Enterprise 64, vintage home computer. Rare collectors item.

[FennsegesTurul]

Check out ep128.hu for Enterprise 128k emulator&software.

[DaveM599]

Hi, thanks for your review. Never saw one myself. Wasn't the original name 'Elan' (or even 'Flan'? What was the keyboard like to use? Distinctive design look. This was, I guess, as hyped as the Sinclair QL.

[SteveBenway]

@DaveM599 It went through a whole load of names, Elan and Flan being two of them. The keyboard is okay. Better than a Spectrum Plus keyboard.

[TheBladeJunker]

That's it I must have one, time for a world trip, no expense spared, Enterprise 64 or bust. :D

[chrisM33]

Did the speccie really dominate the c64 ?, i was a commodore boy, my mate in my road a speckhead, we used to argue as to what was the best, i honestly thought the c64 had better games and graphics and sound, and sold more

[SteveBenway]

@chrisM33 Which was better on a technical level will always be open to debate, as while the C64 certainly had better sound, and in some ways more capable graphics, the Speccy had the more flexible CPU and so was capable of better 3D.

As for sales, while I don't have specific figures, I knew vastly more people back in the day who had Spectrums than C64s, by a ratio of 10 to 1.

[moijk]

@SteveBenway The c64 sold aprox 17 million, the spectrum 5 million. Beside slightly higher resolution on their 8 bit color mode on the spectrum it could do more details, but that was butchered by the color limitations. almost every game looks better on the c64, almost all sounds better. Beside, the c64 has a better keyboard, atari-style joystick ports and support a disk drive ;)

[TeamRocketReviews]

@moijk I agree that the C64 was better, but that 17 million is worldwide, not just in the UK. I don't exactly know how much it sold in the UK, probably a lot.

[JobbieMcJobbie]

Great review, thanks!

[rtrgrl78]

Love your videos, so informative. x

[SteveBenway]

@rtrgrl78 Thank you :)

[edwardszzz]

When I was 16 I upgraded to an amstrad cpc464 from a spectrum 48k. I originally wanted an enterprise 64 because I wanted to learn FORTH programming using the FORTH language cartridge that was to be available for the machine. It was the Bees Knees according to computer mags. I got an amstrad instead because they never went on sale in the UK or they delayed introduction. I dont remember exact facts or were too expensive. Should I have got an ENTERPRISE instead?

[SteveBenway]

@edwardszzz No, you made the right choice. The Enterprise is a nice machine, but when they finally released it, it was overpriced, not really much more capable than the CPC464, and there was very little software for it.

[dannyofthededd]

good grief man...i'm sure i remember seeing them way back when in dixons or something.. it was the joystick/mouse thingy fitted onto it that stuck in my mind..I am originally from Rotherham in south yorkshire so we probably got all the reject units haha.

[SteveBenway]

@dannyofthededd I never saw one when they were supposedly for sale, but I lived in Milton Keynes back then. Supposedly futuristic there and stuff. Pity they forgot to inhabit it with human beings.

I'm just down the road from Rotherham now, in sunny Worksop... and I know what you mean. Still nicer people though :D

[dannyofthededd]

@SteveBenwathinking haha!that's a bit of a coincidence..us South Yorkshire folk tend to be "areight" and that on the whole but i suppose i am a bit biased ;)

[hewey999]

Hey Stevey, any more system reviews coming? Dunno why but I like sys reviews more than anything else!

[SteveBenway]

@hewey999 Yes there are. I'm gearing up for a Virtual Boy review this coming week, and need to get my act together and do a whole lot more, so I can embed them on my site.

[hewey999]

@hewey999 Sweet man, look forward to it :-) Never played a VB and from wot ive seen it doesnt have a great range of games...still be good to let u do all the work and I can sit back with a glass of wine and enjoy it..

[Gooberslot]

I've been enjoying your old system reviews but I wish you'd show them in action. Anything would do, it doesn't have to be a game.

[SteveBenway]

@Gooberslot Umm... there are several hundred game videos on my channel, all of which are played on my old systems.

[numbers9to0]

How would the computerindustrie look like if Microsoft wouldn't have been so successfull!?

[SteveBenway]

@numbers9to0 Much the same, probably. We'd just have a different dominant OS. I wouldn't mind if that was Amiga OS, but it'd more likely be IBM OS2.

[stupidstuffx]

Seriously, what is up with Britian having all of these amazing pieces of retro hardware America having next to none?

And you sir have earned my subscription

[SteveBenway]

@stupidstuffx I think England had so many computers because of the Sinclair Spectrum. Sinclair hit on what it was the public wanted. Reasonable flexibility at a very cheap price. So when his machines were so hugely successful, lots of other companies wanted to get in on the act.

Not many succeeded, but plenty tried, which leaves us with lots of fairly rare failed attempts. Heaven for collectors of fairly rare machines :D

[laffer35]

Sorry to keep double posting but I hadn't watched all of it when I left my first one... just have to say your wife is awesome :D

It's hard enough finding a wife that will tolerate a huge collection of old machines but finding one that will actually help you expand it... that has got to be rare!

[SteveBenway]

@laffer35 She's one in a million :)

[laffer35]

Interesting video. I think the integrated joystick seems like a horrible idea though - joysticks tend to break sooner or later, or in the very least get too loose.

[DdlyHeadshot]

I really want to see how games play on this thing - have you managed to get any since this video?

[SteveBenway]

@DdlyHeadshot There are a couple... not sure if they're in my playlist, but one, Beach-Head is in the video responses on this page.

Think Amstrad cpc464 and you'll be on the right track.

[Lakes57]

Anyone remember the double buffer graphics demo for this?

Golden balls drawing shapes on the screen is the only way I can describe it.

Quite impressive for the time.

[cobblern]

I had an Enterprise 128 when I was in high school (I'm Hungarian btw). I'm sure I still have it somewhere. You sed that you don't know what the right side extender port is for. Well I had a double density 3.5" floppy drive that had to be attached there. I also had two joysticks, a dozen cassette tapes and 20 or so floppies full of games. Fun fact: if you didn't put in any cartridges the enterprise acted as a word processor. Damn this video brought back some really good memories.

[SteveBenway]

@cobblern Thanks for the info :)

I knew about the word processor. What took me a while to find out was that I needed to insert the basic cartridge before I could load games from tape. They wouldn't load into the word processor... oddly... lol :D

[lord35ar]

u said it was released in 1995 ?? I think it was a lot earlier than that. I was friends with an argentine collector that had one of these, so i could hold it in my right hands, i always loved the fact that it had a joystick built in. cheers.

[SteveBenway]

@lord35ar Hmm... I just watched, and at 2:35 I definitely said '85.

The joystick turns out to be really nice, which surprised me, coz I expected it to be rather rubbish.

[lord35ar]

@SteveBenway sorry, i was fooled by your accent then. 

[wuerdelos]

Just re-watched this, and it made me wonder if you ever managed to find any software for this machine? Would be very interesting to see it up and running. Cheers for making youtube a place worth visiting.

[lord35ar]

@wuerdelos he uploaded a few vids with games on this machine.

[GamingWithStatoke]

Its one of the most ugliest computers I've ever seen

[kimosaaaabe]

was lucky enough to find a boxed version at a bootsale some years ago for a fiver - complete with shrinkwrapped demo tape, but missing it's joystick 'knob'. Nice machine. Sadly In one of those 'moments' I flogged most of my collection :-( Still have my 64's, spectrums and amiga A1000 though....

[daro2096]

This to me is junk but I do know the saying... One man's junk is another man's treasure.

[chrisstoffer]

Now I know why the shirt form Camden had that console on it. I DK it is more common with C64

[MarkTheMorose]

I'd like to thank your wife, too; I'd never have seen one of these otherwise! One question, perhaps covered in your Enterprise Batman video (haven't watched it yet). What's the keyboard like? It strikes me as being rather like the QL/Spectrum +, albeit with raised keys.

[SteveBenway]

You're right about the keyboard, it is a bit like the Speccy/QL, but the raised keys make it much more usable and easier to type on.

[wrestletube1]

I'll send you those things requested in this video now.

[lonesuk]

Used to have cpc 464 uses to program a lot on it and play games good games for the time

[SteveBenway]

There are a few other manufacturers that you could try looking for, like the Tandy Color Computer 1, 2 & 3, or the TRS80 Model 1 to whatever they went up to. Sinclair got over there too, branded as Timex Sinclair.

I think MSX got a bit of a look in too.

But yeah, we do seem to have a pretty huge variety over here, and then there's all the weird stuff just across the channel in Europe.

I'm glad you like my vids... thanks :)

[TConyi]

well, I have an Enterprise 1-2-8 with a few games, I was very happy when I got it from my parents around -´86.

It was a really cool design compare it to other pc´s back then.

[1337Shockwav3]

Ehm ... also about the joystick/printer thingie, they're edge connectors you don't need interface. Just adapt the Edge Connectors (you can i.e. use cut ISA connectors) to D-Sub plugs/sockets and off you go. Same goes for the video connector, which can be used connecting the machine via SCART/Composite.

[SteveBenway]

So what you're saying is, you can make your own interface... okay... thanks for that. I think what I said was valid.

[firefly2000]

old-computers web site has a lot of info on this computer and one of the biggest computer video game collections I have even seen on one site .

[mattnintendonerd]

how many classic computers do u have

[SteveBenway]

Y'know... I don't actually know.

Including consoles and handhelds, it's somewhere around 80.

The featured video on my main channel page is of my entire collection, so feel free to watch it and count them :)

[commanderoates]

lol at the end.

[dminalba]

Dave was the sound processor, Nick was the graphics processor, named after the designers

[Gamester81]

Nice collection.

[1337Shockwav3]

R@RE L@@K!

The machines aren't that rare in hungary actually. I've owned one recently but sold it again because there is no interesting software for it around and the floppies are a pain to come by.

[igneousphantom]

You're probably already aware of this site, but there's a huge (err.. sorta) enterprise community at enterpriseforever [dot] org. There's a bunch of downloads for ep64 and ep128 games and software.

[SteveBenway]

Yeah, I know that site.

It's a cool site, though the software is of limited usefulness to anyone not running an emulator, or who has no disk drive.

There are no .tap or .wav files that I could see.

[igneousphantom]

There is something called WAV-PRG (google for it) that might do the trick, even though it was intended for the c64. Also, if none of that works, I know there are USB/ide/sata cassette decks that you can purchase for PC. I assume you could pop one of those into a pc with linux, set the device baudrate to something slow enough for the ep64 to read -- pop a tape in, press record, and with I/O redirection cat the .prg file over to /dev/tape (or /dev/whatever). I know both methods work for a c64.

[SteveBenway]

Thanks. Sounds like it could be worth a try.

As it is, I use this site that does have files that work with the ETPE tap player.

ep128[dot]hu/Ep_Games/Games_Ep­64[dot]htm

[MrPrise]

Actually there is a newer (better? ;-) solution to play files as an audio for a real EP.

It is called TAPir and you can find it on the EP4Ever site. If anyone interested I can give the link or help using it.

With TAPir you can easily rearrange the files within the TAP (the order is important when you want to use tape) and it can handle bigger TAPs too. Of course you can export the audio into WAV too.

[Gamepopper101]

This is just a question that I want to ask. Does anyone call a ZX Spectrum 'Speccy'?

[SteveBenway]

Yes :D

[TastyOther]

Hmm, I should do a video of the EP128 with EXDOS and some demo games running ;)

The original run were made by a firm in Northumberland and had a high return rate - I have one of these machines and the defect mine has is a bent LED under the casing, making it hard to see power is on - they were offered to the employees in 1987 without warranty for a very low sum.

The Enterprise was also sold as the Mephisto in Germany.

Most games are Speccy ports - but some show off the graphics capability.

[DeanoTheLegend87]

Any luck finding games yet?

[SteveBenway]

Sadly not.

A set of games appeared for sale on ebay a month or so ago, in Hungary, but I forgot to place a bid on the closing night, and missed them.

Nothing else has come up since.

[randomunavailable]

If it uses the Z80 cpu, there is a ton of software that it "could" run, if that software isn't machine specific. The Commodore 128 had a z80 cpu that you could boot into and use z80 apps.

[TastyOther]

IS-DOS is vaguely CP/M esque, but I now can't remember if CP/M was implemented properly. The C128's Z80 was for CP/M, as were many Z80 co-processor solutions.

[SteveBenway]

There are currently several Enterprise computers on ebay, should anyone be interested. One has a "buy it now" price of £250, while 1 unboxed pair, and another boxed example are on sale from Hungary.

[chris019s]

I saw an Enterprise 64 tonight on ebay for 250 British pounds; thats $373. 73 in U.S. currency. I couldn't believe it, they must be that rare.

[SteveBenway]

Yes, I'm aware of that one. The seller has even linked to this video.

It's been there for over a week though, and no-one's bought it yet.

In the summer, it would have sold very quickly at that price, but I suspect they'll struggle to sell it now, with everyone spending on Christmas, or worried about losing their jobs.

[TirianB]

Hey. I have one of those. Perhaps it is worth trying to sell it.

[SteveBenway]

I watch the values of these things closely, whenever they come up on ebay.

At the moment, £150 - £180 would be about par for the course.

In summer, you could expect £250+.

For some reason, vintage computers and consoles always sell for a higher price in summer.

[SteveBenway]

My advice would be to wait till summer, if you want to sell it. Retro computers can go for twice as much, in summer.

In the uk, in summer, a boxed Enterprise 64 can go for between £170 and £250.

I got mine in winter, and the seller had some fairly strict conditions, which put a lot of people off... for just under £100.

[itsabomberscope]

My friend had an enterprise 64. It was a fantastic machine. If I remember correctly the basic language was quite extended, allowing animation etc. I was going to purchase one myself when they were coming out, but due to delays in production etc, I bought an Atari 800XL.

Its a real shame the machine didn't take off, but at least I have seen one at the time they came out!

Cheers!

[mariosonic190]

Ah, the Enterprise. Now thats a rare gem. Good work on getting one. Oddly, for something so rare, 3 or 4 appearing on eBay per year is actually not that bad. How easy is it aquiring games for it?

[SteveBenway]

Getting games is proving pretty much impossible so far.

I've scoured the web, and all the sites that had tape files are long gone.

The Enterprise Forever forum has files that will run on an emulator, and can be transferred to disk, but I don't own a disk drive.

So I'm left watching ebay on a daily basis, and hoping something will turn up.

Past experiences has shown that games turn up on there when someone sells a working system, so fingers crossed.

[mariosonic190]

Which is rarer, the Enterprise 64 or 128?

[SteveBenway]

I'm not sure, to be honest. I think most of the 128s went to Hungary.

[mariosonic190]

Hey, just to let you know, I've just seen a bunch of cassette games for the Enterprise as well as a joystick interface come up on eBay for real cheap!

[SteveBenway]

Thanks for letting me know. I might have missed those. I've got them all in my watch list now, and gonna bid on most when they get close to ending.

[chris019s]

Love the video. I think you should continue to do videos like this one because they are very enlightening and different.

[lettersfromtheleft]

Wow... another cool vid. I hope you can find some games for it.

If you get a chance, can you do one about the Amiga you have? I never had a chance to use one when they were out, and don't know much about them.

[SteveBenway]

I'll see what I can do :)

[londonkaleb]

is this rarer than a sinclair zx80?

[SteveBenway]

They made about the same number as the ZX80, possibly even a few more, but fewer actually sold.

Oddly though, while there are fewer of these around, ZX80s command a higher price on ebay.

[amigarule673]

WOW!very interesting mr Benway thanks for sharing...

[gosteer]

Great video thanks for sharing.

[TimeSplittA]

Now thats a rare one!

[Joebeeb]

I really like your videos mr Benway!!

Do you have a BBC Micro?

[SteveBenway]

Thanks :)

and yes, I have one. You'll see it when I do the next video of my whole collection.

[Xesacriats]

I love these videos.  Very informative!

Sad to see it flop. It was a particularly powerful machine for the time.

[playablemovies]

did any of these ever make their way to The United States?

[SteveBenway]

I don't believe any were officially exported there, but just as the Virtual Boy was never officially sold here, there are always grey importers. So, I guess it's possible there may be one or two.

[playablemovies]

it just seems so unique, I have never really seen a machine that has a joystick in place of directional keys

[SteveBenway]

The Spectravideo SV-318, which sold in the USA, has a joystick in the same position.

I don't know how common those are over there, but in the uk, they're extremely hard to come by.