SAM Coupé
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| Type | Home computer |
|---|---|
| Release date | 1989 |
| Discontinued | 1992 |
| Units sold | 12,000 |
| Operating system | SAM BASIC |
| CPU | Zilog Z80B @ 6 MHz |
| Memory | 256 KB/512 KB (4.5 MB max.) |
The SAM Coupé (pronounced /sæm ku:peɪ/ from its original British English branding) is an 8-bit British home computer that was first released in late 1989. It is commonly considered a clone of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum computer, since it features a compatible screen mode and emulated compatibility, and it was marketed as a logical upgrade from the Spectrum. It was originally manufactured by Miles Gordon Technology (MGT), based in Swansea in the United Kingdom.
The machine is based around a Z80B CPU clocked at 6 MHz and a 10,000-gate ASIC. The ASIC performs a similar role in the computer to the ULA in the ZX Spectrum. The Z80B CPU accesses selected parts of the large memory space in its 64 KB address space by slicing it into 16 KB banks and using I/O ports to select the particular blocks appearing in each 16 KB bank. The basic SAM Coupé model has 256 KB of RAM, upgradable internally to 512 KB and externally with an additional 4 MB (added in 1 MB packs). The computer has a direct connection for a cassette recorder for data storage but two 3.5 inch floppy disk drives can be installed within the case as well. Six channels of 8-octave stereo sound are provided by a Philips SAA1099 sound generator chip. The ASIC also includes a screen line interrupt, allowing video effects to be synchronised to specific display lines with little effort.
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