Advance Technology Advance 86B | TechMuseum
Year of manufacture: 1983
Technical Specifications:
- Processor: Intel 8086, 4.77 MHz
- RAM: 128 or 256 KB
- FDD: Two disks 5.25″
- HDD: –
- Audio: Beeper
- Connectors/Ports: Monitor, serial, TV output, joystick, cassette, four expansion slots, parallel, light pen, two slots
- Case: desktop type
- Monitor: Color
- OS: MS DOS
The Advance 86B features an Intel 8086 processor at 4.77 MHz and memory of 128 up to 256kB. Equipped with two floppy disks of 5.25” it ran with the operating system of the MS DOS version.
Advance Technology UK released a short microcomputer series back in the 1980s, Advance 86A and 86B. Designed and marketed for common use they targeted the home market with appealing price tags. The model A with lower specifications aimed to present competition with the BBC Micro and Commodore 64 counterparts. The Model B had almost triple the size, but presented improvements as well.
The core of both models though featured strong elements and they were compatible with the IBM PC. IBM actually threatened with legal action the manufacturer of Advance 86, because of the staggering similarity of the BIOS, all the routines and even the error messages. Sales plunged and the series discontinued after the known issue.
That was just a snapshot on the presentation of the techmuseum series. Indulge more into the history. Continue reading more about the present model, the Advance 86 here.
PC.GR
The history of personal computers
Explore this exhibit with the video guide, which opens the PC.gr presentation in a video window.
