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
209 lines
8.8 KiB
Markdown
209 lines
8.8 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: Acorn Computer Archimedes A3000
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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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- '1989'
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cpus:
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- ARM 2 32 bit RISC
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params:
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name: Archimedes A3000
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image: /media/museum/photos/acorn_a3000_system_2.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 A3000
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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: '1989'
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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-AT style
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- label: CPU
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value: ARM 2 32 bit RISC
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- label: SPEED
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value: 4 / 8 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: 1Mb (up to 4Mb possible with slot in card)
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- label: ROM
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value: 512 KB (RISC OS 2) 1Mb (RISC OS 3)
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- label: TEXT MODES
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value: 132 x 32 maximum
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- label: GRAPHIC MODES
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value: '21'
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- label: COLORS
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value: 256 maximum
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- label: SOUND
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value: 8 voices
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- label: I/O PORTS
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value: Centronics, RS423, Video composite (monochrome only), RGB, optional Econet (network 250 KBits). 2 expansion slot (internal 8-bit and external 16-bit)
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- label: BUILT IN MEDIA
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value: one 3.5'' 800k disk-drive
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- label: OS
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value: RISC OS 2 (3.1 or later models, and most have been upgraded to v3)
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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: £650
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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: 681
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photos:
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- title: ARCHIMEDES 3000 FAMILY
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subtitle: ''
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text: ''
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image: /media/museum/photos/acorn_a3000_family_1.jpg
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- title: RIGHT SIDE
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subtitle: ''
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text: ''
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image: /media/museum/photos/acorn_a3000_rightside_1.jpg
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- title: A3000 LOGO
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subtitle: ''
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text: ''
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image: /media/museum/photos/acorn_a3000_keybcloseup_1.jpg
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- title: REAR CONNECTORS
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subtitle: ''
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text: |-
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**(1)** 16-bit bus expansion connector compatible with both earlier and later Archimedes machines\
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**(2)** Analogue RGB DB9 connector\
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**(3)** Monochrome composite video RCA jack\
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**(4)** Stereo headphone jack\
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**(5)** Parallel printer DB25 connector\
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**(6)** Serial DB9 connector. Two optional serial chips must be added before using this serial port!\
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**(7)** Optional Econet network connector\
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**(8)** Mouse connector located at the bottom of the case. Not very practical.
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image: /media/museum/photos/acorn_a3000_back_1.jpg
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- title: UNCOVERED SYSTEM
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subtitle: ''
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text: Notice the two loudspeakers (black and white leads), and the poor cardboard power supply protector.
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image: /media/museum/photos/acorn_a3000_uncovered_1.jpg
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- title: MAIN BOARD
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subtitle: ''
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text: |-
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**(1)** The switching power supply unit was made in Taiwan. It is normally covered with a cardboard protector\
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**(2)** Keyboard connectors\
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**(3)** Custom sound chip made by Philips\
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**(4)** Desktop preferences backup battery\
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**(5)** RISC-OS 3 ROM chips (4 x 128 KB)\
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**(6)** I/O custom chip (IOC). All other custom chips were made by VLSI\
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**(7)** 1 MB RAM Dip chips\
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**(8)** Floppy disk-drive connector\
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**(9)** RISC ARM 2 processor\
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**(10)** 1 MB RAM expansion module\
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**(11)** Memory management custom chip (MEMC)\
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**(12)** Video management custom chip (VIDC)\
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**(13)** Reset switch
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image: /media/museum/photos/acorn_a3000_mainboard_1.jpg
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- title: MAINBOARD CLOSE-UP
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subtitle: ''
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text: In the foreground, the ARM 2 32 bit RISC processor.
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image: /media/museum/photos/acorn_a3000_mboardcloseup_1.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-a3010
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- /museum/acorn-computer-archimedes-a3020
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- /museum/acorn-computer-archimedes-a4000
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- /museum/acorn-computer-archimedes-a5000
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- /museum/acorn-computer-archimedes-a7000
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oc_id: 697
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source:
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url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230607194932/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=697
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date: '2023-06-07'
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---
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The Acorn Archimedes A3000 was based on the Archimedes [A410](/museum/acorn-computer-archimedes/) but in an 1040ST/Amiga A500-style wedge unit. Designed for the home market, it was intended as a replacement for the [BBC Micro](/museum/acorn-computer-bbc-model-a-b-b/) and like the earlier Archimedes models it was only really used in British schools up until very recently.
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Acorn started to phase out the Archimedes name and the machine was now simply badged Acorn A3000. Rumours have it that some of the Acorn A410 models had serious reliability problems and had to be recalled, so the Archimedes name was dropped to boost the machine's reputation.
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Like the Atari and Amiga computers it had a built-in keyboard and disk drive located on the right-hand side, but unusually it also had two stereo speakers on either side of the unit. This form factor is ideal for a school environment as it doesn’t take up too much space and was often used with a metal plinth allowing a monitor to stand on top, usually an Acorn-badged Phillips 8853 (AKF12) or 8833 MK11 (AKF17).
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The A3000 had two expansion ports. The internal one was a cut down 8-bit version of the type found on the earlier Archimedes machines. The second one, on the rear of the case, was a 16-bit version fully compatible with both earlier and later machines.
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The operating system could read PC 720K disks and provided improved facilities for hard disk and networking, as well as some apps included in ROM which would appear on the task bar, such as Paint, Edit, and other useful programs.
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The A3000 was replaced by the [A3010](/museum/acorn-computer-archimedes-a3010/) and [A3020](/museum/acorn-computer-archimedes-a3020/) models in 1992.
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Thanks to **Jonathan Hayward** for his help.
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