I get that you said "popular" to mean Apple/Commodore/Tandy appliance computers for the home. So the answer is not many, if any, color graphics home appliance computers had native 80 column mode before 1985. On Sat, Jun 25, 2022 at 11:07 AM Dean Notarnicola via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
The TRS-80 Model 4 had a native 80 column mode.
On Sat, Jun 25, 2022 at 10:09 AM Wil via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
The ace-80 from 1985 or so for the Atari 800.
http://www.atarimania.com/mags/pdf/analog_no_42.pdf
Reviewed in here.
On Jun 25, 2022 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