EACA International. The Computers.
EACA produced a range of machines from about 1980 to 1983. While re-branding in different parts of the world was common, the "Genie" name seems to be EACA's itself. I've deduced this from the fact that where the "Genie" name appears, the EACA brand and name also appears, whereas in its other guises only the trademark (and name) of the distributor is present (e.g. the Dick Smith System 80).
The Video Genie (EG 3003) and Video Genie II (EG 3008) are discussed extensively on this website and are called here the System 80 MK I (both black and blue label) and the System 80 MK II respectively.
Other machines in the EACA stable included...
The
Colour Genie was released in 1982. It was an attractive machine,
with a solid full-stroke keyboard and 16K BASIC in ROM. When I first
saw it in the shop, it was alongside a Vic 20 and the Tandy Colour
Computer. It seemed better value for money than both those
offerings. As well as the 63-key typewriter keyboard and
powerful BASIC, it featured the trusty Z-80, running at 2.2 MHz, 16k-32k
of RAM, 3 channels of sound, 8 colours (4 for text), 40 columns x 24 rows
for text and 160 x 102 pixels for graphics. It seemed to be
bristling with ports which included RS-232, Joysticks (2), light pen, RGB
and audio. What's more the power supply was built-in meaning less
ugly cables.
However, good looks do not always maketh the consumer machine. As computer companies were fast learning, it was mostly about support, software and marketing. These were in short supply for the Colour Genie. Besides that, the graphics were only mediocre, and good graphics were essential to succeed in the home computer market. Although it may not have been the original reason for purchase, in 1982 most home computers were used for games!
I don't think it was ever sold in the U.S.A. In Europe, it had some visibility especially in Germany but any market share in the UK was completely demolished by the likes of the home-grown Sinclair Spectrum. In my part of the world (New Zealand and Australia) the Colour Genie never took off either, with the Vic 20 and then the C-64 grabbing most of the home-arcade machine limelight.
Click to see an advertisement (sourced from www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk). Also included here is a review of the colour genie, written for the U.K. Magazine, "Computing Today" by Simon N. Goodwin.
Interestingly, later varients of this machine could show 25 rows of text due to upgraded ROMS sourced from Germany. This seemed to introduce an element of software incompatibility into the model however as some software written for these later machines would not display properly on the older 24 row units.
A couple of emulators exist namely, Colour EMU 3.0 and CGENIE. I like the latter better, although it doesn't like Windows much. It works fine in DOSBOX though so long as expanded memory is not used. The support pages for Colour EMU 3.0 no longer seems to exist.
Documentation was never a strong point with EACA but Lowe Electronics U.K. wrote a technical manual (42MB) for the Colour Genie, which is available in PDF format under the link. (Thanks to Alistair Clark, New Zealand for providing this.)
The Genie III (EG 3200)
In the same year (1982) EACA bought out another machine pitched squarely
at the business market. While remaining compatible with Model 1
software, this baby could also run CP/M! Sound familiar? Think
TRS-80 model 4!
On paper it looked good. Integrated screen and drives, a detachable keyboard, a Z80 running at 3.2 MHz, 64K of expandable RAM, 16 lines x 64 characters or 20 lines x 80 characters (in CP/M), built-in speaker, real-time clock, RS232 and Centronics parallel port. It also sported two 5" 640k drives. The basic version had no graphics ability but a 288 x 640 pixel board could be bought as an accessory, as could a 5 MB hard drive!
No colour though. This was a machine for serious uses, not games. Check out the advertisement in "Computing Today".
The Genie III came with NEWDOS 80 Version 2 (for TRS-80 Model 1 mode) and CP/M 2.2. The NEWDOS package contained the full version of BASIC, loading off the disk into RAM rather than being (mostly) resident in ROM as it was in the earlier disk-based Model Is and Video Genies.
This machine had even less impact on the business world than the Colour Genie had on the home market.... and in 1982 both markets were becoming crowded with new machines appearing monthly! EACA had few distributors, and had neither the size nor money for aggressive marketing campaigns. Also being based in the Far East a long way from its markets wouldn't have helped. Released in the U.K. on July 22nd, 1982 (I'm not sure exactly when it was launched elsewhere), the Genie III was hardly noticed.
In Germany a further model, the Genie IIIs made an appearance (document sourced from oldcomputers.dyndns.org). Along with better specs, NEWDOS 80 v2 was replaced with the homegrown GDOS. The machine was a local affair manufactured by Siemens and distributed by Trommeschlaeger Computer GmbH (TCS)
The Genie 16
This 16-bit PC-compatible computer was announced by EACA but the company went bankrupt before it ever saw the light of day.
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