The SAM Coupé was an 8-bit British home computer that was first released in late 1989. A popular misconception is that it is a clone of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum computer because it has a compatible screen mode and features that allow for emulation and it was marketed as a logical upgrade from the Spectrum. It was originally manufactured by Miles Gordon Technology, plc. (MGT) based in Swansea in the United Kingdom.

Hardware overview

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The machine was based around a Z80B CPU clocked at 6 MHz, and contained an ASIC that is comparable to the Spectrum's ULA. The basic model had 256 kB of RAM, upgradable internally to 512 kB and externally with an additional 4 MB (added in 1 MB packs). Tapes were the original storage medium, but one or two 3.5 inch floppy disk drives could be fitted internally. Six channel, 8 octave stereo sound was provided by a Philips SAA 1099 chip. The ASIC also included a line triggered interrupt counter, allowing video effects to be synchronised to specific display positions with little effort.

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