Matra Alice

Matra & Hachette Ordinateur Alice
The Matra Alice
ManufacturerMatra and Hachette
TypeHome computer
Release date1983; 41 years ago (1983)
Discontinued1983 (1983)
Operating systemMicrosoft BASIC
CPUMotorola 6803 @ 0.89 MHz
Memory4 KiB on-board
DisplayPéritel video output; 32 x 16 or 64 x 32 with 8 colors, 160 x 125 with 4 colors (with expanded RAM)
GraphicsMotorola 6847
Sound1 channel, 5 octaves
InputCassette interface
ConnectivityRS-232C serial interface
Backward
compatibility		TRS-80 MC-10
The colour-coordinated data recorder for the Alice

The Matra & Hachette Ordinateur Alice is a home computer sold in France beginning in 1983.[1][2][3][4] It was a clone of the TRS-80 MC-10, produced through a collaboration between Matra and Hachette in France and Tandy Corporation in the United States.[5][6]

Alice 32 and cassette deck

The Alice is distinguished by its bright red casing. Functionally, it is equivalent to the MC-10, with a Péritel (SCART) connector replacing the RF modulator for video output.

The Alice never became a popular computer in its home country. It tried to invade schools by being part of the country's Plan Informatique pour Tous ("Information technology for everyone") programme, but Thomson won the whole deal.[5] Less than 50 games were released for the system.[7]

The original model had 4 kB of RAM and used a Motorola 6847 video display generator chip, as used in the Dragon 32 and Acorn Atom among others.

At least three emulators for the system exist.[8]

  1. ^ "Matra-Hachette Alice". www.obsolete-tears.com. Retrieved 2022-12-25.
  2. ^ "ALICE Matra Hachette". www.old-computers.com. Archived from the original on 2023-10-02. Retrieved 2022-12-26.
  3. ^ "Matra Alice". www.silicium.org. Archived from the original on 2009-11-02. Retrieved 2022-12-26.
  4. ^ "MO5.COM : Musée des Machines : Ordinateur : Le Matra-Hachette Alice". mo5.com. Retrieved 2022-12-26.
  5. ^ a b "ALICE". msx.fab.free.fr. Retrieved 2022-12-26.
  6. ^ "Matra Alice". www.system-cfg.com. Retrieved 2022-12-26.
  7. ^ "Listing of all Matra-hachette / Tandy Alice (MC-10) games - Page 1". The Video Games Museum. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
  8. ^ "Emulation Matra-Hachette Alice32 - Liste des Emulateurs Matra-Hachette Alice32". Emu-France (in French). Retrieved 2022-12-26.