The Actrix computer, released in 1983 by Actrix Computer Corporation, was a

Zilog Z80 The Zilog Z80 is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit microprocessor designed by Zilog that played an important role in the evolution of early personal computing. Launched in 1976, it was designed to be Backward compatibility, software-compatible with the ...

-based transportable

personal computer A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...

running CP/M-80 V2.2. It was initially released as the Access Computer, made by Access Matrix Computer Corporation (later Actrix Computer Corporation), but both the company and its product changed names after trademark disputes.Chapter 11 provides shelter for debtors, leaves creditors in the cold
30 Jul 1984, Computerworld, ''...Porter Hurt, chairman of the board of Actrix Computer, said his firm's "downfall came in that we did not have the multimillion dollars to do the marketing...Hurts said he holds 80% of Actrix's stock...''

Access Computer

Access Computer was the common name for the ''Access Matrix'', a transportable

introduced in 1982 by a United States computer company, Access Matrix Corp (AM CORP on

FCC The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains ju ...

documentation).

Hardware

The ''Access Computer'' had dual 5.25-inch floppy drives (either 320k-DS or 168k-SS) a detachable

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...

, a 7" built-in amber

CRT display A cathode-ray tube (CRT) is a vacuum tube containing one or more electron guns, which emit electron beams that are manipulated to display images on a phosphorescent screen. The images may represent electrical waveforms on an oscilloscope, ...

, and a built-in 80 CPS Epson MX80

dot matrix A dot matrix is a 2-dimensional patterned Array data structure, array, used to represent characters, symbols and images. Most types of modern technology use dot matrices for display of information, including mobile phones, televisions, and pri ...

printer with

GRAFTRAX-80 Dot matrix printing, sometimes called impact matrix printing, is a computer printing process in which ink is applied to a surface using a relatively low-resolution dot matrix for layout. Dot matrix printers are a type of printer (computing)#Imp ...

chipset. It used the

CP/M CP/M, originally standing for Control Program/Monitor and later Control Program for Microcomputers, is a mass-market operating system created in 1974 for Intel 8080/Intel 8085, 85-based microcomputers by Gary Kildall of Digital Research, Dig ...

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...

, and also included a Bell-103 300

baud In telecommunications and electronics, baud (; symbol: Bd) is a common unit of measurement of symbol rate, which is one of the components that determine the speed of communication over a data channel. It is the unit for symbol rate or modulat ...

modem The Democratic Movement (, ; MoDem ) is a centre to centre-right political party in France, whose main ideological trends are liberalism and Christian democracy, and that is characterised by a strong pro-Europeanist stance. MoDem was establis ...

with both acoustic-coupled and direct connections. Additional connectors for IEEE-488 (external hard disk),

composite monitor A composite monitor or composite video monitor is any analog video display that receives input in the form of an analog composite video signal to a defined specification. A composite video signal encodes all information on a single conductor; a ...

RS-232 In telecommunications, RS-232 or Recommended Standard 232 is a standard introduced in 1960 for serial communication transmission of data. It formally defines signals connecting between a ''DTE'' (''data terminal equipment'') such as a compu ...

serial and Centronics parallel were provided. The mainboard has a 50-pin header designed to support 8-inch disk drives (4 heads on two double-sided disks - drive letters C:/D: and E:/F:)

Software

Access Matrix came bundled with

MBASIC MBASIC is the Microsoft BASIC, Microsoft BASIC implementation of BASIC for the CP/M operating system. MBASIC is a descendant of the original Altair BASIC interpreters that were among Microsoft's first products. MBASIC was one of the two versions o ...

, CBASIC, the Perfect-series office software, Personal Pearl database and Fancy Font markup/formatting system. Custom-written software included a disk format/verify/duplication utility (DISKU.COM) that worked with both the internal A:/B: drives as well as optional external 8" disks (C:/D: and E:/F:). A custom-written Telecommunications utility (TELCOMU.COM) offered dialup address book, basic

terminal emulation A terminal emulator, or terminal application, is a computer program that emulates a video terminal within some other display architecture. Though typically synonymous with a shell or text terminal, the term ''terminal'' covers all remote termi ...

XMODEM XMODEM is a simple file transfer protocol developed as a quick hack by Ward Christensen for use in his 1977 MODEM.ASM terminal program. It allowed users to transmit files between their computers when both sides used MODEM. Keith Petersen made a ...

/Modem7 file transfer and other features for connection to BBS and other online systems or to operate as a drone to receive files uploaded from other computers.

Market

Although not truly portable the all-in-one design did allow for quick setup and shut-down. It was rugged and although weighing 15 kg, it was reasonably easy to transport in a car or in an aircraft's coat- locker. The Access Matrix had option of a padded cloth bag with shoulder-strap or a heavier-duty leather/cloth bound protective case with carry handle and shoulder-strap. Apparently the system was popular with journalists who could use the inbuilt "OFFLINE" type-writer mode to create and print simple ''ad hoc'' single-page documents ready for immediate faxing to HQ from their hotel lobby. Another option was to combine the word processing and telecommunications features to create a document using the word processing software and immediately upload the document directly to either an online services such as

CompuServe CompuServe, Inc. (CompuServe Information Service, Inc., also known by its initialism CIS or later CSi) was an American Internet company that provided the first major commercial online service provider, online service. It opened in 1969 as a times ...

or indeed to another 'waiting' Access Matrix at their head office.

Actrix computer

The rebadged ''Actrix DS'' was presented at the

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Comdex in November 1983. There was another model called the ''Actrix SS'' with a 170k 5.25-inch

disk drive Disc or disk may refer to: * Disk (mathematics), a two dimensional shape, the interior of a circle * Disk storage * Optical disc * Floppy disk Music * Disc (band), an American experimental music band * ''Disk'' (album), a 1995 EP by Moby Other ...

Specifications

Hardware: *NEC D780C-1 (clone of

Zilog Zilog, Inc. is an American manufacturer of microprocessors, microcontrollers, and application-specific embedded System on a chip, system-on-chip (SoC) products. The company was founded in 1974 by Federico Faggin and Ralph Ungermann, who were soo ...

Z80 The Zilog Z80 is an 8-bit microprocessor designed by Zilog that played an important role in the evolution of early personal computing. Launched in 1976, it was designed to be software-compatible with the Intel 8080, offering a compelling altern ...

CPU A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor, or just processor, is the primary processor in a given computer. Its electronic circuitry executes instructions of a computer program, such as arithmetic, log ...

@ 4

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

*64 KB

RAM Ram, ram, or RAM most commonly refers to: * A male sheep * Random-access memory, computer memory * Ram Trucks, US, since 2009 ** List of vehicles named Dodge Ram, trucks and vans ** Ram Pickup, produced by Ram Trucks Ram, ram, or RAM may also ref ...

*Two 320 KB DS-DD

floppy disk A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, a diskette, or a disk) is a type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined with a ...

drives (Actrix-DS model) * or Two 170 KB SS-DD

drives (Actrix-SS model) *7" amber

Epson Seiko Epson Corporation, commonly known as Epson, is a Japanese multinational electronics company and one of the world's largest manufacturers of printers and information- and imaging-related equipment. Headquartered in Suwa, Nagano, Japan, t ...

MX-80 MX-80, also known as MX-80 Sound, is an eclectic American art-rock band founded in 1974 in Bloomington, Indiana, United States, by guitarist Bruce Anderson. Considered “one of the most out of step but prescient bands of its time", MX-80's sig ...

dot-matrix printer Dot matrix printing, sometimes called impact matrix printing, is a computer printing process in which ink is applied to a surface using a relatively low-resolution dot matrix for layout. Dot matrix printers are a type of impact printer that p ...

with

chipset *Bell 103

and

acoustic coupler In telecommunications, an acoustic coupler is an interface device for coupling electrical signals by acoustical means—usually into and out of a telephone. The link is achieved through converting electric signals from the phone line to so ...

*Detachable

Options

The void to the right of the two floppy drives could either be open, for convenient storage of a handful of floppy diskettes, or blanked to conceal one of two options: *

Intel 8088 The Intel 8088 ("''eighty-eighty-eight''", also called iAPX 88) microprocessor is a variant of the Intel 8086. Introduced on June 1, 1979, the 8088 has an eight-bit external data bus instead of the 16-bit bus of the 8086. The 16-bit registers ...

co-processor board with 256 KB RAM and MS-DOS 1.25 *Internal

uninterruptible power supply An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) or uninterruptible power source is a type of continual power system that provides automated backup electric power to a electrical load, load when the input power source or mains electricity, mains power fai ...

(UPS) Another option was a 50-pin connector at the rear of the void, for 8" disk drives If either UPS or 8088 options were present the rear or the void was blanked off with a screw-on plate. If the 50-pin 8" disk cable option is present the rear of the void is changed to a clip-on panel securing the 50-pin cable connector. If no options were fitted the rear of the floppy void was a blank clip-on panel. If only the 50-pin option is present the floppy void was modified internally with a plastic jacket to prevent stored diskettes from interfering with the rear of the 50-pin header/cable assembly

Connectors

*keyboard *2 X D25F

serial (AUX terminal/console or printer) *1 X Centronics

parallel port In computing, a parallel port is a type of interface found on early computers ( personal and otherwise) for connecting peripherals. The name refers to the way the data is sent; parallel ports send multiple bits of data at once (paralle ...

(printer) *1 x

IEEE-488 Glycoprotein Ib (GPIb), also known as CD42, is a component of the GPIb-V-IX complex on platelets. The GPIb-V-IX complex binds von Willebrand factor, allowing platelet adhesion and platelet plug formation at sites of vascular injury. Glycoprotein ...

/ GP-IB (hard disk) *1 x

composite video Composite video, also known as CVBS (composite video baseband signal or color, video, blanking and sync), is an analog video format that combines image information—such as brightness (luminance), color (chrominance), and synchronization, int ...

(larger/second monitor) *50-pin header on mainboard to optional external 50-pin male IDC connector for external 8" disk drives *IEC power (115 V/220 V dealer-switchable)

Disk assignments

*A: first 5.25" floppy to load OS *B: 'other' 5.25" floppy *C: first side of first 8" disk *D: second side of first 8" disk *E: first side of second 8" disk *F: second side of second 8" disk *M: 256 kB RAM disk utilising 256 kB RAM from the 8088 co-processor

Software

Digital Research Digital Research, Inc. (DR or DRI) was a privately held American software company created by Gary Kildall to market and develop his CP/M operating system and related 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit systems like MP/M, Concurrent DOS, FlexOS, Multiuser ...

CP/M-80 2.2 operating system *

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few op ...

1.25 (only with optional 8088 co-processor board) *M: Drive utility (to utilise 256KB RAM on optional 8088 co-pro board as M:

RAM disk A RAM drive (also called a RAM disk) is a block of random-access memory ( primary storage or volatile memory) that a computer's software is treating as if the memory were a disk drive (secondary storage). RAM drives provide high-performance te ...

under CP/M) *Personal Pearl database system *FancyFont text markup and layout software *Perfect Series

office suite Productivity software (also called personal productivity software or office productivity software) is application software used for producing information (such as documents, presentations, worksheets, databases, charts, graphs, digital paintin ...

(Filer (database), Calc (spreadsheet), Writer (word processor)) *Digital Research CBASIC compiler *Microsoft

interpreter

Included bespoke utilities

*TELCOMU – comms software with phonebook, modem dialing and X-modem file transfer capabilities, useful for connecting to online services such as CompuServe and RCP/M BBS systems. Also TELCOM and TELCOM+ variants (1.05/1.16/x.yy) *DISKU – utility for copying, duplicating, formatting and verifying 5.25" and 8" floppy disks (2.26) *CONFIGU – allowed customisation of various attributes such as monitor, cursor, printer, console redirection, RS-232 and Centronics parameters. Once customised settings were saved and could be reloaded manually or used by the WAKEUP program to allow customisations to be set at boot time (1.03) *WAKEUP – used at boot to set date and time and apply configuration profiles created using CONFIGU (1.03) *AMD – Set CP/M to use the 256KB RAM of optional 8088 co-processor board as M: 'ram-drive' *INSTALL – Actrix auto-command installation utility - allowed specification of a .COM file to auto-execute at cold-boot time (1.00) *DAC-DS – Dealer Acceptance Test – a diagnostic utility for dealers to quickly tests memory/clock, floppy disk, video, printer and keyboard (1.01)

International distribution

In Australia, one official distributor of the Actrix Computer range was Richard Carpenter, based in Little Mountain, Queensland. It is believed that Carpenter imported two or three Access Computers as sales tools and demonstrators, but shipped less than a dozen Actrix Computers. In 1986, two demonstrator Actrix machines were repossessed by the financier, NatWest Australia Bank.

Failure

Expensive TV advertising and constant lawsuits concerning the product and company-naming rights were drains on capital that speeded the decline and ultimate stop of sales of Actrix machines. Existing orders were filled by one remaining technician, who built the last remaining machines from spare parts.

References

External links

* Some pictures and notes by the designer. * * *{{cite web, url=http://old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=359, title=Access Computer, website=old-computers.com, accessdate=10 March 2024, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200103175202/http://old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=359, archive-date=3 January 2020, url-status=dead Computer-related introductions in 1983 Portable computers Personal computers