Rockwell Advert - December 1980

The AIM-65 - Advanced Interactive Microcomputer - was a development computer based upon MOS Technology's 6502, and as such it was a bit like an improved MOS/Commodore KIM-1.

So much so that it actually claimed hardware compatibility with both the KIM and Synertek's SYM-1, with all boards sharing the same 44-pin edge connector^[1].

It was considered as very good value, as it came with an integrated printer, keyboard, cassette interfaces, 4K RAM and a display - albeit a 20-character LED display - for £315, which is around £2,060 in 2026.

An official Rockwell advert for the AIM-65, from Byte, December 1978

There were a number of peripherals available for the AIM-65 - not least a range of different cases, including one with a built-in power supply for £110, or £720 in 2026.

There was also an acoustic-coupler modem for £200 (£1,310), a 32K memory card for £335 (£2,190) and a dual disk drive for a bargain £540, or £3,530 in 2026.

Seemingly the only decent photo of the era showing the AIM-65, from July 1979's Practical Computing review

Reviewed in July 1979's Practical Computing, Vincent Tseng concluded:

"It is a worthwhile microcomputer offering the right types of facilities. As it stands it could do with more RAM, then it becomes a resonably useful tool to learn assembler programming for the 6502. With the BASIC, which was not tested, it is certainly worth consideration for home use. The cassette interface could be improved to work with cheap recorders and the manuals could be made more readable, but the AIM-65 is a very pleasant system".

One other option to fix the limited memory issue - which was still more than the ZX80, ZX81 or VIC-20 - was the CUBIT card, released at the end of 1980.

The Eurocard-format board from Control Universal Ltd gave an additional 4K of RAM, an extra 4K EPROM socket, and an additional Versatile Interface Adapter (VIA) which added sixteen I/O lines.

The CUBIT board from Control Universal Ltd, showing its ability to connect to Acorn's Eurocard products. From Practical Computing, January 1981

It also offered a Eurocard connector which allowed any of Acorn's products like its memory or colour graphics cards to be plugged in as well.

It was however another one of those early microcomputer additions that was very much for the enthusiast, as it required removing the 6502 processor from the AIM-65, plugging in the CUBIT and then fitting the CPU into the new card, all without bending any of the chip's 40 pins.

The board retailed for £75, which is about £410 in 2026, but Practical Computing also reported that:

"For an extra £15 one can add a crystal and a 6502 chip and one has a very effective, small single-board computer^[2]".