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

---
title: TRIUMPH ADLER ALPHATRONIC PC
categories:
- Computers
types:
- Professional Computer
origins:
- Germany
years:
- '1983'
cpus:
- Zilog Z80
params:
  name: ALPHATRONIC PC
  company: /companies/triumph-adler
  company_name: TRIUMPH ADLER
  specs:
  - label: NAME
    value: ALPHATRONIC PC
  - label: MANUFACTURER
    value: Triumph Adler
  - label: TYPE
    value: Professional Computer
  - label: ORIGIN
    value: Germany
  - label: YEAR
    value: '1983'
  - label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
    value: Microsoft Basic 5.11
  - label: KEYBOARD
    value: Full-stroke keyboard, 6 function keys, arrow keys and separated numeric keypad, 85 keys
  - label: CPU
    value: Zilog Z80
  - label: SPEED
    value: 4 MHz
  - label: RAM
    value: 64 KB (28 156 bytes free in Basic!)
  - label: ROM
    value: 32 KB
  - label: TEXT MODES
    value: 40 or 80 chars. x 24 lines
  - label: GRAPHIC MODES
    value: 80 x 72 / 160 x 72 dots
  - label: COLORS
    value: '8'
  - label: SOUND
    value: 1 voice, built-in speaker
  - label: SIZE / WEIGHT
    value: 40.5 (W) x 25.5 (D) x 7.3 (H) cm / 3,5 kg
  - label: I/O PORTS
    value: RGB video out, Tape interface, Serial RS232c/V24 port (from 300 to 9600 baud), Centronics/Parallel port, Disk-drive connector, Cartridge/Rompack slot
  - label: BUILT IN MEDIA
    value: optional one or two 5.25'' disk-drives (320 kb each)
  - label: OS
    value: CP/M 2.1 (then 2.2) with diskdrives
  - label: POWER SUPPLY
    value: Built-in power supply unit
  - label: PERIPHERALS
    value: 5''1/4 disk-drives, printers (DRH 80/1 and TRD-170)
  - label: PRICE
    value: |-
      1500 DM (Germany, 83)\
      £347 (U.K., 1984)\
      $498 (USA, 1985)
  tabs:
  - photos
  - adverts
  - hardware
  photos:
  - title: ALPHATRONIC PC
    subtitle: ''
    text: Thanks to Steve Buniak for this picture
    image: null
  - title: ROYAL ALPHATRONIC PC
    subtitle: ''
    text: This model was sold in the USA by Royal
    image: null
  - title: REAR
    subtitle: ''
    text: Thanks to Steve Buniak for this picture
    image: null
  - title: LEFT SIDE
    subtitle: ''
    text: Thanks to Steve Buniak for this picture
    image: null
  - title: ABOVE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: null
  - title: UNDERNEATH
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: null
  adverts:
  - title: 'FRENCH ADVERT #1'
    subtitle: ''
    text: '"The family advice"'
    image: null
  - title: 'FRENCH ADVERT #2'
    subtitle: ''
    text: The personal computer at the top of its form.
    image: null
  - title: END OF LIFE
    subtitle: ''
    text: 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.
    image: null
  - title: FRENCH AD (JUNE 1986)
    subtitle: ''
    text: In 1986, the Alphatronic PC was bargained in many broker shops for a low price.
    image: null
  hardware:
  - title: TV ADAPTOR
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: null
  - title: EXTERNAL DISK DRIVE
    subtitle: ''
    text: Thanks to Steve Buniak for this picture
    image: null
  - title: F1 AND F2 DISK-DRIVES
    subtitle: ''
    text: 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.
    image: null
  comments:
  - author: Joachim Feld (Deutschland)
    date: Saturday 4th September 2021
    text: 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: Numanoid (Norway)
    date: Monday 2nd August 2021
    text: '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: Seawarrior (Danvers, MA USA)
    date: Tuesday 22nd October 2019
    text: 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: Obada El''esh (Jordan)
    date: Wednesday 16th August 2017
    text: |-
      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: Hans van der Puijl (Belgium)
    date: Sunday 8th January 2012
    text: |-
      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: Brian Futrell (Raleigh, NC)
    date: Friday 13rd May 2005
    text: 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: Roger (southington connecticut ,USA)
    date: Tuesday 22nd July 2003
    text: 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
  oc_id: 241
  source:
    url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230324214131/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=241
    date: '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.

---

Contributors: Steeve Buniak