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title, categories, types, origins, years, cpus, params
title categories types origins years cpus params
ACT Apricot Xen
Computers
Professional Computer
United Kingdom
1985
80286
name image company company_name specs tabs forum_thread photos emulators links docs related oc_id source
Apricot Xen /media/museum/photos/apricot_xenxi_sysstem_1.jpg /companies/act ACT
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NAME Apricot Xen
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MANUFACTURER ACT
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TYPE Professional Computer
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ORIGIN United Kingdom
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YEAR October 1985
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BUILT IN LANGUAGE None
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KEYBOARD Full-stroke keyboard, numeric keypad, 10 function keys and 6 dynamic function keys\ Small LCD screen (40 characters x 2 lines)
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CPU 80286
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SPEED 7,5 Mhz
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RAM 512 KB or 1 MB depending models
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ROM Unknown
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TEXT MODES 80 chars. x 25 lines
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GRAPHIC MODES Monochrome (green or paper white) 800 x 400 dots\ Colour 640 x 350 dots
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COLORS Unknown
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SOUND Unknown
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SIZE / WEIGHT 37 (W) x 37 (D) x 10 (H) cm (CPU)
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I/O PORTS Parallel, Serial, Video out, Apricot monitor output
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BUILT IN MEDIA One 3''1/2 disk-drive (sometimes 5''1/4) and 20Mb hard-disk
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OS MS-DOS 3.2, Windows, Xenix optional
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POWER SUPPLY External or internal power supply unit, depending models
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PERIPHERALS Trackball, external 5.25 F.D.D. unit
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PRICE Xen FD: £1699 - Xen HD: £2699 - Xen WS: £1199
photos
emulators
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495
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XEN-I MODEL A XEN-i.10 version with a 10 MB hard disk, optional Xen-Tel and high resolution colour monitor. The Xen-i was launched with a 5.25" FDD, and then reverted to a 3.5" FDD. You can still tell the Xen from the Xen-i because the floppy drive design was different (Xen had an eject button on the right of the drive, Xen-i had a centred eject button). /media/museum/photos/act_apricotxi_system_2.jpg
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XEN MODEL The Xen only came in a 3.5" FDD version. You can still tell the Xen from the Xen-i because the floppy drive design was different (Xen had an eject button on the right of the drive, Xen-i had a centred eject button). Notice the cordless track-ball which replaced the mouse. /media/museum/photos/act_apricot-xen_1.jpg
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RIGHT SIDE Monochrome version /media/museum/photos/apricot_xenxi_rightside_1.jpg
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FRONT PANEL 5.25'' version. We have no information about the 'voice' LED feature /media/museum/photos/apricot_xenxi_frontpanel_1.jpg
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KEYBOARD CLOSE-UP The 80-character LCD display is used to dynamically label programmable function keys /media/museum/photos/apricot_xenxi_keyboard_1.jpg
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REAR CONNECTORS **(1)** External floppy drive unit connector\ **(2)** Expansion connector\ **(3)** 12V / 5V DC outlet\ **(4)** Parallel printer connector\ **(5)** Serial DB9 connector\ **(6)** Apricot video connector\ **(7)** PC compatible video connector\ **(8)** Mains plug and switch\ **(9)** Keyboard DIN plug /media/museum/photos/apricot_xenxi_back_1.jpg
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INSIDE **(1)** Switching power supply unit\ **(2)** Internal speaker\ **(3)** Provision for a second floppy disc unit (but no room inside the case!)\ **(4)** 2 x AA batteries housing used for hardware setup backup\ **(5)** 5.25" floppy disc drive\ **(6)** 20 MB 3.5" hard disc drive\ **(7)** Internal and external expansion slots. Internal one is 16-bit PC compatible\ **(8)** 80286 processor and socket for 287 math co-processor /media/museum/photos/apricot_xenxi_inside_1.jpg
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XEN-XI MAIN BOARD **(1)** Hard disk connector. Up to two MFM hard disks could be connected\ **(2)** Western Digital hard disk controller chipset\ **(3)** MOS 6845 video chipset and Apricot video gate array chip\ **(4)** Western Digital floppy disc controller\ **(5)** Floppy drive connector\ **(6)** Reset switch\ **(7)** 32 KB BIOS ROM chips (2 x 27128)\ **(8)** RAM memory expansion connector\ **(9)** 512 KB internal RAM area (16 x 60256 chips)\ **(10)** Keyboard connector (right), Ni.Cd setup battery backup and power connector (left)\ **(11)** Apricot monochrome video daughterboard\ **(12)** Parallel printer connector\ **(13)** 80287 math co-processor socket\ **(14)** Apricot XP-i expansion box connector\ **(15)** Intel 80286 processor\ **(16)** Internal AT-type expansion slot\ **(17)** External floppy drive or tape drive connector /media/museum/photos/apricot_xenxi_mainboard_1.jpg
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APE Plus : Apricot Emulator http://www.ansible.demon.co.uk/ai/ape.html MS DOS Commercial emulator that emulates PC/Xi/Xen, the `F' Series, and the Apricot FP Portable
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QDAE http://www.seasip.info/Unix/QDAE/ Multiplatform 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.
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ACT Apricot computers support page http://www.actapricot.org/home/ Useful infos. Some links might be outdated
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ACT Apricot Computers Yahoo Group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/actapricot/ Discussion list for the ACT Apricot computers.
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USER PROMPT APRICOT GUIDE ISSUE 1 http://www.actapricot.org/support/ /media/museum/docs/couvs/act_apricot-user-prompt_1.jpg [**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)
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USER PROMPT APRICOT GUIDE ISSUE 2 http://www.actapricot.org/support/ /media/museum/docs/couvs/act_apricot-user-prompt_2.jpg [**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)
/museum/act-apricot-f1
/museum/act-apricot-f2-f10
/museum/act-apricot-pc
/museum/act-apricot-portable
/museum/act-apricot-xi
501
url date
https://web.archive.org/web/20230603003909/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=501 2023-06-03

Codenamed Candyfloss, this computer was aimed to compete with the IBM PC-AT. It was a multipost system capable of controlling up to 16 stations.

Three versions were sold:
• Xen FD with 512 KB of RAM and 2 x 720 KB 3.5" FDD.
• Xen HD with 1 MB of RAM, 720 KB 3.5" or 1.2 MB 5.25" FDD. and 20 MB HDD.
• Xen WS (WorkStation) with 1 MB of RAM and no disk drives.

Some Xen systems used a large black external power supply unit weighing at least 2-3 kilos, others featured a built-in one.

Speed of processing, supposedly zero wait-state, was superior to that of the IBM-AT. The motherboard featured a hard disk controller but the graphics card was delivered separately.

Xen systems also shipped with MS-DOS 3.2, GW-Basic and Windows. They could also run Xenix O.S.!

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