LGR - BBC Micro Computer System Review
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Date: 2022-04-14
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Comments and reviews: 10
MrKarateEd
So, I'm in Canada and have a few Beebs, a couple Masters, some RISC OS machines (A7000+, A3010, A3000s (not yet working) and of course the mandatory Pi to run RISC. I found out Beebs were online one day years ago and bought one for about 40 pounds. After that I got a few more Beebs, 5 in all and never paid more than 30 pounds for them at the time. Shipping then was around 40 pounds but there you have it. It's possible to get a Beeb for reasonable prices. if you were in the market early enough. I feel sorry for people trying to get one today, even when in the UK.
The reason I bought these machines? In 1980-1986 I lived in Iceland and saw the Beeb and bought one. I didn't however bring it back with me simply because it would have cost around $1000 to convert the machine to the NTSC system, that's what scanners cost in those days so it stayed behind. I now use GBS-8200 to get my video working on popular monitors. I also did the 240 to 120V conversion in the PSU in order to have the proper voltage for here. It's a very easy fix and is worth not having to use the step up transformers for everything.
Anyway, the hardware is fun, this is an incredible machine and coupled with a Gotek, you can get pretty much any software you might ever want that was made for the Beeb. There are enough games for the machine out there that you will play your whole life and not be able to play them all (and some of them you DON'T want to play) but even then, there are more than enough games to keep you busy as long as you live.
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So, I'm in Canada and have a few Beebs, a couple Masters, some RISC OS machines (A7000+, A3010, A3000s (not yet working) and of course the mandatory Pi to run RISC. I found out Beebs were online one day years ago and bought one for about 40 pounds. After that I got a few more Beebs, 5 in all and never paid more than 30 pounds for them at the time. Shipping then was around 40 pounds but there you have it. It's possible to get a Beeb for reasonable prices. if you were in the market early enough. I feel sorry for people trying to get one today, even when in the UK.
The reason I bought these machines? In 1980-1986 I lived in Iceland and saw the Beeb and bought one. I didn't however bring it back with me simply because it would have cost around $1000 to convert the machine to the NTSC system, that's what scanners cost in those days so it stayed behind. I now use GBS-8200 to get my video working on popular monitors. I also did the 240 to 120V conversion in the PSU in order to have the proper voltage for here. It's a very easy fix and is worth not having to use the step up transformers for everything.
Anyway, the hardware is fun, this is an incredible machine and coupled with a Gotek, you can get pretty much any software you might ever want that was made for the Beeb. There are enough games for the machine out there that you will play your whole life and not be able to play them all (and some of them you DON'T want to play) but even then, there are more than enough games to keep you busy as long as you live.
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DragonNexus
This has been such a beautifully nostalgic video for me. This wonderful thing was almost certainly the first computer I used in school as a learning device. Seeing Granny's Garden was a mind blower, a 30 year old neuron fired up at the sight of that. Something I'd long since forgotten. Looiking up screenshots and it's all so suddenly familiar again.
I also remember playing something called Podd which was a red tomato looking character that you gave commands to. A way of teaching kids adjectives, I guess. You could tell him to jump or fly or even explode. That was the one we got the biggest laugh out of, of course. One of us suggested it and we were amazed it actually worked a bits of red flew all over.
Brilliant video, I'm only sorry I hadn't caught this sooner.
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This has been such a beautifully nostalgic video for me. This wonderful thing was almost certainly the first computer I used in school as a learning device. Seeing Granny's Garden was a mind blower, a 30 year old neuron fired up at the sight of that. Something I'd long since forgotten. Looiking up screenshots and it's all so suddenly familiar again.
I also remember playing something called Podd which was a red tomato looking character that you gave commands to. A way of teaching kids adjectives, I guess. You could tell him to jump or fly or even explode. That was the one we got the biggest laugh out of, of course. One of us suggested it and we were amazed it actually worked a bits of red flew all over.
Brilliant video, I'm only sorry I hadn't caught this sooner.
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Will
It would be amazing if you could cover the Acorn Archimedes as it was the BBC Micro's successor. Our primary school had both; we never got rid of the outdated Micro. Although it wasn't used a lot as with us being children we couldn't mess with equipment outside school hours (unless you had a parent who worked at the school who could be present and vouch for you - like my friend who always had a head start in computers and told us about Doom years before we played it. We had a system where each pupil would get allocated one day every couple of years with the computer - taught by someone brought in especially - learning the GUI, and running software (e. g. kid-friendly educational trivia-based games with graphics.
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It would be amazing if you could cover the Acorn Archimedes as it was the BBC Micro's successor. Our primary school had both; we never got rid of the outdated Micro. Although it wasn't used a lot as with us being children we couldn't mess with equipment outside school hours (unless you had a parent who worked at the school who could be present and vouch for you - like my friend who always had a head start in computers and told us about Doom years before we played it. We had a system where each pupil would get allocated one day every couple of years with the computer - taught by someone brought in especially - learning the GUI, and running software (e. g. kid-friendly educational trivia-based games with graphics.
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fanjoy
I have a BBC Model B sitting at the side of me right now waiting on a capacitor kit from ebay because yes. my PSU blew after about 10 mins of having turned it on. I'm particularly fond of this old computer because its the first machine I had as a kid when I was 7 years old and learned to program on it. Later had a Spectrum 48K and likewise am fond of that too. I have all manor of old computers sitting in my back room from many different companies even including an old mains powered calculator from 1974 fully working. I dont currently have a beard though, but I do have a wife that rolls her eyes at me when I try to explain the love of this old tech to her.
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I have a BBC Model B sitting at the side of me right now waiting on a capacitor kit from ebay because yes. my PSU blew after about 10 mins of having turned it on. I'm particularly fond of this old computer because its the first machine I had as a kid when I was 7 years old and learned to program on it. Later had a Spectrum 48K and likewise am fond of that too. I have all manor of old computers sitting in my back room from many different companies even including an old mains powered calculator from 1974 fully working. I dont currently have a beard though, but I do have a wife that rolls her eyes at me when I try to explain the love of this old tech to her.
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jasbk
My first ever computer was a bbc micro B 32k. My dad bought it in 1984. i was 3.
I had it until 1997 and played it almost daily with over a hundred games. my first introduction to gaming and computers and so many childhood smiles.
Kevin Toms football manager (soccer for non brits)
Barbarian 2
The last ninja 1 and 2
Repton thru time. still one of the best and hardest games ever released.
My dad introduced me to computers and games through the BBC. i'm so glad he did. Those memories are never gonna fade
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My first ever computer was a bbc micro B 32k. My dad bought it in 1984. i was 3.
I had it until 1997 and played it almost daily with over a hundred games. my first introduction to gaming and computers and so many childhood smiles.
Kevin Toms football manager (soccer for non brits)
Barbarian 2
The last ninja 1 and 2
Repton thru time. still one of the best and hardest games ever released.
My dad introduced me to computers and games through the BBC. i'm so glad he did. Those memories are never gonna fade
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Anonymous
Several of these machines were still in use at my small rural school up until at least '97 when I left for secondary education. They didn't really appeal to me TBH, as I was more interested in playing Lemmings on the newer Acorns. My secondary school also had an example in its computer room, the interesting thing being that it was connected up to a programmable robotic hand. I never actually saw it function, but I wondered at the time if its grip was powerful enough to crush bones like Robocop's was.
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Several of these machines were still in use at my small rural school up until at least '97 when I left for secondary education. They didn't really appeal to me TBH, as I was more interested in playing Lemmings on the newer Acorns. My secondary school also had an example in its computer room, the interesting thing being that it was connected up to a programmable robotic hand. I never actually saw it function, but I wondered at the time if its grip was powerful enough to crush bones like Robocop's was.
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Megaross
Grew up in the 90's, I saw these at school but we were never allowed to use them. Guess they bought them in the day and just kind of never knew what to do with about 3 (by then very old) computers and hundreds of children.
I imagine they all got thrown away along with a few other cool old computers that were kind of stacked in a corner. Sad to think.
Had one friend with a computer though, and til we got our own pc later on, I was always at his house basking in his awesome windows 95 tech.
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Grew up in the 90's, I saw these at school but we were never allowed to use them. Guess they bought them in the day and just kind of never knew what to do with about 3 (by then very old) computers and hundreds of children.
I imagine they all got thrown away along with a few other cool old computers that were kind of stacked in a corner. Sad to think.
Had one friend with a computer though, and til we got our own pc later on, I was always at his house basking in his awesome windows 95 tech.
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je5
My first computer, well my dad brought one back from the University where he worked (we couldn't afford to buy one. Happy days playing Frak and Repton 2. I remember reading the magazine classifieds and ordering Repton Infinity (one of the last titles. Lots of programming BASIC, I made a pinball game that was popular at my school. It lives on today through ARM of course. Anyway, good memories! Check out the film Micro Men if you haven't seen it.
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My first computer, well my dad brought one back from the University where he worked (we couldn't afford to buy one. Happy days playing Frak and Repton 2. I remember reading the magazine classifieds and ordering Repton Infinity (one of the last titles. Lots of programming BASIC, I made a pinball game that was popular at my school. It lives on today through ARM of course. Anyway, good memories! Check out the film Micro Men if you haven't seen it.
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ojbeez
The most annoying thing about restoring these BBCs is that the ROM port cover on the keyboard is missing or damaged by being pressed through (Probably by a bored kid in the classroom in the 80's) leaving a gaping hole on the left side of the keyboard. Luckily you can buy a BBC Acorn ROM PORT COVER on eBay by a guy called riscman - problem solved. They are really good and keep with the aesthetics of the machine and they are really cheap.
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The most annoying thing about restoring these BBCs is that the ROM port cover on the keyboard is missing or damaged by being pressed through (Probably by a bored kid in the classroom in the 80's) leaving a gaping hole on the left side of the keyboard. Luckily you can buy a BBC Acorn ROM PORT COVER on eBay by a guy called riscman - problem solved. They are really good and keep with the aesthetics of the machine and they are really cheap.
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Gareth
I loved my BBC B, our family got it christmas 88. I learn't so much on it and although I was laughed at by all my friends who got an amiga the christmas after but I owe so much to this and what I learnt from it. I loved the games so much but also did some -basic- basic programming. Have I mentioned how much I loved it? Some teachers in school had the Master, and from a BBC B owner the master seemed amazing.
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I loved my BBC B, our family got it christmas 88. I learn't so much on it and although I was laughed at by all my friends who got an amiga the christmas after but I owe so much to this and what I learnt from it. I loved the games so much but also did some -basic- basic programming. Have I mentioned how much I loved it? Some teachers in school had the Master, and from a BBC B owner the master seemed amazing.
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