Compucolor II nostalgia post

A nostalgia post has revived interest in the Compucolor II, a 1978 all-in-one machine that put color graphics and a floppy drive into a TV-sized home computer. (wikipedia.org) Compucolor Corporation announced the system in late 1977, but shipments began in 1978. It used an Intel 8080 processor running at 2 megahertz and came in 8 kilobyte, 16 kilobyte, and 32 kilobyte versions. (oldcomputers.net) The machine sold for $1,495, $1,795, or $2,395 depending on memory. Old Computers says about 2,000 units were sold. (oldcomputers.net) What set it apart was the package. The Compucolor II combined a 13-inch color cathode-ray tube display, built-in BASIC programming language, and a 5.25-inch floppy disk drive in one case. (oldcomputers.net) That was unusual in a market where many late-1970s home machines relied on cassette tapes for storage and separate televisions for display. Wikipedia describes the Compucolor line as the first color home computer system with built-in color graphics and floppy-based data storage. (wikipedia.org 1) (wikipedia.org 2) The hardware came out of Intelligent Systems Corporation in Norcross, Georgia, which had started in color computer terminals before moving into consumer machines. The Compucolor II followed the earlier Compucolor 8001, which was more expensive and used 8-inch floppy disks or optional tape storage. (wikipedia.org) (oldcomputers.net) Its display could show 64 by 32 text and 128 by 128 graphics in 8 colors, according to Old Computers. The system’s manuals also show that BASIC included disk commands, file handling, and graphics features aimed at hobbyists writing their own programs. (oldcomputers.net 1) (oldcomputers.net 2) The machine also built a small but durable user community. Archive.org hosts newsletters from the CompuColor User’s Group of Rochester, New York, and a company publication called Colorcue for Compucolor II owners. (archive.org 1) (archive.org 2) Compucolor was out of business by 1983, and the Compucolor II never reached the sales scale of Apple, Commodore, or Tandy. The machine still stands as an early example of a home computer sold as a complete color system instead of a box of parts around a family television. (wikipedia.org) (oldcomputers.net)