Acorn Archimedes 305

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The Acorn Archimedes was Acorn Computers Ltd's first general purpose home computer based on their own 32-bit ARM RISC CPU. The name is also commonly used to describe computers which were based on the same architecture, even where Acorn did not include 'Archimedes' in the official name.

The first models were released in June 1987, as the 300 and 400 series. The 400 series included 4 expansion slots (although a 2 slot backplane could be added to the 300 series as an official upgrade, and third parties produced their own 4 slot backplanes) and an ST506 controller for an internal hard drive. Both models included the Arthur OS (later replaced by RISC OS as a paid-for upgrade), BBC BASIC and an emulator for Acorn's earlier BBC Micro, and were mounted in two-part cases with a small central unit, monitor on top, and a separate keyboard and three-button mouse. All models featured onboard 8 channel stereo sound and were capable of displaying 256 colours on screen.

Four models were initially released with different amounts of memory, the A305, A310, A410 and A440. The 300 and 400 were followed by a number of machines with minor changes and upgrades:

The Archimedes A305 is the same as the A310, but with only 0.5MB RAM instead of the 1MB RAM in the A310

This model is the 305 (Serial No. 27-AKB10-1002793 which was kindly donated by Derek Tate togther with software and manuals

 

 

Manufacturer: Acorn
Date: 1987



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Magazines RELATED to Acorn Archimedes 305 in our Library

Item Manufacturer Date
Personal Computer World - August 1987 1 Aug 1987
Archive - Vol 1, No 1 - October 1987 Norwich Computer Services Oct 1987
Archive - Vol 1, No 2 - November 1987 Norwich Computer Services Nov 1987
Archive - Vol 1, No 3 - December 1987 Norwich Computer Services Dec 1987
Archive - Vol 1, No 4 - January 1988 Norwich Computer Services Jan 1988
Archive - Vol 1, No 5 - February 1988 Norwich Computer Services Jan 1988
Byte January 1988 Jan 1988
Personal Computer World - January 1988 1 Jan 1988
Archive - Vol 1, No 6 - March 1988 Norwich Computer Services Mar 1988
Archive - Vol 1, No 7 - April 1988 Norwich Computer Services Apr 1988
Archive - Vol 1, No 8 - May 1988 Norwich Computer Services May 1988
Archive - Vol 1, No 9 - June 1988 Norwich Computer Services Jun 1988
Archive - Vol 1, No 10 - July 1988 Norwich Computer Services Jul 1988
Archive - Vol 1, No 11 - August 1988 Norwich Computer Services Aug 1988
Archive - Vol 1, No 12 - September 1988 Norwich Computer Services Sep 1988
Personal Computer World - January 1989 1 Jan 1989
PC World Focus March 1989 Number 1 Personal Computer World Mar 1989
Personal Computer World - March 1989 1 Mar 1989
Personal Computer World - April 1989 1 Apr 1989
Acorn - Higher Education News 2 - Summer 1989 Acorn Computers Limited May 1989
Personal Computer World - July 1989 Jul 1989
Personal Computer World - November 1989 1 Nov 1989
Personal Computer World - February 1990 1 Feb 1990

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Acorn Atom (Blue Box) Acorn 1980
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This exhibit has a reference ID of CH9407. Please quote this reference ID in any communication with the Centre for Computing History.

 

Acorn Archimedes 305

  Book Archive   [8]
  Games Archive   [310]
  Software Archive   [535]
  Peripherals   [259]
  Promotional Items   [8]

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