The Dragon 32 and Dragon 64 are home computers that were built in the 1980s. The Dragons are very similar to the TRS-80 Color Computer (CoCo), and were produced for the European market by Dragon Data, Ltd., in Port Talbot, Wales. The model numbers reflect the primary difference between the two machines, which have 32 and 64 kilobytes of RAM, respectively.
In the early 1980s, the British home computer market was booming. New machines were released almost monthly. In August 1982, Dragon Data Ltd joined the fray with the Dragon 32. In the private home computer market, where games were a significant driver, the Dragon suffered due to its graphical capabilities, which were inferior to other machines such as the Sinclair ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64. The Dragon was also unable to display lower-case letters easily. Some more sophisticated applications synthesised them using high-resolution graphics modes (in the same way that user-defined characters would be designed for purely graphical applications such as games). Simpler programs just managed without lower case.
This effectively locked it out of the then-blooming educational market, which came to be dominated by the Acorn-built BBC Micro. As a result of these limitations, the Dragon was not a commercial success, and Dragon Data Ltd collapsed in June 1984. Despite the demise of the parent company, Dragons still proved quite popular. They had a robust motherboard in a spacious case, and were much more tolerant of home-modification than many of their contemporaries, which often had their components crammed into the smallest possible space.
The Dragon was built around the Motorola MC6809E processor running at 0.89 MHz. For the time, this was a relatively sophisticated 8-bit CPU, with limited 16-bit capabilities. In terms of raw computational power, the Dragon beat most of its contemporary rivals (which were based on the older MOS Technology 6502 and Zilog Z80) but this made little difference in a market where graphical capabilities were much more important to consumers.
Both the Dragon and the TRS-80 Coco were based on a Motorola data sheet design for the MC6883 SAM chip for memory management and peripheral control. The systems were sufficiently similar that a significant fraction of the compiled software produced for one machine would happily run on the other. Software running via the built-in Basic interpreters also had a high level of compatibility, but only after they were re-tokenized (which could be achieved fairly easily by transferring via cassette tape with appropriate options). The Dragon had additional circuitry to make the MC6847 VDG compatible with european 625-line television standards, rather than the US 525-line US standard, and a parallel printer port not present on the Coco.
Dragon Data finally launched the Dragon 64 in August 1984. The Dragon 64 was functionally identical to the Dragon 32 and even booted into Dragon 32 compatible BASIC mode. The Dragon 64 contained 2 x 16K ROMS holding two different versions of BASIC - One was the a slightly modified version of the Dragon 32 BASIC which was still limited to 24Kb RAM, the other was specific to the Dragon 64 and allowed 48Kb of RAM to be available to the programmer by copying the BASIC ROM into RAM allowing the entire 64Kb of RAM to be available (16Kb allocated to the copy of BASIC).
Aside from the increase in RAM and the new BASIC, the 64 also had an RS-232 serial port which was not included on the 32.
A minor difference between the two Dragon models was the outer case color; the Dragon 32 was beige and the 64 was light grey. Besides the color and the Dragon 64's serial port (and the model name stickers, of course), the two machines looked exactly the same.
NAME | Dragon 32 |
MANUFACTURER | Dragon Data Ltd |
TYPE | Home Computer |
ORIGIN | United Kingdom |
YEAR | January 1982 |
BUILT IN LANGUAGE | Microsoft Extended Basic Basic Interpreter 1.0 (1982) |
KEYBOARD | QWERTY Mechanical keyboard 53 keys |
CPU | Motorola MC6809EP |
SPEED | 0,9 Mhz |
CO-PROCESSOR | Motorola MC-6847 Video Display Generator |
RAM | 32 kb |
ROM | 2 x 8K or 16K EPROM comprising Microsoft Extended BASIC |
TEXT MODES | 32 x 16 |
GRAPHIC MODES | Several graphic modes, max : 256 x 192 (with 2 colors) |
COLORS | 8 |
SOUND | 1 voice, 5 octaves with the Basic 4 voices, 7 octaves with machine code |
SIZE / WEIGHT | 38 (W) x 32.5 (D) x 9.7 (H) cm / 2.1 kg |
I/O PORTS | TV connector, 2 analogue joystick ports, cassette port, Centronics parallel printer port, cartridge slot, composite monitor port |
PRICE | Dragon 32 : 455 (France, november 83) Dragon 32: 211 (France, november 85) |
Tano Dragon 64
I have about 50 Tano Dragon 64 Computers to sell.
Brand new in box.
Original Box advertisements:
*Advanced 6809 Microprocessor
*Powerful 64K RAM
*Extended Microsoft Basic
*Professional Quality Keyboard
*Free Basic Training Manual
*9 Color Display
*5 Different Resolutions up to 256 X 192
*Sound and Music Capability
*Uses home VHF TV set
*Uses Standard Cassette Recorder
http://archive.worldofdragon.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_32/64
http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=117