Tangerine Advert - February 1980
From Personal Computer World
New from Tangerine Computer Systems - the Microtan 65
This is an early advert from Tangerine announcing the company's new Microtan 65 in its simplest form - just a board with chips on it and an RF-modulator to drive a standard domestic television.
The company would also offer niceties like a case and a keyboard, but only sold around 10,000 units before abandoning it.
Ready-assembled, the Microtan 65 board was available for £98, or around £590 in 2024, but the company also released a pre-assembled and cased version of the Microtan called the Micron.
This system included one of the company's Tanex expansion boards, an extended 10K version of Microsoft's BASIC, a keyboard, and VDU and serial ports, with the whole lot retailing for £395, or about £2,400 in 2024.
Tangerine's Micron pre-assembled system, as advertised in October 1980's Electronics Today International
The name of the company - Tangerine - was a nod to Apple, in a similar (but less litigous) way to Pearcom - a company which went one step beyond to also call its machine the Pear II.
The 65 in the case of the Microtan referred to the MOS Technologies' 6500-series chips, in this case the popular 6502[1] - as used in a raft of micros of the era from the Apple II to Commodore's VIC-20, as well as the Microtan itself.
After it was abanoned by Tangerine, the '65 was later resurrected by an un-related company called Microtanic around July 1983[2].
Date created: 23 January 2015
Last updated: 21 November 2024
Sources
Text and otherwise-uncredited photos © nosher.net 2024. Dollar/GBP conversions, where used, assume $1.50 to £1. "Now" prices are calculated dynamically using average RPI per year.
