website/content/museum/triumph-adler-alphatronic-pc.md

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

title	categories	types	origins	years	cpus	params
TRIUMPH ADLER ALPHATRONIC PC	Computers	Professional Computer	Germany	1983	Zilog Z80	name company company_name specs tabs photos adverts hardware comments oc_id source ALPHATRONIC PC /companies/triumph-adler TRIUMPH ADLER label value NAME ALPHATRONIC PC label value MANUFACTURER Triumph Adler label value TYPE Professional Computer label value ORIGIN Germany label value YEAR 1983 label value BUILT IN LANGUAGE Microsoft Basic 5.11 label value KEYBOARD Full-stroke keyboard, 6 function keys, arrow keys and separated numeric keypad, 85 keys label value CPU Zilog Z80 label value SPEED 4 MHz label value RAM 64 KB (28 156 bytes free in Basic!) label value ROM 32 KB label value TEXT MODES 40 or 80 chars. x 24 lines label value GRAPHIC MODES 80 x 72 / 160 x 72 dots label value COLORS 8 label value SOUND 1 voice, built-in speaker label value SIZE / WEIGHT 40.5 (W) x 25.5 (D) x 7.3 (H) cm / 3,5 kg label value I/O PORTS RGB video out, Tape interface, Serial RS232c/V24 port (from 300 to 9600 baud), Centronics/Parallel port, Disk-drive connector, Cartridge/Rompack slot label value BUILT IN MEDIA optional one or two 5.25'' disk-drives (320 kb each) label value OS CP/M 2.1 (then 2.2) with diskdrives label value POWER SUPPLY Built-in power supply unit label value PERIPHERALS 5''1/4 disk-drives, printers (DRH 80/1 and TRD-170) label value PRICE 1500 DM (Germany, 83)\ £347 (U.K., 1984)\ $498 (USA, 1985) photos adverts hardware title subtitle text image ALPHATRONIC PC Thanks to Steve Buniak for this picture null title subtitle text image ROYAL ALPHATRONIC PC This model was sold in the USA by Royal null title subtitle text image REAR Thanks to Steve Buniak for this picture null title subtitle text image LEFT SIDE Thanks to Steve Buniak for this picture null title subtitle text image ABOVE null title subtitle text image UNDERNEATH null title subtitle text image FRENCH ADVERT #1 "The family advice" null title subtitle text image FRENCH ADVERT #2 The personal computer at the top of its form. null title subtitle text image END OF LIFE At the end of 1985, the entire stock of Alphatronic PC and peripherals is sold to brokers which sold them at 25% of the original price. null title subtitle text image FRENCH AD (JUNE 1986) In 1986, the Alphatronic PC was bargained in many broker shops for a low price. null title subtitle text image TV ADAPTOR null title subtitle text image EXTERNAL DISK DRIVE Thanks to Steve Buniak for this picture null title subtitle text image F1 AND F2 DISK-DRIVES These are 5''1/4 diskdrives (320kb each). F1 has the disk-controller built-in and can be connected directly to the computer, whereas F2 is a stand-alone disk-drive and has to be linked to F1 (thus the disk controller) to be used. null author date text Joachim Feld (Deutschland) Saturday 4th September 2021 Anybody interested in getting lots of parts and some functional Systems for free? I''m living in a Nuremberg and if you are interested send me an e-mail. author date text Numanoid (Norway) Monday 2nd August 2021 Package deal on this computer, with disk drive, monitor and software was sold for $498 during summer 1985 (marked down from $1448 according to the info): https://youtu.be/TTi80NldsYE?t$289 author date text Seawarrior (Danvers, MA USA) Tuesday 22nd October 2019 My very first programming job, when I was 19, was programming accounts receivable, sales lead tracking, and creating some spreadsheets on a Royal Alphatronic PC in 1986, in Peabody at the New England Home Planning Center, a place that sold modular homes. 33 years later and I''m still hacking. All the coding I did on this thing was in Beginners All Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code. I forget the name of the software, but PeachTree rings a bell. Would love to find one on eBay for a trip down memory lane. author date text Obada El''esh (Jordan) Wednesday 16th August 2017 Hello everyone,\ does anyone know how much does it cost to get this legacy PC it''s great ? can we find it in auctions ? or something author date text Hans van der Puijl (Belgium) Sunday 8th January 2012 Hello,\ All this is about the TA PC 8, from wich I have 1 Matmos and 2 TA mainunits 1x F1 and 1x F2 Floppy and a 4x 5 MB HD(seagate 225) and FD80/40 trackn system and lots of software CP/M 2.2 $3 ,NZ-com,Z3plus and diskbasic based.\ But there is also a PC16 also a mainunit and 2 external floppydrives with 8088 cpu and MS-DOS compatible. I have one but have n''t used it a long time so I can''t remember how much $ in any case it will not start from IBM or Microsoft disks. Groetjes, Hans author date text Brian Futrell (Raleigh, NC) Friday 13rd May 2005 As a teenager, one of my friends had one of these. However, his was branded by Royal and included the monitor, floppy drive and software. I don't know if he still has it or not. author date text Roger (southington connecticut ,USA) Tuesday 22nd July 2003 i love this computer, i got it free from a metal shop, it has been in use constantly untill the diskd drive died last month, if anyone has an extra of one for sale ,please email me 241 url date https://web.archive.org/web/20230324214131/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=241 2023-03-24

Triumph was originally Triumph-Adler - the merger company of the 2 typewriter manufacturers Triumph and Adler, to which Triumph (which also produced mechanical calculators and sewing-machines) was the bigger one. Later they got US-typewriter Royal merged into it and had the best years between 1975 and 1988, when they even build competiting machines to IBM System /34 and /36 ... but they did neither understand nor learn the business and ran out of the financial power.

The technical part of TA is today a subsidary of Olivetti which tells it all about the downfall of TA. The operational part is a Holding in Nuremberg, which deals with offices, buildings and health-care.

The Alphatronic was mainly sold in Germany and was intended as a 'hybrid' Business / Home machine. For Business it was sold as either a 'dumb' Terminal or as a stand-alone Word Processor 'package' (consisting of base unit, WP Cartridge and (Centronics) printer.

For home the base unit had a 'built in' Basic ROM - it was also available with either a single or dual Floppy Disks (which included CP/M and Disk basic).

It never sold very well in either market - it was much too expensive for home use.

Thanks to its Z80 CPU, the Alphatronic PC can run CP/M and quite a few software packages available for it. There were two external disk-drives available: F1 and F2. F1 had the controller built-in. You had to have F1 to use F2, the second one.

Sometimes, the Alphatronic PC was sold as a complete wordprocessing package with a daisy-wheel printer (Triumph-Adler TR-170) and a word-processing cartridge inserted into the ROM-pack slot (top left part of the case).

Towards the end of it's life, the British Company, MATMOS sold off the final 'batch' or single & dual floppy packages together with a RGB-PAL convertor box.

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Contributors: Steeve Buniak