Micro-Professor MPF-I
The Micro-Professor MPF-I is a microcomputer developed by Multitech and releasedin 1981. It was the company's first branded product and served as a training system for learning machine code and assembly language for the Zilog Z80 microprocessor. After releasing several iterations of the product, Acer sold the product line to Flite Electronics in 1993.
History
In 1981, Multitech released the Micro-Professor MPF-I, a Zilog Z80 microprocessor development board enclosed in a vacuum formed plastic bookcase for storage on a bookshelf. Later that year, Multitech introduced a Tiny-Basic for the MPF-I. They combined the Monitor and BASIC into a single 4 KB ROM, replacing the 2 KB monitor-only ROM. This configuration was marketed as the MPF-IB. As from this moment, the original Micro-Professor was marketed as MPF-IA.In 1984, Multitech introduced the MPF-IP or MPF-Plus, a successor to the MPF-I with the same form factor. It featured a single line 20-digit, 14-segment fluorescent display and a click-type QWERTY keyboard. It had the same expansion connector as the MPF-I— a pin-header directly connected to the Z80 CPU—allowing several MPF-I expansion boards to be used on the MPF-IP. Compared to the MPF-1, it functioned more like a BASIC computer and included an assembler and disassembler in its 8 KB firmware. The MPF-IP featured 4 KB static RAM, with optional battery backup.
In 1985, Multitech released the MPF-I/88, the last product in the MPF-I line. It was an Intel 8088-based single board computer with a two-line LCD screen. Multitech was rebranded as Acer Inc. in 1987.
On 24 February 1993, Acer sold the Micro-Professor MPF-I product line to Flite Electronics International Limited, an international distributor for Acer based in Southampton, England. As of, Flite continues manufacturing small batches of the MPF1B at a sub-contract manufacturing facility in Havant, England.