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NAME  

ALICE

MANUFACTURER  

Matra Hachette

TYPE  

Home Computer

ORIGIN  

France

YEAR  

1983

END OF PRODUCTION 

Alice 4k - 1982
Alice 32 - end of 1985

BUILT IN LANGUAGE 

Basic Microsoft 1.0 (1982)

KEYBOARD  

AZERTY, chicklet keyboard
47 keys (1 SHIFT, 1 CONTROL, BREAK, ENTER)
Basic statements written above each key

CPU  

Motorola 6803 (a cross between 6800 and 6809)

SPEED  

0.89 MHz

RAM  

Alice 4k : 4 kb, 3 kb left for user
Alice 32 : 16 kb, 8 kb left for user

ROM  

Alice 4k : 8 kb
Alice 32 : 16 kb

TEXT MODES 

Alice 4k : 32 x 16
Alice 32 : 32 x 16, 40 x 25, 80 x 25

GRAPHIC MODES 

Alice 4k : 64 x 32
Alice 32 : 64 x 32, 160 x 125, 320 x 250

COLORS  

Alice 4k : 9
Alice 32 : 9 with Basic, 32 with machine code

SOUND  

1 channel

SIZE / WEIGHT 

216 x 178 x 51 mm / 850 gr

I/O PORTS 

Expansion port, Tape-recorder (1500 bauds), TV, I/O serial port

POWER SUPPLY 

External PSU 10 VDC, 1.3A

PERIPHERALS  

Printer, 16k RAM expansion

PRICE  

Euro 182 (France, dec. 83)

 

Alice

As the Sinclair ZX-81, the Alice was clearly marketed as an initiation machine.

In 1981, Matra signed a deal with Tandy/RadioShack to develop an MC-10 clone for 1983 : the Alice. Matra then worked with Hachette (both were owned by the Lagardère group) to produce the documentation and to organize the distribution. Last but not least, the well known and excellent french illustrator Jean Giraud (Moebius) drew a beautiful illustration for the manual and the box of the compueter.

Alice is quite limited in its possibilities but is also quite pleasant to use. Its case is whole red and the computer really looks like a toy.

Several educational programs were developed for this computer.

In 1984 Matra presents a new version : The Alice 32 with 16 kb RAM and improved graphical possibilities. But like the MC 10 that computer was a flop on the market. It was replaced one year later by the Alice 90.


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