The MC-1000 CCE Color Computer was a home computer produced in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

by CCE ( ''Indústria e Comércio de Componentes Eletrônicos S/A'') and released in February 1985. The machine shares some heritage with the GEM 1000 (advertised in Belgium) and the Rabbit RX83, systems produced in Hong-Kong by the firm "Rabbit computers”. The machine was sold up to 1986.

History

The MC-1000 was released In Brazil, in a market already saturated with cheap machines with very similar features. As such, it did not attract much attention even though it was touted as a "Brazilian computer". The fact that it was not a "clone" of similar

8-bit In computer architecture, 8-bit Integer (computer science), integers or other Data (computing), data units are those that are 8 bits wide (1 octet (computing), octet). Also, 8-bit central processing unit (CPU) and arithmetic logic unit (ALU) arc ...

systems (like the

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

, the

TRS-80 The TRS-80 Micro Computer System (TRS-80, later renamed the Model I to distinguish it from successors) is a desktop microcomputer launched in 1977 and sold by Tandy Corporation through their Radio Shack stores. The name is an abbreviation of '' ...

or even the

Sinclair Sinclair may refer to: Places * Lake Sinclair, near Milledgeville, Georgia * Sinclair, Iowa * Sinclair, West Virginia * Sinclair, Wyoming * Sinclair Mills, British Columbia * Sinclair Township, Minnesota * Sinclair, Manitoba People * Sin ...

Spectrum) certainly did not contribute to its popularity. In addition to the poor design and "

Chiclet keyboard A chiclet keyboard or island-style keyboard is a computer keyboard with keys that form an array of small, flat rectangular or lozenge-shaped rubber or plastic keys that look like erasers or "Chiclets", a brand of chewing gum manufactured in the s ...

", the MC-1000 had only 16 KB of RAM (small, even by the standards of 1983). Like the Sinclair Spectrum, the

BASIC BASIC (Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages designed for ease of use. The original version was created by John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz at Dartmouth College ...

commands (which were similar to the Apple IIs

Applesoft BASIC Applesoft BASIC is a dialect of Microsoft BASIC, developed by Marc McDonald and Ric Weiland, supplied with the Apple II series of computers. It supersedes Integer BASIC and is the BASIC in ROM in all Apple II series computers after the original ...

) were typed by pressing a single key.

GEM 1000 and Rabbit RX83 "clones/predecessors"

The GEM 1000 Junior Computer, also known as the French Charlemagne 999 was an even more obscure (than the MC-1000), low cost toy Home computer for children from 5 years upwards, produced in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

by ''Rabbit Computers'' of

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. It was part of a family consisting of GEM 1000, GEM 2000, GEM 3000 and GEM 4000 systems. In addition to the poor design and "

", the GEM 1000 had only 16 KB of RAM (small, even by the standards of 1983). Like the Sinclair Spectrum the commands of the

(similar to the Apple 2's

) were typed by pressing a single key. The French Charlemagne 999 system used a version of this BASIC that used French instead of English keywords. The Rabbit RX83 had such little memory, just 2K, that many of the video modes of its "clones" could not be used — it had just the 32×16 8 colors text mode, and 128×64 graphics with 2 background and 3 foreground colors. It was launched at the 1983 edition of the

Consumer Electronics Show CES (; formerly an initialism for Consumer Electronics Show) is an annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). Held in January at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Winchester, Nevada, United States, the event typi ...

costing just US$99.

Technical specifications (MC-1000)

* CPU:

Zilog Z80A The Z80 is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit microprocessor introduced by Zilog as the startup company's first product. The Z80 was conceived by Federico Faggin in late 1974 and developed by him and his 11 employees starting in early 1975. The first wor ...

, 3.57 MHz * Memory: 16 KB RAM expandable to 64 KB; 8 KB ROM; up-to 6 KB VRAM * Keyboard: 50-key rubber

* Display: Motorola

MC6847 The MC6847 is a video display generator (VDG) first introduced by Motorola and used in the TRS-80 Color Computer, Dragon 32/64, Laser 200, TRS-80 MC-10/Matra Alice, NEC PC-6000 series, Acorn Atom, and the APF Imagination Machine, among others ...

(32×16 text (8 colors), 128×64, 128×96, 128×192, 256×192 graphics (2 background, 3 foreground colors)) * Sound:

AY-3-8910 The AY-3-8910 is a 3-voice programmable sound generator (PSG) designed by General Instrument in 1978, initially for use with their 16-bit General Instrument CP1600, CP1610 or one of the PIC1650 series of 8-bit microcomputers. The AY-3-8910 and ...

(3 voices and

white noise In signal processing, white noise is a random signal having equal intensity at different frequencies, giving it a constant power spectral density. The term is used, with this or similar meanings, in many scientific and technical disciplines, ...

) * Ports: interface

cassette recorder A cassette deck is a type of tape machine for playing and recording audio cassettes that does not have a built-in power amplifier or speakers, and serves primarily as a transport. It can be a part of an automotive entertainment system, a part of a ...

1200 BPS,

TV output Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, e ...

connector,

joystick A joystick, sometimes called a flight stick, is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. A joystick, also known as the control column, is the principal cont ...

Emulation

Like similar early home computers, the MC-1000 can be

emulated In computing, an emulator is Computer hardware, hardware or software that enables one computer system (called the ''host'') to behave like another computer system (called the ''guest''). An emulator typically enables the host system to run so ...

on modern machines.

References

Computers designed in Brazil Computer-related introductions in 1985 Goods manufactured in Brazil Home computers Products introduced in 1985 Z80-based home computers {{Compu-hardware-stub