Sega Teradrive

File:Teradrive.jpg

Sega Teradrive

One variation of the Sega Mega Drive deserves special mention, and that is the Sega TeraDrive. This was an ordinary IBM computer with a 10MHz Intel 80286, but it also included a built-in MegaDrive as a 16-bit ISA card. The original Japanese TeraDrive was black in color in three different models and vended by Sega in in conjunction with a now-unknown Japanese company for use by MegaDrive developers. It shipped with a software development kit (SDK) which made it possible to develop your MegaDrive and Mega CD games (the Mega CD accessory appears to have been an option). The TeraDrive eventually found its way outside of Japan in late 1993 under the sponsorship of Amstrad, the noted computer system vendor. They changed the case color to cream, beefed up the memory to 2 MB, and made the MegaDrive SDK optional. The unit wasn't very successful regardless of market, and this was largely due to its high price (about US$3000). A souped-up version called the MegaPlus was later offered based on a 486DX-33 CPU machine with 4 MB of RAM, but very few seem to have made it out the door. The TeraDrive and its successor have all but disappeared with the passage of time.

TeraDrive Models

The TeraDrive came in 3 different models with the main differences being RAM, Storage, and Price.

Model 1

• Processors: 10MHz Intel 80286, 7.61MHz (PAL) or 7.67MHz (NTSC) Motorola 68000, and 3.55MHz (PAL) or 3.58MHz (NTSC) Zilog Z80
• RAM Avail.: 640KB
• RAM Max.: 2.5MB
• Storage: 1 - Floppy Drive
• Graphics Modes:
  • PC Mode
    • 640x480 (262144 colors/16 onscreen)
    • 320x200 (262144 colors/256 onscreen)
  • Mega Drive Mode
    • 320x224 (512 colors/64 onscreen)
• I/O Ports
  • PC
    • 1 - VGA
    • 1 - Parallel
    • 2 - Serial
    • 2 - PS/2
  • Mega Drive
    • 2 - Mega Drive Controller Ports
    • 1 - Expansion (This would be used to attatch the MEGA CD.)
• Operating System: IBM DOS J4.0/V
• Price ¥148,000 ($1100, €790)

Model 2

• Processors: 10MHz Intel 80286, 7.61MHz (PAL) or 7.67MHz (NTSC) Motorola 68000, and 3.55MHz (PAL) or 3.58MHz (NTSC) Zilog Z80
• RAM Avail.: 1MB
• RAM Max.: 2.5MB
• Storage: 2 - Floppy Drive
• Graphics Modes:
  • PC Mode
    • 640x480 (262144 colors/16 onscreen)
    • 320x200 (262144 colors/256 onscreen)
  • Mega Drive Mode
    • 320x224 (512 colors/64 onscreen)
• I/O Ports
  • PC
    • 1 - VGA
    • 1 - Parallel
    • 2 - Serial
    • 2 - PS/2
  • Mega Drive
    • 2 - Mega Drive Controller Ports
    • 1 - Expansion (This would be used to attatch the MEGA CD.)
• Operating System: IBM DOS J4.0/V
• Price ¥188,000 ($1400, €1020)

Model 3

• Processors: 10MHz Intel 80286, 7.61MHz (PAL) or 7.67MHz (NTSC) Motorola 68000, and 3.55MHz (PAL) or 3.58MHz (NTSC) Zilog Z80
• RAM Avail.: 2.5MB
• RAM Max.: 2.5MB
• Storage: 1 - Floppy Drive, 1 - 30MB Hard Drive
• Graphics Modes:
  • PC Mode
    • 640x480 (262144 colors/16 onscreen)
    • 320x200 (262144 colors/256 onscreen)
  • Mega Drive Mode
    • 320x224 (512 colors/64 onscreen)
• I/O Ports
  • PC
    • 1 - VGA
    • 1 - Parallel
    • 2 - Serial
    • 2 - PS/2
  • Mega Drive
    • 2 - Mega Drive Controller Ports
    • 1 - Expansion (This would be used to attatch the MEGA CD.)
• Operating System: IBM DOS J4.0/V
• Price ¥248,000 ($1840, €1400)

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