Acorn Electron - 1983

The only problem with the BBC computers was the cost. This reflected the build quality and the massive extendibility they offered but Acorn were concerned they were losing the lower end of the market. The Electron was their attempt to mop up sales. Sold in 1983, it was really a cut-down BBC B. It had the same memory and BASIC but no additional connectivity, no internal ROMS but still had an excellent keyboard, that fast BASIC and machine code. The only problem with the Electron was that it was half the price of perfection. £200 was too expensive when compared with the Spectrum and it was too tempting to find the other £200 to get the Beeb. Right from the start it failed to sell in large numbers. Perhaps there was just too much competition at this price and capability.