The M-170 computer was originaly sold as a home computer but, as it was a very reliable system, many companies used it as a small business system. It was derived from the M-100, M-110 home systems.
Basic version was supplied with a Hitachi monitor, an external power supply unit and a cassette recorder (the M-170 could manage two tape recorders simultaneously). There was no programming langage built in the computer, only a monitor including 19 commands. One of them allowed the user to load the Sord BASIC interpreter.
The ACE version used from one to three 5.25" - 143 KB floppy drives units with a more advanced BASIC interpreter, and a graphic display card. A FORTRAN compiler was also available.
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If it went in the skip at school, I took it despite being told not to. I still save computers and electronics from skips today. I would have taken all the machines and stashed them away salfly so I could take them home at a later date
this machine looks suspiciously like something that was among a whole stack of vintage machines my high school had... and then unceremoniously dumped in a skip one day to be taken for landfill! shame on them! no protest or suggestion of sale to museum could stop it.. fools
Friday 5th April 2002
Mark P (bangor, uk)
NAME
M 170
MANUFACTURER
Sord
ORIGIN
Japan
YEAR
May 1978
END OF PRODUCTION
Unknown
BUILT IN GAMES
ROM monitor
CONTROLLERS
Full-stroke keyboard. 56 keys + 18 function and numeric keypad
CPU
Z80
BUTTONS
2 MHz (a few cranked it up to 4)
SCORE
16 KB or 32 KB (Model B)
ROM
4 KB (Monitor program)
TEXT MODES
64 chars. x 24 lines.
GRAPHIC MODES
ACE version: 320 x 256 monochrome or 160 x 256
COLORS
8 colours
SOUND
Two octaves tone generator
SIZE / WEIGHT
unknown
I/O PORTS
S-100 bus, Parallel I/O, Serial (300 to 9600 baud), A/D converter, 2 x tape recorder, color or B/W monitor
BATTERIES
ACEDOS
POWER SUPPLY
External power supply unit 5V/4A, 12V/0.5A (or built in the ACE extension)
