Hobbit (computer)


Hobbit is a Soviet/Russian 8-bit home computer, based on the ZX Spectrum hardware architecture.
Besides Sinclair BASIC it also featured CP/M, Forth or LOGO modes, with the Forth or LOGO operating environment residing in an on-board ROM chip.

Overview

Hobbit was invented by Dmitry Mikhailov and Mikhail Osetinskii in Leningrad, Russia in the late 1980s. The original circuit layout was designed on a home-made computer, also created by Dmitry Mikhailov. The computer was manufactured by the joint venture InterCompex.
Hobbit was marketed in the former Soviet Union as a low-cost personal computer solution for basic educational and office needs, in addition to its obvious use as a home computer. Schools would use it on the classrooms, interconnecting several machines and forming a 56K baud network. It was possible to use another Hobbit or a IBM PC compatible with a special Hobbit network adapter card by InterCompex as a master host on the network.
The Hobbit was also briefly marketed in the U.K., targeted mainly at the existing ZX Spectrum fans wanting a more advanced computer compatible with the familiar architecture. It was mentioned on Your Sinclair September 1990 and January 1991 issues; Crash April 1992 issue, and on Sinclair User August and September 1992 issues, highlighting the available Forth language and CP/M operating system.
Domestic models often did not include the TV output, the internal speaker or both. The AY8910 chip for the domestic models was sold separately as an external extension module, hanging off the same extension bus as the optional external disk drive.
Another extension was the SME board. This featured 32 KB of cache memory, some of which could be dedicated to a video text buffer in CGA mode. SME worked at astonishing speed – one machine code command made an output of an entire display line. SME was capable of rendering several dozens of windows per second, and its capabilities were fully utilized only in the Forth environment.

Technical details

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