Sord  Sord M100 ACE
Previous System
sord_m100
Next System

SORD M-100 ACE

The Sord M100 ACE was the professional version of the SORD M-170. It had a built-in floppy disc controler card which allowed for 1 or 2 5.25" 143kByte disk drives, and the computer offered an optional color video board that could be installed.

The computer had the following connectors:

  • 1 Serial port
  • 1 parallel printer port
  • I/O bus connector
  • A/D converter

SORD M-100 ACE Graphics (with the color video board)

History of SORD computing

SORD was a Japanese computer company founded by Takayohi Shiina in 1970 when he was 26 years old. Initially the company wrote software for the Digital PDP series of microcomputers, but later on in he 1970's branched out into hardware production. The name SORD is a contraction of SOftware/haRDware, reflecting the dual focus of the company.

The company was known for producing a wide range of computers and peripherals, including personal computers, workstations, servers, and storage systems. SORD was particularly successful in the Japanese market, where it was able to compete with larger companies such as IBM and Fujitsu. One of their most successful product lines was the SORD M200, a personal computer that was popular with businesses and consumers in Japan. SORD also developed a number of innovative technologies, such as the first Japanese-language word processor and the first Japanese-language computer game.

The M200 was released in 1977, followed by the M100 and various other versions of the M100/M200 series, plus the multi-user M223 and M243 computers.

The SORD M23 followed in 1981 and become one of the most popular SORD computers. It was one of the first to see significant use outside Japan, and was even relatively popular in New Zealand. The M68, a curious dual 8/16 bit computer using both 68000 and Z80A CPUs, was releaased in Japan in 1983.

On the software side, PIPS - Personal (or Pan) Information Processing Sytem was released in 1980. This package was 'not quite' a spreadsheet in the Visicalc/123 sense of the term, and 'not quite' a database, but combined features of both into an easy to understand business package. This was followed by PIPS-II in 1981, PIPS-III in 1982 and a complete rewrite (by a team led by kiwi Peter Hyde) as 4G-PIPS in 1986. I still have a copy of the MSDOS version of 4G-PIPS - it will run on any PC capable of running 16 bit applications, although because it expects all its folders to be off the root directory a little fiddling with SUBST (or running in DosBox) is advisable!

Unfortunately Japanese business culture does not look kindly on the entrepreneur. Shiina-san was approached by a larger Japanese corporation in 1983 and advised to sell. He didn't - and in 1984, on the back of turnover of 35 billion yen and profit of 2 billion yen SORD found itself struggling with suppliers and the banks. SORD was sold to Toshiba in 1985 (Toshiba had no part in the problems from 1983).

Under Toshiba, SORD went on to produce additional hardware such as the M68MX (with no Z80A) and M343SX-II multi-user computer and new versions of PIPS, a series of high performance IBM compatible machines and systems based on Alpha but now SORD (known as Toshiba-TOPS) primarily deals with embedded systems.

In 2008 Takayoshi Shiina was running Proside Corporation.

More info: Sydney Morning Herald Article

Timeline of Computer Development at SORD

  • 1977 - M200 - Smart Home Computer
  • 1978 - M200 mark II - Personal Computer
  • 1978 - M100 - Consumer Home Computer
  • 1979 - M100 ACE - Professional version of M100 with attached FD
  • 1979 - M200 mark III - Z80A CPU High Speed Business PC
  • 1979 - M223 mark IV - Winchester Small Professional Computer with disk
  • 1980 - M200 mark V - Small professional computer
  • 1980 - M243 mark - Super PC Series
  • 1981 - M416 - i8086 & i8087 16-bit micro-host computer series
  • 1981 - M23 - Handheld business computer series
  • 1982 - M343 - i8086 & i8087 16-bit kanji office computer series
  • 1983 - M243EX - z80B Multi business PC series
  • 1983 - M68 - M68000 + Z80A dual CPU multi-function computer series
  • 1983 - M343SX - Simultaneous Multiplexing System series
  • 1984 - IS-11 - Book-sized computer series
  • 1985 - M68MX - Low price version of the M68 series
  • 1985 - M343SX-II - Upgraded version of the M343SX series
  • 1988 - SR-3300 - 32-bit personal workstation

Sord Network

Here are examples of how a business could set up a SORD-net network. Computers were connected via the SNS RS-232C serial port, and could use servers for printing, network storage and dial-up modems.

Zilog Z80 CPU Family

The Z80 quickly became popular in the personal computer market, with many early personal computers, such as the TRS-80 and Sinclair ZX80, using the Z80 as their central processing unit (CPU). It was also widely used in home computers, such as the MSX range, SORD, and the Amstrad CPC, as well as in many arcade games. Additionally, it was also used in other applications such as industrial control systems, and embedded systems. The Z80 was widely used until the mid-1980s, when it was gradually replaced by newer microprocessors such as the Intel 80286 and the Motorola 68000.

The Z80 microprocessor was developed by Zilog, a company founded by Federico Faggin in 1974. The Z80 was released in July 1976, as a successor to the Intel 8080. It was designed to be fully compatible with the 8080, but also included new features such as an improved instruction set, more powerful interrupts, and a more sophisticated memory management system.

The Z80 quickly became popular in the personal computer market, with many early personal computers, such as the TRS-80 and Sinclair ZX80, using the Z80 as their central processing unit (CPU). It was also widely used in home computers, such as the MSX range, SORD, and the Amstrad CPC, as well as in many arcade games. Additionally, it was also used in other applications such as industrial control systems, and embedded systems. The Z80 was widely used until the mid-1980s, when it was gradually replaced by newer microprocessors such as the Intel 80286 and the Motorola 68000. The design was licensed to Synertek and Mostek as well as the European SGS.

The Z80s instruction set is binary compatible with the Intel 8080, so that 8080 code such as the CP/M Operating System and Intel's PL/M compiler for the 8080 can run unmodified on the Z80. The Z80 had many enhancements over the 8080 such as 16-bit data movement instructions, block copy and block I/O instructions, single bit addressing of all registers, IX/IY offset registers, better interrupt system and a complete duplicate register file for context switching during an interrupt.

Source: WikiPedia
Technical Details
Released 1980 Brand Sord Type Sord M Series Name Sord M100 ACE CPU Class Z80 CPU Z80 @2MHz Memory RAM: 32kB
ROM: 4kB
VRAM: 16kB
Sound Chip none Sound Built-in speaker Display Chip Optional Graphics Board Display 80x25 text
256x64 graphics
Best Color 256x64 dots Best Graphics 256x64 dots Sprites none System OS Proprietary SORD OS Storage 1 or 2 5.25" 143kByte Floppy Disk Drives
Related Systems
 
Sord M Series
» 
Sord  M100 ACE (1980)
 
Sord Portable
Related Media
 
Z80 CPU
Collection of books on the Z80 8-bit CPU used in various home-computers
World Wide Web Links
 
Infoworld Article on the Sord
Copy of an article that appeared in Infoworld
 
Personal account of Sord
A personal account of owning a Sord, and the history behind the computer
 
Music with the Sord M5
Gary Herman fences with the SORD and finds some facilities which make him very epée.
 
Sord drawn: History of the M5 micro
Article in "The Register" online newspaper
 
Wikipedia: The Z80 CPU
Wikipedia page on the very popular Z80 8-bit CPU used in many computers of the 1980's era.