In the last quarter of 1989 M.G.T. launched the Sam Coupé. M.G.T. was already known in the ZX Spectrum world for a range of hardware that they sold. The Sam was their pride and joy, and unfortunately to be their downfall.
This was a time when the 16-bit machines, the Atari ST and the Amiga, were really being to take off. Sales in computers such as the Spectrum was in rapid decline. The Sam was aimed to fill this gap, a powerful 8-bit machine with specs that in cases out performed those of the 16-bit machines, at an 8-bit price. It was hoped that current 8-bit owners, particularly Spectrum owners, would jump on the nicely priced Sam rather than a more expensive 16-bit machine.
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NAME
Sam Coupé
MANUFACTURER
MGT (Miles Gordon Technology)
TYPE
Home Computer
ORIGIN
United Kingdom
YEAR
December 1989
END OF PRODUCTION
1992
BUILT IN LANGUAGE
SamBasic
KEYBOARD
Full-stroke keyboard, 72 keys, Reset button
CPU
Zilog Z80B (fully compatible with i8080 and Z80)
SPEED
6MHz with screen off, 4.5 MHz with screen on can be slowed down to emulate ZX Spectrum
CO-PROCESSOR
Motorola MC 1377P Video Chip, Philips SAA1099 soundchip, ASIC handling graphics
RAM
256 kb or 512 kb onboard (depending models), and up to 4Mb with external addons (4.5 Mb total)
