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REVIEW BBC MASTER 512 COMPACT THE END OF THE LINE By Roger Cullis With an add-on board to run The main criticism of the BBC Micro hitherto has been its high cost. The reason for SPECIFICATIONS MS-DOS software and an this is that the computer came with many economy-priced 3.5in. disc interfaces — analogue, input, user port, cas- MASTER .512. CARD version, Acorn is keeping sette, ROM and disc filing sytems, Tube and CPU: 80186 1MHz bus — each of which needs several Memory: 512K RAM alight the last sparks of life in Display: IBM screen emulation specialist chips to control it. The Master Price: £399 the ageing BBC Micro. Compact, by contrast, is an economy model Software in price: DOS Plus targeted at small-business and educational Available: now n its five years of existence, the BBC users with more modest requirements. Its MASTER COMPACT Micro has found its niche mainly in most conspicuous innovation is a built-in 3. CPU: 65C12 I schools and colleges. It has never had 5in. disc drive. Memory: 128K RAM, 64K ROM much going for it as a business machine, The machines's beige, black and red livery Mass storage: one 640K 3.5in. floppy largely because it has not easily been able to instantly marks it out as yet another member drive run the CP / M operating system for which of the BBC family. In their effort to Display: optional mono or RGB colour most eight-bit business software was written. monitor Sound: three channels plus noise In an effort to satisfy those users who want to Price: £385; with TV modulator run MS-DOS programs Acorn is providing an £399; with mono monitor £469; with 80186-based co-processor board which colour monitor £599 converts the BBC Master 128 into the Master Software in price: ABC word- 512. processing tutor, Logotron Logo, The board carries 512K of dynamic RAM View and communicates with the base processor by Available: now way of the internal Tube connectors on the Manufacturer: Acorn Computers, host computer's motherboard. Digital Cambridge Technopark, 645 Newmarket Road, Cambridge. CBS Research's DOS Plus operating system and 8PD. Telephone: (0223) 214411 the mouse-driven Gem interface, complete with Gem Write and Gem Paint, are also supplied with the board. double-density ADFS and 3.5in. discs will be The Acorn implementation of DOS Plus has the medium for software distribution in the the ability to read and write many different future. The joystick/mouse interface is now formats. As well as the 800K and 640K Acorn digital and has a nine-pin D-connector which DOS Plus configurations, MS-DOS and will accept one Atari-compatible joystick or various CP/M configurations are provided. mouse. Further value engineering has gone There are also utilities for conversion of files into the keyboard, which now incorporates between DOS Plus and Acorn DFS and membrane switches; nevertheless, the feel is ADFS, and for the allocation of part of the firm and the response is positive. memory as a RAM disc. The motherboard has sockets for the serial An emulator is provided for the IBM key- interface chips. the operating system and four board driver, although in some instances the paged ROMs. Sockets are also provided for a relevant hardware is not present. IBM text small Econet daughter board. Arranged along and graphics screen modes are also emulated the back of the computer are connectors for but since they use a virtual screen in the the big d.c. power input, external floppy discs, 80186 memory map the Master 512 cannot printer, joystick, Econet, RS-232, composite run any software that makes direct calls to the video and RGB output. Expansion is catered screen hardware. This means that while well- for by a PCB connector on the right-hand behaved IBM software will run on the Master edge of the motherboard. 512, certain key packages such as Sidekick The keyboard will now support a full eight- and Lotus 1-2-3 will not. Size of memory may bit ASCII character set. To provide for this, also prove a limitation, since DOS Plus keep the price down, Acorn's engineers have the @ symbol is now implemented by Shift-0, carries a larger overhead than MS-DOS or cobbled it together from several existing and a new Code key is put in the place of the CP/M-86 alone. components. The case of the computer itself old @. It is likely that this feature will be extended to the entire Master series in due There is also a software emulation which comes from the Acorn Communicator, while course. The Basic ROM has new coding to permits some Z-80 applications to be run. the monitor stand — which also holds the provide enhanced speed and accuracy, a However, they will be much slower, since the disc drive and power supply — bears a factor which makes itself apparent in a 10 equivalent clock rate is 1.5MHz, rather than striking resemblance to that of the Olivetti percent improvement in the Benchmark 4MHz or 6MHz which are normal with true M-19. performance. eight-bit machines. If many CP/M-80 The Master Compact has the barest mini- programs are to be run you will still need to mum of I/O facilities: even the RS-232 port With the change to 3.5in. discs, Acorn add an external Z-80 second processor. is an optional extra. Acorn has decided that REVIEW has taken the decision to use spare storage Top: The 80186 chip of the Master 512 CONCLUSIONS space on the Welcome disc to distribute lies in the middle of the board, covered bundled software, instead of providing it on ■ As a means of running industry- by a heat sink. It connects to the host standard 16-bit software the Master 512 is a paged ROMs. The packages are loaded into micro via the Tube. poor bargain compared to the cheap clones, sideways RAM as they are required. This especially as it does not run IBM-specific pro- arrangement provides much greater flexibi- Above: Compared to the original BBC Master, the Master Compact is grams like Lotus 1-2-3. lity and avoids cluttering up the memory map ■ But for anyone who already has compact and sparing with chips. with software which is not needed. The computer is supplied with a fairly a Master 128, the 512s ability to run MS- The packages supplied with the computer are DOS software and its comprehensive disc- rudimentary User Guide which provides an conversion facility make it a useful addition. Logotron Logo, an elementary WP tutor introduction to the hardware and bundled intended for primary-school children called ■ The Master Compact is only software, except for Logotron Logo which is really suited to the school market. Its 3.5in. ABC, and Acornsoft's View; there are also described in a separate volume. More ad- discs are a robust software medium, and its some mouse-driven graphics and desk-top vanced users, though, are advised to pur- icon interface is easily understood by utilities for more advanced users. Acorn's chase Reference Manuals 1 and 2 for the children. icon-drive front end can be operated by a Master series, which are available as options ■ Acorn should consider including mouse, joystick or trackball, or by the cursor- and describe the fundamentals in far greater the full package of Master firmware and the key pad. remaining members of the View family on the detail. Welcome disc..
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