website/content/museum/act-800.md

title, categories, types, origins, years, cpus, params

title	categories	types	origins	years	cpus	params
ACT-800	Computers	Professional Computer	United Kingdom	1982	6502	name image company company_name specs forum_thread oc_id source ACT-800 /media/museum/photos/pictneeded.jpg /companies/act ACT label value NAME ACT-800 label value MANUFACTURER ACT label value TYPE Professional Computer label value ORIGIN United Kingdom label value YEAR 1982 label value END OF PRODUCTION Unknown label value BUILT IN LANGUAGE Basic label value KEYBOARD Unknown label value CPU 6502 label value SPEED 2 MHz label value RAM 48 KB label value ROM Unknown label value TEXT MODES 80 columns label value GRAPHIC MODES None label value COLORS No label value SOUND Unknown label value SIZE / WEIGHT Unknown label value I/O PORTS IEEE-488 label value OS Unknown label value POWER SUPPLY Unknown label value PERIPHERALS Unknown label value PRICE Unknown 1060 1090 url date https://web.archive.org/web/20230416215943/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=1090 2023-04-16

The ACT 800 was the first machine sold by ACT company. It was in fact manufactured in the USA.

The ACT-800 was built as an attempt to design a computer that would last 7 years without becoming obsolete. Why therefore the specifications were so dated from the start is mystery. The machine was clearly based on the Commodore PET line of computer which were very, very popular certainly in the UK - far more than the US registers.

The ACT-800 was an 'all in one unit' but with an external 5.25'' disk drive. The CPU was a 6502 running at 2 MHz (to give it the 'edge' over the PET.) The machine had text only modes so no graphics to speak of but did handle 80 columns on screen. RAM was 48 KB and ROM included a rendering of BASIC similar to the PET's.

That was it. It was no a revolutionary machine by any stretch of the imagination and the computer was far from a commercial success.

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Thanks to Laurence Coombes for the info.

About the ACT-800, Steve Squires sent us this information:
Back in 1982 there was a very obscure machine kicking around which was badged the "ACT 800". It was a on-piece unit with a single circuit board, housed inside a huge case. The keyboard was built-in and permanently affixed to the top was a monochrome monitor (about 14 inches).

To service it you simply unscrewed a couple of screws at the bottom and the entire top half (monitor and keyboard) hinged up from the back (a bit like the Commodore PET) and was propped up on a metal arm a bit like an engine hood.

This monster actually had plug-in options for an external dual 8-inch floppy unit and had a built-in IEE488 port. I can't remember what processor this thing ran on but I do remember that it had about 32K RAM when fully loaded. I had the pleasure of working on this obscure machine back in 1981.

We need more info about this computer ! If you designed, used, or have more info about this system, please send us pictures or anything you might find useful.