Other EACA Computers - The Genie III and Genie 16
The Genie III (EG 3200)
In
the same year as the Colour Genie (1982) EACA bought out another machine
pitched squarely at the business market. While remaining compatible
with Model 1 software, this baby could also run CP/M! Sound familiar?
Think TRS-80 model 4!
On paper it looked good. Integrated screen and drives, a detachable keyboard, a Z80 running at 4 MHz, 64K of expandable RAM, 16 lines x 64 characters or 25 lines x 80 characters (in CP/M and G-DOS), built-in speaker, real-time clock, RS232 and Centronics parallel port. It also sported two 5.25 inch drives which could save up to 730KB each. The basic version had no graphics ability, although the EG 3210 Programmable Graphics Adaptor was available. A 288 x 640 "Hi Resolution Graphics Interface" was mooted but never built. No colour though. This was a machine for serious uses, not games. Check out the advertisement in "Computing Today".
Various third-party additions were available later including the 1984 "Genieplus Card", which added 384 KB additional RAM and a hard disk adaptor to the basic machine.
The Genie III came with NEWDOS 80 Version 2 (for TRS-80 Model 1 mode), G-DOS (a "Germanised" expanded version of NEWDOS) and/or CP/M 2.2. The NEWDOS package contained the full version of BASIC, loading off the disk into RAM rather than being (mostly) resident in ROM as it was in the earlier disk-based Model Is and Video Genies (More on these DOS versions can be found here).
This machine had even less impact on the business world than the Colour Genie had on the home market.... and in 1982 both markets were becoming crowded with new machines appearing monthly! EACA had few distributors, and had neither the size nor money for aggressive marketing campaigns. Also being based in the Far East a long way from its markets wouldn't have helped. Released in the U.K. on July 22nd, 1982 (I'm not sure exactly when it was launched elsewhere), the Genie III was hardly noticed.
In Germany a further model, the Genie IIIs made an appearance (document sourced from oldcomputers.dyndns.org). Along with better specs, the homegrown G-DOS was the bundled Operating System. The machine was a local affair manufactured by Siemens and distributed by Trommeschlaeger Computer GmbH (TCS)
In 1984 the "Genie 16" was built for TCS by Ferranti (UK) and sold in Germany. The "A" and "B" series were not fully IBM PC-compatible. "Genie 16C" was assembled by TCS from Taiwanese components, and may have been PC-compatible. Very few Genie 16s were sold.