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SAM Coupé
The SAM Coupé (pronounced /sæm ku:peɪ/ from its original British English branding) is an 8-bit British home computer manufactured by Miles Gordon Technology (MGT), based in Swansea in the United Kingdom and released in December 1989.
It was based on and designed to have a compatibility mode with the ZX Spectrum 48K with influences from the Loki project and marketed as a logical upgrade from the Spectrum with increased memory, graphical and sound capabilities, native peripheral support (floppy disk, MIDI, joystick, light pen/light gun and a proprietary mouse).
The inclusion of support for higher graphical modes allowed for 80-column text presentation, providing a platform to support productivity and CP/M applications via additional software.
Being based on 8-bit technology at a time when 16-bit home computers were more prevalent, coupled with a lack of commercial software titles, led to it being a commercial failure.
When MGT went into receivership in June 1990 two further attempts were made to restart the computer and brand, firstly under SAM Computers Limited and then in November 1992 under West Coast Computers, a company spun from Format Publications which lasted until liquidation in 2005.
The capitalised SAM is an acronym for 'Some Amazing Micro' according to Alan Miles in an interview with ZAT magazine.
The ‘Coupé’ part has two sources: one being an ice cream sundae called the “Ice Cream Coupé” and the other because the machine resembles a fastback car in profile with the feet as the wheels.
The SAM Coupé's hardware was designed by Bruce Gordon of Miles Gordon Technology. The computer included custom silicon to handle display, memory and IO functionality. This was originally prototyped using wire-wrapped 7400-series logic chips, before being produced as a VLSI VGT-200 gate array ASIC.
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SAM Coupé
The SAM Coupé (pronounced /sæm ku:peɪ/ from its original British English branding) is an 8-bit British home computer manufactured by Miles Gordon Technology (MGT), based in Swansea in the United Kingdom and released in December 1989.
It was based on and designed to have a compatibility mode with the ZX Spectrum 48K with influences from the Loki project and marketed as a logical upgrade from the Spectrum with increased memory, graphical and sound capabilities, native peripheral support (floppy disk, MIDI, joystick, light pen/light gun and a proprietary mouse).
The inclusion of support for higher graphical modes allowed for 80-column text presentation, providing a platform to support productivity and CP/M applications via additional software.
Being based on 8-bit technology at a time when 16-bit home computers were more prevalent, coupled with a lack of commercial software titles, led to it being a commercial failure.
When MGT went into receivership in June 1990 two further attempts were made to restart the computer and brand, firstly under SAM Computers Limited and then in November 1992 under West Coast Computers, a company spun from Format Publications which lasted until liquidation in 2005.
The capitalised SAM is an acronym for 'Some Amazing Micro' according to Alan Miles in an interview with ZAT magazine.
The ‘Coupé’ part has two sources: one being an ice cream sundae called the “Ice Cream Coupé” and the other because the machine resembles a fastback car in profile with the feet as the wheels.
The SAM Coupé's hardware was designed by Bruce Gordon of Miles Gordon Technology. The computer included custom silicon to handle display, memory and IO functionality. This was originally prototyped using wire-wrapped 7400-series logic chips, before being produced as a VLSI VGT-200 gate array ASIC.