website/content/museum/oric-1.md

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

title	categories	types	origins	years	cpus	params
ORIC 1	Computers	Home Computer	United Kingdom	1983	6502A	name image company company_name specs tabs forum_thread photos adverts hardware emulators links docs related oc_id source ORIC 1 /media/museum/photos/oric_oric1_right-side_1s.jpg /companies/oric Oric label value NAME ORIC 1 label value MANUFACTURER Oric label value TYPE Home Computer label value ORIGIN United Kingdom label value YEAR 1983 label value END OF PRODUCTION Unknown label value BUILT IN LANGUAGE Oric Extended Basic v1.0 label value KEYBOARD Chicklet keyboard, 57 keys. ESC, DEL ,CTRL, 2 x SHIFT, RETURN, 4 x arrow keys and one large spacebar label value CPU 6502A label value SPEED 1 MHz label value CO-PROCESSOR Custom gate array chip label value RAM 16 KB or 48 KB label value ROM 16 KB label value TEXT MODES 40 x 28 label value GRAPHIC MODES 240 x 200 (high resolution) label value COLORS 8 label value SOUND Programmable Sound Generator AY-3-8912 (from General Instruments)\ 3 voices, 8 octaves + white noise label value SIZE / WEIGHT 28 (W) x 17.8 (D) x 1.5 (H) cm / 848 g label value I/O PORTS Bus, Printer, Tape, RGB label value POWER SUPPLY External power supply unit : 9v - -(o- + label value PERIPHERALS 4-pen plotter printer, 3'' floppy disk drive unit label value PRICE £129.95 for 16K model with starter pack (UK 1983) photos adverts hardware emulators links docs 190 title subtitle text image ORIC-1 /media/museum/photos/oric_oric1_right-side_1.jpg title subtitle text image FRONT /media/museum/photos/oric_oric1_front_1.jpg title subtitle text image RIGHT SIDE /media/museum/photos/oric_oric1_right-side_2.jpg title subtitle text image REAR /media/museum/photos/oric_oric1_rear_1.jpg title subtitle text image BELOW /media/museum/photos/oric_oric1_below.jpg title subtitle text image FRONT /media/museum/photos/oric_oric1_front_2.jpg title subtitle text image DETAIL /media/museum/photos/oric_oric1_detail.jpg title subtitle text image EARLY MODEL This is an early version, because the ORIC logo is black & white. Later versions have a colored logo. /media/museum/photos/oric_oric1_2.jpg title subtitle text image INSIDE ORIC 1 Though its technical design is quite close to that of its major competitor, the <$223$>Sinclair Spectrum, the Oric 1 offers some advantages : sound dedicated chipset, easy to manage graphics and more convenient Basic language, despite some bugs. **(1)** TV signals RF modulator.\ **(2)** RGB video connector. Until later versions of the Atmos, an external power supply unit was needed to commute the TV in monitor mode through the scart connector.\ **(3)** Tape recorder DIN connector with remote control.\ **(4)** Parallel / Centronics printer connector, needs a special cable.\ **(5)** Expansion connector, used for example by the numerous disk-drives available for the Oric.\ **(6)** Power plug. Power is supplied by an external PSU.\ **(7)** 5 volts regulator with its cooler.\ **(8)** Two EPROM holding the Microsoft Basic language and Input/Output routines.\ **(9)** MOS 6502A 8 bit microprocessor.\ **(10)** Dedicated Input / Output management chip (keyboard, printer, video...).\ **(11)** Internal loudspeaker. Sound was one of the good features of the Oric systems, though there were no way to control the volume of this internal speaker.\ **(12)** AY-9512 sound chipset (3 voices, 7 octaves).\ **(13)** Video dedicated chip which manages texts, graphics and colours.\ **(14)** Eight 4164 memory chips (64000 cells x 1 bit) holding the 64 Kb. RAM memory used for user programs and text / graphic display.\ **(15)** Internal clock for microprocessor and various chips synchronization.\ **(16)** TV aerial connector.\ **(17)** The Oric keyboard is original. Solid and accurate, it allows a sure and quick typing, after an adaptation time. /media/museum/photos/oric_1_inside_1.jpg title subtitle text image PROTOTYPE Thanks to Paul Kaufman for this picture ! /media/museum/photos/oric_prototype_1.jpg title subtitle text image ORIC BREAD-BOARD SYSTEM Thanks to Paul Kaufman for this picture ! /media/museum/photos/oric_breadboard_1.jpg title subtitle text image ORIC-1 BOX /media/museum/photos/oric_oric-1_box_2.jpg title subtitle text image FRENCH AD (JULY 1983) /media/museum/pubs/oric_oric-1_pub_2.jpg title subtitle text image UK ADVERT, OCT 1983 Notice that the pictured floppy drives have never been released. /media/museum/pubs/oric_1_pub_s1.jpg title subtitle text image FRENCH AD (DEC. 1983) /media/museum/pubs/oric_oric-1_pub_recevez-tout-de-suite.jpg title subtitle text image FRENCH BROCHURE #1 Thanks to **Jacques Sorro** /media/museum/pubs/oric_1_frbrochure_s1.jpg title subtitle text image FRENCH BROCHURE #2 Thanks to **Jacques Sorro** /media/museum/pubs/oric_1_frbrochure_s2.jpg title subtitle text image FRENCH BROCHURE #3 Thanks to **Jacques Sorro** /media/museum/pubs/oric_1_frbrochure_s3.jpg title subtitle text image FRENCH BROCHURE #4 Thanks to **Jacques Sorro** /media/museum/pubs/oric_1_frbrochure_s4.jpg title subtitle text image JASMIN II F.D. UNIT The Jasmin II was a 3" double-sided floppy drive unit. It was released in 1985, designed by T.R.A.N. and manufactured by Dattel, two french companies. Up to four units could be connected in chain. Each one featured an operating system called T.DOS then FT.DOS. Each diskette had a 357 KB capacity (2 sides x 41 tracks x 17 sectors x 256 bytes) /media/museum/hardware/oric_jasmin2_1.jpg title subtitle text image CUMANA EXPANSION BOX This expansion holds a power supply unit and a dual expansion port allowing the floppy disk unit and another expansion device to be connected simultaneously. /media/museum/hardware/oric_atmos_cumanaexp_s1.jpg title subtitle text image VOCAL SYNTHESIZER /media/museum/hardware/oric_synth_vocal.jpg title subtitle text image LIGHT PEN /media/museum/hardware/oric_lightpen.jpg title subtitle text image 8 IN/OUT BOARD /media/museum/hardware/oric_8_io.jpg title subtitle text image ORIC-1 MICRO DISC This rare item didn't live long and was quickly replaced by the black Atmos version. /media/museum/hardware/oric_oric-1_microdrive.jpg title subtitle text image ATMOS MICRODISC The official Oric disk-drive. Soooo beautiful... Disc drive uses 320 Kb. formatted, double side 3'' diskette. In the first versions, operating system only managed sequential files. /media/museum/hardware/oric_atmos_microdsic_1.jpg title subtitle text image ATMOS PLOTTER This is the same as the MCP-40 for the Oric-1. This type of plotter (4 colors) was widely used for the micro-computers... /media/museum/hardware/oric_atmos_mcp40_1.jpg title subtitle text image INSIDE ATMOS PLOTTER The MCP-40 plotter uses a Japanese printing mechanism manufactured by Sharp. It's a little mechanical marvel able to print extremely precise four colour texts and graphics. Text is printed with 40 or 80 characters per line, at 10 characters per second speed. Characters size and printing direction may be modified (horizontal, vertical or diagonal). **(1)** Paper used is a roller of 115 mm width.\ **(2)** Printer command buttons.\ **(3)** Electromagnet that pushes the pen against paper for writing.\ **(4)** The print head moves laterally right across the paper width and swivels to carry out a pen colour change.\ **(5)** The head is connected through a cable to an engine which ensures its side moving by 0.2 mm steps.\ **(6)** A second engine controls top and bottom paper moving, also by 0.2 mm steps. /media/museum/hardware/oric_atmos_mcp40_2.jpg title url platform text Euphoric http://oric.ifrance.com/oric/emulator.html MS DOS The best ORIC emulators title url platform text Oric/MacOS http://www.bannister.org/software/oric.htm Apple Oric/MacOS is an Oric emulator for the Macintosh. title url platform text Xeuphoric http://www.teaser.fr/~amajorel/xeuphoric/ Unix / Linux Oric emulator for X11 platforms title url platform text AmOric http://oric.ifrance.com/oric/EMULATORS/Amoric.lha Amiga OS Oric emulator for the Amiga systems title url platform text ArcOric http://oric.ifrance.com/oric/EMULATORS/ArcOric12 RISC OS Oric emulator for RISC/OS title url platform text AtOric http://oric.ifrance.com/oric/EMULATORS/atoric09.zip Atari works with all Atari & Compatibles (Hades, Milan) title url platform text Oriculator http://code.google.com/p/oriculator/ Multiplatform Oricutron (formerly known as Oriculator) is an emulator for the Oric series of computers. It is written in plain C, and uses SDL. It is designed to be portable. title url text Club Europe Oric Home Page http://ceo.oric.org/ Club Europe Oric (or CEO for short) is an Oric user group title url text Defence Force Oric http://www.defence-force.org/computing/oric/index.htm Some very interesting info here title url text Marc's Oric Page http://mapage.cybercable.fr/marcpage/oric.htm Personal home page with some original programs to download title url text My nostalgia Oric page http://www.geffers.demon.co.uk/oricpage.html From an old Tansoft programmer title url text ORIC International http://www.oric.org I think this is where you must go first. There is among other things, a huge software database title url text Oric WebRing http://v.webring.com/hub?ring=oric Everything for the Oric title url text Oric World http://oric.iFrance.com/oric/index_french.html The site of the famous Fabrice Frances (includes the Oric Story book) title url text Pascal's Oric Page http://pleclerc.free.fr/Oric/OricPage.html in french, with ROM file to make your Oric Euro-Compatible ! title url text Rhetoric http://www.rhetoric.8k.com/ The last remaining British Oric magazine. title url text Swedish Oric Homepage http://come.to/oric Home of the Swedish software archive title url text The Reluctant Dragon http://freespace.virgin.net/james.groom/index.htm Home of the Oric FAQ, the Oric Cheats Directory and more title url text TheSpider's Oric Web http://oricspider.home.insightbb.com/ Personal site dedicated to the Oric Atmos title url text Twilighte http://twilighte.oric.org Site of the excellent Oric programmer of Magnetix. Many useful info and impressive works ! title url text Web Wiz CAPTCHA http://www.webwizcaptcha.com Discussion about Oric computers title url cover text ORIC-1 BASIC PROGRAMMING MANUAL http://www.defence-force.org/computing/oric/library/lib_manual_oric/index.htm /media/museum/docs/couvs/oric-1_basic-programming-manual.jpg [**ORIC-1 BASIC PROGRAMMING MANUAL**](http://www.defence-force.org/computing/oric/library/lib_manual_oric/index.htm)written by John SCRIVEN  compiled/archived by Unknown\  type of document : PDF\  source : [Defence Force](http://www.defence-force.org/) title url cover text MANUEL DE L'ATMOS (FRENCH MANUAL) http://www.defence-force.org/computing/oric/library/lib_manual_oric/index.htm /media/museum/docs/couvs/oric-atmos_manuel.jpg [**MANUEL DE L'ATMOS (FRENCH MANUAL)**](http://www.defence-force.org/computing/oric/library/lib_manual_oric/index.htm)written by Ian Adamson / Oric International  compiled/archived by William Saint-Cricq\  type of document : PDF\  source : [Defence Force](http://www.defence-force.org) title url cover text ORIC ATMOS & ORIC-1 - GRAPHICS AND MACHINE CODE TECHNIQUES http://www.1000bit.net/support/manuali/manuali.asp /media/museum/docs/couvs/oric-1-atmos_geoff-philips_1.jpg [**ORIC ATMOS & ORIC-1 - GRAPHICS AND MACHINE CODE TECHNIQUES**](http://www.1000bit.net/support/manuali/manuali.asp)written by Geoff Phillips  compiled/archived by Geoff Phillips\  type of document : PDF\  source : [1000Bit](http://www.1000bit.net/) title url cover text MANUEL D'UTILISATION DU SEDORIC (FRENCH) http://www.defence-force.org/computing/oric/library/lib_dos/manuel_microdisc_et_sedoric/index.htm /media/museum/docs/couvs/oric_microdsic-manuel.jpg [**MANUEL D'UTILISATION DU SEDORIC (FRENCH)**](http://www.defence-force.org/computing/oric/library/lib_dos/manuel_microdisc_et_sedoric/index.htm)written by Fabrice BROCHE & Denis SEBBAG  type of document : HTML\  source : [Defence Force](http://www.defence-force.org) title url cover text MICODISC MANUAL http://www.defence-force.org/computing/oric/library/lib_dos/index.htm /media/museum/docs/couvs/oric_microdisc_manual.jpg [**MICODISC MANUAL**](http://www.defence-force.org/computing/oric/library/lib_dos/index.htm)written by Oric Products International Limited  type of document : PDF\  source : [Defence Force](http://www.defence-force.org) title url cover text ORIC MCP-40 COLOUR PRINTER OPERATION MANUAL /media/museum/docs/oric_printer-mcp40_manual.pdf /media/museum/docs/couvs/oric_mcp40_manual.jpg [**ORIC MCP-40 COLOUR PRINTER OPERATION MANUAL**](/media/museum/docs/oric_printer-mcp40_manual.pdf)written by Oric Products International Limited  type of document : PDF\  source : [Defence Force](http://www.defence-force.org) /museum/oric-atmos /museum/oric-nova-64 180 url date https://web.archive.org/web/20230605143231/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=180 2023-06-05

This British computer was one of the most popular computers in Europe in the beginning of the 80's. It was a small computer, which was a competitor of the Sinclair Spectrum.

The two models (16 and 48) had the same technical characteristics.
A small plotter was available for this computer.

Notice that the sound chip was the same one used in the Amstrad CPC, MSX computers and Atari ST!

Its ROM was very buggy, & was later replaced with the Oric Atmos.