I'd say Kaypros were popular enough to be in this category. Most contemporary CP/M boxes that used video eventually went to 80-column, even when it was an unfortunate choice for the CRT (e.g. Osborne). Thanks, Jonathan ------- Original Message ------- On Saturday, June 25th, 2022 at 09:31, John Heritage via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Hey all --
Which (popular) 8-bit computers gained "easy" or even "standard" 80 column support?
I know there are a ton more 8bits than I'll list below, but my understanding is:
Atari 8bit -- XEP80 official accessory but almost no one bought it; used joystick ports.. slow and limited 80 column (black and white?). Atari did have a 60 column graphics/text mode IIRC. there is a software hack that uses narrow characters for '80 columns' but hard to read, and came out after the machine was no longer commerically sold.
Apple II - supported via cards. If 80 column support became common, when did it become common? what was normal for color count, etc?
C64 - C128 mode natively offered 80 column support; millions of these sold. So maybe common later on? 16 colors.
PET - no 80 column?
C Plus/4 - software hack?
ZX Spectrum -- available via some clones only, not common?
BBC Micro - Looks like a native mode for 80 column support?
TRS-80 - no native 80 column support?
Thanks! John