The Enterprise-64 was released commercially in 1985. The computer is based on the popular Zilog Z80 8-bit CPU, and had two ASIC chips (Dave & Nick, after their creators) for sound and graphics. The sound and graphics capabilities of this machine were superior to many similar computers of the time. The case was colorful, and featured a built in joystick for games. Unfortunately due to delays and a softening computer market for 8-bit systems, the computer was not succesful and the manufacturer went into debt by 1986.
The system ran the EXOS Operating system, that was bundled with a word processor program on a 32K ROM chip. Another 16K ROM provided EXOS Basic. The sound was provided by the ASIC Chip called Dave, named after Dave Woodfield. The system had 3 sound and one noise channel. Unique to the system was that each of the channels can be played freely on the left or right channel, creating stereo effects that the competition could not. It also had options for distortion, low and high- pass filters and ring modulation to create rich sound effects.
Another ASIC chip, called Nick, named after Nick Loop who previously worked on the Acorn Atom computer, managed graphics. The system has the following graphics modes:
- 640x512 - 2 colors, interlaced
- 640x256 - 2 colors, non-interlaced
- 320x256 - 16 colors out of a 256 color palette
- 80x256 - 256 colors
Enterprise-64 Internals
- 1 - ASIC chip Nick, Graphics
- 2 - ASIC chip Dave, Sound
- 3 - Expansion Port
- 4 - 32K ROM chip (EXOS-OS & Word)
- 5 - Zilog Z80A (4MHz)
- 6 - 64K RAM
- 7 - Keyboard Connector
- 8 - Cartridge Slot
- 9 - PSU Cooling element
Enterprise-64/128 back side connectors
- 1 - Reset button
- 2 - EXT1 External Joystick Connector
- 3 - EXT2 External Joystick Connector
- 4 - Printer Connector
- 5 - Serial/Network Port
- 6 - Tape Connector (In/Out/Remote)
- 7 - RGB Monitor Connector
- 8 - TV(RF) Connector
- 9 - Power connector
Distortion
low/high pass filters
ring modulation effects Display Chip ASIC (Nick) Display 640x512 2 color interlaced
640x256 2 color non-interlaced
80x256 256 color
320x256 16 color out of 256 (attribute graphics mode). Best Color 256 colors Best Graphics 640x512 in 2 colors, interlaced Sprites software sprites System OS EXOS BASIC