Acorn A7000

[Risc PC Computers]     [A7000+]     [Computers ]

Introduction

The A7000 was launched in July 1995 as the "baby brother" of the Risc PC. It used the ARM7500 which, like the ARM250 before it, combined the ARM7 CPU, VIDC20 and IOMD in a single chip. To make the A7000 easier to manufacture and hence cheaper, most of the expansion capabities of the RiscPC have been removed:

• The ARM7500 CPU is surface mounted, so no CPU upgrades .
• There is no second processor slot, so no PC Cards.
• There is no VRAM, so video memory comes from the main memory like previous generations of RISC OS computers.
• There is no backplane, an optional 1 slot backplance can be fitted to allow 1 podule.
• If a CDROM is fitted, you can't fit a backplane (and vice versa).
• There is only 1 DRAM slot, so only one SIMM (the Risc PC has 2 slots).

At last Acorn adopted the PS/2 mouse in the A7000. which meant that PC standard P/S2 mice and keyboards could be used.

There are a number of different models of the A7000 with different memory, hard discs, NIC and CDROM. There is also a special Early Years version with bundled software. The A7000 runs RISC OS 3.60.
 
Some of the models are:

• AMC01 - 2MB, Network Interface
• AMC02 - 2MB, 425MB hard disc
• AMC03 - 4MB, 425MB hard disc
• AMC04 - 4MB, Network Interface
• AMC05 - 4MB, 540MB hard disc
• AMC21 - 2MB, Network Interface, CDROM
• AMC22 - 2MB, 425MB hard disc, CDROM
• AMC23 - 4MB, 425MB hard disc, CDROM
• AMC25 - 4MB, 540MB hard disc, CD-ROM x4
• CON10 - 2MB, 425MB hard disc (Early Years)

Documents and Manuals

Here is the Acorn promotional brochure APP868 ARM7500.

Here is the ART A7000  factsheet.

Here is the A7000 Welcome Guide.

A7000

 I am not sure where and when I bought my A7000 (AMC23), I can't find a record of it!. The A7000 has a CDROM drive and an i-cubed EtherLan 600 interface installed.
 
Here are some pictures:

A7000 running RISC OS 3.60

A7000 running RISC OS 3.60 with an old AKF18 monitor.

Acorn Logo and A7000 label

A7000 Acorn logo on the front right of the case. Note there is no "+" after A7000.

A7000 (back)

This shows the blank plate for the podule expansion and serial number in the middle. Along the bottom are the interface ports: reset button, audio out, video out, keyboard, mouse, Ethernet, parallel and serial ports.

 A7000 with the top cover off

This shows the CDROM and floppy disc drive. The network card is just visible at the bottom in the middle. The power supply is bottom left. There is no space for further expansion with a CDROM installed!

A7000 Motherboard & NIC

A7000 motherboard with i-cubed Network Interface in the network socket.

A7000 Motherboard

A7000 motherboard and speaker in the bottom of the case. At the bottom left is the 16MB EDO SIMM, in the bottom middle are the 2 RISC OS 3.60 ROMs and on the bottom right is the backplane slot. You cannot use a backplae if you have a CDROM drive installed as there is not enough space. In the middle left there are the IDE and floppy drive connectors with the battery for the CMOS ROM above them. In the middle of the board is the Network slot socket and to its lower right the ARM7500 CPU. The power supply connectors are on the right hand edge. Along the top are the connectors.

Specification: