website/content/museum/franklin-ace-500.md

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

title	categories	types	origins	years	cpus	params
Franklin ACE 500	Computers	Professional Computer	U.S.A.	1983	MOS 65C02	name company company_name specs tabs photos docs comments oc_id source ACE 500 /companies/franklin Franklin label value NAME ACE 500 label value MANUFACTURER Franklin label value TYPE Professional Computer label value ORIGIN U.S.A. label value YEAR 1983 label value END OF PRODUCTION 1983 label value BUILT IN LANGUAGE Applesoft BASIC label value KEYBOARD Full stroke 90 keys with function keys and numeric keypad label value CPU MOS 65C02 label value SPEED Unknown label value RAM 256 KB expandable to 512 KB on board label value ROM Unknown label value TEXT MODES 40 / 80 chars. x 24 lines (monochrome) label value GRAPHIC MODES All of the Apple IIc modes: 40 x 48 (16 col) / 80 x 48 (16 col) / 280 x 192 (6 col) / 140 x 192 (16 col) / 560 x 192 (mono) label value COLORS 16 maximum label value SOUND Built-in speaker label value I/O PORTS Parallel, Serial, NTSC RGB and composite video, joystick, mouse label value BUILT IN MEDIA Built-in 5.25 label value OS Apple DOS 3.X label value POWER SUPPLY Built-in power supply unit label value PRICE Unknown photos docs title subtitle text image FRONT VIEW null title subtitle text image CLOSE-UP null title subtitle text image BACK SIDE **(1)** Serial port DIN plug\ **(2)** Configuration switches\ **(3)** Parallel DB25 connector\ **(4)** External drive unit DB15 connector\ **(5)** Mouse and Joystick DB9 connector\ **(6)** RGB video out DB9 connector\ **(7)** Monochrome composite video out RCA jack\ **(8)** DC power plug. An external AC adaptor provides power. null title url cover text OWNER'S REFERENCE MANUAL http://www.apple-iigs.info/doc/home.htm null [**OWNER'S REFERENCE MANUAL**](http://www.apple-iigs.info/doc/home.htm)written by Franklin  type of document : PDF\  size : 11,7 MB\  source : [www.apple-iigs.info](http://www.apple-iigs.info/) **... READ THE ONLINE VERSION BY CLICKING BELOW :** author date text Ray McAnally (USA) Thursday 17th February 2011 The ACE 500 was a clone of the Apple //c with some interesting exras. You could use either a Composite input monitor like the Apple //c used or you could use a IBM style CGA monitor. When either monitor was in text mode, you could $ the text color on the screen (green, amber or paper white) The unit shipped in configurations of either 256k or 512k versus the 128k of the Apple //c. This allowed memory resident programs such as Appleworks to be loaded entirely into memory and still provide desk space for large documents as well as switching between documents. The keyboard are is larger with an included 10 key keypad as well as function keys that could be set to perform word processor functions in Appleworks. These functions were available on the Apple by memorizing special key combinations. The Franklin did them automaticly. Having used both machines as well as several others from both Apple and Franklin, I can state that the functionality as well as the build quality of the Franklins were superior to Apple. Apple had some nicer designs, but they could have taken a page from the Franklin play book. author date text MooglyGuy (USA) Saturday 30th October 2004 Regarding the ACE500, I once picked up two or three of them that a computer repair shop was throwing out. They all worked great, and were sturdy machines - I once dropped one several feet and it still worked fine! It's worth noting, however, that the machine isn't exactly like an Apple //c as it's heavier than one, deeper than one. A better gauge would be that it's a couple inches wider and deeper than the Commodore 128. Also, the picture of the connectors is obviously of a version that I did not have - the ones I had had a standard three-pronged AC cable jack where the AC adaptor input is located in the picture. 793 url date https://web.archive.org/web/20230129164849/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=793 2023-01-29

The Franklin ACE 500 was a 100% Apple IIe and Apple IIc compatible computer with a built-in 5.25" disk drive and 256 KB of RAM.

It looked pretty much like a black //c, featured all of the standard Apple ports and a better keyboard with a numeric keypad. It was also very similar to the Laser 128 in design and features.

The ACE 500 was the last Apple II compatible Franklin manufactured. Its capabilities and abilities were identical to the Ace 2000 series. The Company was sued in 1982 by Apple for copyright and patent infringement and ceased making computers in August 1983.

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