yann64andClaude Opus 5.5
b274874139
1,289 discussions, 9,527 archived comments; pages no longer carry the comments themselves. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01YDRjtmAiNpo5mK5N3d7QwZ
206 lines
7.3 KiB
Markdown
206 lines
7.3 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: Acorn Computer Archimedes A4000
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categories:
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- Computers
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types:
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- Professional Computer
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origins:
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- United Kingdom
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years:
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- '1992'
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cpus:
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- ARM 250 32 bit RISC
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params:
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name: Archimedes A4000
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image: /media/museum/photos/acorn_a4000_running_s1.jpg
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company: /companies/acorn-computer
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company_name: Acorn Computer
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specs:
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- label: NAME
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value: Archimedes A4000
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- label: MANUFACTURER
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value: Acorn Computer
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- label: TYPE
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value: Professional Computer
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- label: ORIGIN
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value: United Kingdom
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- label: YEAR
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value: september 1992
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- label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
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value: BBC BASIC
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- label: KEYBOARD
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value: Full-stroke PC 102 keys style
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- label: CPU
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value: ARM 250 32 bit RISC
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- label: SPEED
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value: 12 MHz
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- label: CO-PROCESSOR
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value: MEMC (memory), VIDC (Video and Sound), IOC (I/O)
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- label: RAM
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value: 2 to 4 MB
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- label: ROM
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value: 2 MB
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- label: TEXT MODES
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value: Up to 132 columns x 32 rows
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- label: GRAPHIC MODES
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value: VGA video output. Several graphic modes. Among them 640 x 256 or 512 pixels
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- label: COLORS
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value: Palette of 4096 colours
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- label: SOUND
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value: 8 voices synthesizer
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- label: I/O PORTS
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value: Centronics, RS423, VGA, 1 expansion slot (same as A3000, A3010 and A3020)
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- label: BUILT IN MEDIA
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value: One 3.5'' FDD, 0 to 210 MB HDD
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- label: OS
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value: RISC OS 3.11
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- label: POWER SUPPLY
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value: Built-in power supply unit
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- label: PRICE
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value: Approx. £800
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tabs:
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- photos
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- hardware
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- emulators
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- links
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- docs
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forum_thread: 692
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photos:
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- title: LARGE VIEW
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subtitle: ''
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text: ''
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image: /media/museum/photos/acorn_a4000_running_s2.jpg
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- title: 'MAIN UNIT #1'
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subtitle: ''
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text: ''
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image: /media/museum/photos/acorn_a4000_system_s2.jpg
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- title: 'MAIN UNIT #2'
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subtitle: ''
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text: ''
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image: /media/museum/photos/acorn_a4000_system_s3.jpg
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- title: 'MAIN UNIT #3'
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subtitle: ''
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text: ''
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image: /media/museum/photos/acorn_a4000_frontview_s1.jpg
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- title: CASE
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subtitle: ''
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text: The A4000 case was a slim down version of the A5000's
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image: /media/museum/photos/acorn_a4000_a5000case_s1.jpg
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- title: REAR PANEL
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subtitle: ''
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text: |-
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From left to right:
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• AC Power in/out sockets\
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• Keyboard mini din connector\
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• Parallel printer DB25 connector\
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• Serial RS232 DB9 connector\
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• Optional Econet DB15 connector\
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• Stereo sound output jack\
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• Standard DB15 video output\
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• The Midi card provides Midi Thru, Midi in, Midi out and User port connectors.
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image: /media/museum/photos/acorn_a4000_rearcon_s1.jpg
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- title: OPENED
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subtitle: ''
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text: Note the clipped hard disk and floppy disk drive and the Midi expansion card.
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image: /media/museum/photos/acorn_a4000_opened_s1.jpg
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- title: MOTHERBOARD
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subtitle: ''
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text: |-
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**(1)** ARM 250 CPU\
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**(2)** Expansion connectors\
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**(3)** RISC OS 3.11 ROMs\
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**(4)** Video and I/O custom chipset\
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**(5)** 4 MB RAM chips (2 MB standard + 2 MB in DIP ICs)\
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**(6)** FDD and HDD connectors.
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image: /media/museum/photos/acorn_a4000_mainboard_s1.jpg
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hardware:
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- title: 486 CARD
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subtitle: ''
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text: Allowed Archimedes series computers to run 32-bit PC-DOS software. It was delivered with a manual, a driver disk and PC-DOS 6.3
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image: /media/museum/hardware/acorn_a39000_486card_1.jpg
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- title: GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR
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subtitle: ''
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text: |-
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Graphics accelerator card (called "ColourCard") for A3000, Archimedes and A5000.\
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Company : Computer Concepts\
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Enhanced potential for Archimedes series including 15-bit desktop modes (i.e. 800\*600 @ 256 colours).
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Thanks to **Chris Syntichakis**
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image: /media/museum/hardware/acorn_a5000_colorcard_1.jpg
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- title: CUMANA SCSI CARD
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subtitle: ''
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text: |-
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16-bit SCSI-1 card\
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Company: Cumana.\
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There are an external port for scanners/CD-ROM etc. and 2 internal ports for SCSI and Floptical drives.
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Thanks to **Chris Syntichakis**
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image: /media/museum/hardware/acorn_a5000_scsicard_1.jpg
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- title: SERIAL CARD
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subtitle: ''
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text: |-
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From Atomwide's site:\
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High speed serial card featuring three ports, each in the shape of a standard 9-pin ‘D’ plug. Each port on the card is capable of running at up to 460,800 bits per second, and employs a 16-byte FIFO buffer to reduce loading on the host computer’s processor, so improving communications reliability. All serial cards are standard single-width podules, and are fully compatible with Atomwide 6 and 8-slot RiscPC backplanes.
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image: /media/museum/hardware/acorn_a5000_serialcard_1.jpg
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- title: MIDI CARD
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subtitle: ''
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text: Allowed Archimedes systems to interact with any midi sound device.
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image: /media/museum/hardware/acorn_a4000_midicard_s1.jpg
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emulators:
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- title: Arculator
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url: http://b-em.bbcmicro.com/arculator/
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platform: Windows
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text: An excellent Windows-based Archimedes emulator, plays many games and has simple usage.
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- title: Red Squirrel
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url: http://www.red-squirrel.org/
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platform: Windows
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text: An Emulator of Arm based Acorn machines for Windows 98/ME/2000/XP
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- title: Virtual Acorn
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url: http://www.virtualacorn.co.uk/
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platform: Windows
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text: Excellent but commercial software - £30
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- title: ARCHIE
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url: http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/campus/5427/
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platform: Multiplatform
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text: Archie is an emulation of the Acorn Archimedes hardware (A3xx/A4xx/A3xxx) for DOS/Windows
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links:
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- title: Web Wiz CAPTCHA
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url: http://www.webwizcaptcha.com
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text: ''
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docs:
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- title: TOM'S ARCHIMEDES DOCS (INTERNAL HARDWARE)
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url: http://b-em.bbcmicro.com/arculator/index.html
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cover: /media/museum/docs/couvs/vide.gif
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text: |-
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[**TOM'S ARCHIMEDES DOCS (INTERNAL HARDWARE)**](http://b-em.bbcmicro.com/arculator/index.html)written by Tom Mowalker
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compiled/archived by Tom Mowalker\
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type of document : HTML\
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source : [Arculator](http://b-em.bbcmicro.com/arculator/index.html)
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related:
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- /museum/acorn-computer-a4
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- /museum/acorn-computer-archimedes
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- /museum/acorn-computer-archimedes-a3000
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- /museum/acorn-computer-archimedes-a3010
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- /museum/acorn-computer-archimedes-a3020
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- /museum/acorn-computer-archimedes-a5000
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- /museum/acorn-computer-archimedes-a7000
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oc_id: 709
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source:
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url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230202014543/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=709
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date: '2023-02-02'
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---
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The Acorn A4000 was a slightly cheaper cut down [A5000](/museum/acorn-computer-archimedes-a5000/), with a shorter case, one expansion slot and an ARM250 processor.
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Curiously, the machine had its floppy and hard drive fixed to the chassis with a wire clip which meant these could be quickly replaced without tools, whereas replacing the hard disk on the A5000 was a more fiddly operation requiring the expansion slot plane and the whole chassis holding the drives to be removed.
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Many of the features (ARM250, VGA screen modes, RISC OS 3) of this model were implemented into the lower end A3010 and A3020 computers.
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The keyboard was a much cheaper type more similar to a generic PC unit.
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A rare 486 PC emulator on a card was available, similar cards became popular on the later RISC PC models.
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Information supplied by **Jonathan Hayward**
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