING QUAZAR HARDWARE subtitle: '' text: |- This SAM Coupé (original model with no internal disk drive) was upgraded with the following extensions from Quazar (www.samcoupe.com): brand new internal disk drive, 256K RAM extension, ROM v3.0. Thomas Conté image: /media/museum/photos/mgt_samcoupe_quazar.jpg - title: SAM COUPÉ subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/mgt_samcoupe_2.jpg - title: ONE DISK DRIVE MODEL subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/mgt_samcoupe_1disk_2.jpg - title: DOUBLE DISK DRIVE MODEL subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/mgt_sam-coupe_3.jpg - title: BOOTING subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/mgt_sam-coupe_booting.jpg - title: USER MANUAL subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/mgt_samcoupe_manual_1.jpg - title: BOX subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/mgt_sam-coupe_box_2.jpg - title: SAM REVIVAL MAGAZINES subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/mgt_sam-coupe_sam-revival-mags.jpg hardware: - title: 256 KB RAM EXPANSION subtitle: '' text: This upgrade will increase the RAM of very early 256K Sam Coupe's to the standard 512K. This memory expansion fits under the unscrewable panel on the base of the Sam, and can be easily fitted in minutes - all you will need is a posidrive or phillips screwdriver to remove the small panel and then plug this module to the connector inside. image: /media/museum/hardware/mgt_sam-coupe_256kb_ram_expansion.jpg - title: SAM POWER SUPPLY UNIT subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/hardware/mgt_samcoupe_powersup_1.jpg - title: SAM BUS subtitle: '' text: |- This odd looking piece of hardware gave the owner the ability to attach up to 4 devices to the SAM's euroconnector socket at the same time. It also had an internal clock, and when used with MasterDos, this gave the SAM the ability to date stamp all your files. Having so many devices attached to your SAM could cause severe power drain, and so each item of SAM hardware was provided with a power consumption rating. I seem to remember that the normal SAM PSU was considered sufficient to power up to 20 'power points'. Once you went over that threshold, the SAM would require further power input, and so a PSU input socket was also built in to the SAMBus. However, as far as I am aware, an actual PSU was never produced so the socket was redundant. Text and picture kindly provided by Stewart Skardon from its [SamCoupé.co.uk](http://www.sskardon.fsnet.co.uk/) web site. image: /media/museum/hardware/mgt_samcoupe_bus.jpg - title: SAMDAC subtitle: '' text: |- This marvellous piece of hardware gave the SAM superior sound for playing MOD files, using The SAM MOD player software, which was distributed with the SAMdac. One end of the interface plugged in to the SAM's light pen / audio out socket, and the other plugged in to a printer port (if you had one!). The SAM originally had 6 bit sound, through the SAMdac this was increased to 8bit. This device was later suceeded by The Quazar Surround, but the SAMdac still had the advantage of being small and easy to hide. Text and picture kindly provided by Stewart Skardon from its [SamCoupé.co.uk](http://www.sskardon.fsnet.co.uk/) web site. image: /media/museum/hardware/mgt_samcoupe_samdac.jpg - title: SD IDE subtitle: '' text: |- The piece of hardware that SAM users screamed out for since day one, the SD software IDE interface finally arrived on the scene in late 1995. At long last, the ability to store all of your SAM stuff on one drive. Snag - the interface worked well, but the DOS was very limited. Development on the software was pretty constant, until the arrival of the Atom, at which point the whole project was stopped. Text and picture kindly provided by Stewart Skardon from its [SamCoupé.co.uk](http://www.sskardon.fsnet.co.uk/) web site. image: /media/museum/hardware/mgt_samcoupe_ide.jpg - title: SAM MOUSE subtitle: '' text: |- The piece of SAM hardware that everybody wanted. The SAM Mouse was eagerly awaited, and the original SAMco units were finally released to the public in 1991. Packaged with the mouse was Flash, the original SAM art package, later to be replaced by the far superior SAMPaint. West Coast Computers later re-launched the SAM mouse, as pictured. The new package included the mouse driver software, and Revelations excellent GUI - DRiVER. Rivaled only by the Blue Alpha Joy mouse, the SAM Mouse was the true winner. Text and picture kindly provided by Stewart Skardon from its [SamCoupé.co.uk](http://www.sskardon.fsnet.co.uk/) web site. image: /media/museum/hardware/mgt_samcoupe_mouse.jpg - title: QUAZAR SURROUND subtitle: '' text: |- This serious piece of hardware gave the SAM the ability to support 16 bit sound. Connecting via the Euroconnector, this piece of hardware was a little difficult to use with a SAMbus. The Quazar Surround has two output jacks for connecting two sets of speakers, and the results are pretty damn amazing. Also built in is an expansion connector for the additional sampler module. A damn site better than Blue Alpha's attempt, it was still necessary to have the Quazar Surround card plugged in to be able to hear the samples. Drat. Text and picture kindly provided by Stewart Skardon from its [SamCoupé.co.uk](http://www.sskardon.fsnet.co.uk/) web site. image: /media/museum/hardware/mgt_samcoupe_quazzarsourround.jpg - title: SAM SOUND SAMPLER subtitle: '' text: |- Possibly the worst piece of SAM Hardware ever. Playback was only possible with the sampler plugged in, and samples were of very poor quality. This particular sampler also caused a large amount of distortion to the television display. The software that was supplied with the sampler was very crude, and the 'manual' was badly photocopied and held together by a single staple in the corner. Text and picture kindly provided by Stewart Skardon from its [SamCoupé.co.uk](http://www.sskardon.fsnet.co.uk/) web site. image: /media/museum/hardware/mgt_samcoupe_soundsampler.jpg - title: SAM PARALLEL INTERFACE subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/hardware/mgt_samcoupe_parallelinterf_1.jpg screenshots: - title: BOOT SCREEN subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/software/mgt_samcoupe_boot_ss.jpg - title: BATZ 'N BALLZ subtitle: '' text: Thanks to [SimCoupé website](http://www.simcoupe.org/) for this screenshot image: /media/museum/software/mgt_samcoupe_batznballz_ss.jpg - title: DEFENDER subtitle: '' text: Thanks to [SimCoupé website](http://www.simcoupe.org/) for this screenshot image: /media/museum/software/mgt_samcoupe_defender_ss.jpg - title: DEFENDERS OF THE EARTH subtitle: '' text: Thanks to [SimCoupé website](http://www.simcoupe.org/) for this screenshot image: /media/museum/software/mgt_samcoupe_defendersoftheearth_ss.jpg - title: FLASH subtitle: '' text: Thanks to [SimCoupé website](http://www.simcoupe.org/) for this screenshot image: /media/museum/software/mgt_samcoupe_flash_ss.jpg - title: ICE CHICKEN subtitle: '' text: Thanks to [SimCoupé website](http://www.simcoupe.org/) for this screenshot image: /media/museum/software/mgt_samcoupe_icechicken_ss.jpg - title: LEMMINGS subtitle: '' text: Thanks to [SimCoupé website](http://www.simcoupe.org/) for this screenshot image: /media/museum/software/mgt_samcoupe_lemmings_ss.jpg - title: MANIC MINER subtitle: '' text: Thanks to [SimCoupé website](http://www.simcoupe.org/) for this screenshot image: /media/museum/software/mgt_samcoupe_manicminer_ss.jpg - title: MNEMO DEMO 2 subtitle: '' text: Thanks to [SimCoupé website](http://www.simcoupe.org/) for this screenshot image: /media/museum/software/mgt_samcoupe_mnemo2demo_ss.jpg - title: PAC MAN subtitle: '' text: Thanks to [SimCoupé website](http://www.simcoupe.org/) for this screenshot image: /media/museum/software/mgt_samcoupe_pacman_ss.jpg - title: PRINCE OF PERSIA subtitle: '' text: Thanks to [SimCoupé website](http://www.simcoupe.org/) for this screenshot image: /media/museum/software/mgt_samcoupe_princeofpersia_ss.jpg - title: SAM JUGGLER subtitle: '' text: Thanks to [SimCoupé website](http://www.simcoupe.org/) for this screenshot image: /media/museum/software/mgt_samcoupe_samjuggler_ss.jpg - title: SAM PAINT subtitle: '' text: Thanks to [SimCoupé website](http://www.simcoupe.org/) for this screenshot image: /media/museum/software/mgt_samcoupe_sampaint_ss.jpg - title: SPHERA subtitle: '' text: Thanks to [SimCoupé website](http://www.simcoupe.org/) for this screenshot image: /media/museum/software/mgt_samcoupe_sphera_ss.jpg - title: TETRIS subtitle: '' text: Thanks to [SimCoupé website](http://www.simcoupe.org/) for this screenshot image: /media/museum/software/mgt_samcoupe_tetris_ss.jpg - title: GAME BOXES subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/software/mgt_samcoupe_software_1.jpg emulators: - title: ASCD url: http://aley.borec.cz/progs/#sam platform: MS DOS text: DOS emulator made by Aley Keprt - title: SamCoupé url: http://www.inf.upol.cz/~keprta/sam/samemu/welcome.html platform: MS DOS text: Another DOS emulator by Aley Keprt - title: SimCoupé url: http://www.simcoupe.org/ platform: Multiplatform text: This nice emulators is available for Windows, DOS, Linux, BeOS and MacOS links: - title: Land of Pod - SamCoupé pages url: http://www.podboy.demon.co.uk/coupe/index.htm text: FRED magazines, many downloads and original documentation (PDF) ! - title: Sam Coupe Pro-Dos Resource Site url: http://www.samcoupe-pro-dos.co.uk/ text: A large number of manuals as pdf, plus details of Sams CP/M 2.2 system - title: Sam Coupé Scrapbook url: http://www.samcoupescrapbook.co.uk/ text: The mother of all SAM sites. The original site. Full of useful stuff. - title: Sam Coupé Webring url: http://v.webring.com/hub?ring=samcoupe&list text: The official webring - title: SamCoupé.com url: HTTP://WWW.SAMCOUPE.COM text: The new home for up to the minute information and releases for the Sam Coupé. - title: Spectrum Advanced Machine url: http://sam.speccy.cz/ text: A lot of technical info !! - title: The "Your Sinclair" Rock'n'Roll years url: http://www.ysrnry.co.uk/articles/index_sam.htm text: Section dedicated to the SamCoupé with a lot of interesting articles - title: World Of Sam url: http://www.worldofsam.org/ text: Wiki with all information about the SAM - title: Web Wiz CAPTCHA url: http://www.webwizcaptcha.com text: Archive dedicated to the Sam Coupé oc_id: 545 source: url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230604182600/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=545 date: '2023-06-04' --- In the last quarter of 1989 M.G.T. launched the Sam Coupé. M.G.T. was already known in the [ZX Spectrum](/museum/sinclair-zx-spectrum/) world for a range of hardware that they sold. The Sam was their pride and joy, and unfortunately to be their downfall. This was a time when the 16-bit machines, the [Atari ST](/museum/atari-520-st-st-stm/) and the [Amiga](/museum/commodore-amiga-500/), were really being to take off. Sales in computers such as the Spectrum was in rapid decline. The Sam was aimed to fill this gap, a powerful 8-bit machine with specs that in cases out performed those of the 16-bit machines, at an 8-bit price. It was hoped that current 8-bit owners, particularly Spectrum owners, would jump on the nicely priced Sam rather than a more expensive 16-bit machine.
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