Mattel Aquarius
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| Manufacturer | Mattel Electronics |
| Type | Home computers |
| publication | June 1983 |
| End of production | October 1983 |
| Factory price | US $ 160 |
| processor | Zilog Z80 , 3.5 MHz |
| random access memory | 4 KB, (expandable to 20 KB), 8 KB ROM |
| graphic | 40 × 24 text, 80 × 72 graphics, 16 colors |
| Sound | |
| Disk | Compact cassette , cartridge |
| operating system | Microsoft BASIC |
| predecessor | - |
| successor | Aquarius II |
The Mattel Aquarius was a home computer developed by the Hong Kong company Radofin , which was brought onto the market in 1983 by the US company Mattel . The computer contained a Zilog Z80 - Micro processor , a chiclet keyboard, a memory of 4K RAM and a version of Microsoft BASIC in ROM . The computer was connected to a standard television set and compact cassettes were used as the storage medium. There have been some peripheral devices designed: a 40-column thermal printer , a four-color printer / plotter and a 300 baud - modem .
The Mini Expander accessory offered an additional slot for modules. It was pushed into the cartridge slot, but had two slots. In this way, a program module and a memory expansion could be used at the same time. It also added two game controllers and a more powerful sound chip to the computer.
There were a number of games that also appeared on Modul, including "Tron: Deadly Discs" and " Utopia" - both titles that were released in parallel for Mattel's Intellivision console (see image below right). Characteristic were templates for the keyboard and the gamepads, on which the key assignment for the respective game was printed.
technology
- CPU : Zilog Z-80, 3.5 MHz
- Memory: 4 KB RAM, expandable up to 20 KB RAM; 8 KB ROM
- Keyboard: 48 rubber keys
- Display: 40 × 24 text, 80 × 72 graphic resolution, 16 colors
- Sound: one voice, expandable to four voices
- Connections: TV, cartridge , cassette recorder , printer
