Sord M5

Sord M5
Developer Sord Computer Corporation
Release date November 1982 (1982-11)
Introductory price ¥49,800
£195
₩266,200
Operating system BASIC-F, BASIC-G, BASIC-I
CPU Zilog Z80A @ 3.58MHz

The Sord M5 is a home computer launched by Sord Computer Corporation in 1982. Primarily the Sord M5 competed in the Japanese home computer market. It was also sold as the CGL M5 in the United Kingdom by Computer Games Limited, and was reasonably popular in Czechoslovakia, where the M5 stood as one of the first affordable computers available to the general public. Takara also sold models in Japan as the Game M5, and models were also exported to South Korea.

Original models of the Sord M5 are relatively small by home computing standards, with a built in keyboard with rubber keys, similar to the ZX Spectrum. The specifications of the computer are very similar to the MSX, a computer which likely forced the Sord M5 (along with many similar Japanese computers) out of the market by the mid-1980s.

The CGL M5 was released in the UK with an introductory price of £195, higher than many of the system's competitors including the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Acorn Atom and Commodore VIC-20. Whereas the M5 contained a cartridge slot in an age where most computers were using compact cassettes or floppy disks, the lack of built-in RAM led to few games being produced for the system.

In South Korea, two electronics companies released different personal computers based on Sord M5. The FC-150 was produced and released by LG and the TommyCom was manufactured and launched by Koryo Systems. Both computers supported the Korean alphabet, Hangul. The system specifications of these computers were identical to the original M5 but they had differently shaped cartridge slots. Cartridges from the Sord M5 or other manufacturers could not be used on these computers directly. LG released some original software including several educational programs and games.

Despite its short production run, the M5 was supported by various big Japanese game developers such as Namco and Konami.

Other models include the M5 Pro and M5 Jr.

Technical specifications

CGL M5

Internal hardware

I/O ports and power supply

Language cartridge options

Retail price

References

  1. ↑ Computer & Video Games magazine, December 1983
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