Computer published 43 years ago:

Acorn Electron (c) 1983 Acorn Computer, Limited.

The Acorn Electron was a budget version of the BBC Micro educational/home computer.

- TECHNICAL -

CPU: MOS Technology 6502A Clock rate: variable. CPU runs at 2 MHz when accessing ROM and 1 MHz or 0.5897 MHz (depending on graphics mode) when accessing RAM due to sharing memory access with the video display circuits. The Electron is widely misquoted as operating at 1.79 MHz after measurements derived from speed testing against the thoroughly 2 MHz BBC Micro for various pieces of 'common software' Glue logic: Ferranti Semiconductor Custom ULA RAM: 32 kB ROM: 32 kB Text modes: 20×32, 40×25, 40×32, 80×25, 80×32 (all text output produced by software in graphics modes) Graphics modes: 160×256 (4 or 16 colours), 320×256 (2 or 4 colours), 640×256 (2 colours), 320×200 (2 colours — spaced display with two blank horizontal lines following every 8 pixel lines), 640×200 (2 colours — spaced display) Colours: 8 colours (TTL combinations of RGB primaries) + 8 flashing versions of the same colours Sound: 1 channel of sound, 7 octaves; built-in speaker. Software emulation of noise channel supported Dimensions: 16×34×6.5 cm I/O ports: Expansion port, tape recorder connector (1200 baud CUTS variation on the Kansas City standard for data encoding, via a 7-pin circular DIN connector), aerial TV connector (RF modulator), composite video and RGB monitor output Power supply: External PSU, 18V AC

- TRIVIA -

If you are exploring by feel rather than by title, jump from the tags above into the matching genre rooms, or return to the Arcade hall for the full wall.

Open Play on this page to start Acorn Electron. Keyboard, USB/Bluetooth pads, and the on-screen touch gamepad all work inside the emulator bar. Save states and fullscreen live on that same bar so you can pause mid-session and resume later.

Genre tags on Classic Arcade Games: Arcade.